The warm Kelusian sun warmed BJ's cheeks and the wind ruffled his brown hair. It was early yet and he was up making a few extra Imperial credits helping vendors set up shop. He'd be back later that day to help a few of them pack up again.

He had a quick mind and was hoping one of the vendors would ask him to be apprenticed to them. The Force made it easy to pack them up quickly, and it helped that he had ambition. Most saw him as a quick learning street kid and that is the way he preferred it.

Still a steady income wouldn't be amiss.

He loaded a box onto his back, held it in place with his mind and moved forward. Pilcha's earthen wares wouldn't take long and then he'd be on to Hara's leather and Ching's machine shop. All those merchants arrived at different times. Helping was easy.

A few hours later his pockets jingling he walked to the food market with a rumbling stomach. Helping in the markets was the best way to get news. Off worlders came and went. There were surprisingly quite a few as of late.

His belly growled loudly as he spotted an apple. It rocked slightly on the table as a large Imperial Vessel landed in the distance. BJ noted the ship with a nervous glance and then turned back towards the apple.

BJ glanced around to see if anyone would notice, lifted his right hand and the apple shot into it quickly. Feeling a little guilty over his theft of the apple he floated a decicred into its pot and turned away glancing around to make sure no one had seen what he'd done.

As he turned away a man bumped into him. "Oh excuse me!" The man said in an accent BJ couldn't place. BJ started to dismiss him as an Off-Worlder but the man stared at him with such an intensity that BJ felt as if he was being probed.

"It's all right." BJ was more worried that the man had seen his trick with the apple. He started to turn away, the man's eyes burned holes into him. Suddenly he smiled. BJ didn't like the look of his smile. It was predatory.

He was a well-dressed man in a black uniform which generally signified a man of importance within the Imperial government. BJ did not know which part though from any of his insignias.

"I was rather hoping someone would point me in the direction of Di'Bashi's castle. I'm here on important business with him."

"It's there," BJ pointed towards the dark spires in the distance.

"Thank you," the man's smile did not reach his eyes. BJ shuddered looking for a polite way to break the conversation off.

Suddenly the strange man shoved a large bag of coins into BJ's hand, more money than BJ had ever seen in his life.

"My thanks," he said gruffly. Again the eyes studied him as if waiting for something and then with a shrug he turned away.

BJ swallowed hard, a bit shaken over the encounter. The bag disappeared into his pocket and he spied a bag of oranges. Putting the strange man out of his mind he strode over to the rare treat. He couldn't wait to bring them home to his brother and cousins.

There was a military post where clone troopers were stationed on Kelusia. They did mostly keep the peace but the man in charge, one Akeron Di'Bashi certainly didn't mind the illegal activities. While maintaining that he was loyal to the distant Emperor he maintained tight control of his own little Empire on planet Kelusia.

The boys lived in a shanty town outside the main city of Dashed. The shanties were mostly constructed of duraplast and local wood cobbled together to form comfortable little homes. They shared such a home with the Jo'Baks, a family of three that allowed them to stay in one of the rooms.

AJ and Connor hunted in the forests during the day. It was BJ's way of making sure they were out of site most of the time. 

Kelusia did sport some impressive forests and plenty of game. If anyone but Di'Bashi had been in charge the place would probably have been a thriving planet. As it was it was a great place for hiding if you were a Force sensitive. There was plenty of wildlife and if you knew how to hunt and stay away from the law, the odds were good that you were not going to go hungry.

"What have you got this time?" Caohdan asked AJ as they approached the shanty house. BJ was in town and the two older boys had gone hunting. Caohdan stayed with a neighbor and their daughters.

"Two Biktins!" Connor replied, smiling in triumph. AJ held one bird up and Connor the other. Caohdan smiled. "I'll get wood!"

Em, the mother who they stayed with came out and saw their catch. "Will you be needing that cooked, then?" She asked smiling. AJ nodded and both of them handed the birds over.

"Allana go with Caohdan and get some fire wood." Em Ja'bok smiled and sat down to pluck the biktins and prepare it to roast. Like many in the shanty town she was poor but she looked after the boys like they were her own. But she had no idea about their Force abilities. They'd kept that a secret and let her assume that the streets had made them extremely good at hunting. Life for the moment was good for all of them. At least right now they did not go hungry.

Em had one daughter that lived with her. The boys were very fond of her and she them. Her husband Joran Ja'Bok worked in town as a mechanic for small air craft. It was a poor job but better than nothing. He had objected to the boys' presence until they started putting meat on the table. Then he said nothing, continuing to work every day for a few credits and coins, eating the game the boys provided albeit grudgingly. None of the boys trusted him, but he allowed them the roof and that was what they needed.

BJ came in the door just as Caohdan and Allana returned with some firewood. Allana bounced over and hugged him shyly as he was the big brother to her, if not by blood then by situation. He grinned and produced a bag of cabbage and carrots for them. Allana groaned when she saw it. He grinned at her and tossed her the bag, which she caught with a grimace.

"And now for my next trick," BJ said and popped out a bag of apples.

Connor shot up grinning. "BJ, how did you manage that?"
"Rich guy came in, paid a lot of coin for directions today." BJ smiled. "I was in the right place at the right time." He jingled his pocket. "Still some left over."
AJ pointed to Em who was smiling as she plucked the second Biktin. "We didn't do so badly ourselves."

Caohdan grinned and puffed out his chest. "And I was good today." Em smiled at him.

"Yes you were, very good Caohdan!"

That meant that he had managed to conceal his Force abilities. As much as they wanted to tell Em they didn't trust her husband Joran to keep their secret.
There was a price on all Force sensitives. You find one, you let the outposts know. An Inquisitor traveled from the center of the Empire to collect them. Sometimes they just showed up to get you. BJ didn't know how they'd managed to stay hidden so long. He supposed there was some way to sense their presence. But Kelusia wasn't exactly important and was currently just a backwater world which served their purposes just fine at the moment.
AJ was deep in thought. "What is it?" Connor asked him.
"Who was the rich man asking for directions?" Fear colored his voice.
BJ shrugged. "Not sure, not someone official though." He didn't notice me. It went unsaid.

AJ continued to look down and BJ put a hand on his shoulder and whispered, "Dreams again?"

"Yeah..." AJ and Connor both had been having dreams of running into a man. They didn't know who he was and whether or not he was friendly but he always appeared to them in the woods. They knew that the vision came from the Force but were never sure what to do with suspected it was someone they should watch out for and avoid.

"Last night?" BJ asked.

AJ nodded. "BJ, I am not sure who this man is that we keep seeing. But what if he does show up? I don't think there is anything we could do to stop him."

BJ grimaced. "We'll see." He glanced around the home. "Let's go wash up."

The shanty town was dirty and dusty and BJ begged Em off to go have his brothers and cousins wash their hands for dinner. Allana was very busy picking up feathers and discarding them outside in a burn pile. The burning feathers smelled awful and the boys were wrinkling their noses in their hurry to get away from the stench.
Washing their hands usually took them to the creek that ran outside the shanty town and into the forest. It was dangerous for anybody but BJ had once kept a large Feline known as a Madisra at bay with his Force ability. He'd been so afraid someone had seen them he almost took them all into the forest to live. The locals had blamed the mess they'd found there on the rutting season of some extremely large Bovines called Wobegangs that also inhabited the area.

He turned to Caohdan. "We can practice for a few moments if you like, Caohdan."

Caohdan grinned and sat down in front of BJ. These were the moments he loved the most right now. He hated having to hide what he considered the best thing that had ever happened to him. BJ kept him at ease by taking him out under different pretenses so he could learn to control his ability.

He concentrated on a rock as AJ and Connor kept watch.
The rock began to lift easily off the ground. Caohdan grinned, and BJ looked astonished. "Are you sure you haven't been practicing on your own?"

"I have not been practicing!" Caohdan protested. BJ paused for a moment as a strange feeling began to come over him. He felt almost compelled to believe Caohdan. More than that, he wanted to believe it more than anything ...he was almost certain of it in fact.
He snapped out of it. "Hey! That is a mind trick used by Jedi! How did you do that?"
Caohdan stopped for a moment. "I don't know. I just really wanted you to believe that I haven't been practicing."

BJ nodded. He felt a bit disturbed. He wondered how strong Caohdan actually was, to be able to perform such a feat now. It was a trick he'd never tried himself...the rock was still floating in the air as footsteps sounded. "Someone is coming," Connor whispered. The rock clattered to the ground and Allana emerged from the grasses.

"Mom says to hurry." Allana said. "Dinner is finished and there are troops out and about. You don't want to be caught out here after dark."

Di'Bashi didn't necessarily care about the Shanty towns outside of his City but he did maintain a strict curfew for the residents.
All of the kids took off at a run, BJ bringing up the rear to make sure Caohdan kept up. Although he needn't have worried. Caohdan could sprint with the rest of them and BJ was slightly worried that his young cousin was using the Force a little more than he let on.