-Sadie-

Fral leaned in the room and asked "You want anything?"

I bit my tongue and shook my head no. He nodded and left me on my own in the room.

It was a nice room, one he gave to me on his new capital ship, the Everbright. It was designed like a Star Destroyer, but was a bit smaller. However, it actually had more guns on it than the regular Star Destroyer, not to mention a larger variety. It also had two entrances and exits to its massive hangar bay for ships, one above and one below. It was perfectly capable of operating without a supporting fleet, but had one anyways.

I learned all of this while Fral was introducing the ship to me on my first day of officially being his padawan, while all of my stuff was being moved. After the tour, I hid in the room.

The tour was two days ago. I haven't left once.

While I was eating cereal on Coruscant, I'd heard a knock. When I answered it, I was told by some smug douche that I wasn't Darin's padawan anymore and that I was being transferred. I laughed in his face at first, and when he produced the documents as evidence, I resisted. He said that if I didn't comply then he would have to force me to leave. I told him where he could stick his documents. When he tried to push past me, I pulled out my lightsaber. That was the last thing I remember before waking up on this godforsaken ship. Fral told me that they had put me to sleep. I nearly cut the rest of his ear off in anger.

It wasn't fair. They couldn't just uproot me and drop me off somewhere else. How could they just expect me to be okay with this?

I heard a knock on the door, then Fral walked inside. I glared at him in hopes that he would just go away. Instead, he walked over and sat on a chair by the desk.

"Catherine's worried about you."

Catherine Cress was the Admiral of the Everbright. She was fresh out of the Academy, graduating top of her class, but had no prior experience operating a ship. That didn't stop Fral from selecting her to be the Admiral of his new ship. She was a lighthearted, fun, and very friendly person, although I think that may have more to do with me being the only other human female her age on the ship.

"Tell her I'm fine," I replied.

"We've received a distress signal from Maani Kodd on Ryloth, and are going there now to investigate."

"Whatever."

He sighed. "I know that this is very difficu-"

"NO YOU DON'T!" I screamed. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE! HE'S MY FRIEND! AND HE WAS A DAMN GOOD TEACHER! THEY CAN'T JUST UPROOT MY LIFE AGAIN!" I lowered my shaking voice and said "It's not fair."

"When I heard that Grand Master Sorsee took over assignment, I kind of expected you to be reassigned."

I glanced at him suspiciously. "Why?"

"Grand Master Sorsee never liked Darin. He's always been a stickler for rules and unquestioning authority and well, you know Darin. That and his very entry into the Order falls into a gray area."

I raised my eyebrow, and he continued. "I found Darin at an orphanage on Coruscant when he was seven years old, and he was a bit of a tyrant. I was there to get a Force-using toddler when I witnessed a fight break out. Some kids decided to wrong some kid, and he happened to be Darin's friend. This sent him over the edge, and I saw him take on the entire gang of bullies and win. The security guard had a rough time getting him down. I had to lift him up and separate him from the group. I decided to test him, since I had a gut feeling, and it turned out that he was Force-sensitive. I brought him in front of the Council, and Grand Master Sorsee had an issue with him being too old, forming attachments with caretakers at the orhpanage, and his real lack of emotional restraint. They voted, and Darin got in by one vote. Ever since then, Darin has remained in the gray area. He's a thinker. He questions things, fights things, feels things, and that irks Grand Master Sorsee. He feigns friendliness, but deep down he despises Darin."

I never knew Darin was an orphan. I never knew any of this stuff. Why did he hide this from me?

"So what do you think about this?"

He shifted uncomfortably in the seat before saying "I am biased, but I think it's a horrible move. I watched Darin grow and spent countless hours with him. He's like a son to me. I've seen him struggle through his natural weakness, the sideways stares, the muttering. I've seen him deal with more than any Jedi, nay, any person ever should. He works relentlessly to become the best, and is one of the most tenacious people I've ever met. When he told me that he was the first person to survive that experiment, I wasn't surprised. There's a fire deep within him, and I've never seen anybody who can tame it, much less put it out."

I nodded. Fral was a nice guy, but he wasn't Darin. He seemed to be an in-between person, one who adhered to the Jedi doctrine but who allowed for deviation to some degree.

"Will you please come out now?" he asked, very gently, like a grandfather.

The anger was still present, but I decided to follow him. I was getting hungry anyways.

-0000-

Ster was loading the Specs up onto a ship when he heard the announcement over the intercom of the hangar bay.

"The Vindicator has been caught partaking in treacherous acts that have undermined the Alliance. For his crimes against the Alliance, all Seyley have been downgraded to ordinary soldiers with a complete loss of their previous position related privileges, and the Junel shall be their replacements. The Seyley will be able to earn their titles back, but only after they have proven their allegiance to the Alliance. Please be civil during this exchange of power, as insubordination will be punished by a swift death."

Right on cue, a large group of Junel walked into the hangar bay and went to replace the Seyley who ran the hangar. He started arguing, and Ster watched in horror as he was gunned down.

He sprinted onto the ship and yelled "MOVE! LEAVE NOW!"

The pilot turned on the engines and they shot out of the hangar, blasters firing in their wake.

"HYPERSPACE! NOW!"

They shot into the nearest hyperspace lane. Ster heard muttering coming from the Specs, confusion and worry clear on their faces.

The pilot asked "Where to?"

He couldn't remember what the mission was. It didn't matter anymore. He had a new goal. He wanted answers. He racked his brain for what the location was when it hit him.

"Mirial. We go to Mirial."