A New Player in the Force

It had been just under four months since Dooku and I had discovered the slaving/mining operation in the now-named ShaDo system, and just over three months since Dooku and Fay had returned to the now-named Mtael’s Gift station.

About a week after my spar with Nia, she and the other former Death Watch soldiers had left the station in the dead of the night – taking the bodies of their fallen comrades with them – leaving no notice except a message from her re-confirming her offer for me to visit Mandalorian space; preferably before my thirteenth birthday.

One good thing about having the extra Jedi around was that it allowed me to gain training from Plo in Shien, and I managed to complete the second training quest – Competent Deflector – for the form, along with the first bonus, before he left, which was a just over a week after the Mandalorians.

I had also taken and completed several training quests covering Niman (both the Trainee and Competent quests), the Mando’a and Togruti languages, and both Mandalorian martial arts.

Currently, I was working on another lightsaber training quest, Legendary Swordsman.

That was for me to lift Shii-Cho to Prodigy:1 by the time we left the Lokella C system. Currently, I was just a single level from reaching the base target, and I felt I had an outside shot at making at least the first bonus reward for reaching Prodigy:25.

I could make that if I spent my spare Skill Points, but I was keeping them aside in case I had problems with the two quests that ran the risk of freezing some skills – You Can’t Hurt Me and Just Don’t Get Caught – though I was reasonably sure I could make the base objective of the latter as all three skills were in the Professional range when I needed them to reach Master:1.

Still, with all the XP I’d earned over the last few months – from training and mission quests – even the base level of Legendary Swordsman would be more than enough to get me to level 22.

I had also spent some time with Plo learning some more esoteric uses of the Force. Apart from a small XP bonus from studying in his presence, it resulted in me learning four new powers – Aerokinesis, Hydrokinesis, Geokinesis and Electrokinesis.

That last power, while not as powerful or expensive as Force Lightning, was more adaptable; or at least I suspected it was as I hadn’t spent too much time training with it. Or any of them, instead, I was working on maxing out powers, such as the three Enhance powers, that were what I would call passive as thanks to my increased FP regen, I could now run several powers constantly. I had even added Precognition to Telepathic Shield as the list of permanently active powers with nearly 200FP/minute of my FP regen leftover.

Plo was seemingly satisfied with everything that had happened in the system, though he had again warned me of the dangers of touching the mind of others without their consent, invoking fear in others and the risks of allowing others to idolize me. The warnings, however, did not stop him from making fun of me about my title with the Lokella.

Master Nu had left with him, though she had returned then left again a few times in the intervening months; each time bringing with her a different Jedi or two to study the Pius Dea vessel. The only member of the revolving group who stayed for more than a month was Rachi.

As a result, we began to spend increased time together, stoically withstanding the teasing from my masters, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, of course.

It started with me telling her the story of KOTOR 1, though with a few alterations to avoid giving her ideas about seeking out the Star Maps, as I didn't feel that any of the group was ready for that information yet.

Although Rachi liked me, she was still a potential information leak if she'd want to share what she learned with Master Nu. She'd possibly try to pass it on in an attempt to impress the ageing archivist. So, I stuck with the elements of the story that I doubted would raise the ire of the High Council, whom I had no illusions about Nu reporting to.

Once that was finished, she continued to spend at least an hour a day with me outside of sparring. Most of that time was spent talking about anything that took her fancy, but I wasn’t complaining about the company.

And I had thankfully, begun to control the urges my body was feeling being around someone attractive. Even if she was young, she was physically a few years older than me and starting to mature nicely.

Around Fay it was both harder and easier to control myself; as she was far more beautiful, but also far less ‘touchy-feely’.

Though it didn’t help that Rachi was a fangirl for Revan – somewhere I just knew he was laughing about that – and merged that interest with her own about me.

Apart from being easy on the eye, Rachi was smart, funny, and probably most importantly, not dismissive of my criticisms of the Order. She readily agreed with me that the Jedi should do more to help people like the Lokella and her own, and I made a mental note to see what I could do in the future to help the Twi’leks. Though I wasn’t hopeful of doing anything as she told me Ryloth lacked a lot of natural resources that could be easily collected and was a harsh place to live. Especially since it was a tidally locked world.

From my memories of The Clone Wars, what she was saying about Ryloth didn’t fully line up with what I knew. That made it clear the galaxy was based on more than just the movies, games, and TV shows. And had me wishing once more that I’d spent time learning more about Star Wars in my old life.

Rachi was less comfortable about my suggestion that denying one’s emotions was a mistake, but she didn’t reject it outright; instead, she kept debating with me the virtues of the Jedi Code. Though those debates had lessened in the months we’d been on the Lokella station.

She also liked to spend time talking with Master Fay, which Fay seemed to enjoy as I often spotted them talking about something that had happened during Fay’s lifetime.

It took a lot to wrap my head around the fact Fay was over seven hundred years old but looked to be in her mid-twenties, but it did have me wondering how the Force could slow down someone’s age. I was also curious if I would age once I reached maturity as RPG characters generally didn’t, and while the interface/TPTB hadn’t responded, it was something I’d have to consider as I grew up.

One thing I did note was the fact Master Fay always smiled fondly whenever I spent time privately talking with Rachi. Though if I wasn’t mentally older than I looked, I might not have seen the hints of sadness that crept into those smiles when she felt I was no longer looking.

The biggest event in my personal life had been my birthday, a few weeks after the new year. It was the first I’d spent with anyone other than Fay, Dooku or Vaner around me; though I’d only met my grandfather on my eighth birthday when I’d appeared in this universe.

Instead of the old one-third of my current level’s XP, as I had received before the interface update, I only received one-sixth. This would last until I was eighteen, after which, according to the interface, the free XP gifts would cease.

The Lokella had thrown a large party in my honour – much to my embarrassment and the amusement of the other Jedi – and most of us had spent time dancing around while others played music. Rachi had dragged me to the dance floor a few times; often, that had been just after a female member of the Lokella had danced with me.

Fay managed to use this time to make me sing a few of my songs for her and the others and had prepared a synthtar for me to use. While I had glared at her over basically trapping me into playing and wondered when and where she’d managed to get a synthtar, I wasn’t that upset about it.

Everyone commented on how different the songs I played and sang were from anything they had heard before, but no one seemed to complain openly about them, even with me having to change a few lyrics here and there to make them better suit this universe. I even began to hear the Lokella sing ‘Living on a Prayer’, ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ and ‘We Will Rock You’ among themselves.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had left a few days after my birthday with Qui-Gon saying that the Force was calling them to travel once more. Baalta had been less than happy when Obi-Wan had left, but eventually, she had gotten over it; mainly by teasing me and Rachi about our growing closeness.

The strangest day of the last few months had been when I’d gotten Inanimate Conversion to Professional:1. That allowed me to begin altering liquids and I’d had the horrible/insane thought that I could alter water into mercury and use it as poison. That idea had come after one meeting of the Lokella where Pad had pushed for all-out war with the Hutts and was unwilling to listen to reason until Fay made him sleep using the Force. She claimed it was better for everyone if he was allowed to rest until his mind cleared. No one had argued against her suggestion.

Anyway, the interface had explained that while mercury was a liquid at room temperature and standard pressure, it was a metal and not something I could alter currently. Though I would be able to do so once I reached Master:1.

It had also clarified that altering the water in a person’s body into another substance was not possible with my current power as the water and blood inside a body were classed as organic matter, and thus not covered by the power.

That hinted that there was perhaps a Force ability that would allow me to do such a thing, however, the Interface was not willing to reveal that power and I was concerned that learning to manipulate organic matter was far too dangerous to be simply messing around with as I did with most of my powers. To say nothing of the fact it would no doubt be classed as a Dark Side power.

While the months had generally been quiet – with no new attacks from slavers – the Lokella had not been quiet.

A captured freighter had been stripped for parts and used to establish a more secure base camp on the planet below with the freighter’s shields being adapted to protect the colony. Crops had been planted and the mine partially reopened with all members of the Lokella spending some time working on the farms and mine.

Politically, I wasn’t sure about such a setup, but for many of the species, communal living and work was normal, so I didn’t comment. Also, I knew that if I did, they’d probably expect me to come up with another way to do things, and I had no interest in doing so.

Apart from establishing their colony on the planet below and getting Mtael’s Gift back to close to working order after the attack, they had launched four raids against slaving operations by Decca the Hutt in the Outer Rim while making sure to not enter Hutt Space – after a warning from Koon and Dooku about how the Jedi could not get involved if they were captured in Hutt Space.

While I was banned from joining the actual raids, I was able to persuade my masters to allow me to accompany the Lokella strike teams; mainly so I could continue to improve my Battle Meditation.

I had only used the power on the Lokella as both my masters were adamant that the Lokella had to learn to fight for themselves and Fay did not want me invoking fear in others. Dooku was less concerned about the slavers.

Each of those attacks had carried C-ranked quests that offered me XP and Reputation with the Lokella based on how many slaves were freed and how many of the Lokella survived the battle.

While they were reluctant to let me join the Lokella’s missions – even with one of them in attendance – they were unconcerned about me teaching the Lokella combat.

They were, however, surprised and impressed by how comfortable I was with weapons and combat tactics. I had managed to explain away why I was so good by stating that my grandfather had trained me with a blaster since I was six and I was always curious about combat tactics as I had wished to be a hero of the Old Republic, like my great-grandparents when I was younger.

“Exiting hyperspace in thirty seconds.”

The words of the helm operator – a Twi’lek named Orsep – snapped my thoughts back to the present.

I was standing on the bridge of the freighter Freerunner with Master Fay – my masters rotated who came along on these missions – as it and three raider-class patrol ships travelled to the Piroket.

Unlike the previous mission undertaken by the Lokella, this mission was not about freeing slaves.

Instead, during the last operation, intelligence was discovered that Decca the Hutt, a minor member of the Besadii clan of Hutts and the one responsible for the operation in the ShaDo system, was staying on a retreat isolated in the mountains of one of the southern continents of the planet Piroket; which was in the system of the same name.

While I and my masters were against launching a direct attack against Decca, the Lokella – now numbering around twelve hundred sentients – had generally supported Pad’s plan for taking out the one responsible for their enslavement.

I had argued against the plan – which was flimsy and simplistic at best – and even warned that it was likely a trap by pointing out the series of events that must have led to discovering Decca’s location.

Sadly, Pad’s rabble-rousing of many of the newer members of the Lokella – read those with whom my reputation wasn’t Trusted or higher – had been enough to get the plan passed during an open vote.

The plan was for the four patrol craft – what I had formerly called raiders were actually classed as system patrol vessels – to lead the way, engaging any defensive vessels while the Freerunner was to land, locate and capture Decca.

Provided that everything up to that point went off without any major problems – famous last words – there was confusion about how to deal with the Hutt.

Many, led by Pad, wished to execute Decca; though I suspected that Pad wanted to drag out the Hutt’s death. Others wanted to interrogate – read torture – the Hutt for information about other slaving rings in and around Hutt space.

While that information would be useful, I remembered from my former life that torture was not the most reliable method for information extraction. Too often a target would tell you anything you wanted to hear to avoid further pain, even if they knew nothing of use.

I suspected that by using the Force to either convince a person to reveal the truth or to simply monitor them would remove that risk of false information. Although it was generally tough to counter, there were some races, such as the Hutts and Toydarians, that were nearly immune to the mental aspects of the Force.

Still, the general concept of torture did not sit well with me as it often went too far and was unreliable for non-Force users. Yet I knew that one day I’d have to deal with that issue and see just how far I was willing to go to get the information I needed.

Fay and Dooku had managed to dissuade those two groups from following their intentions, but we were all aware that if the Lokella as a whole decided to carry out either option, there was little we could do to stop them as Jedi as this system existed in a legal grey area as it was within Republic controlled space, but was not an active member of the Republic.

As a member of the Lokella Council – no matter how much I protested and argued to be removed – I could not bring myself to outright speak against executing the Hutt for actively engaging in slavery, and I understood the need to interrogate Decca. However, I had warned the Lokella that if any interrogation drifted from information extraction to petty revenge, then I would leave the system and never return.

I had also expressed my concern regarding the fact that taking out Decca may draw the ire of either his clan, or the Hutts in general, and in that event, there was little that Fay, Dooku or I could do to stop the Hutts. I did not agree with the Republic laws with the Hutts, but I was also not in a place where I could simply ignore said laws. Not yet at least.

That fact, when you ignored the bravado shown by a small number of the Lokella, seemed to do more to temper the growing desire of the Lokella to strike out against all Hutts.

Still, the mission had been approved by a slim majority, which was why I found myself on the bridge of the Freerunner on our final approach to Piroket.

A growing sense of unease was building within me and I had a bad feeling about this mission. A feeling that suddenly felt almost oppressive as we exited hyperspace.

“S-son… W-we’ve got corvettes inbound!” A Rodian staffing the sensors called out; not that they needed to as the two vessels were directly in our flight path. That was impressive as we had not chosen one of the main hyperspace vectors for entrance into the system, instead, we had taken one that was supposedly known only to smugglers.

That suggested there was a leak in the Lokella. One I would have to plug when we escaped this trap.

The two vessels were larger than the Freerunner, looking to be about a hundred and fifty metres in length – thank you Enhance Senses for boosting my sight – and had two main dual-turbolaser batteries each.

“Evas…” the order was never finished as the corvettes opened fire.

I stumbled as the freighter’s shields and the ship shook under the intensity of the barrage.

One of the small groups of Lokella vanished from my Detection-boosted minimap and I ignored the voice that called out at the loss of one of the raiders.

“Turn us around,” the freighter’s captain called out even as Fay whispered to me.

“Can you concentrate during this?” she asked, furrows appearing to mar her brow.

I frowned. “Possibly, but it won’t be easy.” I felt that I could still use Battle Meditation, but I doubted I could manage to affect every one of the slavers before the Lokella attack force was destroyed.

“Shields are failing,” a voice called out as I turned back to the viewport.

Another of the Lokella vessels shuddered and was rocked by explosions as its shield failed.

The shields of the Freerunner flickered and died as a console to my left exploded.

I stumbled backwards as I sensed the fear, terror, and anger of everyone aboard the Lokella vessels – around three hundred souls – through my Empathy-boosted Detection. Those feelings threatened to overwhelm my senses as the ship once more rocked, and twelve beings vanished from my minimap.

Ignoring the nagging question of why that always happened, I raised a hand and reached out with the Force, and in desperation, extended a Force Barrier – which was now at Master:50 – around the freighter; directing the emotions I could sense from myself and others into powering the barrier.

I knew that channelling anger, even that of others, wasn’t something the Jedi would approve of, but it did appear to grant at least a temporary power boost to dark-side practitioners and I felt I would need that boost here.

Though just to be safe, I activated Player’s Mind. I didn’t feel I was in danger of ‘falling’, but it was better to not take the chance with all the negative emotions flying around.

As the first turbolaser blasts struck my barrier, I grunted, took a small step backwards and closed my eyes to concentrate on maintaining the construct. The power being directed against the barrier was greater than anything I’d felt so far, yet it was nowhere near as severe as I expected.

“How…” “What...” “Kriffing…” “By the…”

The confused and disbelieving voices of the bridge crew faded into the background as I pushed more of my FP into the barrier to counter the damage done to it by the incoming blasts.

It was holding, but the energy feedback was… less than pleasant.

Every strike sent a shock coursing through my nerves, as though I was being electrocuted by a weak, but irritating current and I offered a silent prayer that it was only corvettes, and not anything bigger, that were attacking us.

I had to open my eyes though to see the interface clearly as when my eyes were closed it vanished so that it wouldn’t stop me from sleeping. That feature had me hoping that there would be an option one day to allow me to fully turn off the interface at times as having the HUD be the last thing I saw before I slept – and then the first I saw when I woke – was… well, irritating didn’t quite cover it.

According to the interface, my FP was negligible, and the barrier was holding firm, which was a little frightening. If I could hold it so easily against two corvettes when it was only in the middle of the fourth tier, what could this power do when maxed out?

[Cameron?] I heard Fay’s voice in my mind, though I didn’t turn to face her, instead, I kept my eyes locked on the two corvettes. [You are doing this?]

[Yes!] I shouted back as several blasts struck the barrier in unison, draining a few percentage points from my FP.

[Can you hold it?]

[For now] My mental voice was much calmer than before, even as I noted that my FP had drained further. [But it would help if we could leave quickly]

I suspected I could only hold this for around ten minutes as each time a blast struck my barrier, my FP blinked which I had to assume meant that it was draining. During my training, I could easily hold my barrier for thirty minutes but since this barrier was under fire, it made sense it wouldn’t hold for as long.

I felt her amusement as the link closed for perhaps a minute before reopening.

[The hyperdrive was struck just before your barrier was raised.] Fay reported in a calm voice, but with the bond between us opened so we could speak telepathically, I could sense her worry and concern; however, it felt as though it was centred around me and not herself.

[And the shields?] Again, there was a long moment of silence, during which my FP bar continued to flash with as each new turbolaser blast struck my barrier before Fay replied.

[They say it will take at least ten minutes to restore them]

[Wonderful] I grunted as my FP fell to about sixty per cent.

[Do you require any help?]

I shook my head on instinct as I replied. [No. I think I’m ok for now]

[Very well. However, I will jump in if I feel you are struggling] Fay sent back before the link closed and I wondered why she didn’t just help automatically. Perhaps she wished to see just how powerful my barriers had become, or she had faith in me not failing.

I also made a mental note to train Force Barrier to the max. While the concept of what this ability could do when maxed was a little concerning, it would definitely be useful in future combat situations.

I pushed out with Detection, unconcerned that beyond a kilometre – the minimap wouldn’t give me exact details past that range – until I had a bearing and rough distance to both corvettes. In the future, I’d see about taking an upgrade for the range of my minimap to help exploit the usefulness of Detection, but for now, even rough details should be enough.

I continued to ignore the eyes of the crew, who to a being, had all at least glanced from my outstretched hand to the corvettes at random moments. The looks of awe ranged from shock to something akin to devotion – which sent a shiver of another kind up my spine – as I focused on the corvettes and determined their distance and bearing from what I could see – using Enhance Sense for my sight – and what my minimap told me to determine the rough locations of each vessels engines and weapon emplacements.

Once I was as sure as I could be, I raised my other hand and reached out with the Force towards where the Force sensed the life energy of the attackers.

Just as I could almost grasp those lifeforms, something that had to be the vessel’s shields blocked me.

I grunted as I pushed against the shield with TK, slowly increasing the pressure until I felt the resistance waver, and then weaken.

“How… Captain, one of the attackers has lost shields,” a voice called out in the background as used TK to grip the largest cannon on the vessel and began to pull. “No, they’re back. But weaker.”

I didn’t want to simply rip the vessel in two as firstly, I wanted prisoners to question and secondly, Fay would not be impressed with me so wantonly killing other sentients.

Sadly, the cannon mount resisted even as I increased the strength of my pull, so I rotated my hand and used my lowest two fingers to push away while the others gripped my palm.

This resulted in the mount now being under the effect of a dual TK effect; one pulling the mount towards me, the other pushing the corvette away.

I continued to increase the strength of my TK pulls until I felt the mount buck and then break free dramatically.

“C-captain! The vessel to starboard! It’s just lost a turbolaser battery!”

“What?”

“Look! There!”

I ignored the voices, and the growing feelings of shock, confusion and terror, and released the now useless cannon mount, which was now tumbling away from the corvette, and shifted my attention to the next weapon hardpoint.

Even as the starboard corvette attempted to re-orientate itself at the loss of one of its main weapon mounts, I shifted my attention to the other.

This time the vessel’s shield barely put up any challenge, probably because losing a turbolaser battery disrupted their power supply badly, and soon enough the second batter joined the first in floating away from the corvette, which massively defanged the vessel.

I quickly removed all the smaller weapon mounts before turning my attention to the portside corvette.

That corvette, having seen what was happening and, based on the fear and confusion that was flooding from the vessel’s crew, having no clue as to what was causing it, had decided that fleeing was the safer course of action.

By turning, they’d removed us from the line of fire from their two main turbolaser mounts, which along with my crippling of the starboard ship, resulted in the attacks against my barrier dropping to a trickle. Though it did expose their engines.

Since I could no longer see those mounts, and I didn’t want anyone escaping, I reached out for the engines, but as I felt the shields stop my Force-based attack, a new plan came to mind.

Instead of attempting to push through the shields and rip out the engines, I simply gripped the shields and pulled back.

The corvette violently stopped its turn even as someone called that out and I smiled at realising just how overpowered one of the simplest Force techniques was if used creatively.

The shield began to waver as it strained against my grip and the instant it failed, the corvette lurched forwards, only to jerk to a stop as I gripped the hull instead.

I grunted at the strain as the enemy vessel – judging by the increased glare from their engines – increased thruster output to the maximum, but I held firm and the corvette failed to move even as the engine exhaust began to glow white.

My FP was dropping rapidly, but I held on even as the first corvette drifted away aimlessly; lights and engines flickering randomly as the crew likely worked frantically to stabilise their ship.

“Kriffing… Captain, the port corvette is moving towards us!”

“H-how?” The captain asked with an extremely shaky voice.

“Dammed if I know, Captain. But it is getting closer.”

I turned to the communication station and focused on the Rodian standing there. “Hail them,” I ordered, ignoring how silly it sounded to do so as a pre-teen.

He didn’t even look at the captain before he worked his console. “Channel open, Mtael.”

“This is Cameron Shan of the Lokella. I have crippled one of your vessels and am stopping the other from moving. Surrender now.” I ordered even as continued to reel in the second corvette; even as its engines burned brightly enough that it was hard to focus on the vessel. “Failure to comply would be unwise.”

[A Jedi does not make threats] Fay said via our bond even as I indicated for the Duros to close the open comm channel.

[Master, they fired on us the instant we exited hyperspace. This was a trap, and one in which both you and I may have died if I had not acted]

[I am aware of that. Still, you should not use a threat to coerce the desired outcome] Her disappointment at my tone with the attackers was easy to sense, but there was also pride and amazement that I had even been able to do so buried underneath.

[Yes, Master] Even if it struck me as hypocritical for most Jedi to say that when they are willing to alter a person’s mind to convince them of something, I wasn’t going to argue with Fay about it. At least, not at this moment in time.

“Mtael, the corvettes are signalling their surrender,” the captain of the freighter, a Human by the name of Ranze Faar, said, drawing my attention back to the bridge of the Freerunner.

“Good. How are the other ships?”

“We lost the Swiftsure but the Uhara, the Iluami and the Geskyria are serviceable,” replied the Rodian female at the comm station.

“Have them move to capture the corvettes.”

“Belay that,” I called out, countermanding Faar’s order, his brow rising at hearing my words. “We need to be sure we’re not about to be attacked again.”

Faar’s shoulders slumped as his eyes widened. “Ah, r-right.”

There was a short lull before someone spoke.

“I’ve got several dozen ships in orbit of the planet, including six corvettes that are the shape and size of the two who have surrendered, but none are turning this way.”

I took my time to examine the holo-display – the crewmember who’d spoken having sent the scans to it.

There were various ships in orbit of the planet, ranging in size from things as small as the Lokella raiders up to a transport that was almost a kilometre in length, yet none appeared even the slightest bothered by the battle that had just taken place near Piroket.

The number, size and variety of ships made sense as Piroket was a trading planet, one with links to the Hutts. That was why the idea that Decca would be here for a meeting was believable enough that the Lokella would risk attacking.

Though clearly, that had been the plan.

Where Decca had gotten the two corvettes, or who he had bribed to get them, was not something I currently knew. However, even if Decca was not actually on Piroket, the loss of two dedicated combat ships would hurt his operations; or cost him the support of whomever he bribed to attack us. Though the first corvette wasn’t lost, it was all but a write-off due to the damage I’d inflicted upon it.

The second ship, however… well, I should get something for my troubles, and it would be a nice gift to further solidify my standing among the Lokella. Though I did wish they’d stop referring to me by THAT title. I got enough Chosen One crap from the Jedi.

“Captain, you should be safe to secure the corvettes now, but I’d keep an eye on those ships. If any more of them begin to move this way, we may need to leave in a hurry.” I suggested in a tone that was a step down from an order.

“Yes, Mtael,” Faar replied while lowering his head. Several other bridge members copied the gesture, which made me frown.

I turned and walked over to the bridge entrance, where Fay had moved to after the attackers had surrendered.

Her face was its usual calm sereneness, but through our bond, I could still sense her feelings about my actions.

“What about the mission?” Faar asked, and I stopped and turned back to face him.

“For now, it’s on hold. Secure the corvettes, speak to their crews then we can see what our next step is.”

Again, he lowered his head, though there was no verbal response this time and I mentally sighed. The adulation was starting to grate after almost four months.

“I was under the impression we were only here to observe and allow you to practice your Battle Meditation,” Fay said calmly as I reached her. Her lips twitched upwards at the corners even as her eyes found mine.

“Yes, Master. However, if I didn’t do something, we would have died.” I replied.

“I am aware of that Cameron. I am just, concerned at how comfortable you seem at taking command; especially in combat.”

“I…” I paused as I considered how to reply to her without revealing that I had previous combat experience.

“There is nothing to be ashamed of,” Fay said, interpreting my silence as uncertainly, though maybe not for the reasons she suspected, “the Lokella are new to working together and they need guidance. However, combat should not be the first instinct of a Jedi. Nor using the Force to attack a starship.”

“It wasn’t, Master. I only did that once it was clear we could not escape. I, I know what I can do with the Force and while more aggressive than a Jedi should be, it was the best option available to me at that moment.”

Fay held my gaze for a moment before sighing and shaking her head. “When Master Yaddle informed me that you had lifted the stones of Muntuur, I wondered if she was playing a joke on me. You have since proved it was no joke.”

“Yet, to see you so easily vandalise one ship while stopping another in its tracks…” She paused and shook her head. “The growth of your abilities, and ease with using the Force, continues to both impress and unnerve.”

“Master?” I asked, playing the role of uncertain Padawan, even if I suspected I understood what she was meaning. “Have I done something to offend you?”

She smiled and gently brushed a loose bang of hair from my face. “I am not one of your fellow Padawans, Cameron. I am not so easily swayed by a soft face or a kind word.”

I chuckled. “Yes, Master.”

“Still, you channelled the emotions of those around us to enhance your abilities. That is not something a Jedi would normally do, nor something that most Jedi would approve of. Still, you did not use your own emotions and we are both aware you are far from an average Jedi.”

The words were warm and friendly, but I could easily hear the warning about channelling emotions with the Force and how others might react to me doing so.

“Yes, Master.”

She smiled at my deeper understanding and turned towards the door, which slid open as she stepped towards it.

“Good. Now come. I feel our presence would be more beneficial in the infirmary than here.”

I followed along behind her and opened notices that, in the heat of battle, I had missed.

Quest Completed

It’s a Hutt Trap [֍]

Objectives:

Survive the ambush arranged for the Lokella by Decca the Hutt

Help the Lokella survive [256 of 315]

Disable/capture an enemy vessel [2/2]

Capture prisoners [163 of 217]

Rewards:

5000XP (+500XP)

2560XP (+256XP)

Increased reputation with the Lokella

3000XP (+300XP)

815XP (+81XP)

…

LEVEL UP!

Level: 21 -> 22

FP: +650

PP: +2

STAM: +40

SP: +3

SKP: +20

…

I allowed myself a small smile at seeing that not only had a quest been generated as the battle began, but that I’d completed it and levelled up. Now I was the same level as Knight Pana, and a few other of the younger/newer knights; though I still had a long way to go as the few Jedi Masters I’d used Observe on had been level 30 or higher.

And Fay, the highest person I had so far Observed, was level 50.

Still, after everything that had happened today, I was generally happy with the outcome.

… …

… …

“I had expected you to return with a Hutt. I must say, while I fail to see or smell one, a fully armed warship is a definite improvement,” Dooku deadpanned as Fay and I stepped from the Freerunner into the deck of Mtael’s Gift, and I barely managed to hold in a chuckle at the comment. “Though I am curious as to how you managed such a thing.”

I shrugged and glanced out of the landing bay to see the new corvette floating outside as a shuttle from the station headed towards it.

“Well, they destroyed one of our raiders,” I replied while keeping my face as neutral as I could, “so I asked them nicely and they decided to give it to me.”

Dooku’s brow rose and he shifted his gaze from me to Fay. “Is that so?”

Fay laughed softly before explaining. “The mission was a trap. The Swiftsure was lost almost as soon as we exited hyperspace, and the Iluami was heavily damaged soon after. If not for Cameron’s quick thinking, we would all have surely died.” She smiled at me before continuing. “He was able to, disable, both that corvette and another with nothing but the Force.”

To anyone not used to Dooku, they would think he was not bothered about what Fay had said. But after being around him for a few years, and with the benefit of Eidetic Memory, it was easy to spot the subtle hints of shock that touched his face.

“Indeed,” Dooku said, though the tone indicated it was as much a question as a statement.

“Yes,” Fay chuckled at her fellow Jedi’s reaction even as her stomach rumbled. “Perhaps we can regale you over lunch?”

“Certainly,” Dooku stepped to the side and indicated for Fay to walk with him. I fell into step behind them.

“Cam!”

I stopped at the sound of my voice and twisted my head to see Rachi walking at a speed just short of a run towards me.

“You’re back,” she added with a smile as her lekku twitched as she came closer.

“Yup. No scratches and I even managed to find a new toy,” I said as I pivoted – ignoring the way my Padawan braid slapped against my head as I finished – then pointed out of the landing bay.

“Wha... How did you capture that?” Rachi asked, her eyes widening a touch at seeing the corvette floating quietly in space.

I chuckled and began to move after my Masters. “Master Fay was just about to tell Master Dooku about the mission. Care to join us?” I asked, extending my arm.

Her cheeks turned a familiar shade of dark purple before she laughed and pushed my arm away.

“Fine, but you’re buying.” She replied as we moved to follow the two elder Jedi.

I pointedly ignored the smirk Baalta sent my way as we passed her. While Rachi was a few years older than me, nothing was going to happen as we were both still children. And letting my mind wander there was… unsettling.

I was mentally an adult and knew that it was wrong, but my body reacted to Rachi in the way any young male would. Thus, I decided to just use the time to get comfortable again around females that showed an interest in me.

And put off the issue that the difference between my mental age versus my physical age raised until the latter was closer to the former.

… …

… …

“Padawan Shan,” I looked up from my datapad, where I was busy making notes on my next writing project for after Lord of the Rings – a series detailing the Mandalorian Wars and Revan’s adventures – and saw a Devaronian standing over me.

“The High Council wishes to speak with you.” He stated firmly with a creased brow and narrowed eyes.

Without waiting for me to put down my pad, or even turn it off, the Devaronian turned and began to walk away. I, however, kept using my pad. Something about his tone just irked me.

He stopped at the door to the small room I was using for my writing and looked back.

“Now.” He ordered his eyes somehow getting even smaller are he glared at me in what I had to assume was contempt.

I clicked my fingers and then held my index finger upwards. “Sure, just let me check my schedule,” I said as I slowly flipped through an imaginary book in the air in front of me.

“This is not a request,” the Devaronian stated as his lips twisted so I could see his teeth and he folded his arms. “The Council is in session and waiting for you now.”

“Ah,” I closed the imaginary book and stood, slipping the pad into my Inventory via my robes. “Perhaps you should have led with that.”

I kept my tone friendly and playful though inside I was less than impressed with the behaviour of the Jedi in front of me. While he was older, his general tone and attitude just rubbed me the wrong way.

His teeth became more obvious as he grounded them together before he pivoted sharply and marched off.

as I slowly followed him out, I cast Observe.

Rortath Drehk

Race: Devaronian

Level: 23

Health: 100%

Age: 26

Force Potential: Intermediate

Threat Potential: Low

Affiliation Loyalty: Jedi Order (85%) Galactic Republic (70%)

Reputation: Disliked

Emotional State: Displeased/Accepting/Irritated

Rortath is less than pleased with having to collect you; though he is content to see you in trouble with the High Council once more.

He feels you are far too disobedient and disrespectful to make a good Jedi.

Also, he would much rather be studying the Jedi Code than having to deal with your insolence.

…

The ability to see my Reputation with someone had occurred once Observe passed level 80, with affiliation loyalty becoming visible at level 90 with both happening as I abused Observe daily upon every member of the Lokella and captured slaver while away from the prying eyes of the Jedi. Seeing Reputation when using Observe was a useful change while Affiliation would, in time, become unbelievably valuable.

According to the interface help, Affiliation was a list of groups a being or droid was loyal to. If that loyalty fell below fifty per cent, then there was a good chance they would look to leave, if they could. Or if not, make them more flexible in their willingness to follow the rules of that group.

Also, if their loyalty to me, or a faction that was attached to me – which was not something I currently had, if you ignored the way many in the Lokella felt about me – was above forty per cent, I could potentially recruit them. And the higher their loyalty, the easier their recruitment would be.

I’d already used the Affiliation display to determine that the spy in the Lokella was a Rodian and had...persuaded him to reveal how and why he was undercover with the Lokella.

It seemed that Decca had begun inserting paid operatives into his operations on the chance that the Lokella – or others since others within the Cartels had sensed a weakness as the Lokella had grown bolder and begun attacking Decca as well – would attack and then lead them into a trap.

While this proved that the Lokella were affecting his slaving operations, it also highlighted that the Hutt was not to be underestimated.

Thankfully, the Lokella had taken my warnings to be careful about attacking the Hutt directly seriously and in the time before we’d left, they’d only carried out one more raid, taking their total numbers to just under two thousand.

Though that did not include the hundreds who had not wished to stay with the Lokella; or needed to return to the Republic for treatment.

And that last attack… It had been the second time I had seen what problems existed under the surface of the ‘peaceful and safe’ Republic; the first being the kidnapping and slavery ring that had been operation right here on the Republic capital world.

During the last Lokella mission that I had taken part in, we had liberated a slave processing facility, but what we had found inside; well, it had resulted in me sensing anger and hate from Master Fay. Not that she ever displayed those emotions outwardly, but if she had shown them, I would not have blamed her.

As the facility was used primarily for the training, disciplining, and selling of minors into slavery. Nearly a thousand children of various ages – the youngest being Tedra’s age – were held in cramped cells. Other rooms within the facility were littered with objects and ‘tools’ that I wished I had never seen – and would sadly now never be able to forget thanks to Eidetic Memory.

Many of the rooms had bloodstains on the walls, floors and, in a few rooms where my anger threatened to explode, on dirty bedrolls. Those… rooms… even now, a few weeks later sickened me and I had to stop and take a few deep breaths to re-centre myself. Though the look of terror that flashed across Rortath’s face did help soothe my anger a touch.

On that day, if not for the presence of Fay to calm me – with words, calming thoughts, meditation, and the promise that we’d do everything we could to help those children, I suspect I would’ve gone on a murder spree.

Instead, the punishment of the slavers was left up to the Lokella, and they had been, swift in their judgments.

Instead of handling punishment, Fay made sure that we both spent the time helping the now freed children, healing their physical wounds – which I could now take a more active role in as I’d raised Force Heal to Professional:1, which allowed me to heal others with the Force.

Sadly, however, neither of us could do much for the mental wounds many of the children now carried. And from the moment we had discovered the children, until we returned to the Temple and placed those that wished, or needed, to return to the Republic with the appropriate professionals, I had not seen Fay smile.

Instead, her face became as impasse as Dooku’s, though I often caught her rubbing her tattoos as though seeking comfort from them. One day, I resolved, I would ask her what they meant, but not until I was knighted at the very least.

After returning to the Temple and having placed the children with carers and officials that Fay had ensured knew that the Jedi would be checking up on the children, I had spoken with both my masters about arranging a fund from the sales for ‘The Two Towers’ to help with the healing, housing and education of those children and the others we had rescued.

Both had agreed and when Dooku had stated that in the slightly more than one month since the second book in the series had been released, it had earned close to 5 million credits, I almost slipped from my seat. Then I had cursed the greedy bastards who had stolen the money from ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ and made a mental note to one day locate as many of those individuals as I could and convince them of the error of their ways.

Still, that was for the future.

For the present, while I was here in the Temple, I planned to examine most of my fellow Padawans to see where everyone stood. There was no point in persuading those fully loyal to the Jedi and the Republic to join the Coalition but any who were wavering and had some loyalty towards me would be logical potential recruits.

Sadly, while a new column for Affiliation was now viewable in my Reputation tables, the value was missing from anyone who I hadn’t used Observe on after the ability past level 90, which meant I’d have to re-observe everyone again for updated information. Which, while logical, was irritating and time-consuming since not all of them were likely to be in the Temple while I was.

As Rortath and I entered one of the lifts of the southwest tower, I brought my thoughts back to the present and considered what the meeting would be about.

Since I’d only been back a few days and I had yet to do anything that would annoy the High Council – that I knew of – it would likely just be a review of the events dealing with the Lokella, with probably a warning about the dangers of touching/taking control of another sentient’s mind and invoking fear in others.

The lift slowed, and the doors opened to show the waiting area just outside the council chambers, where I was a little surprised to see Rachi standing with her master, Jocasta Nu.

“Oh, hey Cam,” Rachi said, her voice lacking much of its normal energy and her lekku seemed to flop down her shoulders instead of bouncing around as usual.

“Hi, Rachi. Master Nu. Would I be right to assume that the Council called you to discuss your findings on the vessel slash station that was formerly known as the Anvil of Ryloth?”

Rachi moved to reply only for Nu to silence her by clearing her throat.

“You are correct Padawan,” she began, her face free of emotion save for a slight downturn of her eyebrows near her nose. “The Council wished a report on our findings while we were in the ShaDo system.”

Something about her tone and stance, and the fact Rachi wouldn’t meet my eyes as her master spoke, made me think her report covered more than just the Pius Dea ship. Likely me.

Why the Council felt the need to send two people to check up on me, I didn’t know, but there was also the chance that Master Nu’s assignment was given to her by just a few members of the Council, not the whole body.

“Padawan Shan, The Council is waiting,” Drehk said. While his tone was far calmer than before – probably due to the fact Master Nu was present – the way he clenched his fists hinted that his annoyance with me hasn’t lessened, which made me smirk for a moment.

I sighed loudly while dropping my shoulder dramatically. “Oh, very well.” I glanced at Rachi and winked. “See you around.”

Rachi smiled but said nothing, probably due to the stern gaze Nu sent her way, and I walked into the council chambers.

I nodded at a few members of the Council even as I moved to stand with Fay and Dooku in the centre of the room. Both my masters looked about as happy as I felt at being here, yet if you didn’t know them well you would miss the subtle signs that hinted at their annoyance.

And given the fact that every Council member knew at least one of them, that meant the Council was well as aware as I was of their annoyance.

“Ah Padawan Shan, good to see you again, it is,” Yoda said, drawing my attention to him. The Grandmaster seemed his usual calm self, but the Master of Order, Windu, was watching me intently; his eyes narrowing as he focused on me, though I ignored him and kept my attention on the nine-hundred-year-old being to his right.

“And you, Master. Though I am curious as to why I find myself in front of the High Council again,” I replied with a small smile.

Yoda’s ears twitched upwards. “In trouble, you are not. Merely a review of your mission, this is.”

I nodded and at a prompt from the aged Grandmaster, I began to recite the events of the last half-year.

… …

“May we enter?” Fay asked as the doors to my quarters opened to reveal both her and Dooku standing there.

I nodded in affirmation and the pair stepped into the small room I was assigned at the Temple.

It had been a few hours since the meeting with the High Council, which had gone exactly as I had expected.

I had received notes of congratulations for my actions during the initial assault by Dooku and myself and for my handling of the later reprisal attack with Yaddle commenting on my ability to defuse a situation which many Jedi Knights would’ve struggled to do and Giiett had expressed interest in what capacity I wished to serve the Order in once I was knighted.

I answered vaguely by saying that I served the Force, which pleased several of the Council, though it appeared that a few, such as Belfarr and Piell, did not believe my words.

After that came the warning about touching the minds of others and invoking fear in enemy combatants. During those warnings, Masters Belfarr and Piell had attempted to turn the warning into a punishment, but Yaddle, Giiett and Plo had shut that argument down before Yoda had stated the matter was closed.

Windu had sat silently as the Council debated openly if I should be punished, though I did note that the same vein that had appeared to pulse the last time I was hauled over the fire by the High Council was again prominent as he locked his eyes on me.

Both Fay and Dooku bristled at the behaviour of a part of the Council, though only Dooku displayed any outward sign of this.

His tone, which hadn’t started politely, became very direct and blunt, even for him and if not for the presence of Sifo-Dyas to calm him, I suspect Dooku may have expressed his true feelings about the council openly.

When it came to my capture of the corvette – a new name for which hadn’t been determined before we had left the ShaDo system – there was no warning; only open praise from Yaddle, Yoda and surprisingly, Windu.

All three were impressed and encouraged that I not only saved the lives of everyone on the ship with me but disabled the attackers with a minimal loss of life.

Again, it was noted that many more senior Jedi would not have been able to do such a thing.

Since Fay and Dooku had spoken with me privately about using emotions, especially negative ones, to power my actions, they hadn’t felt the need to inform the Council and neither Rachi nor Master Nu had been made aware of the incident.

The same was also true of my invitation to visit Mandalore; though that was because Dooku had been insistent we did not. He felt that doing so would only add to the concerns that elements of the Council had regarding me. His feelings about Mandalorians and the council – likely linked to Galidraan – had been easy to sense through our bond, though I said nothing as I felt he would only talk about them openly when he felt we were both ready.

Once the Council had finished discussing the operation with the Lokella, I was rather bluntly dismissed by Windu – I put that down to his style more than his issues surrounding me – though my masters were asked to stay.

As Fay and Dooku stepped into my room, I stood and floated the table I had been using and its two chairs closer to the bed.

Neither Jedi Master said anything about my casual use of the Force for a trivial matter and soon we were all seated around the table.

They shared a look, one that I knew now meant they were communicating telepathically before, in unison, they turned to face me.

“Cameron, there are a few issues we wish to discuss with you,” Fay began, her face still not having regained its usual serenity.

“Okay,” I said. Nothing in their body language indicated I was in trouble, so I hoped this was just them explaining what the Council wished to discuss with them after I was dismissed.

“To be clear, you are not in any trouble,” Fay began with a slight upwards twitch of her lips, “we simply wish to discuss a few matters that have been brought to our attention.”

“Do you remember your lectures as an Initiate regarding midi-chlorians and the role they play in allowing us to connect to the Force?” Dooku asked, taking up the reins from Fay. His face was its usual seemingly impassive self, but the small signs I knew to look for hinted he was annoyed about something. I couldn’t pick up anything through our bond though, as both of them had locked down their emotions, which was troubling.

“Yes, Master,” I replied, now having a suspicion of where this part of the conversation was going. “They are a part of every living thing that allows us to hear the Force and allow us to work with the Force towards balance.”

Fay laughed that soft, melodic laugh of hers, which brought a small smile to my lips as it had been some time now since she had laughed. “I do not think that is exactly how it is taught to Initiates, Padawan. Still, your interpretation is not what we wish to discuss.”

“You remember the discussions about how one’s count does not vary much during their life? That it stays relatively stable except in some rare and unusual cases?” I nodded to answer her question.

“Well, it appears that you are one such case, though your change was large enough to… concern the Council.” Dooku snorted at her choice of words but was otherwise silent. I took that moment to amuse myself by imagining what their actual reactions must have been.

“Hmm,” I began, figuring that playing dumb here would not be the right approach. “I thought it was easier to use my abilities during the reprisal attack. A strengthening of my connection to the Force would explain that, but why would it happen?” I pondered while letting confusion bounce around my mind by asking random questions to which I did not know the answer.

The two shared another look, hopefully as they could pick up on my apparent confusion over the bond before Dooku replied.

“Padawan, your count did not increase by a few hundred, but several thousand. You now have a count of over twenty-five thousand,” he said and even though I knew my Force potential was now in vergence range, hearing it was such a large number made my shock and surprise genuine.

I knew that Anakin’s count had been over twenty thousand, but no exact figure was mentioned in the movie, and I had assumed it was within one-to-two thousand of the twenty-thousand mark. Thus, to hear that I was, potentially even more powerful than him was… shocking. I expected it to have gone just beyond twenty thousand, but not that far beyond.

“Um, just out of curiosity, but what was I before?” I asked as no one had ever mentioned it to me, with most preferring to just say I had a strong connection to the Force and my curiosity got the better of me at that the moment.

“Around nineteen thousand,” Dooku replied from behind tightly pressed lips, “a count that was, at the time, higher than even Grandmaster Yoda, the highest on record since, at least, the Ruusan Reformation.”

It was clear that neither he nor Fay knew exactly how to react to this, and honestly, I couldn’t blame them.

My initial count had been incredibly high, yet it had now increased by more than thirty per cent and had gone into a place not seen in over a thousand years.

“I… uh… wow,” was all I could come up with. I had known my original count had been high, but I expected to have been on a level with Yoda, not already beyond his. Add that to the fact I was now, possibly, beyond Anakin…

In all honesty, it was a little intimidating.

“Cameron, while we are not angry about this, the Council has some concerns about how this happened; as do we,” Fay said slowly with one eyebrow raised slightly above the other. “Do you know exactly how this happened?”

“I…” I paused as I realised that outright lying wasn’t going to work. “Just after Master Dooku left the system, I felt… something change, I guess, while I was meditating. It felt like the Force was speaking to me, but I dismissed it. Perhaps… perhaps, that was when things changed.”

I had had this story prepared for a while, but I hadn’t expected to use it so soon, or that my count would be so much higher than I expected. That confusion and shock helped me to now sell my lie about when and where the jump in my count had occurred.

Dooku leaned forward, his lips partly just a fraction. “Why did you not mention this earlier?”

“I, I felt it was silly. Why would the Force speak directly to me? I’m not the Chosen One.”

“You are not, yet you are,” Fay said, paraphrasing Master Nilas’ words. “A change in your Force sensitivity like this only increases the belief among many that you are.”

“And makes others dislike me even more,” I countered, thinking of how people like Jon Savos would react to this information, and now understanding that I had witnessed it first-hand at the Council meeting earlier today. “Would it be too much to hope that this doesn't get out?”

“While the Council will not air it over the intercoms of the temple,” Dooku began wryly. “All Jedi's midi-chlorian counts are recorded in their Jedi Order profile, which would be accessible to anyone of padawan rank or higher.”

"Great, so all we have is the Council's promise of discretion, which is about as useful to us as an air cooler on Ilum," I grumbled."

“Indeed,” commented Dooku, while Fay laughed gently at the comparison. “And another issue is that with the Sith likely still active, we have to assume they have a way to monitor the Jedi.”

“Meaning that the Sith will soon know of my count. Making me even more of a target. Brilliant,” I drawled out.

“They would already have been observing you due to your rather unique methods of joining the Order,” Fay replied with the faintest of smiles, “so it changes nothing. The same is true of your increased count.”

“Indeed,” Dooku add with a single nod of agreement, “and, if you say this change in your midi-chlorian count was not something you knew about nor intentionally brought on, then we feel there is no need to discipline you,” Dooku paused, and his brow furrowed a fraction, “the Council, on the other hand, are less… trusting.”

I groaned once more and slumped into my seat. “How long are we stuck here?” I asked, well aware that the Council would want to keep me under observation for some time now.

It seemed that even though none of us wished to spend any length of time in the Temple, or on Coruscant, we kept getting stuck here after each adventure.

Still, I could use this to my advantage. I could re-Observe every one of my friends and fellow Padawans and use the Temple’s Force Power XP bonus to help level up my abilities faster.

Fay smiled and placed a hand on my shoulder. “A month, perhaps two. While the Council can offer advice, it cannot interfere with the way a Master instructs their Padawan. Not without breaking the pairing and bringing into question the Master. And while there are voices on the Council who may be pushing for that, the majority are not prepared to go that far.”

I nodded at hearing the time stuck here was not going to be too long but wondered how I’d react if the Council did try to take me from Fay and Dooku. Actually, I didn’t have to wonder, I knew exactly what I’d do. Leave but keep in contact with Jedi like my masters, Serra and Darihd.

But it would not come to that, as the Jedi were too concerned about me being their Chosen One for them to risk me walking away from the Order, and trying to force me to stay would only guarantee I, and others I suspected, grow to resent them.

“There is a split in the Council?” I asked, latching onto Fay’s words as they meshed with what I had seen and heard myself, and as a way to move the topic away from my increased midi-chlorian count.

“Less a split, and more of a disagreement. Centred around you,” Dooku countered as Fay removed her hand and sat back. “Though you are already aware of why this is.”

My bloodline, method of arrival, general approach to being a Jedi and my now insanely high midi-chlorian count were each unique enough to draw the attention of the High Council.

The four of them together…

Well, if I didn’t know what the future held – or should hold as my actions were likely changing the timeline – then I would be worried about my place within the Order as well.

As it was, I simply would have to adapt my plans – rough as they still were – to account for even more oversight/observation from the High Council.

“Yes, Master,” I replied as I nodded.

“We shall discuss the issues with the Council, and its uncertainty regarding you in the future, at a more private location,” Fay added after sharing a look with Dooku and I nodded in understanding.

While we had some support for the Coalition of two Jedi Council members –Sifo Dyas and Nilas – it was better if we limited the amount of time that I spent around those two. After spending time on Mtael’s Gift discussing this, it had been decided that Fay would be the point of contact with Nilas and a few others she felt were sympathetic to our goals, like Yaddle.

Dooku would speak with Sifo-Dyas, Qui-Gon and other Jedi he felt could contribute while I dealt with any potential allies among the Padawans. A job made much easier thanks to Observe now showing my reputation with a target and their affiliation loyalty.

Man, I was going to abuse the hell out of that ability.

“While this request to stay at the Temple was not planned, it also does not change our plans,” Dooku said, changing the topic once more, as I fought, and failed, to keep a smile from creeping onto my face.

“I am still to be allowed to go to Mandalore?”

Dooku nodded very slowly. “Yes. However, there are some ground rules we wish to cover.” His brow knotted as he answered.

“Though we will do so closer to the time,” Fay added, cutting off Dooku before he could continue.

“Yes, Masters,” I replied. I could imagine the rules were to do with not revealing my lineage or the fact I was a Jedi openly. There might be more, but I’d just have to wait until closer to the time to learn what they were.

“Good, now come. I believe there is a new Initiate that would be quite happy to see you again,” Fay said as she stood, a small smile touching her lips.

As we all left my quarters, I placed my thoughts on Mandalore at the back of my mind. I was curious as to how well Tedra had settled into Temple life. And provided there were no problems from her clan minders, I would see about arranging some private tutelage for her in lightsaber combat.

… …

… …