-Sadie-

After finding the Force, Darin showed me how to meditate, which would allow me to cultivate the energy inside of me. He also told me to use the Force because the more I used it, the stronger it became. The more I meditated, the more control and understanding I would have. He spent an entire hour stressing that a balance of use and introspection would yield the best results.

Since I was tired of meditating, I walked out of the room Darin forced me to have and into the living room. A blanket and pillow sat on the table and the holovision was turned to some show about a smuggler and a princess, which I turned off. It was a good show, but I didn't have time.

I closed my eyes and focused on sensing the life around me. Darin told me that eventually I'll be able to do it with little effort, but that takes time. When I opened them, the world around me was gray, and the Force in all life around me glowed a pure white. I sensed a new presence three floors down which seemed rather young. Four rooms from us, I could sense the pure white tendrils snaking around the room and interacting with the surroundings. The closest presence came from the balcony.

I walked outside and found Darin sitting on the ground and meditating with his back to me.
"Yes?" he said without turning to me. I think that at this point, he has this whole life-sensing thing activated all the time.

"I got tired of meditation."

He smirked, but didn't say anything. I took a seat in one of the chairs.

"Did somebody get a new apprentice three floors down?"

"You felt that too, huh?" I could hear a hint of pride in him. He then stood up and stretched, a loud popping coming from his back, which was followed by a sigh of satisfaction. He turned to me and said "Let's learn something."

"Now?"

"Yea. Come on. Sit down." He gestured to his mat on the floor and I sat.

Excited, I asked "Am I going to learn how to make things float?"

"No" he said as he pulled up a chair and sat directly in front of me. "You're learning how to close your mind."

Confused, I asked "Why do I need to learn that?"

"When someone hasn't found the Force or can't access it, their mind is partially closed. Their thoughts can be easily accessed, but you have to actually try to access them. When you find the Force and are learning to use it, your mind is wide open as you learn to project your thoughts and harness the Force. Think of it as your mind being completely bare, choobies on display and everything. It's really distracting, and really difficult to avoid. You've been projecting your thoughts all week."

I knew I was blushing, but I tried to ignore it. Maybe Darin won't notice. "You saw ALL my thoughts this week?"

"No. I've done everything I can to avoid it. And to tell you the truth, I don't want to know what goes on in there half the time."

Thank the maker. I've definitely had some risque thoughts.

"Come on. You wanna learn how to do this or not?"

"Sure."

"Okay. Sense the Force in me. Tell me when you're ready, and I'll show you what to do."

I closed my eyes and concentrated. The world around me turned grey and Darin was surrounded by the white tendrils of energy. Usually they're a transparent white mesh-like pattern, but his were brighter, thicker, and more numerous than anything I've ever seen.

"Whoa. Why's it so bright?"

"Wait really?" he asked before the Force around him dulled, shriveled, and some of the tendrils disappeared, making them look like everybody else's.

"Sorry. I try to subdue it more to avoid attention. I'm a bit distracted."

"That was subdued?" I asked in wonder. "What's it like when you don't restrict it?"

"Pray you never find out. Come on. You ready?"

"Mmhmm." I watched as the energy condensed and created what looked like a cocoon around the golden shape I knew as the mind. They then unraveled and he said "You try."

I willed the Force to create a bubble around my mind. It took a little, but I finally got it to move in the way I wanted.

"Not bad for the first time," I heard Darin mutter. I felt something gently poke at my bubble. I looked and saw the tiniest thread of Force touching mine. I watched as it grew slightly and poked with a bit more force. This time, it pushed in my protective layer without actually going through, creating a dent in the previously perfect sphere. I willed it back to its original form, and he poked again with the same size tendril. This time, it held.

"Good. You learn quickly."

I felt proud of myself when suddenly a bolt of energy hit my bubble, thoroughly destroying the entire thing.

"It needs to be stronger. You must have one up at all times. It must be second nature. Even while you sleep, it must stay strong."

"Yes sir," I muttered.

I woke up the next morning feeling like I didn't get any sleep at all. After Darin showed me how to create the mental shield, he bombarded it for the rest of the day. It was exhausting. I barely ate any dinner. I just didn't have an appetite. I couldn't meditate or use the refresher in peace. I couldn't enjoy a shower. And while I slept, he continued to hit it again and again.

I groaned as the onslaught hit again. From every angle, the shield was buffeted by coils of energy. The barrage continued until the shield was nearly broken, at which point they retreated and I repaired my defenses.

The one good thing I have noticed is my shield has gotten better with each assault. It's gotten tighter, stronger, and easier to maintain.

I got out of bed, grabbed some clothes and headed to the shower. As I turned the water on, another barrage hit. When I was in the shower, he hit with another. By the time I finished, got dressed, and went to the main room where Darin was, I was hit with three more.

"Good morning," Darin said cheerily. He didn't look at all like he's been laying a relentless siege on my mental fortifications for the past eighteen hours. I yawned, said good morning, then asked what he had in front of him.

He held up the beautiful blue cube in his hand and said "This is Jodi."

"Good morning," said a cheery female voice.

I shook my head. I must be losing my mind. This exercise is ruining me.

"It's a Jedi holocron." He reached across the table and picked up an equally marvelous red pyramid and said "This is Seth."

"Good morning Sadie Wren. I'm terribly sorry about your grandfather," said a silky male voice.

Before I could process what he said, Darin sternly said "If you don't want to be a doorstop again, I suggest you never try to mess with her head again."

"A bit ironic, isn't it?" said the pyramid before it flew out of his hand, down the hall, and into the refresher.

"He's a Sith holocron. Sorry."

"Jodi for Jedi and Seth for Sith."

"Yea."

"Huh. Not very creative."

He stared pointedly at me, and I grimaced as my bubble was hit by so much force that it broke in two.

"Jerk," I muttered as I put it back up and took a seat next to him on the couch.

-Darin-

Shortly after sitting down, I heard a light snoring coming from my left. I glanced over at Sadie. Her head was tilted back and her mouth was slightly open.

Instead of attacking her barrier again, I decided to let her rest. She deserved a break.

She said that she wanted me to push her as hard as possible. She had an innate desire to learn and learned very quickly. By pushing her barrier to its extreme and having her repair it over and over, I was accelerating her progress by an unimaginable degree. In one day, I was able to get her barrier from being feeble and weak to being on par with the majority of Jedi.

But this had drawbacks. What I was doing bordered on torture, and I felt terrible about it. I told her time and again that we could slow down, but she refused to hear it. I couldn't help but admire her determination.

The ringing of the commlink interrupted my thoughts. I was being called by Grand Master Tun.

When I entered Dora Tun's office, I found her, Grand Master Kaidin Margos, a human Jedi, and Grand Master Abe Flick, the Mon Calamari Jedi from the meeting, sitting around a table.

"Afternoon Grand Masters."

"Afternoon General. Sit down please," said Dora Tun as she waved to a spot at the table. I sat down and inspected the walls of the office. It was bright white and resembled the walls of Kamino. I turned back to the Grand Masters.

Dora Tun, who was head of Trooper Training and Assignment, spoke first. "We three like to talk amongst each other, and you've come up quite a bit in our recent discussions."

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Abe Flick, who was head of Jedi Placement and Assignment, took notice and said "You're not in trouble. We just have some things to discuss."

This made me even more uncomfortable. Both Tun and Flick looked to Kaidin Margos, who was head of Intelligence. He gathered his thoughts and said "Recently, some rather questionable things have happened regarding you. When I looked deeper, I was left with more questions than answers. I was hoping you could clear things up."

I shrugged and said "Depends on what you ask."

A brief smile appeared on his face, but was quickly masked. "Very well. Grand Master Tun heard from Flor We that when you took your platoon, you also accepted the platoon of troopers that the other generals labeled as 'defective'. Can you explain why?"

"I saw nothing wrong with them and thought it'd be a waste to just throw them away."

"Know that what you did is highly appreciated and you are very highly regarded by all Kaminoans," Dora interjected. Kaidin nodded. "Indeed you are. Soon after, Grand Master Flick got wind that you applied for a Padawan. I thought this rather odd. You recently became eligible, and you immediately put a request. Why?"

"Master Joren was rather inspirational."

He nodded as if this was a valid answer. "Now, recently an informant told me that you went to meet Bebo the Hutt. Within the next two days, the drug trade took massive hits. Can you elaborate?"

I shrugged, but said nothing.

Kaidin looked at his notes, then spoke again. "We know that you're different from other Jedi. It's why you're here. We need to trust you."

I snorted. "So do I."

He looked to Tun and Flick, who both nodded. "Fair enough. We aren't fans of the Order either. It's no secret among the Council that if Grand Master Sorsee had his way, I would be long gone. He completely disregards anything that comes from the Intelligence unit and actively works to suppress it. Abe and Dora's roles don't even exist anymore. Now all Abe controls is Padawan assignment and Dora has virtually no power. Grand Master Sorsee has taken control. Is that enough?"

These guys were risking a lot even saying that. I'm going to take advantage of the power that I have for now. "That depends."

"On what?"

I leaned forward. "The padawan. I want it official and I want the information to be in your records, but I want you to enter it in exactly how I say it, with no questions asked. And I want it done immediately after this meeting."

Without hesitation, Abe said "Done."

"Good. Then I'll trust you for now."

Kaidin laughed and shook his head. "You're better at this than I thought."

"I like to keep people on their toes. So why was I called here?"

"I want you to join the Systems Intelligence Agency. I had all of my resources and information at my disposal, and yet I couldn't touch Bebo. You waltzed in and did in one night what I've spent weeks trying to do. Your record shows a history of disobedience with authority as a child, and I don't see any evidence of this mindset changing. You'll still have your troopers. They'll just be referred to as Special Forces."

"So you want me to join your little posse of nerf herders because I can do what they can't?"

He ignored the insult to his men and said yes.

"And what about Sorsee?"

"He can't touch Intelligence. Not without overwhelming support in the Senate, and the Senate will never give him control of all Intelligence affairs."

I sat back in my seat in silence, as if I was making a decision. In truth, I had already made my choice. When a sufficient amount of time passed, I leaned forward and asked "When do I start?"

I could see the relief appear in the Grand Master's faces. Kaidin said "Tomorrow. The Noreno system. Master Joren's fleet was grounded. They've been able to hold out, but won't survive much longer. Sorsee refuses to send any ground forces to help them out, claiming that it won't be worth it. I don't have much in the way of resources. Objective is to get him and his soldiers out. You come up with the plan. I know it's not usual SIA work, but we've made it a habit to try and rescue those Sorsee won't."

My emotionless face hid the jab of fear that first appeared when he said that Master Joren was down. I asked "Why are you so sure I can pull this off?"

He grinned. "You don't become a champion in Bebo's Arena through pure luck."

I stared blankly at him, and he said "Don't play dumb. We know more than you think."

I nodded, and said "We better get those papers for the padawan finished then."

By the time I returned to my room, the sun was down and night had arrived. I had a plan for getting on the planet, but not one for getting off. I'll come up with something, I'm sure of it.

When I walked in the room, I found Sadie's mind and attacked it. When I felt I was about to break it, I pulled away to watch her repair it.

I let out a little pulse through the Force. This was the signal I used to let her know I was coming in, so be decent. I heard her say "Come in."

"How was your nap?"

Without leaving her meditation trance, she said "It was great. Without you attacking, I actually got some rest."

"I got some good news" I said as I sat on her bed.

She opened an eye and looked at me.

"You're officially a padawan."

"Wasn't I already a padawan?"

"No, but now you're allowed to walk around the Temple and nobody will question you, and you have the authority of a padawan."

She snorted. "The authority of a student?"

"A student with superpowers."

She nodded, and I got up to leave. I hesitated though. Part of me wanted to take her with me, but part of me didn't. I decided to leave it to her.

"Hey. I got something to ask you."

Without opening her eyes, she said "What?"

"I'm getting deployed tomorrow. Kind of sudden. Me and the guys are going to the Noreno system. It's incredibly dangerous, and I came up with the plan so, just like in the arena, there's a high chance of death."

"Stop trying to talk me out of it. I'm going."