The officer's lounge on the Rebel Base is a fairly large, open room, with a bar, a few tables with card games being played, and several other tables where various rebel officers are seated. The newly named Rogue Squadron, twelve pilots in total, is spread out over two tables in one corner of the room.
"So, when's the next mission, Luke?" Wedge asks.
"I'm curious about that myself." Jyn says.
"I'll find out tomorrow at the squadron briefing with General Dodonna. Which reminds me. Jyn, you're a captain, so you'll need to be there too. 0800 in the main conference room." Luke says.
"Got it." Jyn says.
"Alright. That's enough work for tonight. Why don't you guys go play cards or something? I'm going to have a chat with Captain Erso for a bit." Luke asks.
"Sure thing, Luke. Catch you later." Wedge says. All of the pilots leave except for Jyn and Luke, who remain seated at their table.
"Ever since I first saw you, I've been curious about the lightsaber on your belt. Are you a Jedi?" Jyn asks.
"No. Not really. I have the force, but I don't really know how to use it. I had a few lessons with Ben Kenobi before Vader killed him." Luke answers.
"It's good that Kenobi survived the purge. He was one of the greatest of all Jedi." Jyn says.
"What do you know about him?" Luke asks.
"A great deal, actually. Saw Gerrera told me stories about the Jedi. He actually met Kenobi, and your father." Jyn answers.
"He met my father? Maybe you can tell me about him, and anything else you know about the Jedi." Luke says.
"I would be happy to. Now, let's ditch this place and go outside." Jyn says. Unnoticed to Luke, Jyn waves her hand as she says this.
"Yeah, sure. Let's ditch this place, and go outside." Luke says. Jyn and Luke stand up, and leave the officer's lounge.
It's evening as Jyn and Luke leave the rebel base, with the sky darkening as the sun sets. The two walk into the nearby forest, and make their way to a river. Upon reaching the river, Jyn stops, and Luke does the same.
"I never saw a river until we came here six months ago." Luke says.
"Really? Not one river?" Jyn asks.
"I'm from Tatooine. No rivers there. Or any bodies of water for that matter. It's just a big dead ball of sand." Luke says.
"Oh. That sounds unpleasant." Jyn says.
"Yeah. I couldn't wait to leave. I hated working on my uncle's farm. It took the Empire murdering him and my aunt to finally get me offworld." Luke says.
"You weren't raised by your parents?" Jyn asks.
"No. I never even knew them. My uncle said that my father died before I was born, and my mother died giving birth to me." Luke answers.
Oh, your father's not dead. Not yet. Jyn thinks.
"I'm sorry, Luke. Losing people is a hard thing to deal with. Trust me." Jyn says.
"I know you lost your team, and your father not long before that. I also know your mother was murdered when you were a kid." Luke says.
"You know about my parents?" Jyn asks.
"Yeah. I looked at your file." Luke answers.
That file is certainly an entertaining work of fiction, courtesy of the ISB. My 'parents' mean nothing to me, and all of the criminal activities of Jyn Erso were undercover missions for the Empire. Jyn thinks.
"Wise of you. A good leader should know everything about those he serves with. That brings me to the reason why I asked you to leave the base. What I'm about to tell you is a secret I've been keeping. No one else in the alliance knows." Jyn says.
"What secret?" Luke asks.
"You seem like a good person. Someone I can trust. So, I've decided to tell you the truth. This may be hard for you to believe, but you can trust me. I would never lie to you." Jyn says, waving her hand so slightly that Luke doesn't notice.
"I trust you. You would never lie to me." Luke says.
Excellent. Soon, you will be mine. Jyn thinks.
"I am...a Jedi Knight. I was trained by my master until his death five years ago. I have been working alone, undercover since then. Most of the information in that intelligence file is true, except for the criminal record. My records were altered to make me more appealing for employment in the underworld. That allowed me to make contact with enemies of the Empire, and earn credits to fund my activities." Jyn answers.
"You're...a Jedi?" Luke asks. Jyn subtly waves her hand.
"Yes, Luke. I believe that the force has guided me to you. There are no masters left to train you, so it must fall to me to bring back our order. I would like to start that by training you in the ways of the force. You can be a great Jedi, just like your father." Jyn says.
A Jedi Knight! Willing to train me! I can learn from her, then, I'll be a great Jedi, just like my father! Luke thinks.
"Yes, I'll do it! I want to be a Jedi!" Luke says.
"You've made the right decision, Luke. We will have to train in secret. For now, it's best if no one else knows I'm a Jedi." Jyn says.
"Why all the secrecy? Don't you want command to know you're a Jedi?" Luke asks.
"No. It's too dangerous. I can't risk the Empire finding out. They think the order died with Master Kenobi. It's best to let them keep thinking that. That means I can't openly use the force. I don't even have a lightsaber on me." Jyn says.
"You don't have a lightsaber?" Luke asks.
"No. when I realized that I would be captured, I gave it to my droid, and sent him away." Jyn answers.
"You have a droid?" Luke asks.
"Yes. He's an...old Separatist commando droid that I modified. I don't know where he is now. It's been almost two years since I've seen him. I ordered him to try to free me from prison. It's possible that the Empire destroyed him." Jyn answers.
A little truth in the lie. After all, HK-47 did serve the Separatists very briefly before he was deactivated and scrapped. I found him in a junkyard, five years ago, and rebuilt him. Jyn thinks.
"Well, maybe he has the same luck you do. I hope you find him." Luke says.
"Thank you. Now, for a little demonstration." Jyn says.
"Of what?" Luke asks.
"Just wait for it." Jyn says.
Jyn turns toward a pile of stones near the river. She extends her right hand toward the stones, and suddenly, one of them floats straight up several inches, then quickly flies into Jyn's outstretched hand. Luke watches in amazement.
"Wow." Luke says.
"Wow, indeed. There are many wonderful things that we can do with the force. This is one of the simpler abilities. One of the first things that most Jedi Masters taught their students." Jyn says.
"Making rocks float is simple?" Luke asks. Jyn laughs.
Oh, Skywalker. You are a blank canvas waiting to be made into my masterpiece. Jyn thinks.
"Once you practice enough, yes. I think you'll be moving rocks in no time. For now, it's best if we do most of your training off base, or when no one's around. About the only training I'll be able to give you when others are around is some basic saber training. I'll just tell everyone that I used a vibroblade during my mercenary days, and learned sword fighting from a Mandalorian. So, how about we head to the gym, and I'll start showing you the basics. We can use training sticks against each other." Jyn says.
"Sounds good to me. I wouldn't mind knowing how to actually use this thing." Luke says, as he takes his lightsaber from his belt.
"That's...your father's saber, isn't it?" Jyn asks.
"Yeah. Ben gave it to me. I haven't actually used it in a fight yet. I'm still more comfortable with a blaster." Luke says.
"Then, we shall work on that." Jyn says.
Several minutes later, Jyn and Luke are in the gymnasium on the Rebel Base. It's a large, open room with several people lifting weights or training in hand to hand combat. Jyn and Luke are standing on a training mat, facing each other with sword length sticks in their hands. There is a small crowd gathered to watch them.
"I would like to see what you can do. Now, attack me!" Jyn says.
"Alright." Luke says. Luke charges toward Jyn, and swings his stick, intending to strike her. However, Jyn easily blocks Luke's attack, and knocks the stick out of Luke's hand. "Damn!" Luke says.
"I take it you have never done this?" Jyn asks.
"No. Not too many people here know how to fight with a sword. Captain Orrelios tried to show me some moves, but it didn't go so well." Luke answers, as he picks up his stick.
"How so?" Jyn asks.
"He kicked my ass. Several times. He's a lot bigger, and stronger than me, so he kept overpowering me. Finally, I told him I'd had enough. I haven't trained with him ever since." Luke answers.
"I see. Well, it looks like we have a great deal of work to do. I learned the vibroblade at the age of ten from a Mandalorian working for Saw Gerrera. He claimed that some of the forms were adapted from Jedi lightsaber forms, so some of what I have learned might be of use to you." Jyn says. Luke gives her a confused look.
"Remember our cover story, Luke." Jyn's thought voice says, heard only by Luke.
Oh, right. I almost forgot. She doesn't want anyone to know she's a Jedi. There are several people close enough to hear us talking. I need to be smart about this. Remember the cover story. Maybe she'll teach me how to talk to her with the force. Luke thinks.
"Now, we should start by making sure you have a firm grip on your sword. I have taken the liberty of marking where the top end of your lightsaber hilt will be. We wouldn't want you to learn a grip where your hand is on the blade, would we?" Jyn asks.
"No. Good point." Luke says.
"Now, dominant hand on top. Other hand just below it." Jyn says.
"I heard that Commander Bridger used to use his saber one handed, and used a blaster in the other hand." Luke says.
Indeed he did. Little good it did him though. Jyn thinks.
"Well, I don't know much about Commander Bridger, but maybe he had a few years experience with a blade before he started doing that." Jyn says.
"Oh. Right." Luke says.
"Now, we are here to train are we not?" Jyn asks.
"Yeah." Luke answers.
"Then, less talking. More fighting." Jyn says.
"Right. Sorry." Luke says.
"Now, attack me again." Jyn says.
"Okay." Luke says. Luke takes another swing at Jyn, who easily blocks his attack. This time, Luke makes certain that he has a firm grip on his training weapon, and the stick remains in his hand.
"Better. Now, my turn." Jyn says. Jyn swings at Luke, who attempts to block, but is too slow, and gets hit in the leg.
"Damn." Luke says.
Not good enough. What the hell did Kenobi teach you? Jyn thinks.
"I know you want to kill Vader for what he did to your father, but right now, you wouldn't last five seconds against him. I have seen Vader in action. I barely escaped with my life. You will need to be much quicker, and you will need to anticipate your opponent's attacks." Jyn says.
"Okay." Luke says.
"Don't worry. We will work on it. Ideally, we will find another Jedi survivor, and they can train you properly. Until then, I'll do my best to at least make you a competent swordsman." Jyn says.
"Thanks." Luke says.
"Anytime. Now, back to work!" Jyn says. Jyn and Luke resume their training as the small crowd looks on.