The Moment of Truth: the Story of Sailor Coruscant

How Sailor Coruscant joined the team

By Chaziten Starkiller

“Chazi?” A knock came at my door, startling me out of my sleep. I sat up and yawned, my mind numb and groggy.
“Yeah,” I said, rolling out of bed and groping for my tunic. Krissi cracked open the door and poked her head in.
“C’mon, Ara wants us outside right now. Get dressed!” She left the door hanging open and went on down the hall.
I climbed into my clothes--being careful not to put the things on backwards; I was still very sleepy--and made my way outside.
It was around three in the morning; the moons of Yavin and the great orange globe itself were hanging in the sky, lighting up the jungle with an eerie light. I joined the rest of my friends outside the main temple; Insei and Alanna looked as sleepy as I felt, Krissi was her usual unshakable self, and Ara was characteristically enthusiastic.
“Whaddya wannus tado outhere at this ridiculous--” I yawned “hourof the morning?” I looked accusingly at Ara, but she just grinned at me.
“We’re walking into the jungle. There’s place I want to show you, and there’s something we need to attend to.”
So we trekked into the jungle and walked silently for about 2 hours. I was finally starting to wake up when Ara announced that we had reached our destination. We stepped into a clearing and found ourselves looking at the ruin of another temple.
It was small, but in better condition than most. We followed Ara to its base and she led us right up the side.
We sat on the top on various bits of broken block and rubble, watching the stars get dimmer as the sun prepared to round Yavin’s edge.
“I’ve brought you here,” Ara began, breaking the silence that had prevailed since the onset of the journey. “Because I felt that we needed time to think, meditate, and find ourselves as the Sailor Jedi. We have been here at the Praxeum training with the other Jedi candidates for months, and I believe that some of us have started to loose sight of our identity as Sailor Senshi.”
I considered our leader’s words carefully and realized she was right; I had spent so much time in my training as a Jedi Knight that I had almost forgotten who I was besides. It felt good to be here; out in the jungle with my closest friends. The feeling of unity was wonderful, I hadn’t felt it in so long that I didn’t realize how much I was craving it.
“I want us to be out here as long as we must, until we have found once again,” she waved her hand in the air, “whatever it is we have that the others do not. Whatever it is that makes us who we are. It is so important that we not loose it in the rush of the universe.”
I smiled. This was exactly what I needed, and I hadn’t even realized it. Funny how sometimes a fourteen year-old can read a thing that those who are older and (presumably) wiser completely overlook.
I considered the others as they pulled themselves inwards even as they projected their consciousness into their surroundings. They were searching for themselves in the jungle, in the sky, in the life that surrounded us, but somehow I had the feeling that that wouldn’t be enough for me today.
I considered my life, what I was and what I had been, what I might be someday. I cast my mind back over my life, considering the decisions I had made, the series of incidents that had led me to where I was now. Once again I played over in my mind that pivotal moment when I had taken my destiny in my hand, and faced who I really was.

Being a Jedi Knight was not all it was cracked up to be. It was fairly boring, actually. An uneventful existence punctuated by occasional moments of excitement; like just about any life, I suppose.

I yawned, drained my glass and slouched down in my seat. The patrons of the seedy cantina moved about me, paying me no mind, yet I still felt their wary eyes on me, as if they knew who I was and were trying to lay my secrets bare to those around me. I slapped a coin on the table and jumped to my feet--It had just gotten through my head that my quarry had left by the main entrance. I hurried after him, realizing with some chagrin that it would be painfully obvious to anyone paying attention to me that I was following the man.

I stepped out into he demi-night that perpetually prevailed in the lower levels of Coruscant's buildings and took a cautious look around. I saw a flicker of movement around a corner off to my right and sent my mind out after it--it was him. He was heading lower, down into the even darker and less-inhabited levels of the city. I masked my presence with the Force and followed him, and uneasy feeling growing in my gut.
We went lower and lower, until I was sure we could go no further without going underground. I had gradually caught up to him but still maintained my distance--just to be safe. I rounded a corner--where on Chad was this guy going?--and a fist slammed into the side of my head. I was knocked reeling as my attacker--the one I had been following--lunged after me. I dodged out of his way and shot an
energy blast out of my hand at him. It hit him square in the chest and seemed to have no effect. I was thoroughly unnerved now; first he evades me and hides from my Force sense, then he takes a Ki blast full on and doesn’t get a hair out of place?
He was either a Force user or a...I couldn’t even hazard a guess. He roared and lunged at me with animal ferocity, so I decided to stop being discreet and pulled my lightsaber.
The Aquamarine blade flashed into existence, its light cutting into the thick shadows that enshrouded us. The man paused momentarily, then a frightening grin crossed his face. At first I thought it was only my eyes, then I realized that I was really seeing what I thought I was. His shape began to melt and change, to reform itself into something much larger than his human form. Than it hit me; this was a shape-shifter. I had heard about them of course, but I had never thought to encounter one (one never does); and mostly not one that is apparently criminally deranged and a Force user to boot.

His shape solidified, and I knew I was in trouble. I had no idea what he had morphed into, but whatever it was it was NOT something I wished to encounter in the deepest depths of Coruscant's lower levels. He was huge and multi-legged, each appendage ending in a large paw with several cruelly curving claws.

He lunged at me again, cutting a wide swath in the air. I barely dodged, and ran around behind him in hopes that I could get in a blow to his neck or head. He anticipated me however, and caught me with a claw just as I launched myself into the air. I was knocked back several yards and came up short against a durocreate wall. My arm was numb, and I looked down to see several deep gouges and quite a bit of blood; my lightsaber was nowhere to be seen. I dodged to my feet to avoid the lash of a spined tail (where had that come from?!) and reached out with my mind, hoping that I could touch his; maybe I could get him to calm down enough to reason. I was brought up short--mentally and physically--as he took another sizable chunk of flesh off of me. I think I said some thing like “hells” then, but I don’t remember.
I couldn’t believe what was happening to me. Here I was, one of the greatest fighters in the galaxy, and I was totally helpless. It was a terrible feeling. I felt so angry, but I knew that I had to hold those feelings inside, let them dissipate so they didn’t poison me. I knew I was beaten; the guy was using me as a kickball. I would die as soon as he tired of playing with me.
As I struck the ground once again, Time suddenly stopped.
The air buzzed, and a blue mist seemed to obscure my surroundings. There in the air in front of me hung a rod, only about eight inches long. It was made of silver, and was topped by a blue crystal planet. Something inside me urged me to take it, to reach out and grasp it before it was to late. I reached up without thinking, then a voice stopped me.
“Chaziten.” I started. I knew that voice!
“M-mama?” I said, not daring to hope.
“Yes.” a shimmering form appeared in front of me and solidified into the form of my mother. She was dressed rather strangely, not in her Saiyan armor or the Jedi uniform she used to wear.
She was wearing a form-fitting white top and a short light blue pleated skirt; The top looked like a feminized version of Earth’s old Sailing outfits, and the bows on front and back matched the color of the skirt. She also wore a pair of elbow-length gloves, and a gold tiara/headband.
“Mother..?” I said, confused. “What is this? Why are you dressed like that?”
“My daughter,” she said. “There is much that I never told you about my life and about my heritage, and your heritage.
“You have always had a split destiny, but there is a third you must face as well. You received Saiyan blood from your father and I, the Jedi tradition from my line, and something else as well.
“There are certain guardians that are granted greater power than the Jedi Knights, or indeed any other mortal. Each is guarded by the power of a certain planet, and each is commissioned to destroy the evil that threatens their stewardships. I was chosen—even as my mother was, and her mother before her—to be Sailor Coruscant, Guardian of Truth and Knowledge. When I was killed there was no one left as the guardian of both the planet and those treasures, and much that was good turned evil. The Sailor Jedi, as we were called, were nearly killed off by the Empire, but the order has been resurrected, and it is your time to take your honored place in its ranks.” She paused for a moment. “You may join, or you may leave it now, forever and the tradition will pass to another. It may be your destiny, but it does not mean it is your only choice.”
I must have looked incredibly dazed, because she smiled at me in that way she used to.
“You may not understand all this now, but let me say this. If you take that rod into your hand, you will take on a destiny that will cause you much pain, much sorrow and suffering, that will seem more of a burden at times than an honor, but in the end you will not regret it. If you choose not to take it, however, you will never be troubled by it again, and things will play out their natural course.”
She looked at me sideways. “I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t take it.”
I raised an eyebrow and gave her a wicked grin.
“Having regrets, mother?”
She shook her head.
“Of course not! You know me better than to think I would admit to being wrong about anything!” She smiled and began to fade.
“Choose well my daughter, and search for me on my Guardian. If you wish to know who I was, you will find me. Remember, I love you...”
She disappeared, and the rod spun a little in the air in front of me, as if taunting me. I considered a moment longer on the verge of action, then made up my mind and reached out to seize it.
I would not run from who I was.
The second its silver touched my skin, I felt a huge rush of power. I opened my mouth and screamed out “CORUSCANT...GEM...POWER!” without realizing what I was doing.
Even as the words burst from my lips flaming energy began to crackle from the rod, and I passed it over the air; everything I was doing was as instinct to me now. A flaming wall of light surrounded me, and I transformed. White top, dark blue collar and skirt, black bows and boots.
The transformation ended and I stood facing the monster once more. He seemed slightly confused by my sudden change, and his regard seemed a little more cautious.
“Now you,” I said, feeling the new confidence and strength and my mother’s love like the Balm of Gilead on my heart. “Come and face me! I am Sailor Coruscant, Defender of Truth and Keeper of Knowledge, and I will make you pay for your wrongs!”
He considered me for a moment longer, decided to take his chances, then flew at me again with his claws fully extended and teeth bared. So I decided to try out my new power.
“CORUSCANT LIGHT OF TRUTH!” A blinding flash of light lit up the space around us for a split second, then faded just as quickly. When my vision cleared I saw that I was standing in the center of a circle of incinerated flooring and rubble, only the floor beneath me was unsinged. The shape-shifter had been reduced to pile of ashes.
“Oops,” I said, scratching my head. “Maybe I should practice before I try anything like that again; Master Skywalker’s gonna have my head for that one.”

“You did what?” Master Skywalker said, disbelief strong in his voice.
“Uh, incinerated him?” I said with an apologetic smile. Luke sat down again and put his elbows on the desk, leaning his chin in his hands.
“Tell me again what happened--”
“You sent for me, Master Skywalker?” A young girl with long blond hair that was tied up into two buns poked her head into the room.
“ah, yes.” Luke said, rising. “Ara, there is someone I would like you to meet. Chaziten, this is Ara-Lai Kaipi; Ara, meet Chazi. She left the praxeum a few years ago.” I rose and extended my hand to her. She had a strong grip, it was pleasing to meet someone who was so young (I deemed her to be about 13 or 14), but seemed so self-possessed.
“Ara is the leader of a very unique group of people known as the Sailor Senshi Jedi; they were very prominent before the Empire and have just barely been resurrected. From what you’ve told me of your last experience, I thought you two might want to have a talk.
“The Sailor Senshi Jedi?” I said, slightly taken aback Leader? Mother, I dunno. I think I maybe should have left this behind! A fourteen year-old leader?
“Yes,” she replied. “Now tell me; why does Master Skywalker think you might be one of us?”
“Ya really wanna see why?” I said smiling wickedly, and she nodded. Without further ado, I shouted CORUSCANT GEM POWER and transformed.
I get an awful lot pleasure out of making peoples eyeballs pop out. Master Skywalker’s nearly did, and Ara looked thrilled.
“Yes, Sailor Coruscant! Oh, I’m so excited! Now there are four of us; that’s so cool!” I grinned.
“Maybe I’ll like this. I still can’t get over how cool this get-up looks; I think I dig it!” I powered down.
“Come with me, you can meet the others!”

The sun rounded Yavin in a blaze of orange light, welcomed by a chorus of beautiful bird song and the calls of reptiles and amphibians.
“I hope this has helped you;” Ara said, and we all stood. “Let us never forget who we are, where we came from, and what we are here to do. Now, let’s go back and continue our training with the others.” The others filed past me, climbing back down the crumbling temple walls. I, however, stayed where I was, gazing unblinkingly into the blue-orange sky.
“Chazi?” Ara was suddenly there next to me, and I started. “Are you OK?” she said, concern written plainly on her face.
“Yeah,” I said softly. “Yeah, I’m fine. This is just what I needed.” She smirked.
“Brilliant move on my part, as always!” she said flipping the hair of one of her pig-tails over her shoulder and grinning at me. I grinned back.
“Totally. Just absolutely brilliant as always. Don’t worry about me, I’ll join you in a minute.” she nodded and followed the other Senshi down the walls.
“Thanks mom” I said softly, looking out into the jungle, over the roof of the old temple, into the glowing orb of Yavin. “Thank you...I’ve tried to live up to your example, I’ve tried not to regret--but it’s so hard sometimes. But you’re right, it’s all been worth it so far. Thank you, I love you...I miss you.”
I stood for a moment longer, then turned and followed the rest of my friends.

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