The New Jedi Knights: Fate of the Force

Chapter 6: The Ascension to Knighthood

By MagicMansion

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, Luke Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker, Yoda, or Obi-Wan. My characters are Jarrod, Josh, Kyle, Victor, Shawn, Mary, Abby, and Rebecca.

Luke awoke early the next morning, and looked outside. Coruscant's sun hadn't yet risen, but something had awoken him. He heard a noise, and grabbed his lightsaber. He couldn't be too careful; he had once had someone attack him at the door of the Jedi Temple, and he hadn't had his lightsaber then. Now he took it with everywhere.

"Who is it?"

"Master Skywalker, it's us," Josh said.

"Oh." Luke hit a button, and the door opened to reveal his Padawans. "What are you all doing here so early?"

They walked in and the door shut.

"We wanted to start our training early, so we can get finished early," Shawn said.

"Well," Luke told them. "This isn't going to be a one day training exercise. It'll take all week to train all of you. But if you want to start early, we can do that."

He led them to the room next to the room that contained the Adegan crystals. He handed each of them a practice lightsaber. They were all blue, which Luke figured he might make the standard color for Padawans.

"These are practice sabers. They are the same weight and length of a regular lightsaber, and are activated the same way. They are solid, just as your practice sabers were on Earth, but they can do no harm to you except give you a tiny shock when it hits you. This will give a sense of where you are missing your movements, and where you need to block more. The Force and your body will begin to guide you as you are hit more often in some spots, and soon you will be blocking and attacking on your own instincts. As Qui-Gon Jinn said, 'feel, don't think- use your instincts'. That is my philosophy as well. If you can use the Force using a different philosophy, I will not discourage it."

"Yes Master," they all said.

"Now, let's get some duels going. I don't think I need to teach you anything more, you will teach yourselves where you are strong and where you are weak. I will tell you when you are ready for the trials."

"Yes Master," they said.

"Now, let us get to the arenas. Victor, could you stay for a second?"

Everyone headed off in the direction Luke told them too, but Victor stayed.

"Victor, when I first started training you, to see your initial abilities, you used a double sided saber. I sense your abilities in the use of a double lightsaber; therefore, I will allow you to continue training with one. Your practice saber is a double."

"Thank you Master."

"Let's catch up with the rest of your classmates."

Luke and Victor caught up with the rest of the group, and Luke entered a small room with them.

"Okay everyone. As you can see, there are three doors, one on each wall of this room. They each lead to a large arena for lightsaber practice. Now, to improve some of your skills, I'll be changing your match-ups around every day. Now, in the arena through the left door, I want Kyle and Mary; in the right arena, Shawn and Jarrod; the center arena will be Rebecca, Josh, and Victor. I'll be walking around between the arenas to check on you, and, no messing around like hitting each other on purpose, because a series of shocks in the same area may cause you to lose the feeling in that area. Now, to your arenas please."

The three groups split up and went to their arena. Luke stayed in the room, and listened. He soon heard the clash of the practice sabers in each arena. After a few minutes, he heard some shouts like ow, ouch, and that hurt. He smiled. At least they would learn from the shocks. Finally, Obi-Wan showed up, as Luke had expected him to.

"Luke, Qui-Gon never got into the Jedi Council with his philosophy you know."

"I know Ben, but this is the new Jedi Order. I know how the old Council thought, but the new Council is going to be different in ways. Besides, I have no preference in how my Padawans think, as long as they remain true to the Force."

"I understand Luke. But, be careful with your Padawans, and watch them carefully. Try to pick up hints on distractions, thoughts, and actions. Their use of the Force and performance in duels will tell you many things. Do not forget, actions speak louder than words."

"I know Ben."

Both bowed, and Obi-Wan disappeared. Luke went into the room where Kyle and Mary were dueling. They did not switch their attention to him; they were caught up in their duel and by the look of things, Mary seemed to be getting much better with her use of a lightsaber. Luke watched as the two attacked and blocked, rolled to the side, dodged attacks, and jumped around using the Force.

Luke left them after about 10 minutes, and went to check on Jarrod and Shawn. They were doing just as well as Kyle and Mary, although it seemed to Luke that Shawn had a bit more shock marks on his clothing. He would keep an eye on Shawn, in case he needed a little more training before stepping into an actual duel.

Finally, he got to the room where Josh and Rebecca were dueling Victor. Or, that's what he had thought they would be doing. It turned out that Victor had a lot of marks on him, mostly from Josh's saber. So, Rebecca and Victor were now dueling Josh; and Luke thought he wasn't doing a bad job for taking on three saber blades at once. In fact, he hardly had any marks on him.

After almost five hours of training, Luke called his Padawans to the center room. They all went to a restaurant in the city, and Luke requested a private room. They ordered their food, and then Luke closed the door.

"Well, my Padawans, you are all becoming very accomplished with your skills. Now, what I must say is that we are only practicing for now, but be aware that in a real duel, you could possibly get hurt. Not just by a lightsaber mind you, but by physical attacks and the use of the Force as well. Your opponent will not hesitate to kick, punch, or grab you. The use of the Force is a powerful ally as well. Attacks using the Force include throws, disarmaments, and throwing of objects at opponents. I am having some droids install platforms, walls, and light, harmless objects that can be thrown around into the arenas. Use these to practice as well, because it would not be an overstatement to say a Sith would use the same tactics."

"Yes Master."

The Jedi ate their meal in peace, talking about their morning practice. Luke listened carefully to hear of their strengths and weaknesses, so he could train them more in those areas. He took them back to Jedi Temple after their meal, and they quickly and eagerly went back to practice.

By the end of the week, Luke was satisfied in his Padawans. They had learned to use their abilities to the maximum. Their Force powers were increasing so they could lift heavier objects, their lightsaber skills had increased, and their overall endurance had increased, allowing them to do practice sessions for up to nearly five hours without stopping. The last two days had been definite proof of this.

During the last two days, Luke decided to keep his Padawans together. He matched two of them up at a time, and instructed them to have duels that lasted until the first lightsaber hit a body. He was not surprised when the shortest match over these two days was an hour and a half long. The longest two were no surprise either: the longest had been between Jarrod and Josh, for a total of four hours, and Jarrod and Victor had been for three hours. The rest of the duels were about two or two and a half hours. The girls had considerably improved as well with their use of the lightsabers, and it seemed to Luke that everyone was on a level playing field now.

On the eighth day of training, Luke set up the trials, and one at a time, his Padawans entered them. The rest sat around talking, since they could not watch in order to see what the trials were like.

Luke felt the trials were set up fine. They consisted of a long hallway, with lasers shooting from random spots to test reactions and blocking. The next area was a set of old Imperial storm troopers that had been modified as to not kill their targets. The object in this area was to defeat all 25 of them that were sent out. Then, a giant room came up next, with gaps, holes, and movable bridges. This area was designed to test the Padawans' Force powers. In the final room, the Padawans would duel Luke with a practice saber. He would not hold back either, nor would they have to defeat him, but merely last a set time limit against him.

Jarrod went first, and not to Luke's surprise, Jarrod made it through everything with no problem. Josh came through after Jarrod's test was over, and he had no problem either. Like his cousin though, he managed to defeat Luke instead of lasting the set time limit of a half-hour.

Kyle came through next, and he had no problems except a near miss of jumping a long gap. He managed to use his grappling line to catch an outcropping, and used the Force to swing up.

After Kyle was Victor, who used his advantageous double saber wonderfully. Luke couldn't help but smile as Victor went through continuous movements to deflect the shots fired at him. He was especially surprised when Victor's double saber never touched a single storm trooper, but merely deflected every shot back at its shooter. Luke had extreme difficulty holding Victor back during their duel; he had never dueled an opponent with a double saber, but Luke did manage to keep himself "alive", although Victor did most of the attacking.

Mary came in next, and, although her lightsaber skills had improved significantly, she still preferred using her Force powers against the storm troopers and in the duel against Luke. He had no problem with this, since it did help her pass.

Rebecca was next, and she was very much like Mary in the use of the Force over that of her lightsaber. She passed as well.

Finally, Shawn, the last of them, went through. He had no problem with deflecting shots, or taking down the storm troopers. He made it through the Force room just fine, but, with a minute left in the duel with Luke, he threw a round, metal ball at Luke. Luke jumped up, and kicked off of it with one foot. He flipped over Shawn, who wasn't exactly ready. Shawn turned, and attacked Luke, but Luke landed and rolled out of the way, striking Shawn's side.

"I'm very sorry Shawn. I can't give you the title of a Jedi Knight until you pass the trials."

Luke and his Padawans were sitting in a room after the final trial.

"I understand Master," Shawn said.

"Don't worry about it sweetie," Rebecca said. "You'll pass next time."

Luke nodded. "You can take the trial again next week. Until then, I will allow you to go into battle like the rest of your classmates, but you will have to stay with me, since you are still my Padawan."

Shawn bowed. "I understand Master."

"Okay. Now, tomorrow, we will have the ceremony in the city to announce you as Jedi Knights. Shawn, you will be allowed to be seated with your classmates, but I just won't be able to announce your knighthood."

"It's ok Master. I think I'll just train some more, if that's ok."

"That'll be fine. So, everyone, get up early tomorrow please. If you're late, then you have to take the trials over again. A Jedi Knight can never be late for anything, only on time."

"Yes Master," they all said.

The next morning, Luke took his new Jedi Knights to a large gathering area in the middle of the city. Shawn stayed behind to practice, and Obi-Wan had offered to watch, so he could tell Shawn if he was doing anything wrong.

Yoda appeared at the gathering, and announced each Padawan to be a Knight as they stood up. There were some practice duels to show the crowd the Knights' skills, and then the Knights were allowed to pick from the Adegan crystals Luke had brought from the Jedi Temple. Victor stepped up first, and picked out two of the darkest crystals. He inserted them into his lightsaber, and ignited it. Two black saber blades extended from each side. Kyle stepped up next to receive his, and he chose a green crystal, which produced a green blade. Josh chose a deep red crystal, which Luke felt was a little frightening, but Josh's lightsaber was not red as most Sith lightsabers, but a shiny crimson color. Jarrod stepped up, and he picked the last remaining black crystal. Mary stepped up to get her crystal, she chose a blue crystal. Rebecca was the final one to step up, and she chose a glimmering gold crystal, which produced the same colored blade.

Luke sent them off to the Jedi Temple, and had a word with Shawn's parents about him just barely failing the trials. Luke explained that he was sure Shawn would be a Jedi Knight by next week.

Luke went back to the Jedi Temple afterward, but just as he had gotten to the door, his comlink went off.

"Yes?"

"Master Skywalker, we have reports of an attack near your section of the city. Have you heard anything?"

"No. I'll be sure to check it out though. Thanks."

Luke ran inside quickly. "Shawn."

The Padawan came quickly down the hall. Luke tossed him a lightsaber and told him to choose a crystal from the many in the room. He asked what Beckie had chosen, and then decided on a silver crystal. Then Luke hurried him along, and they left the temple.

They rushed down through the city, and heard screaming from a street.

"Ok Shawn, I know you failed your trials, but you are still a Padawan, and that's just as good."

The two ignited their sabers, and people moved aside.

A man stood in the middle of a crowd, firing lasers at an already broken window on one of the buildings.

"Hey!"

The man looked at them, and fired two shots at each of them, which they deflected safely into the ground. The man took off running, and the two deactivated their sabers.

"Master, I'm going to try and cut him off."

"Go."

Shawn turned, and Luke kept the pursuit going. He followed the man, lightsaber in hand. The man fired two shots at Luke, but Luke activated his lightsaber and deflected them. More people screamed and ran.

The man continued running, and finally took a left turn. As quickly as he had turned the corner, he flew back, and landed on his back in the street. His blaster flew up, and Shawn jumped over the man to catch it.

"Nicely done my Padawan."

Luke took the blaster from Shawn, and then picked the man up.

"What exactly were you doing there buddy?"

"The guy I was shooting at owed me money from a game."

"Well, you couldn't settle it without a blaster?"

"He's owed me the money for nearly a week."

"That means nothing," Luke said. "You're under arrest for public disturbance by the Jedi Order."

"Jedi Order? Jedi Order?" He laughed. "You Jedi. Think you're so powerful with your force and lightsabers. My grandfather was alive during the Clone Wars, and he lived right near the temple. He said the Jedi were completely annihilated by those clones and Darth Vader."

Luke lost control of his emotions. "Darth Vader is dead!" he yelled, lifting the man up. "Anakin Skywalker took his place just before dying, and he was a good man."

"Please, my grandfather said Anakin Skywalker was always evil. He had been ever since he was born."

Luke tightened his grip around the man's neck. "Anakin Skywalker is my father! He was a good man, and Lord Sidious messed with his mind to take control of him. He was never on the Dark Side, he was being controlled!"

"Master Skywalker," Shawn said. "Please calm down. He doesn't know what he's talking about. Anakin was just as good of a Jedi as Obi-Wan was. And he would not want you to take this man's life because of his mistakes."

Luke relaxed, and let the man down. Shawn was right. If Luke let this guy get to his mind, he would turn to the Dark Side, and would be worse than his father was. He would go to the Dark Side under his own power instead of being controlled.

Shawn took the man to the jail while Luke went back to the Jedi Temple. He went to his room immediately after saying hi to the rest of the knights.

"Luke," a voice said.

"Who's there," he said, sitting up quick.

A spirit appeared before him, and he couldn't believe it. His father's spirit, who he hadn't seen since the celebration after destroying the second Death Star, was standing in his quarters.

"Father."

Anakin nodded. "Luke, I saw what you did today. I can't say I'm proud of it. I don't want you making the same mistakes as I did."

"I know father. I just lost control of my emotions because of what he said."

"About me? Speaking the truth was never a crime Luke. You and I both know it is the truth; what I did during the time of the Empire happened."

"But, why do people have to talk about you like that? You were a good man before Palpatine took control of you."

"Yes, but Palpatine was the reason I changed. I should've listened to Obi-Wan when he told me not to trust Palpatine. If I had listened to him, you and I would be fighting alongside each other right now, most likely against the Separatists. There is a good and bad side to every event Luke. Me becoming Darth Vader, well, obviously I turned to the Dark Side, but the good side of it is you do not have to fight the Clone Wars. Trust me; you would not have wanted to fight in the Clone Wars."

They both smiled.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, you'll need some sleep for tomorrow. I sense a battle coming up."

"Yes father." The two bowed to each other, and Anakin disappeared.

Well, I really hope you liked this chapter. I'm definitely enjoying writing this story. Review if you read please.