Disclaimer; I mean no offense to anyone who's taken Jedi as their faith. This is just my take on the subject material. Also, I don't own.
:}
Jade found her emergency bag, with her extra clothes, underwear, and other essentials, and walked back up from the lower floor to the upper. Jade knew the upper floor contained the small bedrooms, spaced around a central multi-use space that worked as a lounge, galley, and emergency sleeping space if they had extra people. 'Once we get Tori and her sister, that's where I'm gonna be sleeping.' Jade told herself.
The second floor also held the cockpit, and a ladder down to engineering, which was on it's own half level behind everything. Jade didn't want to explore, but a part of her needed to know what was where. So she put her bag in the one open room, cramped for one person, but she could see how two people could share. There was what they called a refresher towards the other side. Jade called it a bathroom slash shower slash whatever else space. Then, she walked out to find out what else the Beetle had to offer.
The ship, she's surmised, was called the Beetle because it looked a bit like a beetle when it's lending struts were down. 'I wonder, was that it's original name, or did dad start calling it that after he saw a beetle?' She didn't want to think much about that, she had a ship to explore.
It turned out to be a short trip, finding all the secrets in the Beetle. The lower floor was divided into the holds, for cargo, food, and anything else they'd be hauling, tanks for fuel, and that was about it. Everything the crew would need to deal with was up on the second story. But in engineering she found number one, an android much like number two, working to maintain the ship. "Guessing this job could get kinda lonely sometimes." She said.
"That is a possibility." A voice said behind her. The voice was attached to a smallish humanoid droid with shiny silver colored skin, that reflected the blackish light from her lightsaber brilliantly. "I am Protocol and administration droid designated IVCPO, but my master calls me Four."
"What do you do?" Jade wondered, even as she withdrew her weapon. The droid seemed to be shaking, somehow nervous despite the fact that it was just a machine, and could be repairs if she'd cut it to pieces..
"I'm programmed for all kinds of useful functions, including being familiar with over ten million forms of communications." The silvery droid started. "I'm also programmed to assist as an administrator, and helped the master run his business interests while on that planet. And to answer your question, One and Two busied themselves maintaining that farmhouse and barn, in addition to keeping the ship ready for departure in a moments notice. Had the master but warned us he was coming, we'd have prepared the ship for your arrival and been ready to go as soon as you'd boarded."
"You're master, that would be my father?" Jade asked.
"If you are Lord Gray's child, then yes, he is our master." Four said. "Now, is there anything I can get for you. I've learned how to cook, and feel I make an adequate servant droid."
Jade relaxed, feeling that the force would warn her if this droid tried anything. "Okay then." Her weapon turned off, and was back in it's place on her belt. "I should probably be getting to bed." She started walking towards the lift that was used to get equipment up and down. "Um, Any chance I could maybe check my profile on the Slap?"
"Yes, that can be arranged." Four said. "I'll have to talk with Three, set up the hyper link the master had set up years ago. It should be ready, assuming we can do so, in just a few hours."
"Then I'd better be getting to bed." Jade repeated, looking for how to activate the lift.
"Ma'am, maybe you'd be better suited using the ladder." Four suggested. "The lift is for moving large weights, and you would find it depressingly slow. Why not get the small amount of exercise to climb?"
"Whatever." Jade said as she started up the ladder. Once she was back up on the upper level, she walked to her room, settled in, and found an adapter to charge her phone. 'I probably shouldn't be checking the slap, but I need some kind of normalcy to keep me from going insane. This is all so much, so new. My dad, he trained me, not sure how, but he did, and I'm some kind of force warrior, an apprentice Gray Knight, heading off to who knows where to fight, maybe die, because Vega is a fucking princess. I mean, really? It had to be her? And Trina, she gets to be the heir, have millions of people love her, all because her mom was once a princess, in space, and this just doesn't make sense any more. I need to sleep, but it's just so big..'
Sleep eventually came, mostly because she knew how to calm her mind down and force herself to relax. But in her dreams, she saw them, her friends. The guys were in one cell, and the girls in another, with someone watching them at all times. Her mind reeled at the thought that her friends, especially Cat and Beck, and for whatever reason, Tori, were in danger because some madman wasn't happy with just having Holly Vega exiled.
"They call themselves the Dark Order, and serve a dark-sider calling himself Lord Rend, kinda like Kylo Ren, but not the same." Baron said. Jade was amazed to hear his voice. "Dad would be wazzed if he knew I was telling you this. He wants to keep as much of this from you, us, as possible. But apparently I'm a prophet, and at least in my dreams, I can see whats happening, whats gonna happen, and help guide you to your destiny. Jade, your friends will be just fine, as long as Trina is of value to this man and his father. Know this, our lives will never be the same again. But hay, I always wanted to be special, guessing this makes me that."
"Baron, what do we do now?" Jade asked.
"For now, trust in dad." The younger boy said. "But know that your heart will both betray you, and show you the way. It's gonna hurt before it feels better. Until then, rescue Cat, okay. I always liked her."
"I'll save her." Jade said. "I'll save them all, I swear. I'll save them or die trying."
"Then save them, cause I don't wanna lose you either." Baron said, smiling at his sister. "You've suffered so much, and while the physical training of a Sith is harder, the emotional damage to you is about as bad. Plus, my god, your power..."
"Why does everyone say I have so much power?" Jade wondered.
"Think about this, you haven't reached your potential yet, and your already so strong." Baron said. "Now, pleasant dreams. You'll need your strength for whats to come. Just, if you succeed and save them, I do kinda see a happy ending for you. Just, it'll kinda hurt."
Jade woke the next day feeling less then thrilled about her brothers visit in her dreams. 'He spoke to me in my dreams. Whats up with that?' Jade stretched and pulled herself out of bed, cleaning up and choosing an outfit for comfort over appearance.
Walking out of her room, she spotted the protocol droid finishing making something for them to eat. "Good morning Four." She called out.
"Actually, by standard time, it's late in the afternoon." Four replied. "However, due to the fact that planets often have their own time frames, I quite understand why you'd think differently."
"I see your trying to lose a limb." Malcolm said as he walked out of his room. "How long until breakfast?"
"Your meals are almost ready." The droid said. "I also prepared the secondary hold for your practice sessions. Will I need to prepare anything else?"
"No, Jade's red lightsaber has a training mode, and I can lend her one I had for my first apprentice." The self styled Lord Grey said. "Jade, after we eat, we start training. While I've been satisfied with your power, your skills still have a way to go. We'll be spending most of the day working on those skills. Gary will join us for some of the day, but I asked him to familiarize himself with our technology first. I expect he'll have a lot of questions tonight at dinner."
Jade settled down and started eating the surprisingly flavorful dish she'd been given. "So, how long we gonna be training" She asked.
"We only have a few days." Her father said. "I hope to overtake the ship carrying them, cause even a start destroyer is easier to attack then whatever base they may be planning on holding them in. Also, if we catch them before they get wherever they're going, we can save Tori, and the others. I know, you value them a lot more then I do, but even I admit it'd be hard on the princess if her friends all died while she was rescued."
"Good morning." Gary said as he emerged from his room.
"I was just explaining to Lady Jade that while to your perspective..." Four began.
"Just serve the damn food." Malcolm cut the droid off.
"Four was telling me that One and Two did a lot of maintenance at the farmstead." Jade commented.
"Waste of time, if you ask me." The Grey Knight spat. "But the droids needed to keep busy, and maintaining the place did give it the illusion that someone lived there. However, Jade, you have other things to be thinking about."
"I saw them." Jade said. "Last night, as I slept, I saw them, being held captive, and I didn't just dream it."
"Baron told me." Her father said. "Oh, yea, he can walk the dreamscapes, a much safer way of checking up on people, cause the other force users rarely can do that. I've had him teaching you how, but it's an iffy proposition. Luckily, you have the talent, cause otherwise it'd be impossible, like it is for me. But you, you don't have to risk being seen to use clairvoyance to see your friends, just be asleep, and have someone near them also sleeping."
"You spoke to Baron?" Jade asked. "Of course you did. He's your snitch, isn't he?"
"The spirit who helped me train you also walks the Dreamscapes, so it's not that new to me, but for him to know how, for him to be able to draw people out, into his created reality, that's impressive." Her father said. "Now, I should warn you, I used the Dreamscape to train you, teach you about the force, using your abilities, everything I could. So now, of course, now that your unbound, you're gonna start to remember more and more as you walk the dreams. But unlike your brother, you will have to will it, not just let the force take you where it needs to. But you will learn how to look into the future, into the past, and see what may yet be. That's the big problem with being a prophet, the future is still unwritten, and all you get are strong emotions and moments that will happen regardless of your intent. Then, you find that knowing the future changes things, just a little. Better to be ready, however, cause once you kinda know whats gonna go down, it's so much easier to change things, move around those big moments. So, you have a wonderful gift, just not the potential in that one area that Baron does."
"I'm still adjusting." Gary admitted. "I mean, Holly spoke about this stuff, what Grey here could do, but to have it explained, shown, it's amazing. I really wanna watch her work with a training drone."
"She should be far beyond any drone." Malcolm said. "No, from this moment on, she trains with me. I'll just need to confirm that we're on course, and then we begin. Also, Jade, we'll be dropping out of hyper for a few minutes today, because while the ship can handle weeks inside, people don't always like it in hyper space. Everything looks weird. I'm hoping we've overtaken the ship that has Princess Trina and the others, so we can mount a rescue as soon as possible."
They finished eating, and Jade followed her father down to a secondary hold that had been transformed into a training room. It was small, about twenty feet per side, but felt like it was beyond what they'd need for their practice. Following her fathers lead, she set her blade to training, and was given a second training lightsaber. She noted how the second blade was like her red blade, similar in size and weight. Then, with a lightsaber in either hand, she started circling her father, looking for an advantage.
After fifteen minutes, the difference in skills was starting to show. Malcolm was a master, knowledgeable in every aspect of how to use the lightsabers. Jade was quick, young and fast and powerful, but her speed advantage vanished with his ability to channel the force, thus regaining the strength and speed he had in his prime. Further, he'd trained Jade, knew all her tricks. Jade found herself constantly on the defensive, countering his blink and you miss it attacks before she felt the stink from the training blade.
After two hours, Jade wondered how her father was able to keep fighting. She could feel the fatigue in her body slowing her down. Every strike he threw at her was full force, often bouncing off the walls to get a better angle of attack, or to acquire power for the blow he hoped to land. Jade found herself barely stopping more and more attacks, driven to her knees more then once. It was starting to be painful.
They broke for lunch just after four hours of fighting. Jade was amazed she could even move as she walked out to the stairs, looking up the narrow passage, wondering if her feet would carry her up. Slowly she made herself take each step, ascending with a mix of grunts and moans. Finally, she emerged on the upper level. "I should make you go back and train some more, after the performance you gave today." Her farther sneered.
"I'm sorry." Jade blurted. "Wait, no apologies. I will strive to do better." She almost collapsed. "So, how bad was I?"
"You've lost a step." Malcolm said. "Not as bad as I feared, but still, I had hoped you'd flow more, instead of trying to force everything to do what you wanted. Let your mind work with the force, let it flow through you. You guide it, but don't make it do what you want it to. That's why your so tired right now. Me, I let it flow, and so I'm not nearly as winded. That, and I knew enough to deflect the incoming energy that goes with your physical attack."
Jade nodded, struggling to get to her chair, and the food that tempted her just beyond. Malcolm moved as if he was going to take her meal, but instead helped her into the seat. "Even a Sith knows you have to feed your apprentice for them to heal, or fight, or help you in any way."
"Thanks." Jade mumbled.
"Also, we need to work on the ways of the Jedi." Her father continued. "As squeamish as you are about shedding blood, you fight with a lot of rage. Anger gives you temporary power, but it burns out quickly. Instead, learn to fight with a calm, and use the rage, the fear, whatever emotion you're riding as your reserve. That burst of power that comes from the rage may be useful in winning a battle, but only after you've tried other things and found yourself in need of the extra push."
Jade nodded, listening to his words. "We're gonna now learn how to recover." Her father said. "Let the energy of the universe flow through you, touching the parts of your body that ache and hurt. Let that energy sooth you, even as I explain the difference between fighting a force user and a non-force user."
"Jade, the thing that you never knew, that I didn't bother to teach you, is that a lightsaber dual is a lot more then just a physical battle. We use the force to guide and enhance our blows, so the power of our arms is not the limit of how hard we strike." The old knight smiled. "Each stroke they use, every one you throw, will also project an energy from you, a mix of your emotions, and your intent. If your raging, you won't feel it as much, while it'll be like a hammer blow against someone trying to remain calm. But another rager will feed of that rage, growing more lost in their own emotions even as they try to cut you down. That energy will help defeat your opponent, or it'll be what cuts you down. I'm not holding back on all I've learned about the metaphysical aspects of dueling, and will be using all if it against you. You need to know how to hold your calm, flow the energy, and use your will to deflect and redirect the energy leaking from your opponent."
Her father reached out, taking her hand. "Now, I'm gonna flow a little bit of the force, colored by my will, to your hand. I need you to feel it." Jade could feel the tingling along her hand. "Now, I want you to direct that energy into yourself, to where you hurt, where the body is bruised, damaged, and let it heal you. As you do, you will both learn how to redirect, and repurpose energy, and you will heal a bit more. I'm not gonna go easy on you, so take this lesson to heart."
"Is this something she can do with any energy?" Gary asked.
"We can disperse energy, assuming we know it's coming, and can react." Malcolm said. "I've caught blaster bolts in the past. And while it is possible to use the fire from a plasma gun to heal someone, it's far easier to redirect that heat away, or to use the force to make the bolt from an electro-beem to flow through you and back out your body. Like energy is far easier to repurpose. I gave her raw force energy, not typed, not formed into anything beyond just a tinge on her hand, and let her do the healing. On the plus side, she seems to have a knack for healing, a useful trait."
"Thanks, dad." Jade said, feeling a strange connectedness to him for the first time in memory.
Malcolm lectured for a good three hours, letting Jade recover her lost strength, as well as helping her learn new ways she could use her powers. Then, as if they hadn't learned enough, he had Jade take Gary down to the central hall of the holds, and do target practice. "I've set up running shields inside the ship, more of a precaution, but it'll keep us from doing too much damage. Jade, the game is like this. I've set up some projected image from a training drone. Gary will try to shoot the ones behind you. He gets a point for every one he hits. You get a point for every image behind him you hit. First one to twenty one wins. Just, you'll need to redirect the bolts he fires back to hit the images, and try to avoid hitting him. I've reduced the power, but not the kick, of his weapon to that of a training drone. No one is gonna die, just feel a little stung."
Jade found the exercise far easier then she had that mornings battle, and quickly started getting bored. She spiced it up a bit, choosing which of the targets to take out, letting one or more stay around, even letting Gary hit a few targets, get ahead, only to catch up. "Jade, quit playing around." Her father scolded her. "I know this is easy for you. Let me make it a bit harder."
Jade found herself facing a repeating blaster, custom made to have a stun setting, and the flow of shots heading down rage were no loner aimed past her, but at her. She moved, flipping her lightsaber around with unearthly speed, trying to both let go, allow the force to guide her, and power the blade into the path of the incoming shots. In the end, she managed to stay conscious for almost four minutes.
"Next time, we'll add in protecting the targets behind you." Lord Grey, her father, said.
:}
Okay, how'd you like part one of her training? So thrilling, right? But this is where she learns a great deal about her father, as well as the ways of the force. Also, how imaginative is the man, naming his droids number in order of their acquisition?
Comments? You know what to do. Review.