— see intro —
Awakened bright and early, Braw Neck sat on the bed before spontaneously rubbing his eyes. Once his sight sharpened, at last he could look around, seeming to subconsciously make sure that he was alone, with no one lurking in the dark corners waiting to assault him as soon as he woke up.
Braw Neck went closer to the mirror secured to one of the clay walls of his hut. As he watched his reflection, he realized not shaving over the last three days, so he subsequently reached for a razor lying on a provisional vanity to the left of the mirror and slightly pressed the blade to the chin in order to eradicate the unwanted hairs.
The man was close to cutting himself the moment he suddenly heard a knock on the door. He nevertheless devoted an extra dozen of seconds to nurturing the mustache, which he had already had enough time to get used to, before he peeked through the peephole. As soon as he satisfied himself there was no danger awaiting outside, he opened the door so the elder woman waiting out there could go in.
To his surprise, she did not behave as calmly as usual.
"Master Neck! Us are under attack. All village burns!", she lamented.
Braw pursed his lips uncertainly. One way or another, he did not expect to hear such news before he could have breakfast.
"By who?", he asked, sticking his palm to the face.
Braw Neck, now a graying man with a characteristic mustache under the nose, was a Clone Wars General whose loyalty was to the Republic to the final days of is existence. Assisting the village in repulsing an attack by local thieves should therefore naturally pose no difficulties.
"Imperials!", said the woman. "Ya has to help us, ya's Jedi!"
It was not what the man anticipated. He had not heard of the Empire ever since the day he attained Kashmarr'k to settle down there for good. How to respond to the frightened lady?
"A Jedi", he corrected the newcomer and took a few steps forth so that he walked past her within a moment, while she was looking at him in confusion. "It's a noun, not an adjective."
The guest continued to stare at him the same strange way. Since he did not know how then to behave, his only chance was to stall for time.
"Anyway, you were not to tell anyone I'm a Jedi", he reminded to the woman like in an attempt to rouse her remorse.
"And noman knows!", the villager assured him. "But ya can make Imperials run away! Let ya use his sword!"
The Jedi did not expect the dialogue to assume such a form. The thing he least dreamed of in exile was using the lightsaber. It would certainly put him in trouble, and first of all, expose him.
Beyond that, there was something else. Neck kept in mind that the clones were still in general use by the Empire. In the Clone Wars, he met so many of them that venturing a confrontation with any squad, even incognito, would entail too much potential risk.
"If I use the lightsaber, I'll expose myself to them", he remarked before sitting down on a footstool and resting his forehead on the palms. "I showed you the Force, Gienna, so you could believe it. Do you think I picked up the least known place in the galaxy just to be traced like this? Just to be killed like this?"
The woman remained apathetic.
"Dammit, you got me", said the Jedi. "I'll do something to distract them so you guys could meantime escape. Looks like I'm screwed no matter what."
Gienna went out, and Braw Neck observed the door closing behind her. Then, he leaned over a drawer embedded in a wooden cabinet and opened it, so he could shortly see a dusted, rusty lightsaber inside.
"Hello, my old friend", he whispered to himself while wiping off the dust with his fingertips.