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Chapter 9: Demon in the Mist
Ryder continued to follow his group through the hallways of this academy. He looked around to try and understand where he was, but all he could figure out was that he was in a large building in the middle of the desert that had soldiers around the same age as him. The only thing he recognized was his friend, Nero Slosslane, and a few terms that he picked up from other conversations.
The last thing Ryder remembered was coming home from work at Chick-fil-A and watching Impractical Jokers. That was it. He closed his eyes and thought hard.
Images of a sandy region with soldiers wearing camo appeared. Nero was to his left, but his best friend was the only one that was recognizable. Everyone had a rifle in hand, except for their squad leader. The squad leader was looking through a pair of binoculars out into a desert, where they saw a bright flash of orange, red, and yellow colors burst into the sky.
Flashes of memories started to appear chaotically. An enemy soldier with a short, black buzzed haircut and dressed in baggy, khaki shorts and a white tank walked up on top of a top of a hill of sand. Fire rippled from his shoulders.
The scorching heat reflecting off the sand made the image of the enemy wave as if he was on asphalt in the dead heat of august. The squad leader shouted the order for us to fire upon the enemy, and we did as was instructed. None of our shots hit him. The bullets rang through his body, but the bullet holes engulfed into flames. Those holes were quickly replaced with the flesh that should have been gone.
Suddenly, the enemy thrusted his fist towards us, and a large fire in the shape of a fist headed towards one side of the squad scorching the bodies of many friends and soldiers
The next thing Ryder remembered was that he was on a bus riding through a sandy plain and every so often he could pass a cactus. The only thing that he recognized was his friend, Nero. Nothing more came to his mind. Ryder opened his eyes and wiped the dripples of sweat from his forehead.
A tall, blond-haired lady led Ryder and the other rookie recruits down a long hallway. This hallways had gray walls and no windows. People would walk out of sliding doors. He was able to get a quick glimpse of the rooms they were leaving. He saw small desks that were often in high schools and a chalk board at the front of the class room.
Their instructor upfront said out, "Now, please follow me into the Roxy Room. Everyone will wait in the waiting room until it is your turn to go onto the Roxy. When you finish, you will go into the post room and wait for your results." The lady guided everyone into a fairly small room with seats lining the room in rows. "Now for the first one up, Guy Lightfoot. Please follow me."
A guy around twenty-two stood up and followed the proctor into a room. He 'had an athletic build and was wearing jeans and a loose green shirt. The waiting room was plain and dull. Gray walls surrounded them and red chairs lined the floor.
About two hours passed until the lady walked out and said, "Uhm, Nero Slosslane."
Nero stood up and nodded towards Ryder then walked with the lady to the back. He had a confident walk per usual.
Another hour passed until the lady came out again and said, "Ryder Jase."
Ryder stood up and looked around the room. Many of the other recruits were nearly dozing off from the long wait. He followed the lady through the first doors.
"Hi, Ryder," said the lady guiding him. "I'm Janice, and I'll be leading you through this process. I'm glad that we have officially met, face-to-face," she said with a large smile. "What we are about to do might tingle for a short second, but it will end quickly. We are going to strap you into a chair send electric pulses through your brain to unlock a power dormant inside of you. Not everyone has this, so you sure are lucky!" She said with a large smile.
Janice crept out Ryder. She smiled at everything and seemed like a robot.
They walked into a room that had a handful of doctors and a large mirror on the wall which he assumed to be a two-way mirror.
A doctor walked up and said, "Are you ready, because there is no turning back after this."
Ryder gave a quick and firm response saying, "Yes, sir." Deep down he knew this was what he was supposed to do.
Doctor Rogers led Ryder to a chair that had straps on the arm rests, around the leg area, and on that would go around the chest. He laid down on the chair, relaxed, and allowed the doctors to strap him in. Doctor Rogers began explaining the procedure while toying with the straps and monitor.
"When we turn on the machine, it will send electric pulses through your brain which will manifest your latent power, or powers if you have more than one. Some people have said that they were taken to a white void and met personifications of their power. If that's not the case, it will feel like you simply took a nap."
One of the assistants tightened the straps, and Dr. Rogers said, "Alright, here we go." He typed the key word sequence then hit 'Enter' starting the process. Ryder closed his eyes and waited for something to happened.
Doctor Rogers sat patiently waiting for Ryder to wake up like the past thousand other soldiers. This had gotten to be a boring process for him even though it was something spectacular.
"This kid has been in there for a few minutes. He should wake up any minute now," said Doctor Rich, one of Doctor Rogers' assistants. Within seconds, machines, the doctors, tool, and many other things began to levitate and shake frantically.
"What's happening, Doctor Rogers?!"
Doctor Rogers couldn't respond because he didn't know what was happening either! This was the first time that this had happened during any of the processes. After a few long seconds, everything began floating back down to the ground and was set down gently.
Doctor Rogers actively studied the monitor waiting for the screen to show what powers Ryder had. A golden circle appeared on the black screen. After a few seconds, a red raven with a silver or gray bar beneath it showed up inside the golden circle. The doctors leaned in and stared at the monitor with bewilderment.
Ryder had his eyes closed when a bright flash appeared. He opened his eyes to see Doctor Rogers staring at the monitor.
"So, what's it say?" asked Ryder.
Dr. Rogers didn't respond.
"Hellooo, are you going to answer?" Silence only followed his question.
"Remember," said a soft voice over the Ryder's shoulder. Ryder's eyes grew two times their size as he saw a familiar friend but couldn't quite make him out.
"Who are you? What power are you?!" Ryder's mind was spinning from the confusion. A man was dressed in a red and black battle armor that had many scratches stood a few yards away from Ryder and the other doctors. He had four lightsabers on his belt, but his whole figure had a blue and red hue.
"Remember your mission. Don't become distracted. Use the Force, Ryder." With those last words, the man faded away and darkness appeared again.
Ryder opened his eyes to about ten scientists leaning over him. Once his eyes looked at them, they all backed away quickly.
"Ryder, can you please describe to use what you saw in the void?" asked Doctor Rogers.
Ryder looked at the doctor and acted as if he was a little scared and said, "A man… A man in robes with a silver stick in his hand. All he said was, 'Use the Force.'" Ryder decided to leave out the first part of what the man had told him.
Doctor Rogers nodded his head slowly and said, "I understand, well please go into the post room to await your results."
The scientists unstrapped Ryder who got up and headed directly towards the post-examination room.
When Ryder left, Doctor Rich leaned towards Doctor Rogers and asked, "What does the golden circle and a red raven mean?"
Doctor Roger scratched his head and said, "I'm not sure to be honest. The gray bar is the Jedi symbol, but I'm not sure why there was a red raven or the Jedi symbol inside a gold circle. We'll just have to keep a close eye on him."
Doctor Rogers stood up and went to the printer and grabbed the pieces of paper that told each recruit their power. He left and went into the post-room. The post room fit all twenty-five of the recruits. It was an exact replica of the previous waiting room.
"I have your papers here that say what power you have. I am going to read off your name and you come get it. Ready? First name, Nero Slosslane." Nero walked up to the front, shook the Doctor's hand and grabbed his paper.
He read it on the way back to his seat then showed it to Ryder. It said, "Nero Slosslane: Devil Fruit Power, String-String Fruit. Ghoul." There was a confident look on Nero's face. He knew what his powers were, but to see it on paper like this left him with a good sense of pride.
A few more candidates went until the Doctor said out, "Ryder Jase."
Ryder walked up there calmly and took his paper. He didn't look at it on the way back. He gave it to Nero who looked at it.
"I like mine better. To be honest, I don't even know what yours means," said Nero out loud. Ryder gave a chuckle as he looked at the paper.
"Ryder Jase: Jedi Knight (AO)."
Zakee, Clayton, Taylor, and Sarah were about a mile away from the canyon that the ISIS caravan was going to travel through. Zakee, Clayton, and Taylor had set up a tent to strategize the mission at hand while Sarah was flying to the valley to make sure the surroundings were correct on the map.
On the middle table, Clayton was pointing out all the spots where they'll be as the caravan passes through. A river lined the right side of the dirt road that ran through the bottom of the canyon. The sides of the river were lined with large rocks.
"That's where you'll be Zakee. When you give us the sign, which will be your fog, we'll know that the mission is under way," explained Clayton.
"The fact that this is going to happen in a canyon really helps us out in two ways. It allows Zakee's fog to be thicker, and I can have a strong control over my shadow possession jutsu." Clayton moved his finger to a pile of rocks that had built up on the side of the canyon. This is where I'll be. Once the caravan gets close enough, I'll use my Shadow Possession Jutsu on it to keep it still while Taylor grabs the holocron. You can hide wherever you think will be the best for you."
Zakee and Taylor nodded in agreement with the plan. Immediately after, Sarah barged in the tent and said, "They're early. Right now, they are about two miles away."
"Okay, let's get everything ready. We all need to be in position in five minutes," said Clayton as he left the tent.
Ryder rummaged through his bag until he pulled out a black shirt that had three buttons going down from the neck and black pants too. He grabbed his pouch and attached it to his thigh. Then put his katana through his hilt loop on his back.
'It's time,' he thought. He got up and left for the cliff.
Upon reaching the cliff, Sarah turned a dial on her watch then pressed it down. A green light flashed, and she turned into yellow humanoid Pokémon with a spoon in its right hand.
"I'm ready," she said as her Pokémon, Kadabra.
Ryder jumped down to his position on the banks of the river while everyone else prepared for their plan. Sitting down behind a rock, Ryder held up his index and middle fingers on both hands. His left hand was chest level and the other was above his head.
"Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu."
The driver in the first car of the caravan kept on his path heading around a bend of a cliff. "Sir! Up ahead we have a heavy fog that's rolled in!" he yelled to the back.
The captain gritted his teeth as he pulled open the top hatch that had a mounted laser machine gun. He climbed up to the gun and sat there waiting. He gazed into the fog and began shooting aimlessly into it. Nothing but dust and rocks flew into the air.
"Stop the trucks," the captain yelled to the rest of his crew! "Zack, check what the cause of this fog is!" yelled the captain.
"Yes, sir! Wind Style: Gale Storm!" He wove some hand signs, then a large wind picked up dispersing the fog. "There's a river, sir! That's probably where the fog came from," Zack pointed out!
"Just keep going. Be on your guard," replied the captain.
Zakee took a deep breath, with his hands still in their Hidden Mist Jutsu position, he said, "Water Style: Silent Killing Jutsu."
A thick mist appeared from the river. The thickness blinded Zakee from seeing the cart. He thought back to one of his training sessions with Sensei Rodan.
"Killing intent can be used to strike fear or even paralyze your opponents."
Zakee took a deep breath. With his thoughts, intentions, desires, and his whole body, Zakee released his own killing intent.
"Captain!" yelled out Zack. "I can't see the cart in front of us or behind us!"
"Just keep going," the captain demanded.
"But… don't you feel it too?" Zack was quivering from his own fear of dying and what the power that was making him fear death at that moment.
Suddenly, they heard a loud crash from in front and behind them.
"We've been ambushed," said the captain. "They just took out our other carts. We're the last one."
Zack and the other soldier gulped.
"Muscle up you two. They aren't that strong. They just know a few useful jutsu," said the captain encouraging his men. He spread both arms to the side then yelled, "Wind Style: Violent Wind Palm!"
Shots of pressurized wind dispersed the thick mist.
"Shadow Possession Jutsu!" yelled Clayton. Shadows bolted out from the base of the cliff going in all directions. One after another, Clayton was able to get a few of the crew members of the caravan, but three of them were quick enough to evade Clayton's shadow threads.
Zakee jumped out of the water giving the sign for an attack. He locked eyes with the captain as Taylor and Sarah came out as a Ghoul and Kadabra.
"Don't let them take the holocron!" yelled the captain as he charged Zakee and his squad.
Sarah sent a few Psybeams towards an inexperienced Z-Fighter who took them to the chest and crashed into the side of one of the car.
Taylor rushed a swordsman with his kagune flaring out from his back. Each slash of the sword was blocked with one of Taylor's two kagunes.
"You're going to wish that you never messed with us, kid," said the captain as he began to float into the sky. He raised a finger and a flash of purple light glowed from the tip. With a yell, the captain sent a purple energy beam towards Zakee.
Reaching him in an instant, Zakee barely dodged it by moving his head to the side. "I don't think you know who you're messing with," he said as he jumped onto the river. Zakee began weaving hand signs.
"Water Style: Evil Windmill Shuriken!"
Three large water shurikens formed and shot towards the captain. The captain jumped out of the way, but using his chakra, Zakee controlled them and made them change directions toward where the captain just landed. They crashed into the ground creating an explosion, but Zakee knew the captain wasn't down, so he quickly ran towards him ready to engage in a sword fight.
Zakee jumped into the air after forming another set of hand seals and yelled "Wind Style: Air Slice!" as he began slashing his sword in the air. The slashes caused wind to form scythes that flew through the dust and debris of the previous jutsu.
The dust settled, and the captain stood in the middle of the explosion with no scratches and only a smile. He bent his knees and began to yell as he powered up. The ground began to shake as rocks began to levitate.
"Taylor! I might need some help!" yelled Zakee across the field.
Clayton was trying to think of a way to get his possessed targets out of the action, so he did a few more hand signs and said, "Shadow Style: Burning Ash Shadow!" He bit and grinded his teeth and a spark appeared, igniting the shadows as if it was gunpowder. The fire was strong enough to burn and knock out everyone possessed with the shadow.
Clayton ran to where Zakee was prepared to fight alongside his partner. Zakee looked over and said, "Thanks, Clayton. Let's try it out."
Clayton smiled and nodded then said, "Earth Style: Rock Fists!" Rocks formed over his hands. Then he said again, "Earth Style: Lightweight Rock Technique!" His hands lightened up making it a lot easier to fight. He ran towards the captain engaging him in a battle of fists. Each punch was met with either another punch canceling it out or a strong block.
"Earth Style: Stone Pillar!"
A pillar of stone shot out of the ground and towards the captain, but it was crushed in a single punch. Zakee had been continuously watching for an opening to show up, he finally found one. The captain was in the air and couldn't move.
"Water Style: Drilling Water Spears!" Multiple spears formed from the river and shot towards the ISIS captain exploding on contact.
"Direct hit!" yelled Clayton.
Sarah had been dealing with a Z-fighter that kept his distance. He wasn't very fast, but the fighter was very strong. He sent one chi blast after another and would never stop. Sarah knew what move to use in this situation. She used the bent spoons to blast Psybeams towards her opponent at an extremely fast rate, tiring out her opponent.
He noticed this, so he began powering up for a final attack. He hovered in the air above Sarah and put his palms above his head. Yellow sparks of light began to appear, and he yelled out, "Masenko!" He thrusted his hands towards Sarah, and a yellow beam of plasma and light shot down to the ground. The explosion destroyed anything that came close to it, leaving a large hole where the attack landed.
"Where the hell is that alien looking monster?!" he yelled after noticing he missed.
"Psychic!" yelled Sarah. She had used Teleport right before she was going to be hit by the Masenko beam to get behind the Z-Fighter. Psychic blasted the fighter out of the air as he crashed into the same crater he had created.
Taylor stood up after being sliced by this two-style swordsman. "This is so boring," complained Taylor. Taylor had taken what seemed to be multiple cuts on his arms and legs from this opponent.
"What was that, kid?! I'll show you! Two-Sword Style: Dancing Dragon!" The swordsman did a lightning fast slash towards Taylor's chest, but Taylor had already bent backwards to dodge the attack. While in this position, he went ahead and decided to end the fight, so he used his kagune and pierced the swordsman in the heart.
"Finally, it's over." The swordsman eyes were opened in shock of his speed and power.
The ISIS captain noticed Taylor and his unique fighting style. "Ooo I like this one; he's got some spunk to him." He vanished and then reappeared in front of Taylor. With a strong kick, the captain sent Taylor high into the air. As he smirked, the captain began lighting him up with a multitude of chi blasts. These chi blasts were much stronger than the other Z-fighter's. After a dozen or so, Taylor's screams stopped as he fell to the ground unconscious.
"I might as well take care of the girl while I'm at it," said the captain walking towards Sarah.
Thinking quickly, Sarah decided to teleport behind the captain and hit his with a Psychic then a Psybeam.
"So, predictable," said the captain staring at Sarah.
She disappeared and reappeared behind the captain but was met with a fist flying at her face. 'How did he know,' she thought as she realized that she was outmatched.
The punch launched her into the side of the canyon on the other side of the river. Rocks flew everywhere as she fell from the crater in the cliff onto the shore of the river.
"Nooo!" yelled Zakee.
He began weaving hand seals as Clayton protected Zakee from incoming blasts with a series of rock walls.
Zakee yelled out, "Dual Dragon Style: Wind and Water Dragons!" Two dragons of different elements appeared on both sides of Zakee and took off towards the ISIS captain.
"Now this is more like it!" said the captain in excitement! He sent two dark purple chi blasts towards the two dragons and met them halfway between him and Zakee.
Zakee kept his hand sign in tact as he kept putting more and more chakra into his jutsu. He looked over at Clayton and gave him a nod. The dragons overwhelmed the chi blast and blew up in front of the captain.
The captain slowly got up from his knees and glared at Zakee as he said, "This is the first time that I have had to use this in a fight. You should feel lucky." The ISIS captain took a step back and powered up again. Zakee just smirked as he grabbed what seemed to be a heavier kunai out of his pouch.
"Well let's just see how lucky I really am," Zakee said with a smirk.
The captain stopped powering up and rushed Zakee throwing punch after punch. Zakee was struggling to keep up with the speed, but having his kunai out helped him stop a few of the stronger punches. A leg flew up from the front and hit Zakee right in the chin sending his high up in the sky. The captain jumped up and punched him in the side propelling Zakee back into the ground. The captain landed and turned towards Clayton, who was charging up his next attack.
"You see, I am too strong for the lot of you all. Just give up, and I might spare your life." The captain slowly started walking towards Clayton, cracking his knuckles and neck.
Clayton stood there patiently while he waited for Zakee to hopefully get up and finish their attacks and defeat this guy. Drips of sweat kept getting into Clayton's eyes making it harder and harder to see as they stung. Smoke rose into the air, as the captain turned around to see what happened, Zakee was right above the captain with his fist cocked back.
"Wind Release: Air Vacuum Fighting Technique!"
Using a large burst of air pressure, Zakee punched the captain sending his straight into the ground with such force that he bounced back into the air. While the captain was suspended in midair, Zakee kicked him sending the captain into the side of a cliff. He looked over to Clayton and yelled, "NOW!"
Clayton did a series of hand signs at the exact same time Zakee did and yelled, "Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!"
Zakee saw the giant fire ball form as he wiped his blood with his thumb, slammed it onto the ground and yelled, "Summoning: Giant Windmill!" With a poof of white clouds, a giant windmill came into existence creating a great amount of wind amplifying the fireball dramatically. Instead of a fireball going towards the captain, the wind pushed the fire out of form and created a tsunami effect.
The captain staggered to his feet and looked at the attack with a determined face as put his hands out. He sent out his strongest chi blast that collided with the wave of fire. The fire was too strong for the chi blast as it was enveloped and collided with its caster creating a massive explosion of fire and light.
After the smoke cleared, Zakee walked over to Clayton panting and all scraped up. He put his hand on his shoulder and said, "I don't sense his energy. I think we got him."
Clayton took a few deep breathes before he was able to respond. He calmed his breathing and said, "We need to go check on the others." Zakee nodded in agreement as they walked over to the two who were still on the ground unconscious.
"You stay here with them, and I'll go check on the captain and make sure he's dead," said Zakee.
"Okay, but be careful. He was really strong and it wouldn't be good if he was still conscious," responded Clayton.
Zakee ran over to the captain and approached him with caution. He walked up to his neck slowly and checked his pulse. He was dead; that was for sure. He searched his pockets, looking for something useful that might lead them to the holocron. In his pants pocket was a small, golden key, and Zakee had a feeling he knew what it went to.
He headed back to Clayton. "I've got a key. We need to see if it goes to a chest on one of the trucks." Zakee was excited to find this holocron because he had no idea why it was so important.
They called their ship to their location, and it was there within a few seconds. The two of them loaded up Sarah and Taylor, putting them in the two passenger chairs that were in the back.
"Okay, let's go find that safe," said Clayton looking at Zakee. They walked over to the caravan and began searching the trucks.
Clayton began searching the truck the captain was in for a chest that would have the holocron hopefully. Zakee looked in one of the other trucks that had a turret mounted on-top. He climbed in the back and started looking through all the boxes on the ground. There were ammo boxes with an exception to food boxes scattered.
After about ten minutes of looking, Zakee came across a black box that had a gold lock on the front. He reached in pants pocket and pulled out the gold key he found earlier. The two were perfect fits as the key slid in effortlessly. He unlocked the box and opened it revealing the holocron.
The red sides of the pyramid sparkled and emitted a tremendous pressure that was heavy, but Zakee took it out and placed it in his pocket. "I found it!" he yelled out to Clayton.
"Here, take a look at it." Zakee tossed the holocron to Clayton, so he could study it.
"It looks like it can be opened up somehow. Judging on the presence alone, I don't think it will open if you pry on it though. I'm pretty sure only Jedi can open them up, and you have to be a strong one to do that too." Clayton finished studying it and gave it back to Zakee. He put in a box in the back and got back in the pilot's chair.
"Okay, let's head back to base," said Zakee. The two walked to their ship and climbed the front seats. He put the throttle all the way down, and they zoomed back to their base in Alexandria, Egypt.
Back at Area 51, it had been two months since Ryder had shown up, and he had already made a name for himself. In those three weeks, he had learned close to everything the 'Jedi Master' knew at an extremely high rate that it gained the President's attention.
"Who is this, Ryder?" asked President Reed as he observed his lightsaber combat skills with the training proxy.
General Hall lifted his iPad and scrolled through the files until he saw a document titled, 'Jase, Ryder.' He clicked on the file and began to read it.
"This is Ryder Jase. He's from Montgomery, Alabama and joined the military at the ripe age of eighteen when his father died of a sudden heart attack. He's been in the Marines for two years now stationed in Pakistan. He was in the platoon that was attacked by the soldier that ate the Flame-Flame fruit. When they put him on the Roxy Classifier, the Jedi symbol appeared along with a red raven all inside a golden circle on the other monitor. We do not know that means now, but we're watching him closely, so we can record what it is and his potential. He hasn't built his own lightsaber, yet, but he is very effective with a training blade which should translate over." General Hall gave the President his iPad to read the file.
He began nodding in approval saying, "I see. He's knowledgeable in, what's that, two lightsaber forms?"
Ryder was doing his lightsaber form practice in a gym down below. "No, sir," said General Hall.
President Reed whipped his head around, confused by what the General said. General Hall continued, "He is excellent in two forms, but has picked up the basics of two other forms without even knowing about them. He has excelled tremendously in forms: One, or Shii-Cho. It is the simplistic form derived from common sword fighting techniques. One of the sword masters said that when he practices this form, it is like watching water flow over the falls. He's fluid and his strikes are strong."
The president looked on from his observation room. He noticed how his footwork was smooth as he pivoted through his steps. The way we swung and moved his lightsaber didn't have any kinks or rough edges either.
General Hall continued to explain, "Then he excels at form three: Soresu, the patient and defensive form. The other two forms that he has picked up on is: Form Two, Makashi, the elegant and focused footwork form that is used for countering the opponent. He is a natural when it comes to footwork. He only knows the basic training routine, but he is expected to advance quickly. He has also picked up on Form Five, Djem-So, while he's practiced dueling and simply fusing his personality with other fighting styles. This form incorporates powerful attacks and defense at once followed by a counter-strike."
President Reed looked on in amazement as Ryder quickly defeated another proctor droid.
"Along with knowledge on lightsaber forms," said General Hall. "He is incredibly gifted in the ways of the Force. He can already use multiple abilities Force abilities like: Force Grip, Battle Meditation, Force Enlightenment, Force Camouflage, Force Precognition, and a few others. He will become a very good asset for our country, Mr. President."
President Reed stroked his chin as he heard General Hall list Ryder's achievements. He looked over at the General and said, "So, is he a fast learner, or is he a spy? It's strange how fast he has picked up on many things." General Hall's eyebrows rose in curiosity. The two turned towards Ryder and kept watching him practice.
Ryder finished his training with the proctor droid and wiped the sweat rolling down his forehead.
"You did a mighty fine job today, master Jedi," said the droid.
"Yeah, well it isn't very difficult when you refuse to up the difficulty," responded Ryder as he hooked his lightsaber on his utility belt.
"You are still a novice, sir. It goes against my programing to increase the difficulty any further than what we've already done," explained the droid.
Ryder chuckled then said to his training partner, "Seems like I'll just have to make a request to the General." He turned and walked towards the exit.
Right before he walked out of the doors, he yelled back to the droid and said, "See ya tomorrow!"
He walked down the dull hallway towards the cafeteria. The walls were gray and metal and only had windows when they faced the training grounds or outside. This place wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be. The people here were nice and the food was delicious enough to have leftovers every day. Within the past few weeks, Sensei Rodan and Ryder had become fairly close due to the Sensei giving him special attention. General Hall had told Sensei Rodan about the President's concerns, so Rodan took a special note to observe him carefully. He learned that Ryder loved learning. Something that was rare to find in students.
The first time General Rodan met Ryder, he was in the Library. Rodan wanted to introduce himself because he knew about Ryder's monitor results and that he was a rookie recruit. He walked up to Ryder and saw that he was reading, "Physics of Ki Blasts." Confused because he knew that Ryder was a Jedi, he asked, "Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt, but why are you reading a book about chi blasts when you're a Jedi?"
Ryder set the book down and looked up at the shinobi then said, "When I go up against a Saiyan or a Z-Fighter, I want to be able to counter their attack and know its weakness."
General Rodan loved that response. Ever since that day, General Rodan had been giving him books on different powers that scientists had studied. Sensei Rodan could not help himself because he loved how fascinated Ryder was with new information. He was a fast reader too, so Sensei Rodan gave him other books on the Force as well. Ryder had already read a lot of the Force books but enjoyed the refresher of the basics.
General Rodan saw Ryder sitting with Nero in the cafeteria talking about their earlier training. He walked over and said, "Can I talk to the two of you?" The two student nodded at the General and let him continue. "The top Generals have decided to put the best of our soldiers in teams of three for missions to give to them. I've been informed that you two boys have been placed in Squad 6. Your third member is the Shinigami, Murdoch. He is a very skilled fighter, so he should fit in with you two."
Nero leaned back in his chair giving a little laugh. "We'll see if he can keep up with us. Where is he?" Nero looked around and didn't see anyone new near them.
General Rodan smiled and said, "He's in the training room, working on his sword fighting. Ryder, he'd be a good practice partner for you. You could also just tone down the heat of your training lightsaber as well so that you won't have to use an actual sword."
Ryder looked up at General Rodan and said, "Okay. Is he going to join us tomorrow for training?"
General Rodan stood up and nodded his head. He turned and walked towards that door, but before he got there he stopped and turned back around. He rummaged through his bag that hung over his shoulder and took out two books. He tossed "True Haki" to Nero, and he tossed "Strengths and Weaknesses of Dojutsus" to Ryder. "I think y'all will like these two books; they're pretty interesting," said General Rodan as he exited the cafeteria.
I hope you enjoy this chapter, and let me know in the comment section what you thought of it!
~Aldon
