"Okay there's a small possibility that there won't be any punishment at all, well get yourself treated for you blindness and then write up your report and while we're doing that we'll get your new assignment sorted out and also a message to all Sentinel's explaining the fact that you're alive and back to being the primary Sentinel in charge of the group"

"And we'll inform the Jedi that you're alive too just in case there are any in the Federation at the moment besides the Sentinel's because while we don't have any assigned to the Federation at the moment we can't be entirely sure all the Jedi returned after the war"

"Very well, see most of you guys soon then"

Ashland then leaves to get the medical attention she needed. Once that was done since she still needed rest and time for the treatment to work she asked about a holodeck and activated one of her favorite meditation programs because she had missed meditating the past three years she was held captive, especially meditation in the Force because she had gotten to meditate twice since her captivity but never in the Force because of the inhibitor, when someone entered she didn't even register them because of just how deep her meditation was and that person decided to simply meditate as well since they could tell that the person meditating wasn't going to budge without being touched for a while and they could also sense that the meditation was needed for some reason though they didn't know why or recognize the person because they were new to Starfleet and also part of an exchange program because while the Dominion was now considered part of the Federation because of the wormhole the Dominion basically functioned autonomously and pretty much the same way as before so the two military's needed to adapt to each other and thus the exchange program was activated to help both groups with the transition. Two hours later Ashland finally comes out of meditation and while she was still blind she felt much better and more under control with her emotions then she had for three years and she also sensed the other presence

"Excuse me am I needed for something?"

"Actually no, but I came in here for some training but instead saw the meditation programs running so I decided to join you, um who are you anyways?"

"First Junior Sentinel Ashland Portland, who's been KIA for the past three years apparently"

"Um, I transferred from my planet's defense to Starfleet not that long ago, what's a Sentinel?"

"Oh, um did you even attend the Academy for any period of time when you transferred?"

"Yes but only for a year to get their history"

"Okay then you heard about the Republic and their defenders the Jedi?"

"Yes...oh that's what a Sentinel is, of course I forgot that Jedi go by a different ranking system then us because of the fact that they're a bit different from regular Starfleet officers"

"Exactly, see you knew what a Sentinel was I just needed to jog your memory was all"

"But wait, what do you mean by being KIA for the past three years?"

"I was taken captive by the people of this planet but everyone thought me dead because of a Force inhibitor, that has since been dealt with and I have made my verbal report so now I have to do a written report and as such I need to be led to my temporary quarters"

"I'll take you there because I overheard that the person in medical that was blinded would be bunking with me seeing as how I'm as close to human as you've gotten for a long time now I guess"

"What planet were you part of?"

"Trill, I decided to join Starfleet because I felt my skills would be put to better use there"

"I see, well for now you lead and I will follow, because I really do need to write my report but I couldn't resist my first meditation period in almost two years"

Ashland is led to her quarters and writes a detailed report which takes over an hour for her to finish and then she goes to sleep, only to be woken up not three hours later at alarms going off and her partner yelling at her to get a move on

"What's going on?"

"Trouble, we might be boarded if that's the case, here take this and blast them"

She's tossed something which she easily catches and Ashland quickly feels the instrument and figures out what it was

"A phaser rifle, haven't touched one of these in a while"

"I know, now then that's locked permanently on stun so if you need to kill the intruders you won't be able to do so unless you switch to another weapon that's not locked on stun, you'll also need to be able to tell friend from foe somehow"

"Don't worry the Force has that covered for me I'll be able to tell who to shoot and who not to shoot even in the midst of chaos"

"Okay then, get to the infirmary that's where we've decided to station you"

"Works for me"

"One more thing, once this is over you have another eye treatment headed your way"

"But it hasn't been that long since my last treatment, we always have to wait at least a day between treatments otherwise it's not effective for a while"

"Ah, that was before, there's a new approved treatment that works faster for cases like yours"

"Oh, didn't know that"

"I know, now get moving Sentinel we have a ship to possibly defend"

Ashland quickly goes to what she calls sick bay in her head and stays in a relatively defensible position and actually senses when intruders board the ship so she prepares to stun the enemy into submission or if that doesn't work she knew she could kill the enemy with her Defender's Righteous Fire, she just didn't have that many attacks that could do that because Jedi always tried for the peaceful way first and killed only when necessary. It would turn out that the stun setting would work for the few that managed to get to the sick bay where they were quickly either drugged into further submission because of injuries they had sustained getting there or were quickly gathered and put into the ship's brig

"Though if we get too many more prisoners we're going to have to modify a cargo hold as a prison cell and that's going to complicate things"

"Hey I could help with that seeing as how I'm a Jedi and can do wonders for containing prisoners"

"With a Force suggestion?"

"Either that or I could easily use either the Force to hold them still or my Defender's Righteous Fire abilities to make a sort of cage that they wouldn't dare to escape"

"Let's hold off on that for now and simply see if our brig will work"

"Fine by me, now then I need to get another eye treatment so I'll do that now"

"Okay, how's your eyesight anyways?"

"Still blind, though I thought I saw shadows for a moment but then I saw nothing again so who knows I may have briefly regained my eyesight or it was hopeful wishing"

"Either way the treatments will work soon enough and you'll be able to see again"

"Yeah and then I need to go to Ilum to make both my main lightsaber and then my spare lightsaber, the reason why is because it was made mandatory by Starfleet that Sentinel's have at least two lightsabers at all times just in case and the Jedi Council agreed with them and as such also made it mandatory, though that actually means I need to make three lightsabers instead of two"

"Why three?"

"Because the second mandatory lightsaber of a Jedi is in the Senate building, while for Starfleet the second mandatory lightsaber has to be on the ship in a secure location"

"Um what if something happens to the Senate building in the Republic?"

"Jedi can still get in and get their lightsabers through a secret way though I can't explain or show you those ways"

"Oh makes sense, so you're going to be going to the Republic as soon as you're recovered?"

"Yes I have to if I am to obey the rules of both Starfleet and the Council"

"But I thought you were to be reassigned to a ship"

"Oh I will be assigned to a new ship, but that ship will have orders to take me to Ilum as soon as they have me on board because of the rules Starfleet has set up for Sentinel's"

"How long will this take you?"

"I have absolutely no idea to be honest with you, however I do know that only when I complete the mission will Starfleet be able to send us out on more...Starfleet oriented missions"

"Why can't the Dominion take you?"

"Sorry but things are a bit too unstable for right now for them to be taking me to the Republic"

"How are things unstable?"

"The planet they rescued me from just became part of the Dominion, both the planet and the Dominion need time to adjust to the situation and I have a feeling that there's going to be more Jem'Hadar on the planet then is normal for a little while and the rest will be on regular patrol, especially because the Dominion also just recently joined the Federation so they really need some stability before they can do what I need to do which is going to the Republic"

Just then a Founder came to their quarters and asked for Portland

"What is it?"

"Change of plans, you're heading to DS9, your new assignment has a supply drop off there and that's where they will then pick you up, easier for both groups"

"So they drop off the supplies, pick me up and then we head to the Republic?"

"That's what we've been told by Starfleet Command"

"Okay, um when's my next treatment for then?"

"Early tomorrow morning, and I do mean early, and if necessary your ship will complete the treatment they have already been informed that you were blinded while in captivity, we just got a message from your new ship stating that if need be they will finish the treatment you need"

"So you basically got two messages at once then"

"Yes we did"

"Well if I'm going to get treatment tomorrow I guess I should get some sleep then"

"Might I suggest a Healing trance then?"

"No not unless I'm in their version of sick bay where I can be monitored, granted there are a few times that it's unavoidable to go into the trance alone but it's not a good thing because Healing trances can be extremely dangerous if not properly monitored"

"Why's that?"

"Because if we go too deep into the trance we may not be able to get ourselves out of the trance alone, in fact going too deep into the trance could potentially kill a Jedi especially if they're alone, there's still a risk with medical personnel around you but it's dramatically decreased because of how closely you're being monitored. Even a regular Jedi can help another Jedi in a Healing trance if it starts to get too deep because all Jedi are trained to recognize the warning signs of a Healing trance going too far, though it's always better for a Healer to be there all Jedi are field medics, we have to be because of the fact that we won't always have a Healer on the team or even in a place that will treat Jedi properly, either because they don't have the facilities to do so or because they don't like Jedi and will refuse to treat them"

The next day Ashland got her eye treatment but then was sedated so that she could get some restful sleep and potentially go under into the Healing trance under observation which she did indeed do that. A day later they were nearing the wormhole which meant that Ashland would have to be woken up soon because they would be at DS9 but they didn't have to because Ashland woke up on her own

"Hey...so this is what a Jem'Hadar infirmary looks like"

"You can see?"

"Yep full vision, so we're going home soon then?"

"Yes, oh by the way the Dominion has changed to standard view screens which means no more head aches for any humans on the bridge"

"What made you guys decide that? I know for a fact that the Federation wouldn't have forced you to change anything about your ships"

"We made that decision shortly before we joined the Federation because we realized just how much pain we were causing normal people who used the eye piece and since we knew that there was always a possibility of Starfleet officers joining our ships if we ever joined the Federation we made the decision to change our view screens to accommodate them and it was an easy change actually, and allows for dual conversations at need"

"Well as long as it wasn't forced on you I can accept that, who knows it might have been worse for a Jedi due to the fact that we have the Force and as such can sense things before they can be seen sometimes which means we might have been more affected due to a slight chemical difference in our bodies to normal humans"

The next day Ashland arrived on DS9 and was greeted by Captain Sisko and was informed her ship was being slightly delayed in arriving