The Lesson
Cargo Bay, Wild Nomad, 213 ABY
"Okay," Riko Nai-Jal said eagerly, "What's the lesson for today?"
His master, Bao-Sklar Pierce, didn't say anything. Instead, he merely stood there, almost like a droid awaiting some command.
Surprised, the young padawan responded, "Bao?"
"Yes?" Bao responded.
"What's the lesson?"
The Trandoshan was once again silent.
Riko was surprised. Normally Bao offered at least some kind of direction. Here…
"Bao," Riko asked, "Are you listening to me?"
"Every word," Bao replied.
"So, what should I do?" Riko asked.
Bao gave no response whatsoever.
"What do I need to do, Bao?"
Bao didn't say anything.
Riko waved his hand in front of Bao's snout. He didn't budge.
"Okay…" Riko said to himself, "What should I do…"
What were the rules of the lesson? Clearly, there was a hidden message, just like when he had worked with Artoo a few days earlier…
Riko paced, attempting to figure out what he needed to do, what Bao wanted him to do…
"I got it!" Riko realized, "You want me to decide the lesson!"
Bao didn't respond, but his subtle grin indicated that Riko had probably found the correct answer.
"Okay…" Riko mulled to himself…What did he want to learn?
Several Minutes later...
Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two…
"Where are we?" Bao asked, breaking Riko's concentration and letting go of his hand.
Blindfolded, Riko wanted to practice his skills with environmental perception. Per his instructions, Bao had led him by the hand through the ship, only to suddenly deviate from Riko's directions.
"What are you doing?" Riko asked.
"Just following your instructions," Bao responded, letting go of Riko's hand, "You told me to 'help you practice environmental perception. Specifically, I should blindfold you and lead you through the ship.'"
Riko's directions might have been too vague.
He couldn't quite see the world around him, the way he had back on the Intrika, or when he had worked with Artoo.
Slightly annoyed that Bao had broken his method of concentration, Riko thought back to the directions Bao had taken him in.
Left…
Down the hall…
How many steps had he… no…
Riko sighed in frustration. The lack of visual stimuli was extremely irritating, Riko didn't know if Bao was going to come at him, or whether he would just be left there…
The Force wasn't giving him any indications of what was where, it was just blackness…
Wait.
The whole point of this lesson was to lean into other senses, including sound…
Riko took a deep breath and tried to listen to his surroundings. He could hear a faint mechanical hum around him. It was subtle, but he heard it.
"The engine room!" Riko exclaimed, "That's where we are!"
"Very well," Bao responded. He sounded like he was close, very close…
Riko was starting to assemble a picture in his mind. He knew the engine compartment, and he had a sense of where Bao was. It was not unlike the blueprints he had assembled in his mind when building his lightsaber, or when he had built Niner…
Riko turned one-hundred-sixty-ish degrees, then removed his blindfold…
Bao's tall frame occupied his peripheral vision, in his left. Riko had been off by a few degrees.
"Good work, Riko," Bao praised, "How did you do it?"
"I thought of the room as a diagram," Riko explained, craning his neck to see Bao's face, "The way I do whenever I'm working on a machine. I just...built it in my head."
"Very innovative," Bao grinned.
"I'm ready to try again, Master," Riko declared.
"Please, just Bao."
A few minutes later…
Riko was clearly in the cargo bay. He had practiced here so many times that he could assemble his mental diagram with relative ease.
The room itself wasn't large, just six by four meters. Most of the shelves were built into the bulkhead, there were exactly four crates mounted against the wall to Riko's left.
With the environment as his focus, Riko just had to listen…
Even amongst his own footsteps and the occasional whistle from Artoo, Riko faintly heard Bao's feet move upon the floor. It was subtle, but noticeable.
He was steadily moving closer…
Riko didn't know what he should do…
He felt something move towards him!
Riko rolled out of the way as Bao ran towards him, only to feel himself pushed by a telekinetic blast against the bulkhead, falling to the floor.
"What was that for?" Riko asked, wincing.
"Just analyzing your movements," Bao responded.
"Dreet-Beet-deet!" Artoo added as Riko moved to his feet, his back still pained.
"I always evade?" Riko asked, "I don't always do that."
"Not always," Bao replied, "But avoidance is your first instinct."
"Are you saying I should stop being agile?" Riko asked.
"No," Bao responded, "But agility doesn't work within tight confines. You'll need to rely on more than just evasion."
"I can stand my ground," Riko responded.
"I remember," Bao recounted, "On Dromund Kaas, you showed that you are capable. But speed and agility can be exclusive, and there is a time for both."
"Agility isn't really your strong suite," Riko noted.
"Not really," Bao replied, "But I am adaptable and precise. You're clever."
Bao put a manus on Riko's shoulder, "In order to win, we each have to learn to be both. You have to learn to improvise."
He slowly moved towards the back of the room. Riko tensed, knowing that something was going to happen.
A cargo crate suddenly rose up from one end of the room, and began to fly towards Artoo.
"No!" Riko extended his hand.
The crate hovered directly in front of Artoo.
"DWEEETTTT!" Artoo said, terrified.
The crate fell to the floor. Riko angrily faced his master.
"On rare occasions, you have to stand in front of your opponent and directly face them." Bao explained. He eyed Riko, then added, "I just wanted to see what your reaction would be."
"Dreet-beet-DEET!"
"Don't do that again, Bao," Riko sternly demanded.
"I'm sorry, Artoo," Bao responded, "I promise I won't do that again."
"Bwoot!" Artoo blew a raspberry at him.
Riko took a deep breath, attempting to conceal his frustration and analyze this situation.
"There's a lot to unpack here," he commented, "It'll take me awhile to figure it all out."
"Life can be like that sometimes," Bao admitted, "You'll have to learn to anticipate, adapt, and make the first move. We'll keep practicing, you'll figure it out."
Riko was about to speak up, but then he realized that he already had the answer to his own question.
"Alright," Riko eventually said reluctantly, "Just don't threaten to put Artoo's life on the line, okay?"
"I won't," Bao promised, "But, did this work for you, Padawan?"
Riko paused. Bao had already made it clear his teaching methods would be different than those at the Temple, where he had largely flunked as a student. His philosophy was that life was the most poignant instructor a student could have, and this lesson was admittedly an example of that philosophy.
Riko decided that Bao had crossed a line, but this kind of instruction was working for him.
Riko nodded. Bao made a quick bow to his pupil.
"Did you have all of this planned out, Bao?" Riko asked.
"No," Bao admitted, "I improvised."