Chapter 16

The star-lines plunged past the window, like a flurry of burning arrows. Leo didn't know how they had made it, but somehow they had. The ship was in hyperspace, and whatever damage was intended from the fighter's weapon; it had been narrowly avoided.

Dizzying hyperspace light flashed around them sporadically, and Leo looked quietly towards Ranzel.

"That was very close," mused the older man, sending Leo a significant glance.

"Do things like that often happen?" Leo asked, softly. The immediate fear of the fighter had not quite worn off yet. It had been a terrifying few minutes.

"Often enough – this is a war, and sometimes attacks occur at the worst times. But that was different. They didn't seem to be pursuing with the intent of destruction. Neither did the Battlestar destroy the colony, which it could have done easily.

No, I think they had a different motive in mind when they arrived here, and I believe it must have had something to do with your friends in Section E." Ranzel finished, his eyes turned back towards the star streaked display.

"You mean that they were after me? Why didn't the aliens who kidnapped me take me to the Empire?" Leo asked, tensely.

"The Jamafet do not work directly for the Empire, and they are not Bounty Hunters. They're much better at being spies, and it's not in their interests to make themselves known as anything else. It was surprising they even kidnapped you – they tend to be a lot more subtle in their research."

"I see," Leo mused, lowering his head. So he might still come into contact with Bounty Hunters, or even more likely, with the Empire again. It was a terrible burden, to know that the massive star ship, and that horrible black presence was setting about simply to find and capture him.

Ranzel came to his feet and stepped over to turn Leo's seat, purposefully distracting him from his dark thoughts. "Come. We are on the way back to Cantauri now, and it would do you some good to get a little more training in before we arrive."

Repulsorlifts blasting, the Renzucon came down onto the Temple landing bay with a heavy clunk. The engines shut off one by one, and Leo could almost feel the ship relax through the trance. He could sense the Force here more than he had been able to last time – the Temple was alive with it, the whole structure a living source of it.

Within it he could feel the power of the inhabitants; the utter, incomprehensible strength of the Jedi Masters, and the lesser power of the students.

Two Masters stood on the platform outside; Membar and Arakaziel. Membar's Apprentice stood beside him, and a younger student flanked Arakaziel, looking up at the ship in silence. Leo could feel the student's power, and he suspected that he too could be felt. Perhaps there would be a way to block that feeling of power. It might be useful to find out.

Meanwhile, he began to clear away the sleepiness of his mind, rising slowly to his feet. Ranzel appeared through the hatchway as he turned to meet him, fully aware now.

"Come. We are expected."

Nodding, Leo moved forwards, following the retreating Knight through the door, and then down the ramp to the landing bay. Membar stepped forwards.

"Allow me to offer our respect. You had a narrow escape, as I hear it," Membar said, warmly.

Ranzel bowed to the Master, and Leo followed his example. "We did indeed. News still travels faster than light, I see?"

"Yes, it does," Membar replied, turning his eyes towards Leo. "Even the Jedi must have their sources in this dark time."

Leo found himself flinching, and lowered his head again. Membar seemed to have finished speaking, and he left room for Arakaziel to take over.

"This is Tehirehtil. She is a very capable initiate, and I hope she finds herself a capable Knight to train her," he flicked his gaze ever so briefly towards Ranzel.

"She will be my opponent tomorrow?" Leo asked, steadily. After everything that had happened on Pentusar, Leo felt ready for anything. The blonde didn't look like she would be too difficult to beat. Her hair was thin, and she had a confident, but sour look on her face. Her cold, grey eyes studied him as though he was a speck of dirt. Leo was sure it wasn't done on purpose.

"Yes," Arakaziel replied, glancing proudly at Tehirehtil for a moment and then turning his gaze back to Leo. "I suggest you prepare yourself well. She will not be a pushover. When I say she is promising, you must know that I mean it."

Leo realised that perhaps Arakaziel might have noticed how sure of himself he was, and he was intent on smoothing out that flaw. An ego could be a terrible thing. He lowered his head in agreement. "I will do just that - My thanks, Master Arakaziel."

Arakaziel seemed satisfied, and the whole group turned to head inside.

Leo shifted back a step, whirled and caught the attack from the Mandorc before it could land on his undefended back. He stepped forwards, using his weight to press the creature back. It was at twice its original speed still, but now Leo found it much easier to defend himself against the creature. Even this fast, the simulation still seemed slow with the Force guiding him.

Standing to one side, Ranzel watched with interest as Leo bounded back from the creature and then plunged to roll on one side as it threw its axe at him.

The Mandorc ambled forwards and picked up its abandoned axe, glaring at Leo furiously. Unflustered, Leo listened to the Mandorc's approach, and then dodged around it, catching an attack from the beast and shuddering under the force of its blow.

This was his second time this evening. Firstly he'd trained with the Mandorc on low speed, but he'd managed that easily. Even now he was still finding it easy, even with the blindfold ceasing his vision. He had definitely improved since the last time. He dodged around another desperate attack, and with the base of his lightsaber, delivered a blow to the back of the Mandorc's head, sending the stupid, exhausted hologram to its knees.

Ranzel stepped forwards in congratulation, but Leo lifted his lightsaber once more. "Give me something else," he insisted, determinedly. "I know the Mandorc won't fight like a Jedi."

Leo could feel the indecision wafting off Ranzel. The old Knight was afraid that he was pushing himself too hard. But Leo was determined to do this last minute training. When he woke up, he would be thrown into battle with another, unpredictable creature.

He tried to offer some encouragement to the older man. "I'll be fine, Ranzel," he murmured.

"Do not get too big a head, Leonard," Ranzel warned. "I will give you what I feel like giving you."

Turning to the controls, Ranzel thought to himself. He could, he supposed, go that far. It might offer something for Leo to think about. The Terran should learn that if he developed overconfidence, it might have disastrous consequences – and he never should be too sure of his abilities.

He decided on a Sith Apprentice, which would learn from each of Leo's moves, force him to adapt. That after all would be what the Temple Initiate would do. The single difference was that the Initiate ought to be calm, while the anger of the Sith holo would drive it to attack.

"Relax. Focus on the Force," Ranzel advised. "Reach out to it, gently."

Leo took a deep breath and relaxed his body, trying to get somewhat of the trance-like state he had begun to develop. He had learnt quickly, yes, but he had certainly not mastered it – now, with the impending battle, it was even harder to settle his mind and concentrate on the Force flowing through him.

He could, to a degree feel things about him now. He could fix onto the feelings of Ranzel as he stood across from him without too much effort. The older man had come to a decision and he seemed to be busying himself with something. He was four meters away. The mat in the centre of the training hall stretched out to either side of him for two meters to his left, and three to his right, but backwards and forwards it was the same distance, two and a half metres.

What else? He asked himself, in the same way that Arakaziel had; what felt like months ago, before the visit to Pentusar. There was a slight curl in the right corner of the mat. The material had thinned to show through some of the soft silver substance it was made of. Gym equipment surrounded him; balances and poles - and a great climbing frame that circled overhead. The Temple was certainly well kitted out.

Again there was the high ceiling, going above even the complicated climbing frame which stretched at odd angles upward still. And at the very top a ring of lights illuminated the floor below. They felt hot even from here, or perhaps that was the effect of the strain of battle on his body.

The walls were made of the same dark silver rock that the rest of the building was constructed from - seeming almost as though they had grown from the ground. It was almost organic, and Leo could feel - perhaps even see - the flow of the Force through the twisted stonework.

Ah, the training module was before him now. If he concentrated hard enough he could form it into the image of a thin, clear thing before him, but he didn't need to see it to know what he had to do. The Force was helping him now. The module attacked, and Leo dropped the tip of his lightsaber to deflect the blow. The image was strong, fast and intelligent, and it seemed to be using a lightsaber – at least, that was what it sounded like; a clatter of electrical force as the two similar weapons clashed together, sending up sparks.

There was something else, though; the same dark feeling that he had sensed in the presence of the Sith's black fighters, and under the shadow of the Battlestar. It made his skin prickle with cold, although he had been feeling warm enough seconds before. Why had Ranzel pit him against the Dark Side of the Force? The cold crawled around his heart again, and he had to fight it, even as he waited for the next attack.

Leo had to move quickly to catch with the base of his lightsaber a blow from the base of the enemy's. This time Leo was sure it was a lightsaber the other creature was using. He remembered the sound of the clash from when the trainees had been fighting each other for Ranzel to see.

He pushed his attacker away and took a step to his right, turning into the other as he moved. There were differences between them, obviously. The training module was using the Dark Side – his attacks were in anger, powerful and determined in a way that was no doubt in earnest of dissuading Leo, while Leo was in contact with the Force in its purest form. His attacker knew what he was doing, and how to use what he knew, whereas Leo was still learning.

But Leo was on the defence. All he had to do was dodge and block, and the anger in his opponent would exhaust him to a point where he could fight no longer.

The simulation attacked him in a way he hadn't expected it to. It lunged with a death blow towards his head. He twirled his lightsaber up to catch it, and pushed the other back to a predictable distance. So that was the trick was it? The simulation danced away from him, taking up the defensive, testing his control for a weakness it could exploit.

It waited, then faked an attack and then came from him on the reverse thrust, learning all the time from what succeeded, and what Leo only barely managed to avoid.

And all the time, the darkness froze Leo's heart, and he had to fight back the waves of blackness that threatened to consume him. It was a battle on both fronts, and Leo wondered whether all Jedi felt this when they fought.

When the simulation was too exhausted to fight back, Ranzel deactivated it and congratulated Leo, offering him a towel to dry the sweat from his face and leading the tired Padawan back through the Temple until they reached the mess hall. The room was barely larger than the training room, in all reality, but much brighter and less cluttered, thus giving the appearance of space

The walls seemed to glow in areas, and Leo sank down at a table. A few flustered initiates looked over at them and then giggled amongst themselves and flew. Ranzel offered Leo an amused look, and then a cool glass of water.

"How do you feel when you are confronted with the Dark Side of the Force?" Leo asked, after he had caught his breath enough, and the heat had begun to fade from his cheeks.

Ranzel was studying him in detail, the strains in Leo's face as he brought this up. "I feel it as an evil, like you might feel an attack coming your way."

Leo looked at his water silently for a few long moments. Finally he lifted his eyes to Ranzel. "I feel it clutching at my heart. I have to fight it, as much as I fight the attacks themselves," he admitted.

Looking very tense, Ranzel replied, "Then you must fight it…because if you lose the fight with the Dark Side then you will suffer for your failing."

"Will it become easier?" Leo asked, examining Ranzel's expression hopefully.

"It will," Ranzel replied, his eyes fixed on the liquid in his own glass of water. "As you understand it more, you will learn better to fight it."

Leo felt morose in the silence that followed. It felt strange, to have been in such close contact with the Dark Side. It seemed worse still now that Ranzel had explained that what he felt was very different – as though there was no-one to help Leo deal with the problems that now confronted him.

Forcing himself from his sensitivities, Leo nodded and sipped down the rest of his drink. "We should get back to the ship. I'd like a shower, or I'll be too smelly to sleep."

Ranzel nodded, and rose steadily. "It'll have to be a cold shower mind; better to cool your muscles."

Wincing, Leo turned a scowl on the older man, but he could hardly dissolve his logic.

"Fine," he admitted, "A cold shower."