EXT. JEDI TEMPLE — SUNSET
Coruscant’s distant sun is setting behind the spires of the Jedi Temple of the Order of Coruscant.
INT. JEDI TEMPLE/TURBOLIFT — SUNSET
Within a turbolift ride two figures, one clad in the uniform of a Coruscanti Jedi knight, the other in the uniform of a Coruscanti Jedi apprentice: SIRI TACHI and UZOCHI WINDU-GALLIA. Save for a short hairstyle she now wears, Siri hasn’t changed much in the interim since we saw her last. Uzochi, on the other hand, is now a twenty-year-old beanpole of a man — a far cry from the small, cherubic four-year-old we knew him as.
Running his hands through his hair — which is cropped short save the single thin apprentice’s braid he wears on the right side of his head — Uzochi then smooths out the front of his gray tunic.
SIRI: You’re on edge.
UZOCHI: (shakes head) Not at all.
SIRI: I haven’t seen you this tense since … since that first day as your caretaker.
UZOCHI: (chuckles nervously) I don’t even remember that.
SIRI: You’re sweating. Relax. Take a deep breath.
UZOCHI: I’ve been anticipating this day for ten years, Siri.
SIRI: You can stand to anticipate it another ten minutes, 'Chi.
INT. JEDI TEMPLE/CORRIDOR OUTSIDE COUNCIL CHAMBERS — SUNSET
Emerging from the turbolift, the two Jedi walk up to the double doors leading into the council chambers. At their approach, the doors slide open, yawning darkness waiting beyond. Exchanging silent glances with Siri, Uzochi steps inside.
INT. JEDI TEMPLE/COUNCIL CHAMBERS — SUNSET
'Chi makes his way to the centre of the pitch black room. Once his footfalls cease, twelve lightsabers spring to life in a unified SNAP-HISS around him, forming a perfect circle of varicoloured light. Surrounding the Jedi apprentice are the TWELVE MEMBERS OF THE CORUSCANTI JEDI COUNCIL: Master Windu; Mistress Gallia; Master Kit Fisto; Mistress Shaak Ti; Master Agen Kolar; Master Ki-Adi-Mundi; Master Cin Drallig; Master Plo Koon; Master Saesee Tiin; Master Coleman Kcaj; Master Ben Expy; and Mistress Ani Expy. All their lightsabers shine blue, green, or yellow save for Windu’s, which resonates with a violet radiance.
MACE WINDU: Step forward, apprentice.
Uzochi approaches his father, getting down on one knee before him. As Windu raises his saber, the other masters lower theirs.
MACE WINDU: (lays blade on Uzochi’s shoulders) Uzochi Windu-Gallia, by the right of the council, by the will of the Force, I dub thee Jedi …
Raising his weapon’s power setting, Windu cuts the braid from his son’s head. It lands on the floor, severed end smouldering.
MACE WINDU: (cont’d) Knight of the Empire.
The ceremony completed, Uzochi rises to his full height, now a true Jedi Knight.
EXT. JEDI TEMPLE/CORRIDOR OUTSIDE COUNCIL CHAMBERS — SUNSET
Siri is waiting there patiently when 'Chi emerges from the council chambers.
UZOCHI: (beams) I’m a knight!
Bursting with excitement, Uzochi seizes Siri in a tight hug.
UZOCHI: I only wish Darth could’ve been here.
SIRI: (smile falters) That would’ve been nice.
INT. OUTLANDER CLUB — SUNSET
Within the Outlander Club sits DARTH VADER. Like his friend Uzochi, Darth has undergone dynamic physical changes over the last couple decades. A tall man, broad-shouldered, buff, he is also quite handsome, with a strong jawline, full lips, and piercing blue eyes. Currently dressed in a heavily wrinkled version of Chi’s Jedi uniform, he sits hunched over a glass of some blue liquor, ogling the female strippers who gyrate and undulate atop the table before him.
Darth’s attention has focused on one stripper in particular — a Theelin stripper with mottled lavender skin and auburn hair. As she takes notice of his gaze, she gets down on her belly and crawls to him.
THEELIN STRIPPER: Haven’t seen you before.
DARTH: (drunk) You remember every face that comes in here?
Sitting up, she draws the zipper of her electric crimson catsuit down.
THEELIN STRIPPER: Not too many Jedi come in here.
Looking down, Darth finally seems to realize what he’s wearing.
DARTH: Name’s Darth.
THEELIN STRIPPER: Zema.
DARTH: 'Chi — my friend, 'Chi — he’s being knighted today.
Pulling the front of her catsuit open, Zema unveils her ample bosom — the nipples of which are hidden behind rose-coloured pasties.
ZEMA (THEELIN STRIPPER): Where’s he?
DARTH: 'Chi doesn’t drink — and he’s not much interested in women — so I’m here celebrating for him.
ZEMA: His loss.
Lying on her back, Zema lifts her legs up into the air. Pushing the catsuit down, she uncovers her firm buttocks and the rose thong which does little to conceal it from the universe.
DARTH: (eyes bulging) I’ll say.
Tossing the catsuit away, Zema gets up on her knees. Balancing her breasts on one forearm, she starts peeling her pasties off.
ZEMA: I thought you’re not allowed to show interest in us non-Jedi.
DARTH: No one said I couldn’t look.
Taking her breasts in both hands, Zema wiggles them around in front of Darth’s slack face.
ZEMA: (grins) Like what you see?
DARTH: Uh-huh.
ZEMA: Fifteen credits and you can touch them.
Darth shakes his head to clear the booze from his mind.
DARTH: Let me take you home.
ZEMA: (laughs) Sorry, babe, but my services don’t extend that far — no matter how many credits you got.
DARTH: (firm) Let me take you home.
Zema loses her smile, falling under a trance.
ZEMA: Take me home.
Zema steps down from the table. Throwing an arm around Zema, he guides her to the exit.
INT. DARTH’S FLAT COMPLEX/CORRIDOR OUTSIDE DARTH’S FLAT — DAY
The next day, Siri — now attired in casual civilian garb — comes to Darth’s flat. Standing outside the door, she rings the doorbell.
INT. DARTH’S FLAT/ENTRANCE HALL — DAY
Hearing the doorbell, Zema, rubbing her sore backside, goes to open the door. Siri looks upon the Theelin woman dressed only in Darth’s Jedi tunic.
SIRI: (nonplussed) I’m here to see Darth.
ZEMA: Come in.
INT. DARTH’S FLAT/DINING AREA — AREA
Zema guides Siri into the dining area. Darth is seated at the dining table, hunched over a mug of caf, nursing a hangover.
ZEMA: We’re having caf. Care for some?
SIRI: Thank you, no.
Siri sits down at the table with Darth.
ZEMA: Darth, babe? I’m gonna take a shower. I’ll leave you and your girlfriend to talk or … whatever.
SIRI: I’m not his —
But Zema has already left the room.
SIRI: (cont’d) girlfriend. (sighs)
DARTH: (sips from mug) What do you want, Siri?
SIRI: You missed Uzochi’s knighting ceremony.
DARTH: I didn’t miss it. I celebrated it in my own way.
SIRI: Translation: You spent the most momentous night of your best friend’s life boozing and whoring your way about town.
DARTH: Zema’s not a whore, alright? (beat) She’s a stripper.
SIRI: A fine difference.
DARTH: Look, if you’re here to berate me over my irresponsible behaviour, don’t. I’ve learned my lesson; this raging hangover’s taught it to me.
SIRI: This isn’t the first time I’ve found you getting over a drunken stupor, Darth, or in a drunken stupor or in the company of strange women. You spend less time with me learning the Jedi arts than you do with the beer barons of Uscru District learning theirs.
DARTH: (irate) It’s all about the Jedi with you, isn’t it? Jedi, Jedi, Jedi. It’s all you’ve ever cared a damn about when it came to me. I was never a son to you — just a kriffing student to teach.
SIRI: That’s not so.
DARTH: Course it is. Soon as you and Obi adopted me, you wasted no time squeezing me into that stupid uniform and making me learn the Force.
SIRI: We didn’t make you. We offered you the choice and you took it.
DARTH: Of course I took it! I was a nine-year-old kid! What nine-year-old doesn’t want to be a Jedi Knight? Thing was I grew out of it, but you — you wouldn’t let me. Couldn’t be a regular teenager, couldn’t have normal interests — especially after the divorce. You only pushed me harder with Obi-Wan out of the picture. (beat) Well, I’m pushing back. I’m gonna keep pushing until I’ve pushed my way out.
SIRI: So you don’t want to complete your training. You want out of the order.
DARTH: Looks like it, doesn’t it?
SIRI: Then you won’t mind when you’re cut off.
DARTH: Cut off?
SIRI: (nods) As my apprentice, you receive an ample benefit — the one you’ve been using to fuel your hedonistic lifestyle. If our relationship is terminated, so is any income you receive from the order. Gone are your nights spent at the strip clubs and cantinas — unless you can find a job to pay for them.
DARTH: You’d do it, wouldn’t you? Take away my childhood and as the coup de grâce cut my legs out from under me.
SIRI: If you want to live your life free of the order, you take everything that comes with that decision — drawbacks included.
DARTH: (angry) Get out.
Rising from her chair, Siri starts out of the room. Stopping in the doorway, she turns back to Darth.
SIRI: Darth, I don’t even care if you want to leave the order. I just don’t want to see you become … whatever you’re becoming.
With those words spoken, she leaves.
A couple minutes later, Zema re-enters the dining area. Freshly showered, hair brushed, she now wears a shirt and pants taken from Darth’s dresser.
ZEMA: Your girlfriend’s gone?
Darth, too immersed in his own thoughts, doesn’t answer.
ZEMA: Look, I’ve got to head to the club. I left early, didn’t punch out; I’ve got to talk to the boss unless I wanna lose my job. Probably gonna lose my head, anyway. (beat) Listen, I left my number on your bedside table. Give me a ring anytime; I’d love to hook up again. (winks) You’re sure kinky for a Jedi.
DARTH: She’s not my —
But Zema has already left the flat.
DARTH: (cont’d) girlfriend.