Yanibar Tales/Selu interview

''This interview is for my Current Events class with Teacher Sowsren and I'm interviewing my uncle, Selu Kraen
 * Zeyn: What's the hardest thing you've ever had to do?
 * Selu: Wow. That's an interesting opening question.
 * Zeyn: Some interviewers like to ease into the questions. I like to go all out, drop the bombshell on the first question. Makes it harder for the other person to use their cleverly concocted stories. So what's the hardest thing you've ever had to do?
 * Selu: At the rate this is going, it might be this interview. (chuckles) I've had to do a lot of hard things in my life, Zeyn. Probably the hardest has been accepting the choices I've made, the things that have happened, and moving on regardless.
 * Zeyn: Did Jedi training help with that?
 * Selu: I don't think there's any kind of training other than experience that can help you prepare for dealing with life. It helped prepare me to face a wide variety of challenges and find peace in the midst of them, but as far as actually coping with the choices . . . perhaps I wasn't experienced enough of a Jedi Knight to truly grasp that lesson.
 * Zeyn: So how long were you a Jedi?
 * Selu: About seventeen years, if you're talking about being formally part of the Jedi Order on Coruscant. You don't stop being a Jedi just because you don't take orders from the Jedi Council or wear those white-and-brown robes. Even having a lightsaber doesn't make you a Jedi.
 * Zeyn: Now, you have a holographic memory if I remember right&mdash;get it? Remember right?
 * Selu: . . . yes, although I think I'd prefer to forget that pun.
 * Zeyn: Anyway, what was your earliest memory with the Jedi?
 * Selu: Meeting Yoda, I think. I was very little at the time.
 * Zeyn: What was it like?
 * Selu: He spoke to me, said something I didn't understand at the time. Then Master Adi Gallia picked me up.
 * Zeyn: What did you do?
 * Selu: I did what any self-respecting three-year-old would do. I screamed my lungs out.
 * Zeyn: Keeping it classy, I see.
 * Selu: You obviously don't remember what you were like as a toddler.
 * Zeyn: ...?
 * Selu: Never mind. Next question?
 * Zeyn: How is Jedi training different than what we do here?
 * Selu: It's very different. The Jedi Order used to separate children from their parents at a very young age, in an attempt to prevent them from forming attachments. They were also more formal, more regimented in how they trained their Padawans and younglings. Everyone lived in one giant Jedi Temple until you became a Jedi Knight.
 * Zeyn: What was it like, being a Jedi?
 * Selu: I felt I had a great sense of purpose. I wasn't the best of my generation of Jedi, but I felt like I was doing something good for the galaxy. It wasn't until after it fell that I realized that the Republic hadn't been worth defending.
 * Zeyn: You mean when the purges happened?
 * Selu: The galaxy had already been turned against the Jedi before then. We were mystical warriors, above the law and all restriction to the general populace. Palpatine exploited that and waited until the time was right, when the Jedi were weak and distracted, to strike.
 * Zeyn: I guess that means it was pretty bad.
 * Selu: It was very bad. I lost a lot of dear friends in the purges, and I lost my sense of purpose in life. It took Sarth finding me and getting me to join the crew of the Hawk-bat to get that back.
 * Zeyn: Did any of the Jedi survive?
 * Selu: A few of them did. I've run into a Jedi Master named Quinlan Vos twice since the purge, and a few others have joined us here as well.
 * Zeyn: What happened to Master Vos?
 * Selu: I don't know. I suspect, to be honest, that he found his own path that the Force was guiding him along.
 * Zeyn: So what do you think of the current attempts by the New Republic to rebuild the Jedi Order.
 * Selu: I think it's an admirable goal, but it's dangerously misguided. I don't think Luke Skywalker was adequately prepared. He and his entire family are too susceptible to the influence of the dark side for me to trust them, which is why we haven't made contact with them.
 * Zeyn: How was life as a smuggler different from that of a Jedi?
 * Selu: Well, it's an entirely different life. You're concerned with survival, mostly, and for the people around you. The whole "greater good" takes a back seat when you're living hand-to-mouth. It's a hard reality, but it's true. That's why this colony has focused on providing for itself first and then helping where we can.
 * Zeyn: So what made you stop being a smuggler?
 * Selu: You could say I was called to a different path. An encounter with ghosts of the past, great Jedi who had once fought for freedom, challenged my shipmates and I to create this refuge. And that's what we've done.
 * Zeyn: What were those early years like?
 * Selu: Very difficult. There were a lot of challenges, a lot of hardship. Many sacrifices were made by the first generation in order to get where we are today.
 * Zeyn: And the Yanibar Guard? What did it take to build that?
 * Selu: It took people who were willing to place their lives on the line for an idea. It took the sacrifices of the 7,147 servicemembers to secure the sanctity of this refuge. It's taken the continued service of our current membership to maintain that security.
 * Zeyn: With the collapse of the Empire and the rise of the New Republic, is the Yanibar Guard less needed?
 * Selu: The Empire was never the only threat, just the most visible one. There are many other dangers that threaten our safety that the Yanibar Guard protects against.
 * Zeyn: Like what?
 * Selu: It's enough to know that they exist and we keep an eye on them.
 * Zeyn: Secrets, I get it. Speaking of which, do you have any comments on the case of Agent Joran Bemdro?
 * Selu: First off, the leaking of that file was a criminal offense and the perpetrator has already been prosecuted and sentenced accordingly. Second, it was an unfortunate instance for the Yanibar Guard and one that we will seek to avoid in the future. We share in his family's grief.
 * Zeyn: Does that mean that your policy has changed or that the agent involved has been disciplined?
 * Selu: That's an internal matter.
 * Zeyn: So you're not going to weigh in on whether or not it was acceptable for a Yanibar Guard Intelligence agent to locate a member of the Guard being held prisoner and then kill him instead of rescuing him?
 * Selu: I'm afraid not.
 * Zeyn: The public deserves to know. They deserve to know why such an action was carried out by the Yanibar Guard.
 * Selu: The current leadership of YGI is handling this situation. For me to reveal any more about it, particularly in this avenue, would be out of line. Just like your line of questioning. I assure you, the full truth will be revealed, eventually and in the proper format.
 * Zeyn: Why be so secretive about it?
 * Selu: I think this is the part of the interview where you ask me if I prefer caf or tea.
 * Zeyn: Change the subject, eh? Nice dodge.
 * Selu: You could always start this assignment over with a new interviewee.
 * Zeyn: On that note, let's talk about lightsabers. Specifically, yours.
 * Selu: Okay. What do you want to know?
 * Zeyn: When did you make that one?
 * Selu: This saber was made over thirty years ago when I was called to found this refuge. The companion weapon, which has a much shorter blade, is even older.
 * Zeyn: Why two different blades? And two different lengths?
 * Selu: When I was first training with lightsabers, I found that my defensive skills were lacking with just one blade. One of my friends taught me how to use the shorter blade to help block attacks and I stuck with it. It's also easier to shave with.
 * Zeyn: You shave with your lightsabers?
 * Selu: Only when I need to impress gullible relatives . . . and since I don't have any of those, that's not very often.
 * Zeyn: Keep working on the sense of humor, Uncle Selu.
 * Selu: I suppose so. Do you have any more questions?
 * Zeyn: Just a few more. What was your most memorable mission?
 * Selu: It's hard to say. The one event that is the clearest in my mind wasn't so much a mission. It was escaping Coruscant after the Empire slaughtered the Jedi.
 * Zeyn: Pretty tough stuff?
 * Selu: That's a good way of putting it.
 * Zeyn: Do you have a particular Force power you favor?
 * Selu: The one that best suits the occasions, I suppose.
 * Zeyn: Could you be just a bit less enigmatic?
 * Selu: I have a fair amount of talent with telekinesis. Force Camouflage is harder to use but has saved me on more than one occasion. Those two tend to see a lot of use on missions.
 * Zeyn: How about opponents? Who was your toughest opponent?
 * Selu: I've fought many people on many worlds. Imperial soldiers, bounty hunters, crime lords, and even Dark Jedi. But the most tenacious, resilient, and crafty opponent has always been the one I can never escape. Myself.
 * Zeyn: Okay . ..
 * Selu: Trust me, you'll understand some day. Is there anything else.
 * Zeyn: No, that's all. Thanks for your time, Uncle Selu.

Interview ends.