"Every year since then the planet has opened up and given us more and more information about their culture and rituals and have also made changes to their rules regarding forbidden zones and have even gotten rid of some of them as more and more off worlders are being accepted for visitations. They themselves were shocked when they found out it was a cadet that they had so much respect for because they knew that for Starfleet a cadet meant a student that was still learning so for a student of a military and scientific place to have as much respect for a culture they were visiting as she did they felt that Starfleet and the Federation must be doing something right in their teachings"

"Guess they still don't know about me being a Jedi and from the Republic huh?"

"Not as far as we can tell no"

"Is that important?"

"Could be, because that means they would know that I myself was still really learning about the Federation and for someone to learn two different things at once would probably impress them even more because they also have a huge amount of respect for scholars. So for an off worlder to be learning about the culture of their planet at the same time they are learning about the Federation would tell them much about the Republic and me, because you have to understand something at the time of that mission I had only been a cadet and in the Federation for...about six months and I was still debriefing the Admiralty and they were still debriefing me"

"Then why send you on such a mission?"

"Because of the fact that everyone including me was getting tired of me being stuck on campus...trust me a bored Sentinel who is still very new to a lot of things stuck in meetings explaining about her galaxy and being told about another galaxy and not getting a chance to explore it is a bit dangerous"

"How so?"

"Let's just say that the week before I was sent on the mission isn't discussed by the Admiralty very often and is really only brought up when a Sentinel starts to look like they're bored and feeling cooped up"

"Come on it couldn't have been that bad"

"Does three day clean up mean anything to you?"

"...I don't get it what three day clean up?"

That's when the Commander speaks up because he thought of something he had heard a few years after graduating because one of his cousins had been a cadet at the same time as Portland and she had mentioned a huge mess in one of the buildings that took three days to clean up and it had been done mostly by a lonely cadet no one really recognized, even with freshman cadets they only really knew her because she had been called to see the Admiralty frequently which interrupted class

"Wait a minute are you saying you're the one behind what my cousin called the science building disaster? She mentioned that one student was the main person who cleaned up the building but that others had to help out because of the size of the building, she was a third year cadet and there was a cadet fairly unknown who entered a little late and was called to see the Admiralty pretty often"

"Yeah that was me and trust me you don't want to know what I did to the building to cause it to be shut down for three days"

"Actually she told me because she was sent to supervise some first year cadets on the second day shortly before the dinner meal"

"Oh, that's because I managed to injure myself bad enough to need medical attention so someone else had to take over temporarily until I was cleared by the medical staff, a few other first year cadets were in need of punishment and were in my section under supervision just like I was but the supervisor had to take me to medical to get a deep laceration taken care of, but since they didn't need a teacher present they decided to give the supervisory position to a third year cadet who was going to be leading a fake mission in the next few days so they decided to give her a little practice, though they didn't have to do much according to the teachers"

"Yeah she said it was an easy job, a few of them just needed a little direction in what they should do next when their section of a room was done but other than that things went smoothly according to her"

"Yeah one of them had a background where they were taught not to do anything without orders while a few others were either OCD or low attention span"

"So you know exactly what the building was like for those three days don't you?"

"Not every little detail but yeah I know a good portion of it, tell me the south side of the building did you really?..."

"Yes I really did, and that's one of the main reasons you don't let a Sentinel get bored and feeling cooped up because we can get inventive without proper stimulation, and they're lucky I'm basically an ordinary human because some species are worse than me"

"Worse how could that day have been worse than what you did?"

"Trust me if you thought I was bad, you should see how bad a bored Gungan can get, if you thought Jar Jar was bad and clumsy, smarter and more coordinated Gungans are worse, and so far none of them have ever been Force sensitive enough to receive Jedi training"

"What makes you say that?"

"Okay, just remember this is before I joined the Federation but after I became a Knight. I was on a simple mission of peace when a faction that wasn't as peaceful on the planet decided to hold me hostage and I was in a cell that inhibited my use of the Force. I quickly discovered that a Gungan was with me and he had been a hostage much longer than I had been, he was actually a representative of the Gungans in the Naboo court and was currently missing and presumed dead for six months after an attack on his transport was made during a trip home. He had basically been planning his escape since his capture but couldn't do it because he was watched too closely so his plans got more and more elaborate as his captivity continued, after all he'd had nothing to think about but escape in all that time and I wasn't too keen on being a prisoner for long either so we decided to escape after I was a 'guest' for three nights and his plan worked and trust me it was an insane plan that only worked in part because I was a Jedi, granted I didn't have use of the Force but I retained all my other skills, and part of his elaborate plan was a huge prank of the leader of the group that captured me and that prank involved explosions, loud colorful explosions at that because he managed to find fireworks to set off, originally it was supposed to be a version of gun powder like in the old days of Earth but instead we got ourselves fireworks to play with, plus several other things that I don't think I'll mention. Let's just say by the time we finally exited the building we had whoever was left chasing us and the rest of the group simply surrendered to the local authorities pleading with them to keep us away from them citing mental torture at our hands, we basically made them insane in fifteen minutes and the clean up took three months from when we left"

"And that was a Gungan who wasn't a Jedi?"

"Yep"

"Okay you win glad you weren't a Gungan"

"Thought you would be"

"You know I still don't understand something about your self defense style"

"What's that professor?"

"Why did you choose a relaxed stance as your starting stance when being forced to go hand to hand? I know for a fact that once you have a lightsaber such a stance is impossible and Jedi bring out their lightsabers as soon as there's trouble, even if the lightsaber is in one hand"

"Tell me professor how many times was I underestimated at school by looking calm and relaxed?, basically another person in the crowd until I struck with my intelligence or some other skill I had picked up over the years, basically being an unassuming person"

"Pretty often now that I think about it, especially in the first year and a half of your education, you didn't really start showing your intelligence until about the second half of your second year"

"And that's what I based my starting form on, the unassuming person who doesn't look like they're capable of defending themselves until I strike at a moments notice"

"Just like that one training exercise your second year"

"Exactly"

"What training exercise?"

"I was supposed to simply be a field medic for a team in an exercise and I didn't have access to the Force that day, since it was all simulation training everyone knew that while we might get hurt it wouldn't be that bad and it was good training for everyone including me because it had been a while since I had practiced any field medicine techniques. Unfortunately things went wrong and the two cadets that were supposed to be our Commanding officers panicked and started giving out orders that would get people killed so I used a sedative on both of them and started giving my own orders. Once the dust metaphorically cleared everyone else realized they had been following the orders of a medic who was only ranked Ensign and as such didn't have the authority she was using but since I was the only one not panicking my orders made the most sense so they were followed. The teachers weren't too impressed by the cadets that were supposed to be leading the mission but they were impressed by my performance and were actually surprised I took command so easily because from the debriefs I had given them the past year they knew I didn't have much experience in giving orders to people"

"Either way she takes an unassuming position and uses that to her advantage"

"Though that won't be possible soon enough because eventually she'll be promoted to Commander and that means she'll have acknowledged authority over basically everyone on the ship except whoever she's serving under"

"I know that Captain, but for now being unassuming gives me an advantage one I will keep using until..."

Ashland suddenly grabs her head in pain and as soon as she let go she slammed her hand into the commbadge

"Portland to Soketh immediate scan of the area within three miles exclude Coruscant!"

"Already done Portland I sensed exactly the same thing you sensed"

"Let me and the Captain know as soon as results are in"

"Already planning on it"

"Good, if no results in fifteen minutes scan again, and Soketh I need to talk to you about another matter after your shift"

"Understood Portland"

"What's going on Sentinel?"

"Not quite sure yet Captain, I need more solid information then just a feeling before I say anymore"

"Don't tell me let me guess a brief feeling in the Force that's so vague you need a secondary means of confirming what you've felt"

"Exactly Captain, I need confirmation of something so until Soketh tells us anything it's best I keep quiet"

"Okay, oh and while you were training Coruscant called, they want us to stay to protect everyone but for the next two days they want an escort to the new refugee planet"

"Okay but only after we confirm that nothing...malicious is around"

Five minutes later Soketh called Portland back knowing the Captain was with her

"A cloaked ship was in the area up until shortly after you requested the scan I have no clue where they are headed but it's probably not good, I've alerted the Senate and they've alerted their planet members so that self defense forces are ready for trouble at a moments notice"

"What about Kamino?, because we won't really trust clones for a while but that's the major cloning facility that will be used to make the new clones needed for the Republic's defense"

"Don't worry there are ships headed out there now to defend them even as we speak"

"Okay, thanks for the information, don't forget I want to talk to you after your shift"

"Understood"

"Why do you need to speak with him Portland?, surely any concern you have can be spoken to me"

"Sorry Captain but at the moment it's strictly a Sentinel concern is that understood?"

The tone of Ashland's voice told him that she was not to be argued with and that this really was a concern for the Sentinel's and only the Sentinel's until such a time as they feel it right to reveal more. Something all Starfleet Captain's had been instructed on after Ashland revealed herself when the Texas had wound up in the Republic back when Ashland was simply known as an Ensign

"Understood Sentinel Portland, but I except the two of you to follow the rules set on you after you revealed yourself Portland"

"Don't worry Captain, when the time is right you'll be told what's going on"

Later that evening Soketh and Portland were in her quarters so that the meeting could be private

"Okay Sentinel Portland what exactly is going on?"

"I'm sure you've been getting feelings in the Force lately that something major is going to happen soon"

"Yes I have had such feelings in the Force, in fact it's what led me to request the posting on the New Hope because I had a vision of me with this exact crew defending what I now know is Naboo, the thing is you weren't in the vision, I was in civvies, and was slightly older than I am now, not by much but..."

"But enough to know that some time had passed since you entered Republic space"

"Exactly"

So Portland explained the vision she'd had while waiting for the New Hope and what she had done after seeing the vision

"I recently received a little bit more information in regards to that vision and when the time comes I need you to keep the crew safe and that means following your orders"

"Because you'll be in carbonite freezing"

"Exactly, now then like I said I have messages for the Admiralty and the Senate once I am frozen explaining things but most everyone else including the majority of Starfleet will have to believe you're dead until such a time as the Force reveals that you can come back, now then I don't know if I'll be around during that time or not but either way you have to make sure the Captain follows your orders to keep everyone safe, even if that includes sabotaging the comm system"

"I will, do you know why you'll be in carbonite freezing?"

"Not...exactly, though when I got the feeling I should inform you of the vision I also got the feeling that the reason why would be revealed soon"

"So all you knew was that you would be frozen in carbonite?"

"Exactly, I also know the planet where it will happen but other than that I have absolutely no clue"

"Don't worry I'll take care of the crew I promise, but don't you think we should tell the Captain about this? I know for a fact that he might try and avoid you going down if he knew ahead of time but he also knows not to interfere with the will of Force, they all got a harsh lesson the last time that happened"

"They also know better than to go against my full titles, but there's another reason why we can't tell the Captain yet"

"The time line too vague?"

"No, but I want you to meditate on telling the Captain about this and you'll know why, the Force will reveal all trust me"

"You could have just said the Force told you"

"Unfortunately it's a bit more complicated than that and thus the reason why you need to meditate on the reason why the Captain can't be told yet"

"Portland why can't you just explain it to me plainly?"

"Because it's not something that can be told, it has to be felt"

"Fine, but I'm doing it here and I want you to start the process"

"Why do you need me to start the meditation process? I know for a fact that you can enter the meditation on your own"

"You know that disturbance we felt a while ago?"

"What of it?"

"My connection to the Force has changed...lessened in some way I tried to use the Force in training and while I could use it accessing the Force was harder than normal"

"I haven't noticed any difference, but then I am also what's known as a Force Trouble indicator and as such things that affect a Jedi's ability to feel the Force doesn't affect me the same way if at all as it does normal Jedi or Sentinel"

"Think the Council will call you so that you can help everyone regain the ability to meditate properly?"

"Not sure to be honest, but if they do call me back it will have to be after we take care of the refugees"

"We'll also be on guard duty unless otherwise told"

"Exactly" (thinks) "especially because I won't be here for much longer, you may think you have plenty of time to get used to the idea that I might not be around for some time but in reality I know exactly when I'll be put into carbonite sleep and it's going to be within the next six months, the recent vision I had while meditating wouldn't have been shown to me otherwise and it was a vision not just an image of now. I know that you're going to be lonely Soketh for a long time but you'll still be alive when the time comes for the New Hope to reveal that they're still alive, you're going to go through losing the original crew and even some new people that will join you over the years but you'll manage and when the time comes to reveal yourselves you'll be considered one of the leaders. I myself will be by your side though that's all I know, other than that I have no clue how long I will be asleep, but first I have one more thing to show you before I disappear from your life for a long, long time" (out loud) "now then let's get to work"

Fortunately Portland didn't have to do much to allow Soketh the ability to meditate properly again so she knew that the rest of the Jedi Order would quickly follow suite