Call to Aid – Jedi Apprentice – Chapter 3
Light shone from the lighting banks, giving the room a natural glow as water cascaded down from waterfalls and flowing constantly past lush flora. The many natural wonders of the room with its many plants and walkways alongside seemingly natural water formations would inspire awe and tranquility in most onlookers.
However, if one was to take leave of the grand view for a moment, they would see a much more peculiar sight.
Acker's head was hurting. As far as he was concerned, that was the worst trip through a dimensional portal he had gone through. Though he had been thrown much further when Sixteen first "acquired" him, he had immediately fallen into the stasis pod. This time, Acker had fallen face first onto a bridge of some sort, which wasn't the worst of it. No, he mused, the worst of it was having the other two fall on top of him as he tried to get up. HK-51 fell hard and Acker was sure he heard something break, whether it was a part of the droid or his ribs he didn't know. Ban was the last and while she was not as painful or heavy as HK, the extra force from her let the droid dig into Acker's body.
"Get off of me." Acker grumbled, well aware that neither were unconscious. "Sorry." Not a moment later, he felt the weight on his back lessen as he felt Ban get up. Sighing in relief, he made an effort to get up himself when a metallic hand forced his face back into the ground.
"Regretful Condolences: My apologies Acker, I will remove my hand shortly."
The pain on Acker's face intensified as HK placed more pressure on his hand as he got up. After a few seconds the pressure lessened and was soon completely gone. As his back ached from the undue landing, Acker slowly rose from the ground, his face in agonizing pain. Acker couldn't recall a more the most recent time he was in this much pain. Sure he had fought in wars that raged across dimensions, but in more recent years, being the last hundred or so, he hasn't faced any specifically painful moments. Even in the last battle where they were being massacred, he hadn't taken any great injuries. Most of his danger in that fight was exhaustion. Just another one of Acker's skills that he needed to reinforce. When Acker finally felt the remaining weight recede, he jumped to his feet to glare at the two.
Before Acker could deliver what he biasedly considered well-deserved insults to the two, a new voice spoke.
"Who might you three be, mmm?"
"Acker, Wait!"
Ban's shout was too slow as Acker drew and swung his blade towards where the voice came from. Not a moment later, his blade stopped as he stared at a short green creature in similar robes to Ban using what appeared to be a walking stick.
"Over 800 years' worth of Jedi, I have trained. "You, I do not recognize." The small creature stared at Ban, a questioning look in its eyes.
Acker barely paid attention to Ban's response as he tried to move his blade. No matter how much force he put into his arm, the blade would not move.
"Calm, you must be. Fight no more, you must."
Acker knew at that moment that the Jedi creature was behind his blade's pinned state. How could such a small and seemingly harmless creature manage to so easily hold back what his blade? Psychokinesis? Telekinesis? In the end, it didn't truly matter. Either way, his blade was going nowhere. Slowly but surely, Acker's arm began to slacken. As soon as Acker felt the rest of the tension leave him, the pressure keeping his blade still subsided.
Ban hurried next to Acker and quickly bowed to the diminutive Jedi. "My apologies Master for Acker here. I know it's a bit sudden, but can you tell us where we are?" Her bow was low and deep, and the appearance of which meant that the person in front of him had to have a respectable status.
The creature let out a good-humored laugh as he turned back towards Ban. "The Jedi Temple on Coruscant, we are in."
Ban's face turned ashen at that. "How can that…" Ban trailed off at the end, her legs beginning to shake. The vitality seemed to drain from her face as the shaking grew upwards. Acker was actually slightly impressed that she still managed to stay standing. A person with less will could have fallen over from the sheer shock that was plastered on her face. As it was, Ban was in no condition to continue to ask the miniscule master questions. Acker decided that he had to take over.
"I apologize for my companion's reaction. I do not quite understand why she is acting like that but she probably has a decent reason." He looked towards Ban, only seeing that her posture was beginning to weaken. He felt that with every action they took the more suspicious they appeared.
Taking a deep breath and sighing, Acker turned back towards the Jedi. "We need to find someone named Yoda, we have a letter to give him." he asked, already knowing that there was something wrong with the way the Jedi's eyes glistened. His sense of danger quickly rose as the Jedi began moving.
The Jedi shambled over with his walking stick before stopping in front of Acker. Without warning, the Jedi swung his stick at Acker's shins. The unexpected force brought Acker down to the Jedi's eye level. The creature's eye's seemed to glisten with mirth as he stared back.
"Fear and anger I sense in you." The Jedi's stare turned from one solely filled with mirth to one of kindness as he continued staring at Acker. "But no hostility, hmm? With time, away anger and fear go." Acker felt self-conscious as the Jedi tossed out what he felt Acker held out into the open. He knew he had to get away or else the Jedi would potentially spill his embarrassing emotions. However, as Acker tried to move his head, the stick came back and moved his head towards the Jedi. "Kind, you are, however touched by sadness you are." The creature looked back towards Acker's right side as if having forgotten something. "That weapon, you will not need. Away you should put it."
Acker's eyesight traveled down to his hand, having forgotten entirely that his blade was still out. In the process of talking to the Jedi, he had forgotten to put his sword away.
"Why, Master Jedi, would you approach with my weapon out?" Acker questioned. "Why needlessly place yourself in danger?"
The Jedi shook his head at that. "Danger, I was not in. Hurt me you would not have." At that, the small creature turned back to face behind Acker towards where he assumed Ban and HK were still. Hobbling slightly, the Jedi walked over past Acker.
Pondering the actions of the diminutive Jedi, Acker returned the blade to his side before turning his head to see the Jedi shuffling over to Ban, who was now sitting on the ground, her head in her arms. Only HK's head moved as it watched the Jedi get closer. When the Jedi stopped in front of her, Ban looked up from her arms to stare at him.
"Yoda you search for you say? Ban's head attachments shook as she moved her head up and down.
Sighing, the Jedi turned his head to have his eyes stare directly into Ban's.
"If know me you do not, a Jedi of this temple you are not."
Acker barely registered Ban shrinking further into herself as he stared at the creature before him. "Yoda." Acker breathed out. It was both a fortunate and unfortunate stroke of luck. It made it easy for them to give the letter, but it made them seem infinitely more suspicious. So why was the diminutive Jedi still not worried at all? His posture indicates that he has no real sense of danger at this point.
"If in danger I was in, peaceful, it would not be." Yoda spoke as if he heard Acker's thoughts, turning from Ban to once again face Acker. "Now, a letter for me, I believe you do?
Acker stared in the direction of Ban. Ban was the one given the letter. It was important that she remember to give it.
Ban's arm reached to her side where she pulled out an envelope. Her hands continued to shake as she handed it over to Yoda. Carefully, the Jedi master opened the envelope and read the letter that was inside. When he reached the end, he paused for a moment, before moving his eyes back towards Acker.
"With me, walk."
With that said, the master shuffled away, his stick creating a tapping sound as he moved along.
Without looking behind him to see if the others were following, Acker started going after Yoda.
After leaving the majestic room that they had entered, Acker and the others were lead through various long hallways. They only stopped once, when Yoda had pulled HK to the side for a second to talk about something, then they were on the move again. Jedi frequently stared at them as they passed by, but none stopped them when they saw who they were with. Before long, they arrived before a room filled with what appeared to be young Jedi, teenagers mostly, going through some type of forms.
Yoda paused a moment before turning back towards his followers. His gaze went left from HK towards Acker, before finally landing on Ban. Yoda's gaze lingered before his gaze returned to Acker. "Small test of your judgment, this will be." Acker was ready for this. He understood that while Yoda may allow their presence because of whatever was in the letter, that he would need to see confirmation of their character.
"Very well, what do you want us to do?" Acker knew various techniques on how to fight, but he was no teacher."
"You shall see." It wasn't long after that Yoda opened the door and called out to the trainees. "Initiates! Guests we have, assisting us today, they will!" Acker fully walked into the room at this point. "Acker this is, a guest from far away." Yoda motioned towards where Acker stood and then to HK stood in the doorway while Ban had still yet to fully come inside. "HK-51 the droid is. Padawan Ban has yet to come in."
"Two groups will be made, blaster deflection for one, and sparing for the other." Yoda motioned for HK to step to the other side before whispering instructions to him. He then motioned for Acker to step to the side before handing him a similar weapon to what the others were using. "Stings only, cut, it will not." Acker gave a nod, but before he moved away Yoda pulled him down to whisper to him. "Summons, you may use, training droids, you have." Acker's face partially paled as he turned back towards Yoda. "But how do I –" "Pretend to bring them out, you shall." Acker nodded again and walked out of the room. Ban passed by him as he entered the hallway, going into the room. He looked around the hallway first before confirming that there was no one around. With that done he brought up his armband and started it up. Just as before, it had the categories listed.
Training – Max LV
KOTOR – LV 1
Jedi Apprentice – LV 1
Not wanting to waste time, Acker quickly chose the 'Training' only to pause when additional options appeared.
Training – Max LV
Dummy
Target
Remote
Training Droid
Acker wasn't sure what a remote was, but since this was for sparing, they probably wanted the objects to fight back, so dummy and target were out. That left the droids. He quickly went over how many students he had on his side of the room before summoning them en masse. As expected, they were simple droids that seemed to have various rudimentary equipment on their sides. Deciding to check them out quickly, he also created some remotes, and saw that they were small ball shaped flying droids. Looking closer it appeared they have some type of blaster in them.
With the droids summoned, Acker re-entered the room before HK approached him. "Inquiry: May I utilize those remotes, they would be of no use to you for sparing. Statement: I have an idea that they would help with."
Seeing nothing wrong with that Acker nodded his head, after which HK took the remotes with him. Returning his focus to the students that remained in the room, he quickly assigned each of the droids to a student before discovering that he was out and there was a student left. Quickly making a decision, he decided that he would spar with the kid.
The room was large enough to where people could stand on the sidelines and watch people in the center train. With that in mind, he sent everyone that was part of his group to the stands. HK had lead his group to an adjacent room, which left Yoda and Ban watching from the sidelines. Acker then called up different students at once and had them face off against the droids. Each of the students went through and fought the droids until they were sufficiently damaged. Some did so more competently than others, while some only managed by pure luck. Before long, he was left with the student he first noticed. However, to his surprise, there was another person he missed as well. He wasn't sure how he missed him, as he quite literally stood out among the rest. The two's hair colors clashed quite well, with one's auburn hair clashing against the other's white hair.
"Ran out of droids, so you're with me kids."
The white-haired kid scoffed and looked him over, "You don't look that much older than me. You can't even use the force." The kid sneered as he activated his own lightsaber, the shine making his white hair seem blueish.
"So what, you don't look like much." Acker said as he activated his training saber. "What about you, any smart quips?" He directed at the large red-headed kid.
The auburn-haired kid looked towards him and towards the white-haired kid, before making his way to stand apart from both of them. "I'm not afraid, of either of you." He stated before activating his own saber, standing in a ready position.
"You know, I was planning on having this be a two vs-"
Before Acker could finish his instructions, the white-haired child dashed towards the red-headed one, swinging his sword with an obvious rage. The auburn -headed one rolled to the side and moved to take advantage of Acker's distraction.
Cursing to himself, Acker brought up his own saber in time to block a would-be slash to the midsection.
Back and forth they fought. Acker easily held of any of their attempts to hit him while observing how they fought each other. They both fought quite well, and could be considered among the better of their compatriots, with the auburn haired boy being the more skilled. However, there were obvious flaws that weakened the both of them. The auburn-haired's main weakness appeared to be a lack of poise. While Acker was unfamiliar with the fighting styles that Jedi use, he was sure that the kid's footwork was consistently flawed. There were times that his movement was flawless and in which he managed to push the other child away long enough to try for Acker, He supposed that part of it could be attributed to puberty, but the kid just seemed agitated in general. The same could be said that the other kid was agitated. Actually, the issue was that he was too agitated. Acker could feel the rage radiate of the kid as he clashed against both him and his main target. Rage was an enemy to both children, but had an actual hold on how the white haired kid was doing. A greater point, he noticed, was that both children shared a type of unease. He wasn't sure about what, but it was enough that both were definitely not as focused as they could be.
What a shame. If they worked together, then maybe they'd be challenging.
With a sigh Acker deactivated his saber and placed it on his side. While the kids were in a deadlock he grabbed both of their heads and slammed them together before dropping them on the ground.
"We're done here." With that said, Acker turned to walk away.
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh" With a final shout, white-haired swung his blade towards the auburn -haired boy's face. The kid made to dodge, but wasn't able to. Acker turned back around to try and stop the attack, but found he had no need to. By the time he finished turning to face the kid, he saw the blade stopped inches away from him, being held in place by the same force that held his own blade earlier.
"Enough! Bruck, with me walk, Obi-Wan with Acker, dismissed, go relay that class is." At that, all of the other kids in the room walked while Bruck moved to where Yoda and Ban were.
Sighing, Acker looked to his side at his temporary charge. "Obi-Wan, was it?"
"Kenobi, sir, Obi-Wan Kenobi." The kid looked him in the eyes as he said that, and with such confidence too. Yet, Acker could detect the fear that was on Obi-Wan.
"Do you fear me?" Directly asking the question would throw Obi-Wan off.
"W-well, not you sir. Rather, I'm more worried about the upcoming month."
"Why is that?
Obi-Wan looked solemnly at Acker before turning his head down. "In a few weeks I'll be too old to become a Padawan."
Acker looked at Obi-Wan before sighing and turning away. "Come along, I don't know much about Jedi traditions so you'll have to fill me in on the way." With that said, he began walking towards the other room where HK awaited.
Obi-Wan looked up at that and nodded unnoticed and hurried after Acker, beginning to talk about Jedi traditions.
Ban regrets not having been elsewhere. Yoda had her follow them as they traverse the halls of the Jedi temple. Their steps echoed as they walked through the grand hallways towards whatever destination Master Yoda had in mind. Walking through the intact halls painted a bright contrast to the temple that she was familiar with. Where there was once rubble, there was a door. Where there were a collapsed area, there was an elegant walkway. So many things had changed in the time that had passed. Just how far could the Jedi have changed in that time? Curiosity rising, she looked towards the initiate as he walks between her and Master Yoda.
The rage radiating off of the child had died down drastically. The main emotion emanating off of the child now was fear. The initiate was quiet ever since they left the room, eyes downcast as though he was ashamed, but also filled with apprehension. Ban could probably guess what the initiates feared. From what he said earlier in the training room, they were only slightly younger than the man called Acker appeared to be, and he appeared around 16. If the Jedi's age limit hadn't changed in those years, then the boy would soon be too old to take as a Padawan. Her thoughts shifted to the other students before dismissing themselves. The only one other boy in that class appeared to be as apprehensive as this kid, and he was led out by Acker.
Aggression was always looked down upon poorly by the Jedi, especially the dangerous emotions such as anger that normally accompanied it. Of course, looking back on it, aggression was not particularly screened out when the Sith Empire is attacking. Ban knew several Jedi that would be more than happy to bring the fight to the Sith, rather than trying to preserve peace. She herself had been assigned on a warship, however reluctant she felt. However, by the way things seemed, the Sith were no longer attacking, and aggression was once again frowned upon.
Ban felt a sense of compassion for the boy. Most children dream of becoming Jedi Knights since their days in the crèche. The child before her probably only had a short amount of time before he aged too much and then get shipped off to another section as the Jedi Order. The other sections were just as important as the main one, but becoming a Knight is what many look forward to. So, in a way, she understood part of the agitation that the boy had, but the rest of it confused her. In an era of peace, what could case such hatred to rise? Why was the boy so focused on hating the other one? Had the teachings of the Jedi changed that much?
Before long, they arrived at a meditation room. Yoda motioned for them to enter before him. As they entered, Yoda came in behind them, closing the door before sitting down on one of the cushions and motioned for them to do the same.
"Bruck, calm yourself, you must." The words that came out of Yoda sounded as though they've been said many times, and from the way the boy, Bruck, looked, it's been heard many times.
"Calm myself!? How can I possibly calm myself in front of Oafy-Wan!?" Bruck sneered out. "It's not like he's going to get chosen and yet he has to hurt the rest of our chances as well!"
Yoda breathed out a short sigh. "Bruck, Obi-Wan's fault, this is not. Your own anger, you must focus on."
"I have! I have always trained harder than him, yet HE's the one you're always consoling!" Bruck shouted out. "You've been looking for a master for him, but none for anyone else. You haven't even thought of looking for a master for ME!" Bruck erupted again in rage, yet neither Ban nor Yoda could attempt to calm him down.
There was silence for a moment as they waited for Bruck to calm down. Ban wanted to say something, but she couldn't bring out any words.
Before Ban could bring up what she thought about what happened, Yoda began speaking. "Bruck, a chance, all will have. In a week, a master will come to seek an apprentice.
Bruck looked up at that. "There is?" Bruck's voice caught for a second. "Why are you telling me first?"
Yoda's eye's glistened for a moment before he replied. "Care, I do, for all Jedi. You, Obi-Wan, and all the initiates, I look after."
Ban could barely process the information fast enough. Bruck was getting an advantage in advance knowledge? Knowing ahead of time before other initiates gave an unfair chance to Bruck being the one to get picked due to being able to prepare.
Ban could feel a small amount of joy radiate off of Bruck. "Thank you, Master Yoda."
Yoda gave a short nod before replying. "You may go. On your anger, work on." Not a moment later did Bruck rush out the door, heading in the direction in which they came from.
The room felt empty now that the kid was gone. The sheer amount of emotions in the room had overwhelmed her, but now that they were gone, it seemed too empty.
She was not left in her thoughts for long though. She felt Yoda's gaze fall upon her, a peculiar feeling arising.
"Your opinion, I would like." Yoda's voice was kind, yet firm enough to where she knew he expected a serious answer. She didn't understand though. Ban didn't know anyone from this era, and the Jedi Master in front of her should already have a greater understanding than she could hope to have.
"Why me? Why not another Jedi?" Ban couldn't comprehend why he chose her to come with.
One of Yoda's eyebrows rose with that question. "Another's perspective, I desired. You, I do not know. Thus, informative, your opinion will be."
Ban felt unsure. She had only just met the child and now she was being asked for a psych evaluation on him?
"He feels… angry. It's understandable as to why he might be upset, but I don't know the reason for such anger." Ban explained the best she could.
Yoda gave a short sigh, his expression becoming grave. "Hoping for better, I was."
Ban felt a pain go through her at that, that the first being she met in this time was saying she was not good enough.
Yoda's gaze became apologetic, before replying "Sorry, I am. You, I was not speaking of." At that Yoda's expression became contemplative. "Speaking I was, of Bruck's impression."
Ban looked him in understanding, the previous pain fading away. It made sense now. Yoda would want someone who doesn't know the boy so they can give an outside and less biased opinion.
Before Yoda could go on more, Ban felt like she had to interject with her opinion on Bruck. "I don't think he himself is bad, Master. Rather, he seems a bit lost." But as to what Ban had no idea.
Yoda sighed before continuing on. "Problems, Bruck has." Yoda got off the cushion and walked over to a nearby window. "Anger, pride, deceitful. Grudges, he holds." He turned from the window and walked back over where he sat. "Working we are, to progress past this. Prove helpful, another perspective might be.
Ban bit her lip, unsure as to whether she should say anymore. Yoda had been kind enough to listen to her speak, when instead he should have called security on them the moment he saw them. He probably knew the full extent of his issues, and was simply confirming it with an outside source.
So deeply engrossed in her thoughts, she didn't notice the gimmer stick headed towards her head.
Whack!
"Ow!" Ban exclaimed as she rubbed where the stick landed. Yoda had already gotten up and moved closer to Ban, a searching look in his eyes.
It took a moment for Yoda to speak his mind. "Doing well, are you? Adjusting well, are we?" There was no judging tone, no false sympathy or worry. Simple concern was all Ban felt from the stare.
"Your situation, from the letter, I have read." A part of Ban was affronted that her situation was written down so easily that anyone would know what happened, but on the other hand felt relieved that she did not have to explain everything to the Jedi in front of her.
Such was the nature of the question that Ban felt obligated to be forthcoming. "It has not been easy." She admitted, glancing upwards at the ceiling. "I was here once, a long time ago." She glanced around the room as she spoke, eye's going misty. "At the time the temple was in ruins, so everywhere there was nothing. Then here we are, the temple rebuilt, no obvious signs of war, and I haven't heard a word about Sith all day." Images of a temple in a faraway place emerged, along with images of people she knew. A warm hand. A small smile. Here and there, bits and pieces of her life floated through her thoughts. "Everyone was fighting so hard for the future, and here I am." A cool feeling emerged from her eyes and began flowing down her cheeks. A hand rose up to wipe it away, but as she did so the feeling returned. Vaguely she noticed that they were tears, but all she could focus on was wiping away the feeling on her cheeks. So focused was she that she barely noticed when a hand touched her arm.
Yoda smiled warmly at her. Ban's already collapsing emotions became tethered in a warm feeling. Master Yoda force presence had surrounded her own, and was attempting to soothe her. Grasping onto this fact, she quickly latched onto Yoda and pulled him in into a strong embrace.
If any other Jedi was watching this scene, they would be torn between empathy for the Padawan crying into Yoda's robes, and straight up boisterous laughter for the expression Yoda had on his face.
A small tap on Ban's back alerted her to the fact that Yoda was patting her back. Slowly, while still embracing the diminutive master, Ban began tiring. As her consciousness left her, she scarcely heard Yoda's next words.
"All right, everything will be, Padawan."
Yoda's soothing light made the room warm and for the first time since she woke up, she believed that and drifted off.
Illogical, why are the children attempting to outlast me?
HK was stuck in a room with a bunch of kids that were, at this moment, trying to find him. They had their lightsabers out and were huddled around a group of other children, who did not have their lightsabers out. It was quite inane, he thought, to have an assassin droid to teach potential Jedi how to block blaster shots. After all, if he accidentally left his blaster on lethal, a large majority, if not all, of these students would be dead. The thought of the dead students churned his circuitry, but he knew that if he was forced to, he most certainly could do just that.
For the first few minutes of the lesson, HK simply used the remotes to target the children individually, but each of them were obviously more than adequate in deflecting with their eyes open. So he attempted to have them do the training with the helmets that were in the room. Just as expected, each of them were able to continue blocking the shots. The students even went so far as the hit the remotes, rendering them inoperable for the rest of the lesson. At this HK had to think for a second about what to have the trainees do now. Logically speaking, they probably not had escort experience and never had to protect clients from blaster shots. Jedi eventually have to take on dangerous jobs, with deflecting blasters and protecting clients as a constant. With this in mind, HK lowered the lights to be as dim as possible and had the trainees put on the helmets. A little over half were selected to defend, with the remainder made to act as the clients. The training would be over as soon as they successfully sent a bolt back towards and hit HK or all the clients were stunned.
As it was, the situation was not good for the initiates. Over half of the 'clients' had been dropped while the remaining defenders were winded. HK's tactic of hiding behind the various furniture in the stands allowed for him to safely dodge the bolts that were reflected at him. The children would probably would have had a better chance by moving their positions to a secure section outside the center of the room, but with their helmets on and having to be wary of blaster fire, they were too panic-stricken to move.
Conclusion, rest of the targeted young organics will be stunned within the next two minutes.
As HK thought that though, he noticed a small detail missing from the children down below.
Confusion, were there not 20 students in this room? Why do I only count-
Before he could finish that thought, a saber flashed to light next to HK's head. The violet light glowed brilliantly in the dark, which, as HK turned his head, illuminated the child as well. The head was partially covered by the helmet, but the child's blonde hair and mouth were still visible as her face grew into a smirk.
The smirk only grew as she looked at the droid. "You lose."
HK nodded his head at that. The child thinks she won simply by having a lightsaber to my head. Little did she know what he had in mind.
HK slowly turned the rest of his body around, taking a hand off his blaster rifle. "Statement: I see, you believe you've won simply by finding me and having me a saber-point."
The child nodded at that statement. After all, the exercise was over now that he was captive, yes?
HK nodded thoughtfully, "Agreement: There are many who would surrender after having a lightsaber activate next to their heads. Counter-Argument: But what if someone did something like this?"
With his free hand, HK grasped at his side and pulled out a hold-out blaster pistol, already set to stun, and shot at the child at point blank range, after which the child fell over to the ground, still conscious.
HK was confused at first at what had happened. The shot from the hold-out blaster would've incapacitated a normal organic. Then, he remembered, that Jedi, even trainees, were not normal organics.
The child tried to prop herself up off the ground, but was unable to provide enough strength to remain up, and fell back down. "That not fair! You said we'd be done after we've –"
"Denial: Wrong, I said we'd be done after one of you successfully redirect a blaster bolt towards me. I never said anything about stopping with a saber at my throat." HK peered down with his photoreceptors at the girl. He felt bad about having to hurt any of them, but he was asked to help with training. At that thought, he froze. Asked, not ordered. In the hallway, Yoda had asked if HK would be willing to help out. He didn't order or anything else like that. Were there many organics out there that would do the same? It only occurred now that he could have refused. He could have refused. That thought lingered and was the main focus of HK until the groaning of the child brought him back.
"Conclusion: The training session has concluded. Result: you all failed."
Looking back at the students on the floor he as he lectured, "Lecture: At any time the group could have been moved to a different location to make it harder for me to target the 'clients'. You could have split up to make it so where I had to target different locations, and narrowed down where I was." Turning back towards the girl next to him, HK shook his head and began her lecture. "And you, you left the client's unprotected while you fumbled around looking for me. While I am sure that perfectly competent on your own, several of the people you were supposed to have protected have 'died'."
Out of the corner of his vision, HK could see the knuckles on the kid grow white. The child was definitely growing angry, but it's not as though he's at fault for that. The child is at fault for leaving people behind to get 'killed'.
Before HK could continue his lecture to the students, a door to the room opened and in walked Acker and another student. Acker looked at HK and opened his mouth to explain before the student next to him asked, "What happened here?" Acker sighed for a second before continuing on. "Yoda sent us. Class is dismissed."
At his words, the class erupted into cheers and everyone who was still standing slumped down to the ground in exhaustion. Acker whispered to the boy next to him, to which the boy nodded before running up to where HK was and trying to help the girl.
"I'm fine! Go away!" The girl tried to get away from the boy, but failed miserably in her attempts to get up. Eventually, the girl gave up and allowed the boy to help her up. The boy called out to the rest of the initiates in the room. "Take everyone who is stunned to the Halls of Healing." He then left with the girl and was followed out by the rest of the initiates.
Soon, HK and Acker were the only ones left in the room. It wasn't long before Acker decided to break the silence. "Want to go look for Ban and Yoda?"
HK was puzzled. "Query: Weren't they in the other room?"
Acker breathed out a sigh before explaining what happened.
Rather than finding Yoda and Ban, Yoda found them. Yoda brought them to the meditation room where Ban was still sleeping, before explaining what the letter had told him. It pretty much was what their individual stories were. However, Yoda also provided them with a cover story.
"A hyperdrive malfunction, that's the best you've got?" Acker looked at Yoda incredulously.
Yoda looked up at the human with the best 'yes I am serious' face that Acker had seen in a long time. It reminded him that perhaps he was a bit hasty in his criticism. Acker had to break the eye contact first; he knew when he was beat, and the Jedi hadn't even said anything yet. Yoda gave a short 'hmph' before going on to explain.
"Occurred because of malfunctioning hyperdrives, stranger things have. Traveled from the past, of both HK and Padawan Ban, it will explain."
"And what of me?" Acker questioned. It was all well and good that HK and Ban could be explained away with a malfunctioning hyperdrive, but there was still the issue of his story.
Yoda gave a short laugh before continuing. "A mercenary, you are. Traveled with them, you have."
Acker wanted to rebut that, that he lacked the necessary information and ability to pretend that, before Yoda continued on.
"Recently hired, you were. Escort their ship to Coruscant, your job was. Attacked their ship was, to yours they transferred to."
Acker couldn't imagine it. Already the tale sounds unbelievable to him. Ban and HK actually were from this dimension, but he wasn't. There was no way they'd be able to link their stories together. It would be easier to say the truth about where he was from and just get it over with.
"I wish to tell the truth."
At that line Yoda stared at Acker. His eyes seemed to probe Acker's for something before he turned away.
"If speak you wish to, you may." Yoda looked towards where Ban was still sleeping. "A brief summary, of those two, I will give. When wakes she does, to the council, we will go."
Acker nodded before finding an unoccupied cushion and sitting down. Out of the corner of his eye he saw HK walk towards a window and stare outside. Scanning the room he viewed the occupants. One sleeping female Jedi laying on multiple cushions, one small Jedi on a cushion, one solitary droid staring out a window, and one former soldier of Neutrality.
This is going to be one long meeting.
A/N
Sorry if anyone was expecting an update, I had been wanting to change some stuff in this chapter. I changed some stuff that I thought was a bit strange before, or that was actually not right. Originally I had put that Obi-Wan and Bruck were the best in their class. That was wrong. While being very skilled Bruck was actually inferior to Obi-Wan at this time in the books. Only after receiving training from Xanatos did he actually become capable of overpowering Obi-Wan, and even then Obi-Wan beat him (technically, the water did along with rocks). I changed it so the wording is slightly different for the as yet to be named female Jedi initiate (here's a hint, she's very important to Obi-Wan later) because she is very self-confident and basically a lone wolf type person at this point. It was only through interactions with Obi-Wan that she lost some of the 'not working well with others' thing. She has been noted for being very good at sensing, and with her competitive streak it makes sense that she'd leave the rest of the initiates behind whilst she tries to achieve victory by herself. With Ban, I'm trying to have her get over her past. Acker's the former soldier with an as yet to be mentioned past, HK's the non-violence advocate assassin droid, and Ban is the Jedi from the past. With that in mind I want to have Ban have various Jedi related parts, and for that I am thinking of utilizing Bruck. I was going to put more about this, before realizing that might be spoilers.
I hope I was able to better showcase each character individuality.
I still don't have a beta, co-writer, or editor (which I think is what a beta basically is), so the quality still isn't as good as it could be, but I hope it is better than the previous form. With that in mind…
Current levels of armband
KOTOR LV 2
Jedi Apprentice Max LV (2)
Training Max LV (0)
Overall Levels - 4
If you want to beta or help write, go ahead. As previously stated, if someone thinks they can do it better, please do. I would love to read some fics that I think about with better writing. Just don't copy and paste. Although I just copied and pasted my own statement
As always, read, review, critique, help me
Next time, THE COUNCIL AWAITS.
It's not that dramatic.