"Come on guys let's get home and then I have some major debriefing and explaining to do to both Starfleet and the Council, I am going to be in so much trouble from this it isn't even funny"
"You most definitely are in trouble because we have thought you dead for two years and now we find out that you were using your Force inhibitor, even though that feels different from what you've done"
"I know and all of that will be explained at the same time as when I report to Starfleet, because what I did is actually vital information for the rest of the Sentinel's currently serving in Starfleet"
"Fine let's get back to the temple then, while the Starfleet officers explain things to the Senator who I believe is currently with the Federation Representatives who have just arrived not two months ago"
"Ah a transfer recently happened then"
"Exactly Portland now then let's go to our destinations"
Ashland was quickly led to the Council chamber and boy was she ever in trouble for making everyone think she was dead for two years. Once Janeway was visible she got chewed out by the Admiral as well but once all the yelling was done she was allowed to explain things
"Sorry about that, but if the Council remembers during a report a month before I found out about the bounty on my head I suddenly stopped talking mid sentence, that was because of a Force vision which told me one way of protecting everyone and I took that route, I didn't tell anyone except someone who owed me a favor as a secondary means of protecting everyone because if everyone thought I was dead no one could potentially reveal otherwise and put themselves at risk for being taken and tortured to find my location"
"Well that explains part of your actions but how did you manage to fool even the Jedi Council into believing your death?, from what I hear from Picard T'vran locked himself in his grief for three weeks and after that simply acted like a drone, last I heard he was still like that"
"Simple if need be Jedi can modify their Force inhibitors to make it appear like they have passed onto the Force, I will transmit everything they will need should that ever be necessary, as for T'vran I didn't know that, it appears that there are limitations to our bond though the exact limit is still unknown"
"Understood, though it doesn't make sense"
"Wait, I get what you're saying I'm still blocking myself that's why I can't tell just a moment"
She fully opens the sibling/training bond they had and grabs her head in pain for a moment then centers herself again
"Okay I hope never to have to do that again, apparently they're still in the midst of a battle, don't know the enemy and he got injured, he'll know I'm alive again and will act a little weird until you can inform Picard of the fact that I'm alive"
"Understood, finish your report and then I'll work on contacting Picard to update him on the situation"
"Will do, I also have a Senator to talk to as well, a full written report will be available within twenty-four hours Sentinel Portland out"
"Janeway out"
So Ashland finishes her report to the Jedi Council and then along with two Starfleet officers she goes meet the Senator she attacked who was actually with the Federation representative's
"What's going on here? I thought my attacker was behind bars"
"About that, you remember when we said that there's special circumstances in regards to your attacker? I want you to listen to her before you make any rash move"
"Very well I will hear her out"
"Senator, I deliberately aimed for your shoulder hoping for a flesh wound but you moved at just the wrong moment and so I fully hit your shoulder. I am not a bounty hunter I am First Junior Sentinel Ashland Portland, the same person who was supposedly killed two years ago"
"Senator it is her, we proved her identity with the device that Starfleet issued a year ago"
"Why did you make everyone think you were dead?"
"For everyone's safety, there was a bounty on my head and a month earlier I saw a vision that led me to my actions, I knew I would be attacked either way but I had a choice of either faking my death or possibly being killed for real, I chose to fake my death without any prior approval so that everyone could tell the truth that they truly believed I was dead if ever asked"
"And then you became a bounty hunter to keep an eye on your attacker and protect people if possible"
"Exactly I only chose bounties which wanted people alive, the reason I took yours was because I knew it was time for me to come home"
"I understand, and how were you going to explain my being alive when asked by your employer?"
"Oh I was actually planning on being caught, I was deliberately botching the mission so that I could come home after two long years"
"Ah so your employer will simply know that you've been caught and won't ask for explanations then"
"Exactly though how we're going to deal with my bounty hunter ID now I have no idea"
"We'll figure something out and I will help you, by the way how did you fool your fellow Jedi?"
"I modified my Force inhibitor which is standard equipment for all Starfleet Sentinel's no matter their rank, on the way here I returned the Force inhibitor to it's original programming and now when I put the inhibitor on I will not have access to the Force but no one will think me dead, more like a sudden void of a Force signature which is not natural but they will know I am still alive"
Suddenly though they hear an alarm which was not a good thing
"Senator, Representative's, if you would follow us we'll take you to the safe room"
They quickly leave the office with the two Starfleet officers covering the front while Ashland covered the back just like in the plans first made all those years ago because Jedi can sense danger a lot faster and so it made sense to cover the back where not many people look any where's but forward even in that position so since the Jedi had the Force they guarded the back because they could sense danger before any attack happened. On the way to the safe room there was indeed danger to their backs and Ashland quickly whipped out her lightsaber and deflected the blaster bolts. She ordered the others to continue on and be extra careful while she held them off with her lightsaber and phaser and she actually succeeds in keeping the attackers away from their targets. Fifteen minutes after the alarm sounded security personnel arrived and took them down
"We've already taken care of the rest of the intruders where are your representative's?"
"By now they should be in the safe room"
"Okay they will know that it's safe soon enough, we just alerted our people to the fact that we have captured the last of the intruders"
"Good, I'll go down as well so that they can confirm it with me too"
She does indeed confirm what the guards said and eventually returns to the Jedi temple where she started working on perfecting the unique style she had invented years ago but hadn't really had much of a chance to perfect it, unfortunately a Padawan got a bit too curious and managed to walk in on her private session and got stunned, at full power. Ashland immediately stopped her training and took the Padawan to the medical center and contacted the Padawan's Master
"I'm sorry, I was perfecting a unique fighting style for the Sentinel's of Starfleet and he just walked in on my training"
"It's okay I understand, I'm just glad that your phasers are permanently locked on stun"
"Yes, but he can still be injured from the stun blast depending on where he was hit and from what I could tell he was hit on the shoulder where there was no clothes protection"
"I understand, how is it going anyways?"
"Frustrating, you have to be very careful to not hit the lightsaber because it will stun you instead and you also have to be careful of where your lightsaber is because you can seriously injure yourself that ways as well, not to mention this hasn't even gotten to the test phase where we see if it works when there are other allies fighting with us and are unpredictable in their own ways"
"It will work, I recently had a vision or something showing me people fighting on a planet in this system and some of them were Sentinel's using your unique fighting style"
"That's what I needed to hear at the moment, thank you Master Kloonata for giving me encouragement just when I needed it most"
"Sentinel Portland, maybe part of the problem is that you're forcing the movements to work together, from what I understand using a phaser is quite different from using a lightsaber and there are seven different forms not to mention several stances and styles, maybe you should remember that you're developing something for both the phaser and lightsaber working together, combine the standard stance of the phaser with the forms and stances of the lightsaber, see what works and what doesn't. Do what Jedi Masters of the past did and create your own form, stance and style if you must, it will come to you and you will perfect it to the point that it can be used in combat and by the rest of the Sentinel's"
"Thank you Master Kloonata I will most certainly think about the advice you have given me, you may be right and I am limiting myself too much"
She goes back to the training room after making sure that the Padawan was indeed recovering and thought on what Master Kloonata told her and realized that she was right
"Okay if that's the case then I guess I'd better start from scratch again because otherwise this attempt at making a new means of fighting for the Sentinel's will never work"
She closes her eyes and first does things in the air, pretending she had her weapons on her, envisioning what she wanted to do and what it looked like in her mind. After a few hours of that she started off with just her lightsaber to make sure that what she was envisioning worked in the real world, once that was accomplished she did the same thing with her phaser. Once she was finally comfortable with both individually she combined the two groups slowly at first working her way towards combat speed. She stopped when she realized she had been up all night and she now needed some sleep but she was satisfied with her progress at the moment and very glad she didn't have any work to do for at least a week so she simply went to bed knowing that she could continue work after she woke up. She didn't know that in the early hours of the morning Master Luke Skywalker had observed Ashland working on her new style and having talked to Master Kloonata knew she was taking their advice and starting from scratch and actually doing pretty well from what he could tell, he also realized that what Ashland was doing would be unique to the Sentinel's that would serve in Starfleet both in the present and future and knew that soon she would be needing to take things to the next level and he would be waiting with volunteers for when that day came
"Soon Portland, I know that you'll be ready for the next level soon, and we'll be waiting for that day so that you can make sure it works relatively well when others are around you"
For several weeks after that Ashland continued to work out the flaws of the style and smoothed out the motions and finally went up against some of the training robots that were available and took care of them quite nicely and finally knew that all that was left was to field test the new style, but that meant going into a known active war zone but it was the last step she needed to prove it's effectiveness so she requested a meeting with the Council to request a mission
"You wished to speak with us?"
"Yes, as you know I have been working on a new fighting style for the Sentinel's of Starfleet and I think I finally have it finalized but to make sure it works in the field I need a mission where there is active fighting going on, I will of course make sure I am with a team"
"Granted, I was wondering how soon you were going to test that new fighting style and have some volunteers waiting for word that they can go on a mission with you and we have just the place too"
"Okay then let's get going"
So her fellow Jedi were informed they were needed on a mission and they were briefed on where they were needed and they went. Soon they were actively fighting to get a cease fire going and it wasn't going that well so Ashland finally decided she'd had enough and used her unique fighting style that only Starfleet Sentinel's would be able to use and it was very effective, even when her fellow Jedi moved in a way she wasn't expecting she could easily compensate for that and the style just simply flowed through her no matter what happened. Eventually they managed to stop the fighting long enough to gain a cease fire and the two groups actually talking to each other
"Maybe now you can stop fighting and start working together to rebuild what this war has destroyed"
They eventually were able to leave the planet in a semi-stable condition and head back home to Coruscant which was actually where a new Federation vessel was waiting for Ashland
"So it looks like your new style works"
"Yes it most certainly does and I will be recording it in the holodeck for the rest of the Sentinel's to learn from and will also inform Command that the style is now complete"
"Indeed, by the way there's a ship waiting for you when we get back"
"Understood, do you know if I have transfer orders or are they just a ride home?"
"We don't know anything other than they're going to pick you up"
"Understood"
They eventually arrived back at Coruscant and there was indeed a Federation starship there
"Are we in range to contact them?"
"Yes why?"
"Because that means we're in range of their teleporters and seeing as how I have already sent my mission report to the Council I can simply go home on that ship"
"Okay then let's do it"