The New Jedi Knights 2: Threat to the Jedi Order

Chapter 2: Assignment of Padawans

By MagicMansion

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or Luke Skywalker. My characters are Jarrod, Josh, Kyle, Victor, Shawn, Mary, Abby, Rebecca, and all of the Padawans.


Luke went back to the Jedi Temple after his meeting with the Chancellor. He couldn't believe the Chancellor would ask for a Jedi on the Council, again. This had been his third request. It was bad enough Luke had to give him clones for security, but now he wanted a Jedi? It was ridiculous.

"Master Skywalker," a youngling, about 7, said as she walked up to him.

Luke shook off his anger and bent down. "Yes young one?"

"Mary said her friends are waiting in the training room for you."

"What for?" Luke thought for a second. "Oh, the Padawans, of course. Thank you youngling. You can go back to Mary now."

The youngling bowed and left. Luke headed for the training room quickly, and he couldn't believe he was late for this. He hoped he could get one of his Knights to the rank of Master soon, so he wouldn't have to do all of the work around the Temple. He bumped into R2 as he ran for the training room. The little droid beeped at him.

"I know R2. I'm heading there now."

The droid beeped again.

"I will next time, ok?"

The droid and Luke headed their separate ways. Luke finally got to the training room, where all of the Padawans were waiting with the Jedi Knights, except for Mary.

"Okay, I'm here everyone. Sorry I'm late; my meeting with the Chancellor didn't go particularly well."

Luke looked around the room to be sure everyone was there. All of his Jedi Knights were there of course, save for Mary, who would continue training the younglings. Then Luke looked down the row of Padawans.

The first Padawan was Mitch. 18 years old, Mitch had begun his training just two years ago, but was quite skilled. His lightsaber techniques would need some work, but his strikes were powerful. Luke worried that his strength might get him into trouble someday.

The girl next to him was 16. Her name was Elisha, and she was very quick. When she had begun training, she had problems deflecting lasers, but she found she could quickly move out of the way instead. Luke had no problem with this, since she seemed to be able to get close to the source of laser fire quickly.

The next girl was Tiama. Although she was only 14, she was quite keen with her ability to control the Force. She often lifted objects easily that even the Knights had difficulties with. Luke figured he would take her as his own Padawan and work on her lightsaber skills.

Zener was the next Padawan. He was 17, and had average skill in everything. The only thing that Luke could really see in the boy was his intelligence. The kid had a knack for strategy in battle, although Luke wasn't really sure how it would help him if he got into a lightsaber duel.

The next Padawan was a 15 year old girl, Tara. She wasn't quite as skilled as the other Padawans, in fact her skills were a little less than average. However, after meditating for a few minutes, her skills were considerably better. After meditation, she was in fact quite dangerous to an enemy. Luke often worried she would get into a lightsaber duel and not have time to meditate, leaving her well open to skilled attacks.

The next two Padawans were twins, both 16. Cody was the first, and he was on an average skill level on everything. His only advantage was that he could wield two lightsabers. His twin, Cory, had lightning fast reflexes, and could predict just about every movement of an opponent. His only disadvantage was that he often became impatient being on the defensive.

Next in line was Eric, Shawn's younger brother. Eric was 18, and had a full four years of training under him, the most of any of the Padawans. He still needed some work with lightsaber duels, and had decent control of the Force. However, his strength was using mind tricks. Eric had managed to not only manipulate weak minds, but smarter people as well. Luke's only concern was that Eric was not always serious about the matter at hand. He often fooled around with his mind manipulation, asking clones to do things that were for simple entertainment.

Michael, who was the youngest of the Padawans, only 13, had taken up the double lightsaber, the only person to do it other than Victor. He often trained with Victor, and Luke already knew the two would be perfect together. Luke knew Victor would bring out the full potential in Michael's abilities with a double lightsaber.

The next girl, Terry, was the oldest of all the Padawans. She was already 19, and had only trained for a year. Luke felt confident in his decision to make her a Jedi though. She was excellent with blocking laser fire, and could redirect it anywhere she wanted. Her only disadvantage was that her lightsaber dueling needed work.

The final two Padawans were the two Luke worried about the most. The first was Ashley. She was 15, and her powers were weak. She often seemed like she was forcing them out during training sessions. Luke knew her parents, Senators in the Republic Council, had the test rigged so she could get in. She had been training for the past three years, and still had not progressed at all.

As for the other Padawan, Zack, who was 16, his skills were excellent. In fact, he had the strengths of all the other Padawans, and was equal to them in those strengths. However, Zack often used these skills inappropriately, and often had problems stopping in a practice lightsaber duel. His powers seemed to go to his head as well, and Luke worried this might be a downfall.

"Okay, Padawans, I'm going to assign you according to your abilities and the abilities of your chosen Master. After you are assigned a Master, you are expected to listen to them at all times, and only question their decisions if you feel there is significant danger, or if you believe you have a better idea. Is that understood?"

The Padawans nodded.

"Also, as you can see, we have a few too many Padawans to assign to the Knights at this time. This means not all of you will be assigned to a Knight. However, be patient. When one of your fellow Padawans passes their trials, you will take their place next to a Knight. Is that also understood?"

The Padawans nodded again.

"Good. Now, let's start the assignments. First, I want to assign Terry to Rebecca."

The two smiled, and Terry went over to Rebecca. The two had developed quite a friendship since Terry started her training. Luke often found Terry training with Shawn and Rebecca at night, while everyone else was asleep.

"Next, Michael. You will be training with Victor."

He nodded, and headed over to Victor. The two had begun a strong friendship when Michael started using a double lightsaber. The Padawan had even told Luke it was Victor who had inspired him to try a double lightsaber.

"Next, Eric." Luke found Shawn staring at him as he made his decision. "You'll be training under Kyle."

Eric walked over to Kyle. It had been a hard decision for Luke, but he knew he couldn't assign Eric to his brother. Luke had made the rule that a Jedi Knight could not train anyone related to him or her to prevent biased training. He didn't want a Padawan getting killed because their master didn't push them far enough.

"Elisha, you will also go to Kyle."

Both Kyle and Elisha were surprised by this decision. Elisha had expected to be trained by Jarrod, who she often did better with. Kyle was surprised because he hadn't expected to be taking on two Padawans. But Luke would talk to him a little later about that.

"Cody and Cory, you will both be assigned to Jarrod. Jarrod, I trust you can handle two Padawans?"

"Yes Master. I'll be fine."

The twins walked over to Jarrod. Luke felt that Jarrod, Josh, and Kyle were all ready to take on two Padawans. He was completely sure Jarrod would be able to though, especially with the twins. He also considered the fact that Cody could use two lightsabers, and Jarrod had gained the same skill three years ago.

"Zener, you will train under Shawn."

Zener walked over to Shawn. Both were decently intelligent, and would make a good combination, Luke thought. They would probably be able to come up with good strategies for the armies if they worked together.

"Zack, you'll be training with Josh."

The two Jedi looked at each other, and Luke felt some tension. Josh had always had a problem with Zack's overconfidence, but Luke felt that the only way to rid Zack of his overconfidence was to assign him to the person that hated it.

"Finally, Tiama, you'll be training with me."

Tiama smiled and walked over to Luke. Luke had been watching her closely since she started training, and was actually hoping for some mutual training. He would teach her some more lightsaber techniques, and hopefully he could learn to control the Force as well as she did.

"As for the rest of you, I'm sorry, but I won't be able to assign you to anyone yet."

"What do you mean," Ashley yelled as her other two unassigned classmates left.

"Ashley, we don't have enough Knights to train everyone," Luke said.

"Yes you do. Josh, Jarrod, and Kyle got two Padawans. Why can't you assign me to somebody with one Padawan?"

"I can't assign you to one of the Knights with only one Padawan because they are only ready to train one Padawan right now. They know it too."

The three Knights nodded.

"Why can't I train with you?"

Luke stopped. He hadn't thought of an excuse for that yet. In fact, he hadn't even thought of that possibility at all.

"Well…"

"Ashley," Jarrod said, walking over to the two. "Why don't we talk in the hall?"

Luke thanked Jarrod mentally, hoping he had a plan. The three walked out into the hall while the newly assigned Padawans talked to their masters.

"Listen Ashley," Jarrod said. "We know your parents rigged the test so you could get in."

Luke looked at Jarrod, who made no eye contact. Luke really didn't want to bring that issue up, but Jarrod already had.

"No they didn't," the young girl said. "I've got powers. You've seen them."

"Yeah," Luke said, trying to help Jarrod out. "But you always seem like you're forcing them out. We can't train you properly if you don't have the powers at your disposal. Honestly Ashley, I don't think you are meant to be a Jedi."

"I am a Jedi, you're just holding me back Luke!"

Jarrod cringed, and Luke just stood there. No other Jedi had ever addressed Luke by his first name. Jarrod knew he had to beat Luke to a speech, or Luke's might get ugly.

"Ashley," Jarrod said calmly, stopping Luke. "First of all, we address him as Master Skywalker, is that understood?"

"Whatever."

"And second of all, it's a danger for you to go into a battle if you don't have any Jedi powers. We don't want you to get hurt or killed because you don't have the powers to protect yourself."

"Fine. You want me to leave the Jedi Academy? Is that what you want?"

Luke started to say something, but Jarrod beat him. "Well, pretty much so. We don't think your training is going anywhere. We know your parents really wanted you to be a Jedi, but it just isn't going to happen."

Ashley sighed. "Ok. I'll go pack my things."

"We're sorry Ashley, but you can't force yourself to have Jedi abilities. I hope you understand."

"Yes." She bowed sadly, and walked to her quarters.

"Thanks Jarrod," Luke said. "I'm glad you beat me to all the lines. Mine would have been worse."

"No problem Master."

The two walked back into the training room.

"Okay everyone, if you would please quiet down, I have some assignments for you. First, Rebecca and Terry; I would like you two to do patrols of Coruscant. Do a patrol every four hours, four times a day. Can you do that?"

They nodded.

"Okay. If you would go do your first one now."

"Yes Master," Rebecca said. The two girls left the room.

"Okay. Next, Victor and Michael. I want you two to monitor the Sith. Keep track of their sightings, and track them down if you can. If you need help, call the nearest Jedi. You also have your armies at your disposal, but I doubt they'll be much help against a Sith."

"Yes Master," Victor said. He and Michael left.

"Okay. Jarrod, Cory, and Cody, I want to give you a mission next. Jarrod, do you remember the planet Noomi, where we first saw the first Sith?"

"I try not to."

"Well, there are rumors that the Empire is trying to create another clone factory there to make storm troopers. If you would…"

"Take it out. Consider it done."

The three bowed, and left for the hangar.

"Josh, Shawn, and your Padawans, I have a mission for you next. I want to end this war as quickly as we can. In order to do that, we need the droid factory destroyed. If you could find it and shut it down, that would assist the clones a lot."

"We'll take care of it Master," Josh said.

The five Jedi bowed, and left.

"Okay. Tiama, if you could wait out in the hall."

"Yes Master Skywalker," she said before leaving.

"Kyle, I have a very important mission for you. I'm growing highly suspicious of the Chancellor. This is hard to do, and even harder to say, but, I want you and your Padawans to take a place on the Council."

"The Republic Council? Master, I thought…"

"I know. I said it's hard for me to do. But I want you to see what kind of information you can get out of him. I do not believe he is a Sith, but something tells me he isn't exactly on our side."

"Why wouldn't he be? If he's asking for a Jedi on the Council, then he has to be on our side, right?"

"Not necessarily. He may need a Jedi to do something for him; something that will help him without you knowing about it."

"Ok. Would you like us to go there, or do you want to talk to the Chancellor first?"

"I'd rather you just go there." Luke took out a slip of paper and wrote a note: "Chancellor, the Jedi before you are being assigned to the Council. I thought about your request for a while, and finally decided that we do need more information flow, and I have assigned them to help with security."

"There," Luke said. "Give him this note. I don't want to speak with him in person. If I do, he might get suspicious. Just keep an eye on him, and watch his actions. If you're asked to do something, by anyone in the Council building, talk to me first. You have your comlink, right Kyle?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Keep in touch."

Kyle and his Padawans bowed, and they left for the Republic Capitol Building. Luke hoped he was doing the right thing.

"Okay Tiama," Luke said as he came out of the training room. "I know the other Jedi have important missions, but you're getting a special treat."

"Really?"

"Yeah. There's a pod race tomorrow on Tatooine. How'd you like to go watch?"

"Really?"

"Yeah. Just don't tell the other Jedi."

"Okay."

"Good. Let's get to the ships."

Luke and Tiama headed to the hangar, and left in their fighters; Luke in his X-Wing, and Tiama in the Padawan standard: a Naboo N-1 Starfighter, which was now back in production and the standard ship for the Padawans.


Yeah, that's it for now. The next few chapters will be about individual groups. Please review.