Jaden stood in line for the caf dispenser down in the dining hall. Back on Coruscant she'd practically lived off the stuff, an addiction she knew she'd have to get a hold of, if only it weren't so good and gave her energy to get through the day. She glanced around the dining hall. Besides her and the other new students who'd arrived on the shuttle with her, there were somewhere between thirty and forty students who seemed to have been at the Academy for a while.

It was her turn. Finally. Gingerly positioning her plain mug underneath the tap, she pushed the button. That strong, rich aroma filled her nostrils, waking her up just a little. She closed her eyes briefly.

"Ahh, that's the stuff," she said to no one.

"Careful, you're about to overflow!" Rosh's voice drifted from somewhere behind her.

"Ooo, thanks!" She let her finger off the button, there was just enough room for some sweetener and a bit of cream. Sadly, the caf dispenser station only had packets of the stuff, but, there! she spotted a small metal decanter labeled: Cream, standing next to the machine. She maneuvered out of the line and headed right to it. Rosh practically slid in from the side.

"So you're a caf lover?" He asked, generously adding several packets of the sweetener to his mug.

"Yep!"Jaden said as she took careful sips from her cup. She made a face.

"Bad?" Rosh asked.

She took another sip. "Good, not great." Another. "Subpar at best," she said in surrender. "I've definitely had better." If she hadn't missed her favorite cafe yet, she sure did now.

"Well, it's a good thing I like drinking caf with eighty percent cream and sweetener, and twenty percent, or less, of the actual caf," Rosh laughed as he poured the cream halfway up the mug, then quickly cut the dispenser line to deposit caf barely to the three quarter line, garnering some complaint from the waiting students. Jaden watched in pained silence at Rosh's obliviousness to those around him until he finally rejoined her.

"So you only like caf flavored sweet cream?" She asked wryly. Rosh shrugged with a goofy grin playing in the corner of his mouth. There were those dimples again.

"Pretty much. Did you already get some food?"

"Yeah, Arta-Mess, she's in the room next to mine, has white hair? She invited me down with her and we have a table with a few other people. I think most of them are from our shuttle."

"Oh," he said, sounding a little disappointed. "Mind if I join you guys?"

Jaden thought of him sitting all by himself back on the shuttle. "No, you can come. After today, I feel like we're all a team, because of what happened."

They steered their way through the small crowd, with Rosh breaking off to grab his tray from an otherwise empty table, and came to rejoin Jaden at the table their peers had chosen. Thankfully, no one objected or seemed bothered by Rosh's joining them, welcoming him warmly. A conversation that seemed to be going on before they got there continued:

"-...I mean, I've been so used to using a blaster that I hope they'll let me use both." Grinning, the younger human man Jaden recognized twirled a blaster and expertly holstered it. He was close to her age, had sparkling green eyes, short cropped reddish blonde hair, and wore a goatee that gave him a charming but roguish air. She whispered to Rosh that his name was Jacyyn Averon.

"I'm sure they'll let you use your blaster Jacyyn, but I'd be prepared not to, just in case," said the older human man, about mid thirties. He was dressed in plain, practical clothing all in grays, he kept his graying brown hair short and his eyes were a bright silvery gray, with a spark of youth still in them.

"I guess you got a point there," Jacyyn was saying, "It's just hard the idea of letting my baby go. We've been through a lot together."

Next to him, Arta-Mess rolled her violet eyes. What she lacked in stature she made up for in attitude. As an Echani, a Near-Human species, she had all the features of a human, except her hair was a pure white, as 'white as the snows of Hoth,' she'd told Jaden when they had walked down to the dining hall. Her mother was human, father Echani, so her skin was rosier than her father's people. They'd lived a simple, almost primitive life in the wild-lands and forests in tribal lifestyle. As a result, she had many tattoos as testament to it, running up her arms, across her cheeks, down the center of her forehead, many depicting the various phases of Eshan's three moons.

Noticing Rosh's presence, the older man extended his hand and smiled.

"I remember you from the shuttle when we stopped by Corellia. Rosh, isn't it?"

Mouth full, Rosh quickly swallowed and took the proffered hand to shake it. "Yeah, Rosh Penin. You?"

"Jas Harin," he looked past Rosh and shook Jaden's hand. "And you? Aren't you the one we picked up on Coruscant?"

"You're the one with the lightsaber right?" Arta-Mess interjected. Everyone at the table looked at Jaden with renewed interest.

"Yeah, that's me, Jaden Korr." She shook Jas's hand, cheeks turning several shades of red. "Sorry I didn't introduce myself sooner, today was kind of… wild."

"Yeah, she was about to tell me how she got her saber just before the shuttle crashed," Rosh said, still talking with his mouth full.

"Could you tell us now maybe?" Arta-Mess inquired, trying not to sound like she was pushing.

"I… It's kind of a long story," Jaden said awkwardly. "Maybe later?"

"Understandable," Jas put in gently. "I'm sure she'll talk about it when she wants too."

Jaden let a sigh of relief escape her as Jas changed the subject.

"I'm sure we'll all get the chance to know each other better in time."

"Speaking of which," Jacyyn began, looking at him. "How did Luke Skywalker discover you?"

"You mean because I'm the Academy's oldest student?" Jas's eyes sparkled with humor. "It's no secret that I'm older while the rest of you in this room are still basically kids ."

Arta-Mess leaned forward, curiosity in her shining eyes.

"If you're as old as you claim, then how did you avoid the Empire?"

Jas sobered a bit, leaning back in his chair. "Well, long story short, I kept my Force sensitivity hidden during the Empire's reign. I practiced my skills with the Force in a confidential manner only when I felt safe too. When the Empire fell, I still stayed out of sight for fear of the Remnant. But not long ago, I decided enough was enough. I reached out to Master Skywalker about coming to the Academy despite my not being the 'normal age' for a student. He was very kind and told me everyone was welcome."

"But," Rosh interjected. "If you've been training yourself for years now, why are you coming in at our level? Shouldn't you be starting at a higher rank?"

Jas shrugged. "I suppose so, but I declined. I may have been fostering my gifts for longer than most of you here, I think it's only right that I start at the beginning. I'm eager to learn and it doesn't really matter to me whether I start at the lowest level or not."

"I guess so," Rosh muttered and continued to take bites of his food in order to keep his opinion to himself.

Jaden looked across the table at Goran, who sat quietly next to Arta-Mess. He seemed a bit better and none the worse for wear. He was warming up a bit because on his other side sat a young Kel-dor close to his age. His name escaped Jaden for the moment. After Master Tionne had showed Goran to his room, the Kel-dor youth had dropped by saying that his room was larger and could easily house two instead of one. Not liking being in a room by himself, Goran had asked Tionne if they could be roommates, and it was settled right there. Tionne had assured them that by the time they returned after orientation, another bed would be moved to the larger room and everything would be taken care of.

As for all of their luggage, the young Kel-Dor quickly related to the group at the table that Tionne had gotten word that Nuss's team was successful in retrieving everything from the cargo hold of the crashed shuttle. As for the condition of it all, she was still unclear, but it would all be deposited into each of their rooms to inspect later.

"She also said that if anything is missing or damaged, we can file a report with her or Nuss and they'll try to replace it," he finished the story and shrugged. "It doesn't sound promising but it's all we have. I just hope that if something is broken or missing, it's nothing important or irreplaceable."

"Most important thing I got is my blaster," Jaccyn said with a smile.

"I have my parent's lunar crystal, for good fortune," Arta-Mess said, rubbing the gradient purple and deep pink stone around her neck absently, eyes far off. Jaden noticed it matched the color of her tattoos.

"I didn't really have anything worth much," Jas commented. "The Empire had made sure of that years ago."

"Same here," the Kel-Dor put in. "I came here from Dorin with nothing but the clothes on my back," he said with a shrug, as if material things had never mattered to him.

"My mother and father's Akul tooth headdresses were in my bag on the shuttle," Goran said quietly. Everyone stayed silent. "It's the only thing I had left of them. I knew, I just knew I should've carried them with me!"

"Oh Goran, I'm so sorry!" Arta-Mess put an arm around his shoulder. Goran looked like he was about to burst into tears.

"What are Akul teeth?" Rosh asked. Jaden lightly laid a hand on his arm, Goran, unable to hold back the tears, turned into Arta-Mess's arms and she held him.

"I'm sorry," Rosh said, quieter and seemingly recoiling in on himself.

"It's okay, you didn't know," Jas suddenly whispered beside him. He leaned in close. "The Akul is a great creature native to the Togruta homeworld, the tribes hunt them and only the greatest warriors bring them down. They use the beast's teeth as jewelry and wear headpieces made of them."

"Oh," Rosh whispered, hanging his head, at a loss of what to do, nothing more he could say would help Goran, he simply hoped that the heirlooms would be found unharmed.

As if coming to the rescue, a voice over a loudspeaker silenced the hall, telling all new arrivals to report to the Audience Chamber for orientation. Together they all rose, Goran still holding on to Arta-Mess as they walked, her arm across his shoulders. They exited the dining hall, stopping only to deposit their trays at a station near the door.


The students all gathered in the Audience Chamber, chatting excitedly. Several masters and teachers mingled about, wearing their own style but the logo of the Academy on their shoulders indicated their rank, making it easy for students to differentiate them. Jaden saw no sight of the other master that'd helped her at the Massassi Temple, Master Kyle- Something. She figured he was probably still searching the surrounding area of the forest.

A sudden hush fell over the crowd of students and teachers alike as Luke Skywalker entered, striding calmly and coolly across the top of the stone dais, hands folded behind him.

"Please, everyone, take a seat," Luke instructed. The floor was hard stone, but smooth, and all eight of the new students sat, some lazily leaning back on their hands with their legs stretched before them as if they were picnicking on the grass outside. The rest, including Rosh, sat cross legged, backs straight, trying to make a good impression. Jaden sat crossed legged as well, but made no attempt at good posture, it was a habit that she'd never quite mastered. It was a good thing then, that Luke seemed to take no notice of the way any of them chose to sit. Six Jedi Masters stood in a row at the bottom of the steps leading up to the dais. Luke was still in all black, a striking silhouette against the light streaming through the gaps in the tall pillars behind him. He continued:

"I'd like to welcome all our new students to the Jedi Academy. Here we will train you in the ways of the Force. You will learn to defend yourself with a lightsaber. You will also study diplomacy, history and more." Skywalker started down the steps. "It has been the practice of the Jedi to assign each student to a Master. However, since there are still so few of us, we'll be assigning multiple students to one Master."

"So that's how it works!" Rosh whispered a little too loudly to Jaden. "I was wondering."

Nearby, Arta-Mess shushed him. Luke made no sign that he'd noticed this disturbance, which Jaden doubted he missed. He had three of the six masters step forward. Jaden would later learn that the other three present trained the more advanced students at the Academy and took on other roles such as teaching and acting as diplomats all over the galaxy and with the New Republic. Luke approached the young male Kel-dor.

"So, Raltharan, you will be assigned to Master Horn." Another male Kel-dor, much older and more mature, stepped forward out of the lineup of other masters and teachers to greet his new student, who stood to shake his hand. Jaden thought they looked as though they could be father and son.

Skywalker proceeded to assign Goran to Master Horn as well, then Arta-Mess and a female Zabrak named Kalil Streen (Jaden didn't remember seeing her at all in the dining hall and assumed she'd stayed in her room the whole time) to Master Tionne Solusar. Then came Jas and Jacyyn's turn, they were both assigned to Corran Dykstra, a tall dark skinned human man with buzzed, snow white hair.

Beside her, Rosh nudged Jaden gently with his elbow. "I can't wait to begin my training!"

A shadow fell across them as Luke walked up to them. Jaden and Rosh quickly stood up.

"Rosh Penin. You will be assigned to Master Katarn," he said. At that moment, Kyle Katarn appeared next to him as though he'd just arrived from running around the forest. Jaden noticed the slight disheveledness of his appearance and a half hearted attempt to clean up beforehand.

He probably didn't want to be late. Jaden thought.

Master Skywalker's voice snapped her back at attention. "Jaden Korr, you'll also work with Master Katarn." Then, loudly so everyone heard him. "Now, let's begin with your first lessons." He then drew Kyle aside for a moment, calling over his shoulder, "And may the Force be with you."

Jaden stood there a moment, processing, her mind just registering what Luke had told her. Her and Rosh. Assigned to the same master? Did she feel disappointed? Annoyed? It wasn't that Rosh was a terrible person, he was just… Different? That was it, they were just different, and sometimes different personalities just didn't mix well. She briefly wondered if she could switch, then shook that thought away. That's just stupid Jaden, trying to get away from someone before actually getting to know them. She then wondered if perhaps Luke assigned them together because they had made their way to the Temple together as a team and had shown promise? We did work somewhat well together. She agreed on that thought. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. If they'd gotten through the forest in one piece, then maybe they would be a good team. She remembered how he'd disappeared on her; to find help yes, but without somehow letting her know where he'd gone. I just thought he'd run off. I guess we'll just have to work on better communication. No matter, she could talk to him about that later. Her and Rosh moved to stand awkwardly near the two masters as they finished their discussion, catching the tail end of Kyle's report.

"…and there was nothing," he was saying. "But the area around the temple felt strange, like its dark side aura was gone."

Luke's brow creased, thinking deeply. "Troubling." He shook his head, turning to see Jaden and Rosh standing nearby, waiting. "But let's look into this later. Your students are ready to get started." With a nod goodbye, he exited the room, leaving the two students and their master in a brief, awkward silence which Rosh quickly broke.

"Master Katarn. It's an honor to be serving under you." Jaden cringed slightly at the stress Rosh put on the word honor.

"First off, just call me Kyle. Titles make my skin crawl," Kyle's tone was matter-of-fact, but not unkind. "Secondly, you're not serving under me. I'm gonna teach you, and you're gonna learn. That's it."

Rosh was flustered. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." His cheeks colored considerably.

Kyle laughed softly. "Don't worry, Rosh, you didn't. I've been offended by professionals." He waved them forward to follow him. "Now c'mon, let's see what you two kids can do. Follow me to the training grounds." With that, they filed out of the Audience Chamber, the last ones to leave.


Jaden, Rosh and Kyle stood in a small enclosed area of the training grounds. Stone walls rose up around them, torches burning in nearby sconces sputtered with the light cool rain that drizzled around them. Besides the door they'd come in through, there were two others, one on the far wall and the other in the wall next to it. They were standing on a grassy turf with leafy ferns sticking up here and there. Kyle cleared his throat.

"This is one of the many training grounds here at the Academy. I'm going to put you two in separate courses." He saw Rosh starting to raise his hand. "Any questions?"

"When will I start building my lightsaber?"

"That'll come a little later," Kyle replied, fishing a simple and plain metallic cylinder from his belt. "For now, you'll have to use this." He handed it to Rosh, "It's a training lightsaber so it won't do the kind of damage a normal one would do unless I adjust its-"

"It's electromagnetic containment field so that the energy it contains in the blade is less steady and can do more damage beyond a scorch or a bruise?" Rosh grinned sheepishly, even Jaden was taken aback at his impressive knowledge of the technology.

"Very good Rosh," Kyle smiled. "You're pretty tech savvy I take it?"

"Yep, learned all I could when I attended school back home on Corellia."

"Well I look forward to seeing what you can do with these skills. For now, let's get back to our first lesson. First, I'll need to make sure that your saber isn't in training mode. You'll need it at full power in the next area. Jaden, I'll let you keep yours on its regular setting as well. Here." He handed Rosh a comlink. "Heard you lost yours in the shuttle crash, Jaden I assume you still have yours?"

"Yes, I do." She patted her front pants pocket.

Kyle nodded approval. "Good, we'll need them during the training." He pointed to the door at the far end. "When you're ready Jaden, go through that door. Rosh, follow me."

Jaden entered her designated area, a wide, squarish grassy place with more ferns and a tree growing near her. At the far wall, another door stood shut. Hearing the sound of footsteps above her, she glanced up to see Kyle walking on the walkways that ran along the top of the wall and split over the top of her area and the surrounding training sections so that any Jedi Master could look in on their various students.

"This course will familiarize you with your core Force abilities," Kyle began. "These are powers that every Force user has. As you progress in your training, you will learn new abilities. Both the light and dark sides will be open to you. Remember, abilities are not inherently good or evil. It's how you use them. Every Jedi is naturally stronger in different areas of the Force, and it will be up to you to decide what to focus on." Rosh and Jaden took in this information. Neither of them had thought of this before, that it wasn't good or bad to use both sides of the Force, it all mattered on your moral compass.


On the other side of the wall from Jaden, Rosh fiddled with the hilt of his training saber, trying to take in the rest of what Kyle was saying, but itching to use his saber already. Above, Kyle was finishing his speech, causing Rosh to snap to attention. "Alright, let's get started. In the next area you'll find some training remotes. These will help you learn how to handle a lightsaber. Ready?"

"Ready!" Rosh called out enthusiastically.


Jaden strode to the far door in her area. "Ready," she said, then stepped through.

A narrow open air passage opened before her that led to another door at the other end with sputtering torches lining the high walls.

"Here come the remotes!" Kyle announced.

A single, white metal orb dropped down in front of her, making a sound like pressurized air being released from an airtight container. Jaden ignited her saber and blocked the first couple of bolts, getting hit consecutively by the third and fourth ones.

"Oww!" She yelped.

"You alright Jaden?" Kyle asked.

Jaden fumed. "I'll be fine, just got hit."

"It's alright, you've got this. Just keep going, this is why we train with low impact remotes, so you can prepare for real blaster bolts."

Jaden brought her saber down on the remote, it exploded satisfyingly. Rosh called over the wall: "I haven't been hit yet!"

"It's not a competition, Rosh," Kyle said.

Behind her, Jaden heard another remote. She tried not to get frustrated and took a deep breath in. Turning, she swung hard, her lightsaber connecting with the remote. Two more appeared.

"Done!" Rosh yelled triumphantly just as she finished off the fourth remote and a fifth one appeared. How many am I supposed to fight?

"Nice work Rosh!" Kyle called approvingly. Tapping into something similar to what she used against the Dark Jedi earlier, Jaden smashed the final remote to smithereens. Thankfully, Kyle had seen this last move because he said:

"You did well too, Jaden." Then to the both of them, "Your lightsaber is an invaluable tool. Even when inactive it can defuse a potentially volatile situation. Trust me on that. As you train, you'll learn additional fighting styles. Changing styles during combat can surprise your opponent, allowing you to gain the upper hand. We'll discuss this more with one on one, close quarters dueling, but for now, we continue the course. From here on out we'll talk via comlink in each area. Let's move on."

Taking this as a cue to go through the next door, Jaden entered her new training area.

What she heard upon entering, was not a sound she'd hoped to hear anytime soon. A low, reptilian growl. A howler. Jaden tried to spot where it was. Was killing a howler a part of the test? As if in answer, Kyle's voice spoke through her comlink:

"Okay Jaden, you need to use the Force to jump across the ravine. It shouldn't be a problem. If you fall, jump back up to the bridge and try again." Jaden was confused for a moment, body still rigid in shock as she forced her head to look for this so-called bridge instead of the imminent threat of a nearby howler. The 'bridge' was to her right and wasn't much of a bridge. It had broken in the middle with nothing but stubs jutting out from either side. There was at least a dozen feet of open air between them.

Jaden commanded herself to take deep, controlled breaths. She'd cross the bridge, but first she would have to take care of the howler. The low cry came again, to her left. She picked her way carefully over the grass, not making a sound, crouching among the ferns, then she spotted them- two howlers, not one. They were sitting back, relaxed and nosing around a patch of grass against a dead end wall. A few stones were missing from the wall to the right. So that's how they got in, they aren't part of the course. She considered just telling Kyle over coms about them. It would be easier to have him or another more skilled Academy student take care of them.

"We believe in learning by doing at the Academy…" Master Skywalker's voice echoed in her head. And how am I going to learn by doing if I'm going to pawn what I'm afraid of to someone else?

Rising out of the grass, Jaden went to face her fears. The howlers, who'd been busy sniffing up some other random scent near the wall, didn't register Jaden until it was too late. Turning her saber on, she decided to try something bold that could end terribly for her. Could. She took aim and threw her lightsaber at both the howlers, the blade missing one but decapitating the other. Small victories Jaden, small victories. She planted her feet and braced herself as she reached out her hand, calling her lightsaber back through the Force, specifically the hilt of it. She was caught off guard at the speed in which it came flying at her, but still managed to catch it. She stumbled and righted herself as the second howler came bounding towards her. Taking quick aim, Jaden managed a successful high to low slash, killing it. She smiled. "Good job, Jaden," she said to herself, then turned to the broken bridge.

Rosh was probably way ahead of her by now. She had to remind herself that it wasn't a competition, that Kyle had even said so in the first place. Still, she wanted to make a good impression, or at least show some effort to keep up. She backed all the way up to the wall facing the bridge, trying to focus on the Force and the image of herself landing safely on the other side. She took a running start, leaping at the last second and barely landed on the other side. She rolled to soften the impact and came back up on one knee. Panting, she allowed herself a grin before continuing straight ahead where there was a wall.

She stopped suddenly.

A dead end? What?

"You'll have to push with the Force to get out of here and into the next area." Her com sounded with Kyle's message. Oh, I can do that.

Holding both hands out in front, closing her eyes she focused on the wall, a damaged, crumbling section in particular. She imagined it being blown out into the open of the next section, its loose stones, bits of dust, and debris. Her eyes snapped open and she pushed her hands forward with all her might. The crumbled section of wall was propelled forward as if by a small explosion, not as forceful as she'd hoped, but still leaving a big enough gap for her to walk through by only needing to bow her head slightly.


Rosh ran as fast as he could through the tunnel, unsure of where he was going but hoping it would mean completing the course first. He'd always been competitive in school and couldn't help the high it gave him when he came out on top. He slowed as he approached two doors.

"Oh, great! Which one is the right way?" He gingerly checked through one, not fully stepping through. It only led onto a narrow catwalk leading to a small control panel overlooking a large training area with bits of crumbled walls and other ruins. He vaguely made out some kind of tall, pyramid type thing erected in the middle of a paved walkway off to the side, partially out of sight due to the door frame.

"Dead end, this must be the one." He turned to go through the correct door, but hesitated, eyeing an inscription he'd missed on the first door: ASP-19 Battle Droid Training Control Panel Access.

A smile tugged on the corners of his mouth as he contemplated the idea that was forming in his head. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Oh why not, we can all laugh about it later." Having made his decision, he reopened the door and ran out onto the catwalk.


As Jaden stepped through the gap and into her next section of the Training Grounds, she took in its size, with many pieces of ruined pillars and crumbling walls. Towards the middle she spotted a tall, gray obelisk in the middle of a paved circle that began a walkway leading to a door at the far end of the area. That must be where I need to go. She started forward.

"Hey Jaden!" She jumped at the sound of Rosh's voice and looked up to see a short, narrow walkway high above her. He stood near some kind of small control panel. Once he had her attention he called out jokingly, "This should keep you busy 'til I finish the course!" and pushed a button before she could ask him what he meant. Below the walkway, a door opened and out stepped a large, gray battle droid. Jaden hadn't seen this particular type before, but it wasn't hard to guess it was meant for combat of some sort, though she didn't see a blaster in either of its hands, just a plain looking cylinder…

"Oh Sithspit." Jaden muttered, then glanced up at Rosh who was grinning ear to ear. He thinks this is funny. He thinks this is just a joke. Before she could shout some sort of plea to stop the droid, or cuss him out, Rosh dashed back into the passage he'd come from and the droid started in her direction.

"Okay, okay, I can do this, I did it before." Jaden wasn't confident at all, but she held her saber out in defense as the droid closed the distance. It took a swing at her and she ducked. The droid's yellow lightsaber blade cut through some tall grass nearby and gouged into one of the ruined walls of the arena.

That's definitely not a training saber! Jaden thought frantically. Did Rosh know this thing was dangerous?!

Getting more than a touch angry, Jaden struck out at the droid. It turned out that this training droid wasn't programmed with anything higher than a simple combat skills regime. Which was lucky for Jaden, who severed its lightsaber pretty quickly, then sliced it up beyond hope of repair for good measure. She figured this way was as good as any of venting her frustration at the whole scenario. Wiping sweat from her brow, she headed towards the obelisk and the paved walkway beyond it.

"What took you so long, Jaden?" Kyle's voice made her jump. She picked up her comlink and sighed.

"Nothing." She said, hoping her voice wasn't too gritted.

"You're sure?" Kyle sounded concerned, which was nice, but Jaden still felt raw from the whole ordeal.

"It was nothing." She answered a little too bluntly and abruptly for her taste. Thankfully, Kyle didn't push it further but continued with his lesson. The questions were sure to come later. She entered the door and found herself in a small, stone room with one other door a few feet ahead of her. It was locked. Kyle offered some more instruction:

"To get to the next area, you must pull a lever somewhere in the room. But you can't reach the lever with your hands. Remember to examine your environment carefully. When you're out on a mission, if you find a locked door, look for the guy in charge. He usually has a key."

Jaden took a steadying breath and looked around the room, noticing two small grates, one on either side of the room. This sure looks familiar. She thought of the stone wall with the gate she and Rosh had come across on their way through the woods. The grate to her right contained a single lever unlike the one to the left. Reaching through the Force, she mimicked Rosh's earlier action and pulled her hand down while the lever moved simultaneously in the same direction. The door opened.

"Nice!" She smiled to herself and hurried through the darkened passage lit dimly by torches. It sloped down and she found herself in a low room with rumble and sand littering the floor, the odd ferny plant cropping out of cracks in the ground. There was only the door she came in by. About one floor above her was a walkway and a door lit from the top by an electric light.

But how do I get up there? She wondered. The only ledge of any sort was on top of the door she'd just entered by, and that was still several feet too high for her to jump or climb up without a good foothold.

"Solutions to problems aren't always obvious," Kyle said over her com. "Use your Force sense to see if you can find a way out of the room."

Okay, just use the Force to sense your way out, but how? She considered asking Kyle how to do this. Maybe it's just like with the room with the lever, but tapping into the Force to show me something that's not there. She decided to try it, then ask Kyle for help if it didn't work. She also didn't really want Rosh to hear she was struggling.

Closing her eyes, she envisioned the room, the walls, the torches, the large stone bricks… The bricks. She looked closely at a brick about three feet off the ground to the right of the door as she stood facing it. Something glimmered. She closed her eyes again and focused on it in her mind. A pattern began to materialize, glowing like an ember in a fire. She opened her eyes, a strange boxy symbol glowed faintly on the surface of the stone. Gently, she touched it, feeling her fingers tingle as its light brightened even more. Instinctively, she pulled her hand toward herself and the brick followed, jutting out of the wall. She'd made herself a foothold. Alright! She clamored on top of it and stood facing the walkway, still too high up. And too far. There's probably another brick loose. She climbed down and looked along the wall with her newfound gift. Locating another brick a few feet away and above the first one, she pulled it out. That should do it! Quickly getting back on the first step, she planned her jump to the next one. Making it without losing her balance, she set her sights on the walkway, looking farther than she'd anticipated it. I've got this! She thought and put all her focus into sticking the landing. She almost missed, nearly landing in a torch that hung below the walkway and holding on for dear life as if the fall were a hundred feet instead of a dozen. She scrambled up, dusting her hands off on her pants and headed through the door.

She found herself running through several tight stone corridors, each looking so alike that she almost got lost in them, coming through one door that led outside onto a dead end platform in the rain. She retraced her steps, focusing on the subtle differences of each passage and finally found the door that led outside.

"You're almost done," Kyle was saying. "You'll need to move fast in this next area. You can use the Force to speed up both physically and mentally, allowing you more time to make decisions."

Jaden spotted two doors on either end of the enclosure she'd come into, separated by a low wall that split the area down the middle but covering only half the diameter. Jaden took a running start, going as fast as she could. There must have been sensors in the ground because the door she ran toward started to close before she'd even covered half the distance. She picked up the pace but had to come to a stop before she crashed into the now closed door. Okay, so that's what Kyle meant by using the Force to speed up.

She went back to her starting point, the first door remained closed, so she looked to the second one. Stepping forward so as to kneel in a push off position racers at school would before a competitive race, the door started to close. Dank farrik, I must've set off the sensor! She rushed forward half heartedly but gave up and returned to the beginning. The other door was now open. Carefully, she settled herself down, knees bent, her booted toes digging into the dirt, hands spread on the grass. She closed her eyes. "Use the Force to speed up both physically and mentally," Kyle's voice echoed through her thoughts. She envisioned the door. "...allowing you more time to make decisions." She saw herself running towards the door as it was slowly closing, her having more time to reach it…

Suddenly, she was speeding up. The world moved in a blur around her, going so slow though she was going so fast. The door up ahead was closing slower than before, but still going rapidly. In a fit of inspiration, Jaden pumped her legs hard and fell to her back into a controlled slide, passing under the door as it closed. For half a second she saw the bottom of the door in front of her face, then, the gray sky above and the feel of rain on her cheeks.

Jaden was on her feet in the next second in an all out sprint towards Kyle who stood several yards away, standing on a large stone terrace, arms folded, waiting for her and Rosh. And there he was too, running at Kyle from a different direction. They were both running at top speed and came to a stop on either side of Kyle at the exact same time.

"So, did I win?" Rosh asked eagerly.

Kyle cut him a side glance. "It wasn't a competition," he said plainly.

"I'm sorry, I…"

Kyle gestured to Jaden, "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

He knows about the droid then. Jaden put her hands on her hips. "It's no big deal. You said yourself this wasn't a competition." Her voice tried to sound casual.

Rosh threw up his hands and shrugged, trying to play it off. "Hey, it was just a joke. I didn't think it would-"

"If that droid was set to Luke's training regimen, it would have killed Jaden. What were you thinking?" Kyle's tone was serious, no trace of warmth.

Rosh's eyes widened in realization and looked at Jaden imploringly. "Jaden, I'm so sorry. I can't believe I… I mean I wasn't trying to-"

Jaden turned her back, fighting tears. "Save it Rosh!" She said sharply, crossing her arms. She felt so angry, and sad, but wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because the first "friend" she'd made turned out to be some highly competitive guy who would do almost anything to win. And she felt raw, vulnerable because of it. Used was a better word. But overall she just felt confused and wanted to be someplace private to sort out her emotions. An angry tear threatened to spill over and onto her cheek. Behind her, Kyle spoke in a softer voice, but still edged in a firmness that told her she should hang onto every word he said:

"Jaden, you have a right to be angry, but believe me when I say you don't want to feed that emotion."

Biting her lip, she nodded, quickly dashed the tear away from her eye and turned to face them.

"I understand, Master Katarn." She paused, then slowly looked at Rosh. "Apology accepted Rosh," she said softly, seeing in his eyes that he'd truly been sincere.

Kyle nodded at her encouragingly. "Good, that's settled. And remember, it's Kyle."

Jaden choked out a laugh. "Yes Mas- … uh, Kyle."

Rosh recovered from the sobering moment with an energetic: "Sure thing, Kyle!"

"Okay," Kyle said, "We'll keep you two on a strict training regime for the next few days or so, then see about putting what you've learned to use in the real world. We'll mix your training here at the Academy with some real life missions. We've been getting some requests from all over the galaxy for assistance and I'd like to take you one at a time with me on a few of them for some one on one training. But I'll be making my decision on exactly who after I've had a few days to observe your progress."

The two students both stood up straighter, having noticed Luke, who entered through a door to their left.

"Kyle. I did some research on that strange mark from the clothing we found on the Dark Jedi at the temple. It is the symbol of Marka Ragnos, a Sith Lord that died almost five thousand years ago."

Kyle looked shocked. "Five thousand years, are you serious? Oh, wait, of course you're serious…"

"While you're out training your students, be on the lookout for information regarding a group affiliated with Ragnos."

Kyle gestured at nothing in particular. "Sure thing Luke."

Master Skywalker nodded, then looked to Jaden, "Great work with the course by the way."

Jaden stammered, "Um, thank you, Master." How'd he know? Maybe he's been secretly watching the whole time. She caught a glance at Rosh who looked disappointed, or in the very least dumbfounded.

Luke exited, leaving the trio alone again.

"Well, I'd think after a day full of excitement you'd be ready to get some sleep. You kids head back to the dorms 'kay?" Kyle dismissed them.


As tired as she was, sleep came hard for Jaden that night. Dark images swirled before her closed eyes that frightened her and made her brain work overtime trying to put them away. Another part of her mind wanted to remember just what had happened the moment after she spotted the three strangers with the Scepter. Both sleep and memory still evaded her until she finally gave up and pushed herself into a sitting position on her bed. The sheets were a mess from all her tossing and turning but she didn't care to fix them. Instead she stood, crossed the room to her door, then paused. She went to her small closet for a loose fitting robe she'd brought with her to cover her bare shoulders; she felt sure it would be chilly in the passages of the Academy. Stepping quietly from her room, the swish of the door closing sounded a hundred times louder in the dead of night. She started back down the corridor Master Tionne had led them through mere hours ago and found the lift. She had no idea where she was going but thought perhaps a little exploring would do her good.

She went up to the top floor. No one was around, but she suspected there would be security monitors surveying the halls.

I hope I don't get in trouble for exploring. She was in the Audience Chamber. It was so silent now except for the muted padding of her bare feet on the cold stones, making her wish she'd donned a pair of foot coverings.

It was dark in the chamber except for the light of another of Yavin's moons shining through the floor to ceiling pillars. She scanned the room with her eyes, thinking of going and sitting between the pillars to look out at the view when she suddenly spotted a door almost hidden in a corner of the room near the entrance. She went over to it, thinking it'd be locked, but it opened when she stepped right up to it. Without a moment's hesitation, she went through and found a narrow set of spiraling stairs going up. It went up so high Jaden could barely make out the shape of a door in the roof high above.

Curiosity trumped her feeling of getting in trouble and she started climbing the steps with renewed energy. At the top, she saw that the trapdoor was unlatched. Is someone else up here or do they just forget to lock it? Jaden pushed it open before she could talk herself out of it and was met with a big, wide, sparkling world. She climbed the few steps on the ladder that led through the trapdoor and pushed herself out and onto the Jedi Academy's roof at the very top of the ziggurat. The wind caught her by surprise but wasn't strong or too cold, though she pulled her loose robe around her as she took a few steps forward to gaze in awe at the strange and beautiful sights that surrounded her.

As far as the eye could see, the panoramic view from the roof showed countless stars blazing in the night sky, casting a dim light in which to see the tops of the trees that seemed to spread out for miles and miles around the Academy.

How did Rosh and I even make it through that forest? She thought, lifting her eyes now to see the full moon, quite awestruck by the fact that she was on a moon herself, wondering if someone else was on that other moon, looking at the one she was on.

"Jaden? Is that you?" The sudden, quiet voice made her jump and she turned to see Rosh standing near the trapdoor. He was dressed in loose breeches and an even looser fit night shirt that hung from his frame. The front of it was opened a little more than was necessary for a venture outside on a cool night. Jaden forced herself to look at his face instead of the glimpse of his bare, lightly toned chest.

"What are you doing up here?" She asked.

"I could ask you the same," Rosh smiled, then realized it wasn't amusing. "I, uh, couldn't sleep." He rubbed the back of his neck and ducked his head shyly in a way that Jaden almost found adorable.

"Same," she replied, looking away before she stared too long. "The view is incredible."

"I bet it's even better at sunset." He moved to stand next to her.

"True." They were silent for what seemed to Jaden a long time, but it was peaceful, nice even, to just be standing there with someone, looking out at the stars.

Rosh broke the silence. "So, who do you think Kyle will bring with him on his mission?"

"I don't know, I haven't really thought of it. Today was wild enough, or yesterday I guess sense it's probably early morning now. Besides, we still have several days before that and lots of training in between…" She sighed, it all felt like a lot to take in.

"Hey," Rosh reached out to put a tentative hand on her shoulder, making the skin beneath the fabric of her robe tingle. She started to feel warm all over starting at that place, it was the first time they'd really touched besides her using his shoulder for a pillow on the shuttle. "I'm sorry again about what happened today, all of it. The temple, the Training Grounds. I promise I'll try not to be as competitive and win -or lose- fair and square."

"Like I said earlier, all's forgiven. But thanks for the promise. If either of us gets to go on this mission, let's promise not to be jealous of the other's opportunities?" She looked him in the eyes.

Rosh smiled, but it felt forced. "Deal." He finally removed his hand from her shoulder and headed towards the trapdoor. "Well, I guess I'll try to get some sleep before another day of training. Do you want me to leave the door open for you?"

Jaden took one last look at the stars and dark forest landscape of Yavin IV. "No, I'm gonna head back down too."

Once they'd made it safely back down to the Audience Chamber, they rode the lift back up, going their separate ways at the split in the hallway and headed to their own rooms.

Jaden went right to sleep dreaming about stars and watching them while she rested her head on the shoulder of someone solid and dark haired next to her.


That week, Jaden and Rosh's real training began. Every student awoke early, some before dawn, others just as the sun rose and they all congregated in the dining hall for breakfast. The new students ate together, not because they had too, but more out of a feeling of comfort. Also out of habit. Jaden always helped herself to some caf as did Rosh, though his was usually sweetener and cream with a hint of caf flavoring. That first morning Jaden saw that Goran wore a headdress made of Akul teeth. It lifted her and everyone else's spirits that his belongings, as well as the majority of the others, got back to them safe and sound.

After breakfast, the students would disperse and meet up with their masters to follow them to whatever training hall or ground they wished to teach their students at. Kyle led Jaden and Rosh to an interior room of the Academy he told them was used for lightsaber combat and proceeded in running them through several drills, even facing them off against one another and at times, himself, but more to exhibit a particular move he wanted to show them and to go through every motion.

After lightsaber training, he'd sometimes bring them to an outdoor training arena and set them loose inside to face various obstacles and learn to hone their Force abilities. On other occasions they would meet with the other new students for weapons training. This included learning the ins and outs of handling a blaster, thermal detonators and other types of weaponry, not to mention explosives safety and bomb diffusion. After this was over, it was about time for lunch and they were dismissed. Rosh and Jaden would hurry back to the dining hall and join their newfound friends for a hearty meal prepared by the Academy's chief chef, Ched.

In the afternoons they had a measure of free time, though some masters required more attention with their students. Everyone often went back to their rooms to relax, or outside to explore the surrounding forests (though after the incident of the Massassi Temple, many students stayed as close to the Academy as possible), some continued their training by practicing what they learned that day or using an unoccupied section of the Training Grounds. Rosh could often be seen training with the well seasoned pilots and Officer Nuss in the Academy's hangar, learning the ropes and finer points of flying a real starfighter. Jaden got in a little training too from Kyle, who took her out most afternoons in his ship, the Raven's Claw and even let her switch seats to pilot it while they stayed within the moon's atmosphere.

But Jaden soon found that her favorite thing was the Hall of Archives, a library started by Master Skywalker and aided by Master Tionne who helped fill it with all kinds of reading material from all over the galaxy. It was full of all kinds of histories on the Jedi and the Force, with some texts locked away and requiring permission from both Tionne and one's master in order to read them. Jaden made quick work of many of the histories during her afternoons that first week at the Academy. She read first hand accounts from Luke Skywalker on the destruction of the First Death Star, tales of Jedi from millennia ago during the Old Republic, stories about Darth Revan, once a great Sith Lord who was reformed and soon did what was right for the galaxy and the Jedi.

Kyle also began to tell them stories as they trained, both as a way to help them manage their focus during a mission and also to help them get to know him better. And it worked, both Jaden and Rosh enjoyed hearing his exploits during the Rebellion.

"Though I wasn't always a Rebel. I was a mercenary too, me and Jan. And before that, well, I was an Imperial." Both of his students stopped what they were doing. One of the training remotes that was circling them took a cheap shot at Rosh who yelped and made a swipe at it that was just out of reach. Their master smiled.

"That's why focus is the main thing when facing any enemy, even a low impact training remote."

"But what do you mean you were an Imperial, Kyle?" Jaden asked, still feeling strange at the notion of calling her master by his first name when everyone else did the complete opposite for theirs.

"That's another story for another time. Besides, we've just completed week one of your training. If I don't save some of my stories for later, how will I keep you all entertained? Especially during those long flights to and from our missions together come to think of it." He stroked his beard then looked at his students in turn. "That's enough for now." He pushed a button on a nearby podium that deactivated the remotes. "It's time I let you know which one of you will come with me out into the real world for some real life experience. I wasn't sure until today which of you it would be, but after this newest report I just got…" He reached over and grabbed a datapad from a table that stood next to the podium.

"We've been receiving a number of reports that a group calling themselves The Disciples of Ragnos has been trying to hire mercenaries and smugglers to haul some cargo. Luke thinks that if we can contact one of these mercenary groups, maybe we can find out the Disciple's base of operations." Kyle looked up at Jaden and Rosh who stood quietly at attention, curiosity and concern plaster across their faces. "We're gonna be going to Mos Eisley, it's where one of the smuggling rings that we know of is based at. Jaden, I want you to come with me on this one."

Jaden could hardly contain her excitement, but looked over to Rosh to see his reaction. The disappointment was evident, but he didn't look annoyed from what she could see.

"Congratulations," he said, shaking her hand, albeit a bit stiffly, as if trying to be happy for her.

"And don't worry Rosh, I want you to join me on another mission soon," Kyle said. "For now, have the rest of the day, and tomorrow while we're gone, keep up your practice with the pilots in the hangar."

Rosh nodded stiffly and exited the room. Jaden briefly watched him go, hoping that he'd be alright. Her mind flooded with so many questions about their mission that she didn't have time to worry about Rosh further.

"So, the Disciples of Ragnos, that's some of the group who I saw at the temple?"

"It seems like it. Though I'd use the term 'group' very lightly. 'Cult' is a more appropriate term for these types of people."

"Are we going to come across any of these people on our mission to Mos Eisley do you think?" Jaden asked with a twinge of concern in her voice.

"Don't worry," Kyle assured her, "this one already sounds like it could be nasty, and that's why I'll be going with you. And with any luck, hopefully we'll be able to find out something."

"Is Mos Eisley really that bad?" She asked skeptically.

Kyle made a sudden guffaw type of sound in his throat, then his brow darkened. "Oh you'll find some of the galaxy's worst lowlifes on Tatooine. It's definitely better to go there in numbers."


Author's notes

I do not own any of the characters, situations or parts of this story that belong to Star Wars, all rights go to Disney and Lucasfilm.

I'd like to thank my proofreaders/editors/typo hunters: Ashlynn and Bekeh. THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR HELPING MAKE THIS STORY BETTER THAN IT WAS BEFORE! I AM FOREVER GRATEFUL FOR YOUR INSIGHTS, REACTIONS AND OPINIONS!