AN: As always, read and review. I hope you enjoy the chapter! May the Force Be With You.

Disclaimer: It belongs to George Lucas.

CHAPTER 7

Charlie had expected the training rooms to be empty but for herself, R4, the droid, and the council. She was quite wrong.

"What is this?" she thought to herself as the doors to the training rooms closed behind her.

There were enough younglings and Padawans to fill the audience stands that had been set up along one wall. The council sat in the center; front few rows. In front of the stands was nothing but a matted floor. There were hallways and doors scattered around the wall. Charlie assumed that some lead to changing rooms, others to other training apparatuses.

Charlie surveyed the audience. They had been speaking quietly amongst themselves, and once her presence was noted, they went back to their conversations. The younglings looked the most nervous, especially the ones seated close to the council. Charlie assumed the 12 Jedi Masters were like gods to the children. The padawans looked more relaxed, and some excited for the show about to happen. Mace Windu stepped out on to the floor to greet her and the two droids.

"Milady, I'll take your pack for you, yes?" 3PX spoke, and Charlie turned to hand it off. She rolled her shoulders, adjusting to the loss of weight. 3PX went to stand against the stands. R4 beeped at her questioningly.

Charlie knelt down next to the droid.

"You go R4, next to 3PX. I'll be fine." she said to the droid. "Take my cloak, though, alright? I trust you to keep it safe." She removed the cloak and R4 took it in one of his extended instruments before he rolled over to where 3PX was.

Charlie turned back to Windu.

"Master Windu, what is it the council would like to see?" Charlie questioned him. She thought Windu looked somewhat apprehensive.

"We will do nothing without your acquiescence. I would like to make that clear. You are not a padawan, and I suspect you would rank as a Jedi Knight if you joined our ranks. We have no sway on your whims. However, the council would like to see your skill against droids, against a Padawan learner, and against a Master Jedi. From there, they will decide if they need to see anything else."

Charlie nodded. She supposed it was as she expected, however the padawan learner was a surprise.

"I will acquiesce, however," and she turned to face the stands, "I must emphasize how bad of an indicator of my power these battles will be. There is more to a being than it's ability to fight and destroy. You of all people must understand that. All you will gain from watching these fights will be an understanding of my proficiency with a lightsaber and other conventional weapons, and maybe my strength with the force. Nonetheless, bring it on."

She smirked at this last part, letting a little bit of confidence shine through, maybe to disturb her Padawan opposition. That would be an especially interesting fight.

Windu looked trouble. "I must apologize again for the will of my colleagues." he said. "The training of a Jedi is multifaceted, and only a few of those facets reflect weapons training. We can already see you are strong in the force from your force signature, and from what Master Yoda tells us of Silverstars. Nonetheless, shall we begin?" he asked.

Charlie nodded.

Windu sat back down, and tapped at a holo he had in front of him. A force field came down in front of the stands and the droids, ostensibly to protect them if Charlie failed. It rippled blue, and she vaguely wondered what would happen if she struck it with her lightsaber. She was distracted, however, by a door on the wall to the left of the stands. It had been closed, and now slid open to allow several tens of droids to enter the training room. Charlie could immediately tell that they were not real in the sense that they were like the droidekas she'd defeated before escaping the Sith temple. However, there were many of them, and she was immediately on the alert.

"Ah ha," Charlie thought to herself, "so I did give them a good indication. They want to see me challenged. Well, they're in for a surprise." She grinned to the droids, giving them a little wave hello. She was going to give her audience a show.

She unhooked her saber and activated it, holding a defensive position until the droids were activated. So far, all they'd done is remove their blasters and aim forward. They didn't attack, seemingly waiting for a command. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Windu press on the holo he had in front of him, and suddenly she was surrounded by blaster fire.

She let her training take over then. The Sith Lords had trained her to be focused, dangerous, and a talented warrior, but she had trained herself to be serene, calm in the face of death, and to be in constant contact with the force. She quickly flipped, using the force as her aid, and landed behind the advancing droids. They were dangerous with their blasters, but they were machines, and therefore none to fast when it came to reflexes. It would take them too long to turn around. Charlie took advantage of that.

Her lightsaber flew so quickly the audience could never see it clearly. The droids started to turn, but Charlie's Jedi reflexes were too fast for them. They were destroyed before they could turn fully around. Since the droids were made of metal, she couldn't just kick them in the chest and be done with it. Every now and then, she would let the force give unnatural speed to her foot and behead one with a kick. She secretly thought that was pretty fun. Mostly, though, she gave the council a good display of her skills with a saber.

But the council still had a few surprises left. She noticed the first few droids she'd destroyed were flickering and disappearing. She could only assume that this was a training technique.

"How useful." she thought to herself. "If annoying." But she shrugged off the thought, and focused back on the tunnel. She could hear the revived droids coming quickly, and this time they had already been activated. They were coming out alive and kicking. Eventually, her mind left the thought of impressing the council. She retreated into the force, and let her instincts take over.

She didn't know how long she'd been fighting before she disemboweled the last droid. She stood, crouched in a defensive position, waiting for the next round of droids to exit the tunnel. When none came, she relaxed her position and her focus, deactivated her lightsaber, and turned to the council.

To her pleasure, the younglings and Padawans alike looked impressed. The council, of course, were stony faced. She knew she should not care about thier opinion of her, but showing them she was capable gave her an unshakable sense of pride.

She watched as Windu deactivated to force shield and walked out to meet her once again.

"Well done." he complemented her, and she inclined her head in response.

"We would have you fight a Padawan next," he continued "but we can see clearly that you would outstrip even our finest quite quickly. There would be no point. Instead, you and I are to spare. There will be objects lining the walls, and this is on purpose. The council would like to see your ability with the force, so they've requested both a mental and physical battle. Not to be blunt, but the objects are there for us to move using the force during battle. I'm to test you to the full extent of your abilities. How do you respond?"

Charlie paused, intrigued, but willing to give the council the show they wanted. A constant worry for General Kenobi one Kamino niggled at her brain, but she figured it was better to get this out of the way now. Besides, she assumed they'd heard nothing from the padawan, so there was still nothing to be done.

"Very well Master Windu," she responded, "but I am worried for Master Kenobi's safety. We will make that our mission after this, yes?"

Windu nodded, and Charlie could see his aggravation in his eyes. It was clear that that was where his worry was, and that he thought this was a waste of time. Charlie was glad she was sparring him, and not another council member.

Charlie shook her head. "Do not worry about this test, Master Windu." she said, her voice soft. "I expected my powers to be questioned. I welcome the chance to prove myself in here just as I welcome a chance to prove myself in service to the Jedi."

Windu nodded, seemingly pleased and somewhat less aggravated. He turned, divesting himself of his cloak and laying on the bench on which he had sat.

When he turned back to her, his saber was in his hand. However, instead of activating it, he took a seat in the middle of the matted floor, and gestured for Charlie to join him.

She noticed that Yoda again put up the force shield. She noticed the attention of the younglings and the Padawans. She noticed the apathetic-ness of the council. But these were all on the periphery of her concentration. Most of all, she noticed the aura of the force surrounding Windu. They had found each other easily enough. They were wall to wall. She could feel his admiration of the strength of her barriers and also his trepidation to hurt her.

She spoke through their connection. "You won't hurt me, Master Windu, do not worry." she said, hearing the echoes the force seemed to give her voice.

She saw the surprise in his eyes when he realized what she'd done.

He said, also though their connection, "So that is how you could speak to Master Yoda. How interesting. Only certain Jedi's have this power, and certainly only the most powerful can wield it with any control. I am… pleased."

Charlie nodded at him, and continued to look for an error in his defense. This was the nature of fighting mind to mind. It wasn't a really useful trick in battle, because the majority of the time their enemies were not force-sensitive, and therefore had no force presence beyond a vague force signature. It was no use. However, for a Jedi and herself, it was a useful way of identifying how strong one was with the force.

The majority of the time was spent strengthening one's own defenses while looking for errors in one's opponents. Tyranus had tested her this way dozens of times, and she was ready as Windu began his own search of her mental defenses.

Charlie found the error she was looking for where he was letting his surprise at her power show without noticing it, but didn't alert him. She merely withdrew to collect herself, and, using a trick Tyranus had showed her, crept in through the hole.

Feeling confident, she waved jauntily to him from inside of his barrier. Windu gasped, surprised at this intrusion, and quickly kicked her out, thought not before realizing what she'd done. He leapt up, activating his saber.

Charlie matched him move for move. She'd been in his mind moments before he moved, so she knew that he was going to do before he did. Purple and silver lightsabers connected in a violently beautiful display of energy.

Windu hadn't been expecting the force she put into the blow, and was knocked back a little. But the council had wanted to see her abilities with the force, so instead of following him back with her saber, she began to throw the objects that lined the walls. It was like batting practice. She'd chuck an object at him, and he would step out of the way or annihilate it with his saber before it could hit him.

Windu was good, she'd give him that, and she realized it would be a long battle to a winner. Nonetheless, she did her best. Windu blocked everything, so, deciding that the council had seen enough, Charlie began to attack with saber and force together.

Focused completely on her opponent, she didn't see the reaction of the audience to this. It took focus and power the likes of which only Yoda could claim, to wield both powers together successfully. Charlie would attack, purposefully go on the defensive, and then attack again. Each time, with more power. She was using the force as her shield, not allowing his lightsaber to get close enough to even singe her hair. Windu didn't have the ability to use both, so he was forced to be active even on the defensive. Charlie didn't give him a moment to rest.

She could see she was wearing Windu down, but he was no where near done. He simply wasn't tiring fast enough. Charlie was starting to get frustrated with the waste of time. She shoved these feelings down, but nonetheless brought an abrupt halt to the battle by simply repelling Windu with the force and keeping him there while she spoke.

"Stop." she intoned. "This is madness. There is a Jedi master out there with his life at risk and there is a very good chance he has no idea. We're fighting a battle that will take hours to win. We are in no position to be wasting energy on tests. We are finished." She released Windu.

Yoda dropped the force shield just as she dropped the shield between her and Windu. They'd both deactivated their lightsabers, and when Windu was able, they bowed to one another.

Yoda spoke. "A Jedi, you could become. The power, you have. The patience, you have. The discipline, you have. The Force, you have."

The council nodded their agreement. Windu turned to Charlie.

"Master Silverstar is what we shall call you." Windu said. I have not faced so talented a young opponent in as many years as I can remember. Any Master Jedi would be proud to call you their apprentice. If you should ever want to join our ranks as a Jedi Knight, you must only pass the trials. I believe you would succeed without difficulty. I think I speak for the entire council when I say we are satisfied." He finished with another bow.

Charlie was grateful for the acceptance, grateful to have finally convinced them that she was worthy of their respect and trust.

The council spoke their agreement with Windu, and Charlie nodded back. "Thank you Masters." she said. "I have worked long and hard and I am grateful for your praise. Now, to the Jedi at risk?"

"I will go find the Padawan we sent to contact him." Windu said. "Meet us in the council room in 30 minutes? E-3PX will lead you to your rooms." Windu finished, motioning to the droids to approach.

Charlie nodded. She was desperate to get to the Jedi, still feeling the let down from not telling them when she'd seen them in the main hall. But she was sweaty from her exertion, and she hadn't eaten anything since early that morning. She was gross and hungry and would not be any help until she was more comfortable, no matter her drive to contact the Jedi Master. Besides, Kenobi still had to be found, and so far the padawan had been unsuccessful in her attempts. She swung on her cloak from R4, and took her pack back from 3PX.

Nodding once more to the council and her audience, the trio walked slowly out of the training rooms, and into a waiting lift.