JEDI HoloNet

My name is Bram Philipi. Right now I am 16 standard years old. The story of my life isn’t a happy little tale, nor is it one that I share often, but as I’m growing older I find that the more I talk about my past the easier it becomes to talk about.

I was born on the city planet of Coruscant to a loving mother and a loving father. Times were hard because dad didn’t make a lot of money. In fact, I think an average kid from the local academy could have made more than him if he tried, but he was a hard worker. He just was unlucky, and I guess not very smart.

We did ok though. My parents ended up having three kids after me, a sister followed by two brothers. Then my mom saw this baby girl at the this event that she went to. I guess her mom was single and kind of liked the juma juice and Nar Shada mushrooms (if you catch my drift) so that child was going to be mentally disabled her entire life. Some of the doctors didn’t know if she’d ever be able to talk or even sit up on her own. It was a sad story, and mom fell in love with her immediately. Next thing I know, after a few signatures, I got a new baby sister. We had adopted the child.

Things were awesome then. Sure, financially things were hard, but my siblings and I never knew a life other than that. It was all we knew, so how could we ask for more? I just decided to study hard and make sure I could give my family a better life some day.

My baby sister did better than anyone expected under the nurturing care of our family. Mom and Dad had a really strong faith that they instilled in us, and used it to guide their decisions. It gave them hope and filled them with a compassion that amazed everyone in our lives. With a lot of prayer and a lot of love, that baby girl starting getting older, and not only could sit up on her down, but you couldn’t get her to sit still no matter how hard you tried. I remember one time she was running all over the house, laughing her head off, throwing some powdered spice from Kessel that my mom got as a gift. She was making a mess of things, and I liked that spice and was sorry to see it go, but I was happy that she had progressed so far. When I finally tackled her and wrestled the empty spice container away from her, she just flashed me a toothy smile and said, “Oops.” The older she got the more talkative she got. And it was great to see. Eventually it was getting her to shut up that was the problem.
Then our family got hit with a terrible tragedy. Coruscant isn’t the best place in space to live, and we didn’t exactly live in the bright side of the neighborhood. Gang run ins were common in my neighborhood, and I’ve gotten mugged for my lunch credits several times. But this time it was worse. My father was murdered.

Mom refused to tell me all the details of it. In fact, I don’t even know how many details the authorities told her. It’s kind of like one of those unsolved mystery deals. Mom wouldn’t tell me anything. She said that it would be too much for me to take. I guess I was pretty young at the time. I was like, 10 I think.
Things went downhill. Mom had to work so I had to take over caring for my family a lot. Mr. Mom at 10. Who would have thought? It really exhausted me and I even considered dropping out of school for awhile, but I couldn’t make myself do it. My sister was only a little younger than me and she was able to help a lot too, but that didn’t change the fact that every time we went to bed we dreamt of better times.

My mom’s faith never wavered, but the rest of my family had some troubles. All the siblings started picking on each other, and actually got into trouble at school. My brothers started failing some of their subjects, and started acting up in class. My baby sister who had just started school herself started hitting kids in her class and would talk about missing daddy often. Then she just stopped talking. Then I started becoming a recluse. I had read a lot before my dad died, then kind of stopped when I started taking care of my family. But eventually things got so bad that books became my only friends. My family was growing more dysfunctional by the day, I was kind of struggling socially at school myself, and mom was busy working, or would be in her room crying a lot. My books were all I had to keep me company, and I started thirsting for a relationship through my books. Eventually I got so absorbed in them that reading was all that I did.

It was fascinating, the things people could think of to write about. Every page was a new adventure, and adventure that I wish I could be in instead of being stuck in this miserable life of mine. At age 11 I even though about killing myself. That’s really young, I know, but things were that bad.

Things got a little better before I turned 12. My mom started getting over her grief and started dating again. She even dated a couple of pretty nice guys too. She tried to date a Twi’lek guy once, which was kind of weird, not gonna lie, but she dumped him after two dates. She said he didn’t do it for her, whatever that means. My siblings started getting their acts together, and I started making some new friends, including Mandon, my best friend. Man, Mandon and I had it all figured out. We were going to graduate together, go to an academy together, and work together. Then it happened.

It was a couple of weeks before I turned 13. Mandon, some of my other friends and I were out to lunch on our break from school. Mandon and I were going to walk home together, but this girl that Mandon was kind of liking was there, and he decided to walk her home instead. Foolishly, I chose to walk home by myself. That’s when I got mugged by a group of thugs.

I’ve been mugged before, but it was different this time. Something inside me clicked and I was able to react a split second before I was attacked. I couldn’t avoid the fight altogether though, and I was soon in a 5 against 1 brawl, when all of a sudden a green (or viridian as he later corrected me) lightsaber blade flashed into existence in front of one of my attackers throats. It was Master Corinth Alkorda from the Jedi Order. He told the thugs to back off and they ran away scared.

He escorted me home and we talked about my attack. He told me that what happened to me might be a sign of Force Sensitivity, but it wasn’t for certain. He took me home and talked to my mom. She was reluctant to let me go, but had just gotten engaged to her new, rich boyfriend. She married him kind of quickly if you ask me, but it’s not really my business and she seemed happy enough, at least with his money, but I digress.

Master Alkorda took me to the Yavin Academy, I was found to be Force sensitive, and my training started not too long after that. The air is different here on Yavin. It’s cleaner, or I guess it’s more accurate to say that there is less pollution, but I still had to deal with new germs for the first time. Without a lot of previous health care, I didn’t have a strong immune system, so I fell prey to sickness quite often. That led me to fall behind in class from the other students, but I kept books by my desk constantly, trying to use my old friends to keep me up. I asked Master Alkorda once if anyone had read every file in the archives once. He just kind of laughed at that, but how ridiculous is it really? Someday I want to do that. I want to be the smartest Jedi this galaxy has ever seen!

I have to rely on smarts after all. I haven’t proven to be the best warrior yet, or at least out of my fellow classmates. We have been visited from students from other accredited Jedi Academies and I’ve bested them all in combat, but I’ve struggled in my duels with Rash and Run.

Run, wow, what a part he played in my life. When I was finally well enough to go to class, I aspired to be like Run. He was a hard worker and seemed to be above most of us as far as skill level went. I was sure he was the top of our class and would do great things in the name of the Jedi. Sometimes when I came to class, he would be the only other student that came. No matter what, Run was there, and I saw a lot of progress in him.

Run seemed to have trouble with authority though, and questioned the masters often. I always thought that he’d grow out of it, but it eventually led to his fall to the dark side. Master Axem Keigoku had to strike him down because of it. That event filled me with great sadness as I realized I had to choose my role models more carefully. It also taught me that Master Keigoku’s words were true. It is difficult to become a Jedi. It is far more difficult to stay one.
Another event filled my life with great sadness. That is the death of Cook, my close friend Master Alkorda’s first Padawan. Master Alkorda and I have grown very close over my years here, and I was physically able to feel his pain when he lost his Padawan and friend, almost as if there was an invisible bond between us nearly melding our consciousnesses into one.

I hardly knew Cook, but it was still devastating. Perhaps that made it even more devastating. In life, you expect those closest to you to die, and you expect those farther from you to die. In Cook’s case, he was in between, and I think that’s the most shocking type of death there is. There’s no expecting it, and no chance to say goodbye. First they’re there, and then they are not. This taught me a lesson in loss, and how to let go without having yourself be permanently affected. I rejoice that Cook was able to become one with the Force, even if it meant losing him forever, and will sorely be missed.
After what seemed like forever, my probation as a hopeful ended and I was asked to become an initiate. Rash and I would spar often to keep in shape, but he was always in better shape then me. So, I would lose pretty frequently.
When Master Alkorda asked me to be his Padawan, my heart was filled with joy. Though I may be his second, it is possible that I may become his first Padawan to successfully be knighted, and it’s an honor I strive for day in and day out.

Since then my most memorable lesson has been this. He asked me to jump on top of one of the academy pillars, a task I thought impossible. Believe me, I’ve tried. He had me try again and again and again, but to no avail. Finally, he had me sit down and focus. I extended out with my senses more than I ever had before, and felt every last bug move about inside the temple grounds. Charged with new Force energy, I was able to jump many times higher than I ever had before. That’s when I realized that once I become one with the Force, anything is possible. It is there in abundance for me to use, and it wants to empower me and guide my actions. Through Master Alkorda’s guidance, I plan on becoming a powerful Jedi.