-dream flashback-
'Please don't leave me.'
Your own eleven year old voice echoed in your unconscious mind as you slept restlessly.
'I am always with you.'
-dream flashback end-
You awoke with a sad sigh. It had been five years, yet still, the memory haunted you.
You rolled out of your stiff bed and dressed in your work clothes, a grey jumpsuit covered in grease and dirt. You did your hair so it would be out of the way while you worked. You grabbed an over-ripe jondel fruit from your counter for breakfast before leaving your small housing unit.
The morning air was cold and the smell of the city was revolting, a mixture of burnt rubber and plastic as well as other garbage, and meat packing factories.
Your work was several blocks away, but you didn't have nearly enough creds for an airspeeder. You hardly had enough to provide yourself with food, let alone shelter. So walking was your only option. You hated Corellia.
You arived at work and checked in.
"You're late." Your boss grumbled.
"Sorry." You apologized as you walked towards your station.
"You're lucky I don't dock you pay for your tardiness." He scoffed with his arms crossed infront of his chest.
"Not like you pay me much anyway." You muttered under your breath, grabbing your tools and moving to the trader's ship you'd been working on repairing for the past couple of days.
It was almost finished. It just needed a few wire replacements and some system recalibrations. Hopefully when you finished, your boss would let you off early.
You spent a little over an hour working on the finishing touches, even giving the ship a nice polishing off.
Just as you finished, another ship landed in one of the docking sites. Your boss went over to greet the owner.
You couldn't see anything wrong with the ship from the exterior, but perhaps there could be some mechanical or control issues. You hoped your boss would choose one of your other coworkers and just let you go home.
"Hey Y/n! Get over here!" He called to you. You rolled your eyes, grabbing a cloth, using it to wipe the grease off your hands as you walked over to the new client.
"This guy's got a problem with his hyperdrive." Your boss informed you. Despite your annoyance of having to work, you decided it should be a quick fix.
"I'll check it out. See what I can do." You smiled at a short man with four arms and a grumpy looking face, who you presumed was the owner.
"Thanks. Follow me." He grumbled. You followed him into his ship and saw two other people standing around a holo-table looking at a map of something. "Welcome aboard the Mantis."
One was a woman, the other a boy. He looked to be about your age. His hair was his most striking feature, a bright reddish-orange colour. He locked eyes with you momentarily. You felt a strange feeling of familiarity, something you hadn't felt in a long time.
You looked away and followed the man into the cockpit.
"Alright, so what seems to be the problem?" You asked.
"Oh, I don't know. Just uh, have a look, tell me what you find. I'm gonna go talk to the crew." The man said.
"Alright. Sounds good." You nodded, beginning to examine the controls.
After a good examination. You turned up nothing. The hyperdrive was completely fine.
You exited the cockpit and looked at the ships owner, whose back was turned to you.
"Excuse me, sir? I couldn't find anything wrong with the hyperdrive." You spoke up.
All eyes turned to you.
"Yea, that's actually not what we're here for." The woman spoke.
"What? What are you here for then?" You asked, furrowing your brows in confusion.
"We're here for you. We need your help." She told you.
"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint, but all I can help with is fixing broken ships. So, since your ship is fine, I best get back to work, and you can be on your way." You explained, turning to the exit.
"Y/n, we need your help restoring the Jedi Order." She stated.
You froze, a series of flashbacks rushing into your mind, giving you a slight headache and causing you to squeeze your eyes shut.
You opened your eyes again and fought back any negative emotions.
You glanced out the door to make sure your boss wasn't in listening range. He'd gone off to check on one of your coworkers.
"Why should I trust you." You muttered quietly, still not facing them.
"You shouldn't. For now. But we're all you have. Would you really rather stay here?" The woman asked convincingly. With your focus on her, you could sense some sort of disconnect between her and the force.
You were silent for a moment, thinking. This was your chance. To be a part of something bigger than yourself. A chance to avenge Master Odorah. Or... it was a chance to join a crew of laserbrains, and get yourself killed in a heartbeat.
A feeling told you it was the former, but you couldn't be sure yet. Until then, you wouldn't agree to anything too serious.
"I need my lightsaber." You muttered, thinking about how it was wrapped in a cloth and shoved under your mattress, where you'd hidden it five years ago.
"Where is it?" She asked.
"At home." You answered.
"Go get it. We'll dock by the east bay. If you're not there by nightfall, we'll know you chose to stay on Corellia." She instructed.
"I'm not. Staying on Corellia." You say quickly. She nods with a small smile.
"Then we'll see you soon."
"For the record, I'm only agreeing to get off this planet. Nothing else yet." You told her firmly.
"That's fine with me." She replied with a soft smile.
You glanced at the boy before leaving, and felt a strong presence of the force around him. It shocked you. Something you hadn't felt in a while.
You left the ship and thought up a story to get your boss to let you go home.
"Y/n. What took so long?" He asks, walking over to you.
"I found what was wrong." You tell him glumly.
"What? What was it?" He asks curiously.
"There was a dead womp-rat in the control panel. It had been there for months." You groaned. "I-I think I'm gonna be sick." You lied.
"Jeez, kid. Ugh. Go home. But you better not be late tomorrow." He rolled his eyes before walking away.
You quickly checked out and scurried off to your housing unit. Once you were inside, you first grabbed a bag and filled it with important belongings, which was mostly just clothes.
After that, you reach under your mattress to find your saber neatly tucked away, same as it was when you put it there years ago. You felt an immediate rush of relief and comfort the second your fingers touched it.
You placed it in your bag and left your housing unit, never to be called home again. Hopefully.
You made your way to the east bay being as inconspicuous as possible. If a trooper stopped you and asked to search your bag, you'd be screwed. Luckily the streets were pretty busy at this hour, and it would be unlikely that a trooper woulf stop you.
You made it to the east bay and searched for the ship you'd previously been on.
It didn't take long, as it had a very tall dorsal and a slick paint job.
As you aproached, you felt an abundance of nerves. What if you weren't ready? No. You'd been waiting to get off this planet a long time. You reminded yourself you hadn't agreed to anything yet, just to get off Corellia.
You got to the ship, unsure if you should knock, but before you even got to the entrance, the ramp came down and the woman stood in the doorway.