Greetings Star Wars fans.

Obviously I had to post something today. That being said, May the Fourth be with you. Enjoy!

Chapter Six

"No. Stop," Aedan said, "That's not it. The edge of your palm needs to line up with your forearm when you parry. The blade must be at a ninety-degree angle with your wrist, so it's pointing straight down at the floor."

Kyra let out a breath. This had to be the hundredth time he'd corrected her today. "Again," he said, for the hundredth time as well. Oh, how she hated that word. She started from the beginning of the kata and moved through every single step once more. Keep your chest up, toe pointed out, elbows slightly bent, now elbows locked out, wrist this way, wrist that way, heel off the ground, sole of your foot perpendicular to the ground. Weight on your front foot. Weight on your back foot. So. Many. Tiny. Fracking. Details.

"No. Wrong again," he said, and walked over. "This is how your wrist is," he grabbed her wrist, and angled her hand slightly outward. "This is how it has to be," he said, and then turned her hand a few centimeters down, and rotated her wrist slightly inward, so there was a straight line from her pinky knuckle to her wrist bone and all the way to her elbow.

"Master, I was two centimeters off, can that really matter?"

Kyra saw her master's eyes narrow and his nostrils flare. He looked away for a moment, closed his eyes, and then let out a sigh. He stepped closer to her, and leaned in. Immediately she felt her heart pounding in her temples, and her neck flush with heat.

"Centimeters matter," he said softly, almost in a whisper. "That is where the darkness lies—in the cracks and crevices, the small fractures and faults of life that are overlooked, ignored or deemed insignificant. In those small spaces, those centimeters, evil hides, waits, and festers. Soon those cracks become valleys. Those fractures become breaks. The demon is in the details." Aedan stepped back, moving to a more comfortable distance.

"Have you heard of Master Zao?" Aedan asked.

Kyra nodded, "Somewhat."

"In his holobook, A Master's Path, he says that in between any cause and effect, or any action and reaction, there is a small measure of space that we can tap into. An iota of time where we have a choice. And what we do in that space determines our destiny. We just have to be aware of its importance and realize that our power lies in the minutiae of life."

He then adopted the stance that she was currently failing at and positioned his forearm across his body at eye level, lightsaber pointing straight down. The hilt and forearm making a perfect right angle. "If I change this angle even a little," he bent his wrist so that the blade was pointing downwards at a slight angle, "The muscles and tendons of the wrist absorb the blow, making the block weaker, and ultimately putting too much stress on the connective tissue. If the bones of my wrist and forearm line up perfectly, then my own bone structure takes most of the impact proving a far sturdier parry, and a much smaller chance of injury or degradation over time."

Kyra nodded, starting to realize the difference.

"Try the wrong way," he said, and she brought her forearm up, and pointed the blade down sloppily.

He struck the center of her blade fast and hard, catching her off guard. She barely had a chance to tense for the impact, and when his saber hit hers, she felt a pinch of pain between the bones of her hand and of her wrist.

"Oh," she said, realization now coming on a lot faster.

Aedan nodded, still serious as ever. "Now do it right," he said.

She tightened her form and locked her wrist in the correct position. Aedan's strike came even harder this time, but as their blades met, there was no pain, no twinge. As he said, the synergy of the bones lining up absorbed the blow.

He stared at her, a question in his eyes.

She met his eyes, let out a slow breath, and then nodded.

"Good," he said. "Now do this kata five more times, perfectly, and then you're done. Remember this lesson."

She bobbed her head, "Centimeters and bones. Got it, Master."

He turned away quickly, and headed out the door. But not so quickly that Kyra didn't see the corner of his lip curl up.

Later that evening, Kyra had dinner with her friends in the main refectory. Even though she was exhausted, and every muscle in her body hurt, she was, as always, thrilled to be among friends.

"Well," Surina asked, "What's he like?"

Rok chimed in, speaking in Shyriiwook, "Is he really that good with a lightsaber?"

"Has to be a lie. No way he's that good," Jarrison said.

Kyra didn't know how to answer. Frankly, she didn't want to answer. He was a stone statue devoid of emotion that had one purpose: To drill her until she collapsed in exhaustion. Which happened twice today. But telling her friends that would feel like a betrayal, so she wouldn't.

So, she just shrugged, "He's demanding, but very skilled. I've never seen anyone as good with the lightsaber, Rok. You should see it."

"He's also really cute," Surina said with a smirk.

"Surina!" Kyra gasped, cheeks heating up.

"What, it's true?"

"That's my master you're talking about."

Surina held up both hands, "Just pointing out the obvious."

Then Rok mumbled, "Speak of the wyyyschokk..." and nodded behind them.

Kyra turned to see Aedan walking toward them. She got up from the table and bowed, while her friends all stood up. He immediately put his hands up, "Oh, please don't do that, no rank in the mess hall and all that."

"Master, these are my friends and clan mates, Surina, Rokvokka, and Jarrison. We're having a farewell dinner for Rok and Jarrison as they both head out on missions tomorrow."

Aedan inclined his head and gave a slight smile. "Nice to meet you all."

Surina smiled brightly, and then Rokvokka spoke in his unintelligible Shyriiwook. Aedan stared blankly at the big Wookie, who then let out a chortling laugh at his dumbfounded look.

Kyra was smirking, "He asked if it's true you're close friends with Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Aedan did a double take, from Kyra to the Wookie, and then back to Kyra. "You speak Skyriiwook?"

She shrugged, "Meh, I understand it, but I'm still learning how to speak it. That is proving difficult."

Aedan blinked, and then shook his head. "You'll have to tell me all about that later," he said then turned back to the Wookie. "Sorry, Rokvokka, Kyra surprised me. But yes, I am good friends with Obi-Wan, though I rarely get to see him anymore with his new padawan."

"The Chosen One," Jarrison muttered.

Kyra cast him a glare, and he just looked away. So, she turned back to Aedan, "Join us, Master," Kyra said, a slight bit of hope escaping into the request.

"Sorry, I can't," he said stiffly. "I tried reaching you on the comlink, but I'm assuming you left it in your room."

Kyra's stomach flipped as she patted her robe, and then her tunic's pockets. "Oh," she said, "Master, I'm so sorry."

Face still completely neutral, completely unexpressive, he just said, "Try and keep it on you at all times."

"I will. I'm sorry."

"Not to worry, I just wanted to tell you that you can sleep in tomorrow."

Unable to hide her relief, "Really?"

Aedan nodded, "Yes. Get some rest and meet me in hangar three at 0930."

"Thank you, Master," she said, "I'll be there."

After Master Kahl had walked out of the refectory, Surina leaned over and whispered, "He wasn't exactly mean, but I thought you said he was friendly."

"Well, he was the first two days, but the past two days he hardly even smiled. Just pushed me relentlessly through our workouts, meditations, and drills. Endless drills. I can do Form One, Kata Six in my sleep now."

"Wonder why he's still got you doing Form One," Rok said. "It's so basic."

Kyra just shrugged. "I can't figure it out either."

"I'm sure it will get better," Surina said.

"I hope."

Aedan Kahl was doing some last-minute prep work, and running through the check list, when he felt Kyra enter the hangar. He could feel her surprise and her curiosity at finding him tinkering with the ship standing above him. He turned around and greeted her, "Morning Padawan, feeling a little more rested today?"

"Yes, Master. I needed that. Thank you."

Aedan shook his head, "The body and mind can only take so much strain. A rest day is imperative, which is why today, and every Benduday for that matter, will be a rest day. No physical exertion, whatsoever. And for the most part, nothing too mentally taxing either." He noticed the relieved look on her face. "Besides, Primeday, we'll step it up a notch now that you've had a nice introductory week." Kyra gulped in response.

"Looking forward to it," she said, without a drop of enthusiasm. "What are we doing today, Master?" she asked eyeing the starcraft.

"I'd like to introduce you to the best ship in the order," Aedan said, and turned towards the big, grey Corellian light freighter that looked very much like the renowned YT-1300, with the same saucer-like design, and same dorsal and ventral quad turrets. But unlike the 1300, it was symmetrical. The cockpit was in the middle, between the two mandibles.

"It's beautiful," she said, "And it's Corellian, isn't it?"

Aedan nodded, "This is the Coreillian YT-two-thousand," he said.

"The two thousand?" she exclaimed, "Those are so rare, I've never even seen one before."

"True. This is actually one of the concept models, and has an altered interior layout. The 2000's were somewhat problematic and faulty. The design schematics were leaked and so the CEC was forced to release them early and hadn't worked out all the problems such as rough controls and even some hyperdrive issues. So, production of the 2000's had a very short run. This one, however, doesn't have those drawbacks, and has some rather resourceful modifications."

They walked up the boarding ramp and Kyra seemed to marvel at the interior. Everything was so clean and white, and there was so much space. They passed by a big cargo room on the right, which was empty and then walked into a wide-open lounge, complete with nerf-leather couches and stained wroshyr wood tables. Aedan walked by this luxurious cabin, while Kyra was dragging her feet, trying to see everything the ship held.

"Come on, Padawan," Aedan said, "There will be plenty of time to see the rest of it."

They entered the cockpit which had one seat close up to the viewport where the pilot sat, and then another seat behind that one, raised up a meter.

"Interesting setup," she said. "Tell me about her,"

"Her name is the Peerless Guile. She's fast, has great maneuverability, and packs a punch with the forward dual lasers and the two quad cannons. She has a healthy load of proton torpedoes as well. But what makes her so special is this right here." He sat down in the navigator's chair. He pulled up three screens on the wide data chart. "This is the most advanced jamming system you can get," he said. "And this," indicating the right screen, "Is a state-of-the-art decoy system. Upon entering an atmosphere, I'll activate this, and it sends out six tiny decoy craft with this ship's I.D signature, and they'll scatter all over the planet, while the jamming system prevents the 'Guile' from being picked up on radar. And then lastly,' pointing toward the third screen, "We have an advanced camouflage system. When we've landed, sensors take readings of the surrounding landscape and then project it onto the hull so the ship can't be seen from up above."

"Investigation and Infiltration," Kyra mused.

"Exactly."

Then a quizzical look appeared on her face, "It's…it's yours?"

Aedan bobbed his head, knowing what she was getting at. "Yes," he said, "technically it's still in the pool of vehicles, but essentially I'm the only one who pilots it."

At that revelation, Kyra bit her lip, and turned away, attempting to preoccupy her mind with something else.

He could tell she was bothered. "Don't be afraid to ask me something, Kyra."

"I thought possessions were forbidden, Master? How in the Force were you able to pay for something like this?" she asked, a hint of chastisement in her tone.

"This ship belonged to my Master, Gennady Faust. When he died, he left it to me in an official will. The Council didn't know how to react to the will, as they had never dealt with a situation like this before. Master Faust also left me a considerable number of credits."

Kyra shook her head in confusion. "Ok, so how was Master Faust able to take possession of the ship, and how was he allowed to have so many credits? All of this is prohibited by the Order."

"Gennady Faust was the Prince of Gaulus."

"What? A prince?"

"Yes, he was Royalty, next in line to be King. There was almost a major dispute over it, but King Faust relented, and let his son go. Gennady's little brother would take over then. However, the royal family just couldn't fathom Gennady living, well, unlike royalty. And so, they left him an enormous amount of money and the Peerless Guile for when he finally became a Jedi Knight."

"And now it's all yours?" She asked.

"Yes."

Kyra looked away. He almost smiled. She couldn't hide anything, especially her emotions. "You don't approve," he probed.

"I don't know what to think, Master. A Jedi shouldn't have possessions, and they shouldn't have a big bank account of credits in their name."

"Why not?" Aedan asked.

Kyra was dumbfounded, "Because," she started, "It's…it's wrong."

"It's wrong for me to have credits?"

"It's wrong for a Jedi. It's against the doctrine," her voice expressing exasperation, "Possessions are forbidden."

"I didn't ask for the ship, and I didn't ask for the credits. Given the opportunity I would trade it all back for my Master, but I can't. The ship is all I have left of him, and it has aided me in dozens of missions where I have saved lives and eradicated evil. And the credits well, I give more-" he stopped himself and took a breath. "We'll discuss this another time."

They walked out of the ship, both quiet. Both noticeably irritated. They exited the hangar and Aedan stopped. "You have the rest of the day off. Try and rest up, because tomorrow we go back to work."

"Yes, Master," she said, and walked off.

Aedan let out a sigh, as she strolled down the corridor. He could sense her conflict from here. She was always conflicted, and now he was adding to that struggle even more.

I told her I knew what I was doing. But do I really?