Chapter16
Awakening
The only sound in the room was the steady beeping of a heart monitor. Grandmaster Vandar Tokare was sitting in his hoverchair, observing the recent source of turmoil in his normally serene Enclave. To be honest he much preferred Dantooine to Coruscant and spent as much time as possible in the smaller facility as he can. Till now, though he still found amusement in the figure standing in the corner trying to hide from his senses.
The girl was twitching in her bed, a slight whimper of discomfort came from her. Vandar grimaced as she kicked her blanket aside, revealing a manacle attached to her ankle. She kept trying to move her leg, jerking against the restraint tying her to the bed. He waved a hand and the manacle unlocked. The padawan assigned as guard took a step forward, then paused as the old master lifted a hand in a stopping motion.
"Disagree you do?" Vandar, did not bother turning around
"The shackle was applied at the orders of master Vrook."
"More concerned with Vrook's displeasure are you, than showing empathy?"
The Padawan had no clear answer and stayed silent. Vandar gave a small scowl.
"Relieved of duty you are. Report to Master Vrook; that I have relieved you."
"At your orders, master."
"Padawan, a lesson to be learned here is. Be more aware of the force than your orders, save your life it might."
Vandar looked directly into the corner.
"More comfortable you will be if you sit."
The air shimmered and Terri came into view as she deactivated the stealth belt she had borrowed from Mission. She took hold of the girls hand after seating herself by the bed. The padawan gulped in discomfort, he could almost hear the lesson Vrook will dish out. Vandar shook his head in disappointment at the lesson being ignored.
The girl had become more restful with the burden relieved. Another twitch of his hand and the blankets settled properly again. Vandar started to study her again, trying to find the reason she was feeling so familiar while also having no presence most of the time. His eyes widened as he found the source, surely that cannot be. This had not been done in centuries and only then to the worst of offenders.
"Took you long enough to find the reason."
Vandar looked over the bed to a very large blue figure seated on a chair next to the bed, running an incorporeal hand through the girls hair. She relaxed even more, a gentle smile appearing on her face. Terri looked at the figure, torn between bristling at the familiarity he was showing and happiness at seeing the smile that had been absent for a while.
The door to the healer's office hissed open and the healer stepped from her office, her attention focused on the pad in her hand. She stopped and stared in surprise on seeing the fourth figure in the room, her jaw dropping slightly. Slowly the datapad was lowered.
"Knight healer Fay Watson, meet a very old friend of mine Master Berek Katarn." Vandar said straightfaced, mirth in his eyes.
The woman was unsure how to respond
"A pleasure, healer. How is my pseudo granddaughter doing?"
This time it was Vandar's turn to be shocked into silence. Berek pointed to the datapad in the healers hand. She cleared her throat.
"I am afraid I do not understand how you can say granddaughter, master."
"She is the daughter of my last padawan. Ashani Carpenter. Therefore she is as good as my granddaughter."
Vandar looked at the healer. She nodded.
"Matrilineal match ninety percent. The other genome is consistent with mandalorian DNA, a precise match is not possible at the moment." Fay stated, I pulled up her records, after her return from captivity by the mandalorians, her physical examination had shown that she had carried a child to term."
Berek concentrated for a moment and Melissa slowly woke. Her smile deepened on seeing Terri, confusion flashed across her face as she realised she was not in the cell she was not supposed to be in. She started to look around wildly, stopping in shock on seeing the blue figure
"Relax, you are safe." Terri soothed her
"What? Where?"
Terri took a turn in running her fingers through Melissa's hair.
"You know other people go to tourist spots for their kicks, you have to check out the local hospitals. You need better hobbies." Terri said teasingly.
"I have hobbies." Melissa objected, still confused
"Running around naked on every new world is not a good hobby either."
Berek chuckled. Melissa turned her attention to him.
"I don't know who you are, but for some reason I feel like I should."
"I believe I should start from the beginning and hopefully when I am done, you will have some answers to the questions that have been plaguing you. Be warned though that it will not be a pleasant tale."
"Please?" Melissa near begged.
Berek tuned to Vandar.
"I must warn you as well that I will not be filtering the tale in any way. It is time that the truth comes out."
"Agree do I, old friend."
Berek shifted in the seat to make himself more comfortable, though in reality having no need to do so as he was incorporeal.
" Your mother became my padawan when she was eight years old, a very unusual age, it was felt at the time holding her back would have been detrimental to her development in the force. She was highly attuned to the force even at that age. On the surface she was the textbook perfect padawan obedient, conscientious in all she was taught but she has two fatal flaws. An obsession with knowledge and hubris. A fault many Jedi has these days. She is also ruthlessly pragmatic, with the need to be one of the most important people, if not the most important, in the room."
He shifted in his seat.
"Despite my misgivings I allowed her to take her trails at fourteen. She passed with flying colours. We experienced a rift in our relationship when I opposed her taking a padawan when she was seventeen. I had believed her to be too inexperienced at the time. She found a mentor in another, the archivist of the time. An unpleasant individual by the name of Kreia, or given the name that is truest to her being, Darth Traya. She enabled and encouraged Ashani in searching for more knowledge and thus more power. Another major event was in its beginning phase, one that would shape the future."
Berek leaned forward.
"Reports were coming in of worlds on the edge falling to armies of conquerors. But being in the outer rim and not as rich as a core world, nothing was being done. With the backing of Kreia she finally got her padawan, a young Togrutan woman that had been in the same crèche group as she had been, by the name of Bella Ashari. No one mentioned anything in the age disparity of one year between master and padawan. To my shame I was one of those who did not object."
Melissa felt the story was building up to point, but the tone was turning darker. The picture of the woman who birthed her was also not as pleasant as she had hoped for all these years. Terri gripped her hand tightly and pulled her into a half hug, as if she was sensing her discomfort and trying to shield her.
"Then came news that Cathar was in danger of being invaded. Ashari had one major competitor, a young force prodigy like her, a very charismatic Elvenhan knight named Revan. Despite what she made claim otherwise, the reason she took her padawan to Cathar with her, was to be seen to be the one who acted while her rival spoke. To turn herself into a legend, like the masters of old."
Berek shifted in the chair.
"They were captured in the first battle and handed by Mandalore the Conqueror as prizes to his two best commanders of the battle. Mandalore wanted to breed his own version of Jedi, loyal to him."
Melissa and Terri looked disgusted by this news, Melissa paling rapidly. Berek lifted his hand to forestall any comment.
"Before you ask,no, you are not born of an act of rape. The man who got her, treated her with dignity and respect, he was besotted by her. She seduced him and used his infatuation to effect her escape, leaving her padawan in the grasp of an animal in human skin. When you were born she bound you in a ritual that was banned centuries ago and handed you to her parents. She told them they had to flee as she was being pursued by your father. She then walked into the Jedi temple as if she had returned from a day of shopping."
He sighed deeply, running a hand through his beard.
"The healer who examined her found she had been with child and as her old master I was tasked to debrief her. All she said is that she took care of the child and no risk existed to the Jedi. I tried to track down her parents and failed to do so. I left the order shortly after that, being disillusioned by many things but mostly at how she was taken back in without question."
He gave a wry grin.
"I took up a solitary life on Arkaxia, daily reaching into the force to try and find the child of my greatest failure, hoping for a chance to be in her life. I know normaly the Jedi do not have families, but I am Correlian, we allow our Jedi to have families. I built the hut you had sheltered in and it was from there where I joined the force after a year on completing it. As much as I would like to tell a tale of dying gloriously in battle, I fell prey to a white tube like plant you might be familiar with. Only I ate the fully mature version."
Terri chuckled at that, while Melissa gave an embarrassed smile. Vandar looked intrigued
"Definitely a family thing then."
Berek touched her hand.
"The holocron and the saber you found in that were mine, the crystal within it has been attuning to you. At the time I was not sure why I made the holocron but now I know, I was making it for you."
Melissa frowned at that.
"How can the crystal be attuning to me? I am not force sensitive."
Vandar decided to break in.
"A force sensitive you are. The block on you, breaking it is."
Melissa gasped in horror as she realised what had been done to her as an infant.
"Can the block be fixed, I don't want to be a Jedi or a Sith." She declared loudly.
"No the block must be broken or the effects will kill you once it breaks by itself and it will. Ashani was not strong enough to fully block you off." Berek said, sadly," As for not being one or the other there is an alternative; though Vandar will not like me mentioning them. There was a faction who called themselves the Grey Jedi."
" Never heard of them." Terri stated
"Their existence has been denied by both sides. They believed that both codes are flawed and tried live a life of balance between the two creeds."
Terri shook her head
"We can worry about philosophy later. How do we break this block?" She asked." Obviously only on Melissa's decision."
Vandar cleared his throat.
"Break it I can. Painfull it will be." Vandar warned
Melissa rolled her eyes.
"Pain now or dying later, what a wonderful choice." She snarked.
Melissa took a deep breath and nodded in assent to Vandar.
"Please, break the block."
The door to the unit opened and a Twi'lek male entered, followed by a highly displeased older human male. Vandar turned his chair to face them, Vrook was about to speak when Vandar pre-empted him
"Master Zhar, Mater Vrook. Your timing most fortuitous it is, your assistance I will need."
Berek took one look at the human and snorted.
"Who in the nine hells of Corellia thought it a good idea to put that one in charge of training anyone. The only thing he can teach is how to be a pompous jackass."
"Master Berek, a pleasure to see you again." Vrook snarled.
Zhar chose to try and derail the coming argument, while personally agreeing with force ghost, he thought it better to not air the order laundry so to speak.
"Master Vandar, how may we be of assistance?"
"Break a force block we must."
Vandar turned to the healer.
" Leave us you must. Wait outside the Enclave you will until we are complete."
Berek saw her confusion and decided to explain what would happen next.
"The reason he is asking rather rudely for you to leave is because of what will happen when the block breaks. Normally there is a pulse of power from the one who has been blocked, the pulse has been known to render people in the periphery unconscious, if not throw them around. It would be better to have a healer to hand outside the range of the pulse if needed."
"Thank you for explaining, but why so far away?" Fay querried.
"They will be dealing with a fifteen year old block, and considering the relative strength of her mother, the pulse will be significant."
"I assume someone will contact me if I need to return?" She asked
"You can return immediately when you have felt the pulse." Berek replied
The healer nodded to that and walked to her office. Moments later she exited the room a large medical bag slung across her back. Zhar was typing rapidly into his datapad before carefully putting it away. Berek turned to Terri.
"It is time for you to leave as well, wait with the healer."
Terri looked uncertain at that. Melissa squeezed her hand comfortingly.
"Go on, I have a grandfather to look after me while they do this."
Berek smiled in delight on hearing this. Terri nodded and reluctantly left the infirmary. She and the healer joined a group of young novices and apprentices leaving the enclave in the care of their minders and teachers, the children happily chattering.
The group settled on a small hilltop halfway to the airfield. The minders got them set up in meditation circles. Terri sat down and restlessly shuffled trying to get comfortable. She stiffened as a set of small arms settled around her neck in a hug. Turning her head she saw a small Zabrak girl of about seven years old.
"I thought you looked like you needed a hug." The girl happily chirped.
She then promptly settled in Terris lap in a meditation pose. Her soft breathing quickly turning to soft snores. Terri heard muffled laughter. Looking over she saw the healer trying to muffle her laughter.
"I see Ellia introduced herself. She is the resident "troublemaker" of her crèche,"
"A handful is she?"
"You have no idea. The masters and minders are tearing their hair out due to her antics, she probably holds the record for being told to go and meditate. Though master Vandar seems to be highly amused by her, he will often take time to search her out and take her on walks."
Terri found herself being calmed by the small trusting warm form in her lap, then she felt a growing wet spot on her shoulder.
"Of course she would be a drooler." Terri said, smiling despite her words.
Terri would later be hard pressed to describe the sensation of the pulse when it happened. For a moment it was if everything had been stopped in time, no sounds, no movement. Like ripples in a pond, waves of something pushing out of the Enclave, the children moving like branches caught in a storm. Then the pulse came, it felt like an impact from heavy ordinance, flattening everything in its wake. Everything reverted back to normal, but it felt like there was a hesitance in the air.
Terri and the other adults came to their feet, slowly, the children for the most part just staring in the enclave's direction, awe and shock on their faces. The healer had a worried look on her face. Terri led the way to the enclave.
The two temple guards were lying unmoving by the main door, the two hurried closer. Their chests were rising with slow deep breathing. Fay touched their foreheads and after moments they blinked awake. They struggled to their feet, swaying.
"Sit down, till you are recovered fully." Fay ordered them sharply.
Following the old rule off not pissing off the medic, the two guards sat back against the walls gratefully. Terri and Fay moved quickly back to the infirmary with Fay stopping to check a body here and there before moving on, leaving awakening beings in her wake.
The door to the infirmary had been pushed solidly into its frame, buckling showing on the panels. Trying to open them failed as the control terminal burst into sparks. Fay unclipped her lightsaber, and activated the blade. Hers was not the standard blue, yellow or green but a dark purple colour. She proceeded to cut an entryway in the door and pulled the metal back with a gentle pull. Levitating the heavy metal untill she gently lowered it onto the ground. Terri could not help but be impressed by the precision and power exhibited by the healer.
The inside was a mess, everything pushed back from the bed as its epicentre. Vandar was sitting back in his chair groggily, breathing heavily. The other two masters were out cold. Berek was standing next to Melissa, a huge smile on his face, he flashed a thumbs up at Terri. She sagged slightly in relief. She stopped in shock when she looked at the occupant of the bed.
Melissa was floating a foot above the bed, her hair moving as if she was in the centre of a very strong wind. She looked serene. Terri noted that there was blood on her hands from where her fingernails had cut into her flesh from having balled them up in fists. Terri looked at Berek and simply pointed to Melissa.
"She will settle down once she fully attunes to the force moving through her, then she will sleep for a few days as her body get used to its new state."
"So this is normal? This floating thing?" Terri asked
"No. She will be fairly powerful, think of it as her showing off early."
"Just how powerfull will she be?"
Berek gave a shrug. He seemed to pause before speaking.
"Strength is a very relative term. In terms of Force potential she is now about as strong as the average knight, once she attunes more and grasps her lessons and abilities, she will be stronger than her mother is currently. Not as powerful as say Revan was at her age, but close. She will grow stronger in time, likely to give some masters a run for their money."
Berek grinned suddenly.
"You may want to record this, proof of her showing off like this will be rare. Use it well."
He started to shimmer as he was fading slowly
"Tell her to start meditating with the holocron as soon as she can, I will not be able to manifest for a while, but I will be watching her progress."
Terri stepped through the doors to gather herself after taking the required holovid. A group of teenagers were sprawled out underneath a tree. They must have been studying force field technology as several portable field generators were lying knocked over on the ground from the pulse. A savage grin came onto her face as she spotted a familiar hair colour.
The space above Dantooine rippled as the Republic Battle cruiser Reliant reverted to real space. A shuttle exited from a bay almost immediately and made its way to the surface. Five figures strode from it as the craft touched down.
Carth had been welding a panel back into place, when they stepped closer. He came to attention and saluted. After a moment the salute was returned
"Admiral Dodonna." He stated
"On me Commander. We can do your debrief in the enclave." The woman responded.
She power walked towards the enclave. Carth whistled to Zaalbar and Mission where they were working on another panel and motioned to the admiral. Mission gave him a thumbs up gesture, both for good luck and acknowledgement and he dropped the micro welder. He quickly started jogging after the group to catch up.
Dodonna gave an unimpressed glare at the seated temple guards as she strolled through the main doors, ignoring the challenges for her to stop. Shooting another glare at one of her subordinates, when he whistled softly at the scene inside. Carth thought that a concussion bomb had gone off, noting that the beings inside were only now starting to get up and move.
He spotted Terri standing outside a building close to a massive tree filming something, even from the distance he could see her savage grin.
"Admiral." He spoke to get Dodonna's attention.
Dodonna was busy interrogating one the guards that had stumbled in after them to find the location of the council members. The guards inability to give her an answer obviously increasing her foul mood. She spun towards Carth at his call
"Maybe Specialist Cazor, over there might be able to give us better directions."
Carth suppressed a snicker ruthlessly when saw what Terri had been filming. Dodonna barely sparing a glance at the figure trapped in the cell made by the portable shield generators. For a moment he wondered what she had seen to be able to ignore what he was looking at.
"Specialist Cazor." Dodonna spoke.
Terri turned and got to attention. Snapping a salute.
"Mam." She acknowledged the Admiral.
"Can you tell me the location of the facilities council?"
"The full council , no mam. I can take you to Grand Master Tokare though."
"Lead the way then."
Carth looked in surprise at the scene before him. Two knocked out males on examination beds, a healer remonstrating an elderly being to remain in the bed she had put it in and one floating teenager, the room a complete wreck. Dodonna's icy façade finally cracking
"What the kriff happened here?" She muttered
Carth spotted Terri trying to mask her grin and wanted to groan, She pointed to Melissa still floating in the air. She mimed an explosion. He shook his head ruefully, of course she had something to do with it. He turned his attention back to the admiral. The admiral was being firmly rebuffed by the healer and instructed to return the next day. The healer spun around and pointed at the being in the bed to stay put as he had been attempting to escape her fiefdom. She then promptly kicked out everyone that was not a patient from her infirmary, comlink in hand talking to someone in maintenance to dispatch droids for clean up.
A now bemused looking Dodonna turned to Terri and Carth.
"The two of you will accompany me back to the Reliant for a full debrief."
"Yes, mam." Carth answered for both of them.
She pointed back to the infirmary
"I believe that it is safe to assume that the teenager in there is Cadet Carpenter?"
"Yes, mam." Teri answered her this time
She turned to one of the men following her.
"Agent Cooper, stay behind and secure the suspect till relieved. The Reliant will dispatch a detachment of shore police as soon as possible."
The NCIS agent nodded and moved to the wrecked door, staying outside the infirmary but standing where he had a clear line of sight on the floating girl
Bastila woke up in a very uncomfortable position. She found herself lying prone across a bench with her knees on the ground. Trying to move she found her arms tied together by binders under the bench seat. She heard giggling from behind her, then a voice remonstrating people to move on.
"Knight Shan, we will have the force field down shortly." A voice called, suppressed mirth poorly hidden
There was a crackle of a shield dropping and the binders sprung from her arms. She stood up and promptly sat down as her legs were wobbling. She heard the crinkle of a flimsy under her as she sat. Lifting herself slightly she felt a flimsy attached to her robes. She pulled it off and reddened on reading what was written on it
Spank me master, I have been a very bad girl.
Dodonna was once again cursing the name of Vrook Lamar for the mess he had landed her in. The arrogant old man having used one of her now ex officers to have a cadet arrested instead of passing the information on the alleged offence onto the JAG office as was the standard procedure. The ex officer having far exceeded his remit in ordering the arrest of the cadet, in her name. The letter of demand and notification of litigation having been served personally on her by the girls lawyer. This was on top of losing nine hundred men and women and three desperately needed cruisers, all for nothing as the Jedi led mission had failed in the space above Taris
Having dismissed the specialist and the commander to wait outside. after a three hour debrief, she turned to the three beings in the room with her. Her Bothan chief of staff, Alerk Mihrur, her gey furred Camaasi head of the Judge Advocate Genereal, Asil Altair and the Mon Calamari Eishkar head of NCIS.
"Just how bad are we in the poodoo here?"
Alerk twisted her head to the side, scratching her neck with a clawed hand
" The loss of the crew and Cruisers are bad, but on the surface replaceable in the long run, short term it will have little effect as ships have already been deployed into the gaps their detachment had left. Our biggest hit will be on overall morale. Politically we are clear as the orders came from the Chancellor's office and with our protest to the orders having been clearly recorded."
Asil folded his hands across his stomach as he leaned back in his chair.
"On the legal front we will have to court martial the girl, with the level of escalation this had reached we have no choice but to. The political and media fall out could be quite significant if the lawyer wants to be intractable."
"Care to clarify that for me?" Dodonna asked
" The fraud charges are easy to prove, so a conviction will be easily obtainable. However the level of violence displayed on her arrest while not commited by NCIS or shore police, was done by authorised proxy, making us liable for civilian action. The fact that the girl served with distinction and then arrested for what the public may see as a trivial matter will cause a feeding frenzy in the press. They will portray an image of a heroic young girl being victimised for trying to help a beleaguered Fleet."
"Options?" Alerk asked.
"We can offer a quiet hearing here and now, with dishonourable discharge with no incarceration. For the civil side we will offer a substantial amount for her to go away with a non disclosure agreement to be signed by her. We will offer testimony and support if she pursues legal action against the marshal office and the council."
Asil sighed and rubbed his eyes.
"It is a pity that we cannot retain her in any way, from what we have heard today on her actions on Taris, she would have been fantastical officer material. Something we sorely need. Not to add the humiliation a dishonourable discharge will add to her name."
Eishkar merely shrugged his shoulders
"I have already detailed all the office to visit recruiting stations to remind them of the age limit we are supposed to observe. Doing a search for more illegal recruits will be detrimental to morale in the fleet as well as highly costly."
Dodonna sat back in her chair as she assimilated the information given to her. Alerk thoughtfully tapped her fingers on the table, before speaking up
"This also brings up the question of the loyalty of Commander Onassi and Specialist Cazor. From my impression I believe the specialist will resign on the spot if ordered to leave without the girl and I strongly suspect the commander will follow suite. I believe it would be bets to keep them on detachment to the Jedi and let them deal with whatever is going on down there."
"Leaving them to the Jedi can also be used to show the Chancellors office that we are still continuing our support to the Jedi. But we are unable to do more at the time" Asil pointed out
Dodonna leaned forward and faced Asil directly. He looked back unflinchingly.
"Make the offer. Make this mess disappear."
Melissa woke to having the sun in her face and herself handcuffed to a hover gurney as a second but much stronger pulse ripped from the enclave in as many days. She found Carth standing awkwardly to one side with an officer dressed in service white uniform and a suited man. A large group of Jedi and support staff stood a distance away. The healer, Fay if she recalled correctly approached her with a gentle smile.
"Good you are awake. How are you feeling?"
"Not sore anymore; but very confused. What is going on?"
Terri woke suddenly. She kept her eyes closed and breathing relaxed as she tried to figure out where she was. The last thing she remembered was walking to the infirmary to check on Melissa and then nothing. She became aware of two beings being in the room with her. The problem was not that her enhanced hearing or the sense of smell that marked them for her. It was something new in her, she just felt their presence.
"Welcome to the suddenly new Force sensitive club." Melissa spoke.
Terri opened her eyes and looked towards the direction the voice cam from. Melissa was seated on a bed on the far side of the room. A force field dividing the room in two
"Part of being part of this very exclusive club is being able to tell when somebody is sandbagging it."
"Not the way I would have put it, but yes, you will find your senses to be enhanced and an ability to sense what you could not before." BAstilla spoke from a chair in the corner.
Terri sat up slowly, feeling sore and stiff.
"What happened? What is going on?"
Bastilla cleared her throat.
"You had an Awakening. To put it plainly you unlocked the potential to use the force spontaneously. The last person to have done so was Nomi Sunrider close to century ago."
Bastilla shifted in her seat, looking briefly down before continuing.
" The masters theorised it was started by a bond forming between you and Melissa at first as her block was breaking down and then me and you when we started sharing dreams. They think the force wanted you to be on an equal footing with us, causing your Awakening."
Terri shot a look at Melissa. She pulled up her shoulders in a shrug.
"Bastilla is more or less our teacher now in all this."
Terri picked up on a lack of hostility in Melissa's voice and raised an eyebrow in surprise. Melissa must have felt her surprise before shrugging again.
"We two had a long screaming conversation, mostly on my part and sort of patched up our differences. Could not avoid it; as I was kind of a captive audience for it. It is a work in progress."
"I believe we have made great strides in repairing our relationship." Bastila countered
Rolling her eyes at Melissa's bad pun, Terri turned her attention back to Bastila
"Care to explain this bond thing you mentioned?"
"Not really as I am still trying to comprehend it myself. The masters are unsure as to why it formed, but both bonds are strong, unusually so. We should be able to sense the bonded stronger than any other being, to a point where we might eventually be able to sense the others thoughts and feelings. There is unfortunately very little known on force bonds in general."
"So where does this leave us?" Terri asked.
"We will be spending a considerable amount of time in teaching the both of you to handle your new senses. You have to keep in mind that these new powers for a lack of better description can be dangerous to you and others till you can learn to control it. Once the council feels confident in your progress the matter will be revisited."
The door opened and two female shore police officers entered the room. One was holding a clothing bag and a pair of highly polished boots. The force field was dropped and Melissa stood up from the bed she had been lounging on. The clothing bag was placed on the bed and the two officers stepped back to the door. Melissa unzipped the bag before shrugging of the blue prisoner coverall she was wearing before dressing in the ceremonial uniform provided in the bag. Placing the cap on her head she approached the two officers.
"I am surrendering myself for court martial." She stated calmly.
"Cadet Carpenter, your surrender has been recorded and you will be escorted to trial now."
The trial was being held in the council chamber. The masters seated in their chairs, several holograms arraigned behind them showed that the trial was being forwarded to the main temple chambers on Coruscant. A grey furred Caamasi acting as judge was seated at a table. Melissa was led to a table where her lawyer was waiting. A third table held an officer dressed in white. Mission, Canderous, Carth and Zaalbar were seated along a wall to the side where Bastilla and Terri joined them.
A master sergeant stepped forward and banged his rifle but on the ground.
"All rise in the court. The honourable Admiral Asir Altair preciding."
Everybody but the masters rose, with the exception of Vandar. The judge motioned for the master sergeant to proceed as he was about to address the masters for their disrespect.
"You may be seated."
They sat down again. The judge tapped his datapad, calling up the case information
"Master sergeant, you may proceed with the charges."
"Will the accused rise."
Melissa and her lawyer stood up
"Cadet second class Melissa Carpenter, you are charged with one charge of felony fraud committed onto the Republic fleet. How do you plead?"
"Guilty." Melissa answered, her voice thick
"You may be seated."
They sat down again. Te judge looked at the prosecutor.
"Captain Dargen, I believe a plea bargain has been struck."
The Captain rose from her seat. She straightened her uniform before speaking.
"If it pleases the court an agreement has been discussed for ratification. The accused will plead guilty in exchange for a dishonourable discharge with no incarceration and having her record sealed."
The judge turned to her lawyer who rose.
"Does the defence stand in agreement of the proposed Sentence."
"We do your honour."
The judge made a notation to the pad before addressing Melissa.
"Will the accused please stand."
Melissa rose, swallowing thickly.
"Former cadet second class Melissa Carpenter I hereby ratify the proposed sentence and cast you out of the republic fleet. Step towards the bench. Master sergeant you may proceed"
She placed her cap back onto her head and marched forward for the last time and came to attention. The master Sergeant approached her.
"I am sorry, kid. I take no pleasure in this." He murmured.
"Understood, master sergeant."
Taking a deep breath, he ripped the cap from her head. Her lapels insignia was cut way with a knife. Reaching for her shoulders he ripped the sleeves from her shoulders. Finally he unbuckled the belt with the fleet insignia on it and pulled it from her trousers.
"You are relieved of duty."
The master sergeant stood back, Melissa stood quietly, tears running down her face. The judge brought his gavel down.
"Sentence executed. This court is adjourned."
The three fleet officers rapidly left the room as the distraught girl was enveloped by a Twi'lek girl and an older woman.
The master sergeant left out a shaky breath. He came to a stop and looked at his uniform and insignia, The Admiral stopped, an understanding look on his face. He spoke softly.
"Yes sergeant, what happened in there disgusted me too. What was done to that girl was unconscionable."
"Sir, how can we justify actions such as these?"
"We don't, we do it because the Republic needs it to be done."
The admiral slowly walked towards the airfield where the shuttle awaited to take them back to the Reliant. The sergeant followed after a moment. Not another word was said between the three passengers on the way back to the ship.