Introduction 

Qui-Gon Jinn

It is late afternoon in Mos Espa, fiercely hot under the glare of the twin suns.  The locals are a rough bunch, and the star pilots who hang about in clusters near the hangars and cantinas are no better.  It is, you decide, probably advisable to keep to yourself and go quickly about your business.

But then you see a man leaning alone against a building in the shade, and your eye lingers there, trying to puzzle out who he is and what his business might be.  He is alert but at ease, his simple dress belied by what you immediately sense to be a great and yet gentle strength.  As though he felt your gaze upon him, he glances toward you, meeting your eye, and smiles faintly.  You smile back and make your way toward him across the small plaza, comforted to see such a friendly face, an oasis in the alien desert that is Tatooine.

"Hello," he says, his voice warmly accented.  He is a tall man, very tall, and broad-shouldered, but his bulk is somehow comforting, even to a stranger.  And he has an aura about him...

You figure it out, then.  That cylinder of metal and plastic at his side - he's trying to conceal it under the sleeves of his tunic, but you suddenly recognize it - is a lightsabre...

"You're a Jedi," you breathe, in awe and wonder.

He studies you for a moment, his expression unchanging, and finally smiles just a little again, "I don't seem to be able to keep that particular secret today."

"I'm sorry," you start, but he interrupts.

Softly, "no, you said nothing wrong."

You introduce yourself, and he bows his head slightly and gives his own name, "Qui-Gon Jinn.  You don't look like a local," he observes.

"I'm not," you admit.  "Neither are you, obviously."

"No...," he pauses thoughtfully, "and I will be going soon, I hope; I have duties elsewhere."

A Toydarian emerges from a nearby structure, a peculiar blue bumblebee of an entity, hovering a couple feet off the ground.  He is carrying a small boxlike power source.  "Last one!," he addresses the Jedi, "It fell behind the power droids; that boy can't even keep my stock in order, ehhh.  And no credits," he sneers, "no credits, I told you.  And just because we have a deal doesn't mean you get things free!"

Qui-Gon nods, and pulls an elegant palm-sized hologenerator from a pouch on his belt.  "Here, my friend, this is worth more than the value of that little unit.  Will you take it in barter?"

The blue creature takes it, only glancing at it briefly, "Yeees, that will do."  He nods curtly and floats back inside, one useless leg scratching the other.

The tall man turns back to you.  "It's been nice speaking with you," he says, his gray-blue eyes regarding you kindly.  He obviously has to be on his way, and you suddenly wish your encounter had not been so brief, because you have the overwhelming sense that he is someone well worth knowing.  He bends down to collect a sand-colored poncho at his feet.

"May the force be with you," you blurt suddenly.

He straightens, looking surprised, and replies earnestly, "Thank you.  And with you."

And then he is gone.