Chapter 9: Intermission Transmission
Caelum stopped mid-fight as he felt her. They touched each other so gently with the force before he got hit again with her location. Then she was gone. It was the slightest moment and yet it dragged on for an eternity for him. When he finally returned, his arm stung after the pilot's laser precision.
The room was startled quiet. Caelum did not move as he continued to feel the force around him, but she was already gone. The pilot ran to his arm, "I am so sorry. I didn't expect to actually hit you."
Caelum brushed him off, ignoring his arm altogether, "I was distracted and you rightly took advantage of that. You are learning, which is good." He clicked on his communicator, "T7, did you feel her?" Beeps responded. He smiled, which unnerved the room further, "Make sure we stay on target. Do whatever you need to in order to get us there faster." Caelum walked through the group to get to the exit.
He spoke now to them, "You did well, but you need to learn strategy or else you will never defeat a force wielder. See T7 for practice in meditation and clarity. Once he thinks you are ready, we can play some strategy games. My ship is outfitted with many from various cultures. My father enjoyed them and I never lost once. If you can beat me, then we can duel once again."
Caelum did not stop as he spoke, but luckily the voice echoed off the metal walls. The group glanced to one another before they themselves dispersed from the room. They did not see much of Caelum during the next week or two. What little they saw was like a ghost, moving from the cockpit to his room as he checked star charts or system diagnostics.
Sometimes, during his walks, Caelum would look up at catch sight of the crew. The trooper practiced with the light saber daily and he could see improvement. Caelum began to have a little more respect for Finn. Meanwhile, T7 had outfitted a holodisk to project Meetra to the crew so she could train them in meditation and a basic understanding of the force. The wookie kept to himself mostly. Caelum could see the loneliness and sadness in the way he held himself. Out of everyone there, Caelum could relate to the wookie. Lacking any social bearing himself, Caelum merely nodded his acknowledgement whenever the wookie entered the room. They all began to fall into a rhythm of busy nothingness.
Meanwhile, in a galaxy far away, Allucina would send out sporadic pulses in hopes that he would get closer sooner. Each time, she felt it being received by two objects. As time passed, one of them learned to respond and touch back. The power was not the strongest of the two, but it was enough to peak her interest.
Allucina expended some of her power to remotely view these objects. It was a young girl and an old man. Details were fuzzy, but she could tell that much. They argued with one another. The girl was agitated by the pulse, saying that she needed to go help. The notion warmed her heart, but she was not sure why. The energy the girl gave off was familiar.
The older man was visibly irate. She could hear his words clearly, "You must not go. You have not completed your training. You do not know how to control the force yet." The girl promised to return. He denied her once more. Allucina chuckled at this scene. She recalled viewing a similar scene many years ago when that very same old man was making a similar argument. Interestingly, the end result was a lot different. The girl finally caved and obeyed. "I felt it too," he spoke more calmly this time, "but that is something we must not interfere with or else we will be tempted." Allucina was a bit insulted by this notion. Suddenly, he turned to face her and she felt a push.
She fell back, startled and pale. She never met someone so rude! Nevertheless, that chance of aid was fleeting. At least is provided for some entertainment. She glanced at Kylo Ren who was asleep on the bed. He would be entertaining if he would stop feigning from the charge of power. She sighed as she began deconstructing objects in the room and reforming them. One day her mate will come.