JEDI HoloNet

Pipalia Steem was born in the heart of Coruscant, the last child of seven and only daughter of third generation Sorrusian migrants. Her parents worked in the vast network of engineers tasked with the upkeep of the ecumenopolis’ water reservoirs and made a decent living, though the great size of their family meant that money was often tight and many extra hours had to be taken to keep all their children fed and happy.

As both of her parents were usually gone for work or too tired from overwork to fully be there for their kids, Pipalia was largely cared for by her older brothers who were all highly protective of their little sister to a point where any kid who tried to pick on her – or any kid she SAID had tried to pick on her, even those who were much older – would soon find themselves getting mobbed by a gang of angry Sorrusian boys.

This royal treatment built Pipalia into a confident – even arrogant – and fearless child with an unfortunate tendency to treat the world as her personal sandbox and the people in it like they were there to amuse her. Although her antics were usually harmless, it was only a matter of time before she annoyed the wrong person.

This happened one night when Pipalia’s parents were working late and she had been brought outside past her bedtime along with her two eldest brothers Rexan and Deke. The brothers had stopped to talk to some friends when Pipalia saw a jittery and shaking hooded man come walking down the street and went to question him about his strange appearance. When the man ignored her first three questions and continued walking, the offended little girl surged forwards to push him, at which point the Spicer spun around and backhanded her to the ground.

Her brothers came running as soon as they heard her cry out. Rexan rushed straight after the fleeing Spicer and punched him hard in the back of the head while Deke stopped briefly to make sure she was okay. The punch sent the Spicer to the ground, but as Rexan advanced on him to deliver further punishment, the Spicer rolled over on his back with a previously concealed blaster pistol in hand and shot him through the shoulder.

Panic followed. Rexan fell and the Spicer scrambled back to his feet, waving his blaster wildly at anybody who looked like they might dare to get in his way as he fled the scene. Deke, Pipalia and the brothers’ friends all quickly converged around Rexan’s wounded body and contacted emergency services.

Rexan was rushed to the nearest hospital for treatment and as soon as they had been assured that his wound would not be fatal, Pipalia and Deke were taken to be questioned by Coruscant police. It was this, perhaps more than even the shooting, that changed everything. Not because of the questioning itself, although the Spicer was caught only hours later, but because of who they met at the station.

Visiting the station at that time was a Jedi recruiter who easily sensed the force in the panicked little girl in the questioning room and took down the Steem family’s address once Pipalia’s parents arrived to pick them up. Tactfully, he waited till the situation had died down and Rexan was safely back at home recovering before he contacted them and told Pipalia’s parents what he had felt.

Though deeply shocked by the news and everything that had happened and reluctant to let go of their daughter, the Steems could not keep themselves from seeing the sense in sending Pipalia away; it would clear up funds to pay for Rexan’s medical bills and eventually ease their workload, and there was no longer any denying that Pipalia’s thoughtless actions could put her brothers and herself in danger if her attitude wasn’t dealt with.

So, with heavy hearts and the obvious answer of ‘yes’ from a child being told she was special and asked to come and join the legendary Jedi Order, the Steems said their goodbyes to their youngest and sent her away with the Jedi to train and hopefully become as great as she thought she was destined to be.