(A/N:So sorry for the massive wait! School and work just got to me and I was under massive pressure to keep up with everything! But here is Chapter 21 at long last. I hope you all like it.)
"And how do you suggest we train the army?" Peter asked.
"Oh, we can train some of your best soldiers to use blasters." Padme said, holding up her own blaster.
"Um, my lady, we only have three blasters if you count the two Mr. Tumnus has. So how can we train our army with only that?" Peter asked.
"Actually, we have more than that, Peter. There's a whole stash of about 20 of them in the weapons room." Edmund said.
Eyeing his brother suspiciously, Peter said "And just how were you able to acquire 20 of these blasters while we were gone, Ed?"
"I didn't acquire them, one of our patrols did. They noticed a few of those so called Stormtroopers in the woods and sprung an ambush on them. Ani was able to help them with his lightsaber skills."
Little Anakin nodded his head in agreement, but Peter still eyed the two boys suspiciously. He looked over at Jaina and Jacen, who were smiling at him. They could sense that Edmund and Anakin were telling them the truth.
"Peter, we should believe them. I can sense they speak the truth." Jacen said.
"If you want, we can send someone to retrieve a few of these blasters for you to see." Edmund said.
Peter rolled his eyes at his brother, but gestured to Oreius to leave the room and retrieve some of the blasters. Oreius smiled as he bowed before the High King, and then left the room.
"I highly recommend some of the archers be trained to use these blasters. They can be trained to fire them from a distance like they do with their arrows." Jaina said.
"Oh what a splendid idea, Lady Jaina. Perhaps your grandmother and I can be the trainers." Mr. Tumnus said.
"I would gladly help train your army. I want the Sith gone just as much as you do." Padme said.
"But what about the rest of the army, how will they be trained?" Edmund asked.
"Oh, my brothers and I can show them some sword skills with our lightsabers. Plus I'm sure Aslan will bless their armor with his magical protection spell just to be safe." Jaina added in.
Smiles grew on the Pevensies' faces. Even thought they knew it would take a tremendous amount of work to defeat the Sith, they knew they had the Solos, their grandparents, and Aslan on their side for help.
"It is settled then. We will start the training sequence for the army immediately. And I will round up some of the archers for blaster training. No more time can be wasted if we want to get this evil out of Narnia forever." Peter said.
Meanwhile, in the Sith Temple
A whole platoon of Stormtroopers was gathered in the large training room, being lectured to by Sidious, Grievous, and Dooku about what they might expect in the battle there were about to undertake. Accompanying them were other alien races, like Rodians, Twi'leks, and Toydarians.
"There are many creatures we must face, many of them we have never heard of before." Dooku spoke up.
"But I wouldn't worry about anything. Those pathetic creatures will be no match for us." Grievous snarled before coughing.
"How is this possible if we have never encountered them? We have no idea how they even fight." a Rodian asked.
"My friend, they do not have the advanced weapons and defenses that we do. They don't even know how to defend themselves from a blaster shot. So taking them out will be no problem." Dooku replied.
"But what about the three Padawans? They are the descendents of Anakin Skywalker; they have great Jedi powers already. They will surely help their friends." the Rodian said.
Sidious stepped forward, sensing that it was now time to reveal his master plan to his troops regarding the Solo children.
"It is true that they have some Jedi powers, but they are just Padawans. They are not that strong in the Force yet. This is why I will lure them over to the dark side so they can take their grandfather's place beside me. Three young apprentices will serve me well in bringing back the Empire."
Everyone fell silent as they took in what Sidious had just said. Now they knew he meant business in regards to overtaking Narnia and recruiting the Solo kids as his Padawans.
"So, my friends, we must begin preparations immediately. I can sense a victory for us. And the Empire will once again reign supreme!" Sidious declared.
Back at Cair Paravel in the training room
The large training room of the castle was now occupied by twenty three of the best archers that Susan had selected, based on her experiences with them. Padme and Mr. Tumnus were also in the room, training them on how to properly fire the blasters.
"Always have two hands on the blaster at all times. That will help with restraint against the kickback." Padme said.
"And remember that distance does not matter when firing these things, your aim is the most important thing." Mr. Tumnus added.
Padme nodded in agreement and pointed to some wood paintings. They were paintings of various creatures like minotaurs, ogres, and harpys. While most of their races had been extinguished in the Battle of Beruna three years earlier, Padme still thought that these wood paintings would be a good way to practice the aiming techniques.
"I want you to fire at the neck, then the shoulder, and then the legs. Those are key weak spots that can easily bring down an enemy."
The arches nodded and raised the blasters up. They squinted their eyes as they aimed the blasters at the neck area of the paintings. Their fingers moved over to the trigger, ready to fire off a shot.
"Good job, good job. Remember, aim is the key here." Padme said as she watched the archers fire their blasters.
"My lady, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to check on the others to see how their training is progressing." Mr. Tumnus said.
"That will be fine, Sir Tumnus. I think our recruits here are doing fabulous with their training."
Mr. Tumnus smiled and walked out of the training room. He wanted to check in with the Pevensies and the Solos to see how they were doing with their practice. And when he walked into the throne room, he was greeted with the sight of the two Pevensies brothers engaged in some fancy swordplay.
"Turn the sword like that to block it! Now raise it up!" Peter was saying.
"What do you think I'm doing?" Edmund replied.
"Easy, you two. Don't get that aggressive until you're actually fighting the battle." Susan said.
"Greetings, your majesties. I assume your practice is going splendid?" Mr. Tumnus asked.
"Oh yes, it's going wonderful. The boys here are doing great, right?" Susan said.
Her brothers rolled their eyes at her, then nodded their heads at Mr. Tumnus. He smiled at the two kings, happy that they were progressing with their practice.
"May I ask where the others are?"
"Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin are in the ballroom practicing their lightsaber skills. Lucy insisted on watching them." Peter said.
"She's been so clingy to people every since we rescued her, especially Jaina." Susan said.
"Why am I not surprised at that?" Edmund asked.
In the ballroom
"And this is how you block a blow from above your head." adult Anakin said, pushing Jacen's lightsaber away with his own.
"That's wonderful! I hope you can do that in the big battle." Lucy replied.
"I will, sweetie. The Force will protect me." Jaina added in.
Lucy giggled a little, still amazed that Jaina was able to remain so calm in the face of danger. Then again, with the impending battle against the Sith, Jaina had no choice but to remain calm as she would help lead the army into the fight.
"Are you three nervous?" Lucy asked.
"Why would we be, Lu?" little Anakin replied.
"Because those mean men are going to attack us with a huge army."
"Lu, we are nervous. But we know that we will be able to take them down and prevent them from ruling Narnia. And Aslan will be there to guide us the whole way." Jacen said.