A Young Girl’s War Between the Stars

  64

  Dathomir. 36 BBY/964 GSC.

  “It’s too early~!”

  I frowned at the child’s disruption of my quiet, morning time peace once again. That I was sleep deprived and running on nothing but special Jedi go juice tea only made the sound of her voice more grating.

  To my surprise however, Asajj radiated annoyance at Allaya as we walked through the village. “I get up this early every morning.”

  Allaya glared, as her anger flared. “Yeah, well, maybe that’s why they got rid of you!”

  Asajj glared right back, fists balling at her side. “Take that back,” she hissed.

  “Make me!”

  “I will!”

  The two girls lunged at each other right there in the middle of the village path, coming together in a furball of punches, kicks, scratching, and even biting. Nearby, villagers looked on with frowns as the girls rolled around on the ground. I sensed anger and disgust from many of them—mostly directed at Asajj, and a bit at me, along with an expectation like they were waiting for me to break it up.

  Yawning, I watched the fight and took notes. Allaya was the stronger and larger of the two, but Asajj was mean and fought dirty by default, going for the eyes, nose, ears, and below the belt while Allaya stuck mostly to body and face shots. Apparently, growing up in the Nightsisters had not been kind to the girl, as she was not just willing and eager to throw hands, but knew exactly how to make up for her lack of size.

  Finally, Allaya howled as Asajj got her in a pin, biting the redhead’s hand not quite hard enough to draw blood as she squeezed Allaya’s head between her thighs. “Ow, ow, ow! Leggo!”

  “Take it back!”

  “No! Ow!”

  “Take it back!”

  “Ow! Crap! Fine! I’m sorry, okay?!” Allaya yelled.

  Asajj spat out the redhead’s hand and let go, rolling off of her and climbing to her feet first. Allaya stood, cradling her hand and glaring at the slightly shorter girl. Both of them were covered in mud and dirt, and both visibly bruised and bleeding in places.

  I made to speak, only for one of the guard patrols to come up, glaring at Asajj and myself. “What’s going on?” the leader demanded.

  “She started it,” Allaya pointed at Asajj, who crossed her arms over her chest.

  “I did not!” the girl denied, glaring back.

  I sighed, putting a hand on each of their shoulders as a smile spread across my face. Allaya flinched and tried to jerk out of my grasp, but I was faster, and locked her in. “I’m afraid my students have a lot of energy first thing in the morning. Don’t worry, I’ll see that they’re disciplined for causing a commotion.”

  “That’s not good enough. It assaulted the daughter of—”

  I cut the older woman off with a slash of my hand. “I don’t have time for this, or for you. I haven’t slept and I’m running on caffeine and spite, so consider this your only warning. They are both my Padawans. My responsibility. Not yours. Mine. They are children who had what amounts to a schoolyard brawl. That is no reason to get the village guard involved, or to use this as an excuse for any sort of political nonsense. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have business elsewhere.”

  Grabbing Allaya and Asajj with the Force, I lifted the three of us into the air and flew off, heading for the crashed ship. As I flew, I twirled the two of them in the air, leaving them both dizzy and looking green around the gills.

  Eventually, I stopped spinning them as we neared the ship. Setting them on their feet, I led them inside as they stumbled along behind me, bumping into each other and the walls. Allaya shook it off first. Moving up to my side, she quietly asked, “Did I mess up?”

  “Yes,” I nodded. “You caused a scene, and in so doing, have caused trouble for both me and your mother.”

  She hesitated, before asking, “Are you mad?”

  I nodded again. “A bit, that you chose to fight in public.”

  Blinking, Allaya and Asajj shared a brief, confused look. The shorter girl moved up to my other side. “You’re not mad that we fought?”

  “Children fight,” I shrugged. “I expected something like this to happen sooner or later. I don’t mind if you have disagreements and work it out between yourselves. I will mind when you drag others into it, destroy things, endanger yourselves and others, or do something to bring shame to me as your Master. If you two had wanted to beat on each other to establish the pecking order and had done so in a sparring ring, there wouldn’t be a problem. Unfortunately, you did not. You chose to do so in the middle of the village.”

  I turned a smile on them both and for some reason, they flinched. “We’re going to have lots of fun together making sure you understand never to do it again in a way that causes problems for me. I am going to PT the two of you into the ground. I will etch the meaning of discipline and fear into your very souls, once we’re done here.”

  I felt fear from the girls and, a moment later, Allaya said, “It was just a fight…”

  “In public. Where everyone saw. I haven’t had you as my Padawan for a full day and you’ve shamed me and your mother. Accept that you made a mistake, take the correction coming to you, and learn from it. Or you can try arguing. In which case, I’ll get creative with your punishment. And don’t think I’ve forgotten you were planning to put bugs in my bed.”

  Allaya winced, looking sulky as she fell silent and followed along. Asajj quietly asked, “What sort of punishment? Are we to lose a finger each?”

  “A finger?!” Allaya yelped.

  “You’re right. That’s probably not far enough. A hand, then,” the bald girl nodded.

  I stopped, turning and sending them both an incredulous look. “Let me be perfectly clear. I am not the sort of person who would take disciplinary action to such extremes that a subordinate in need of corrective measures would be disfigured, maimed, or die. That would be a waste, not to mention abuse. You may think you’re going to die. You may even want to die. But make no mistake, you are not allowed to die or come to undue injury on my watch! Do I make myself clear?

  “Y-yeah,” Allaya nodded.

  Asajj did likewise. “Yes, Master.”

  I glanced at Allaya, raising an eyebrow. It took her a moment, but she corrected herself. “I mean, yes Master!”

  “Good.” I turned away and resumed our trek through the ship. “I already have something in mind for your punishment.”

  I felt trepidation from Allaya, before she asked, “Are we going to have to find the cat again?”

  “No. This is going to be much more fun. I think what you two really need in order to learn how to get along properly is a little… team building exercise~. We’ll take care of it on our way back to the village.”

  Trepidation turned to fear from both of them and I allowed myself a hidden smile.

  Leading them into the forge room. Digging into the pouch at my side, I pulled out five bars of songsteel. Allaya frowned as she looked down at her two to Asajj’s three. “Why’s she get more?”

  “Because you’re only allowed to collect so much for yourself at the end of the trial. That turned out to be less than what the two daggers and sword collected from Talzin’s Nightsisters produced when melted down. And unlike you, Asajj won’t be allowed a second trial to collect more songsteel. If she wants more, she’ll have to collect it herself.” Looking between them for a moment to make sure they understood that I wasn’t being unfair, I was just distributing what was rightfully owed to each of them, I waited for them to acknowledge what I’d said before continuing.

  “Of course, nothing says you can’t grow in skill, then come back later to collect more songsteel from those who are otherwise wasting it.” The girls both perked up a bit at that, Allaya especially grinning for a moment… that is, until she remembered how I’d gotten those weapons and her cheery mood soured. “Besides, while songsteel is good for conducting the Force and other energy, it isn’t the only wonder material out there. By the time you’re ready to make your sabers, I’m sure you’ll have more options to work with. Depending on circumstances, I can see about getting a small supply of beskar as well.”

  “What’s that?” Asajj asked as I turned on the forge’s computer.

  “Beskar?” I asked, and she nodded. “Its very similar to songsteel in most of its properties, save that it’s stronger, physically. You typically coat armor with it to make it blaster resistant. Now, let’s get to work.” I stepped back and motioned to the machine.

  “Allaya, you’re up first. I’ve selected the default parts you want for constructing the internals of a lightsaber. If you want more, or different parts, I’ll show you how to select them. Otherwise, feed your bars in there and press the button to start the process.”

  The girl nodded and read over the screen, frowning as she did. “These are the parts that it’ll work best for, right?”

  “Yes,” I confirmed.

  She made a quiet affirmative noise, then fed her bars in and pressed the button to start the process. We watched as the machine went to work, before eventually spitting out a series of parts. Allaya collected them and put them away in her bag. She had a bit over three quarters of a bar left over.

  Once she was finished, I did the same for Asajj. “You’ve got more material to work with. How do you want to use it?”

  She considered for a moment, before nodding to my belt. “I want two.”

  Allaya perked up at that, then frowned as she remembered that she didn’t have enough material for both. I tapped away at the panel and doubled the production order, then Asajj fed her bars in.

  As she collected her finished parts, the shaved bald girl glanced over at Allaya, before sighing and handing over what was left of hers. “Here.”

  The redhead started to reach for the bar, before frowning. I could feel how much she wanted it, but also how much she didn’t want to owe anything. “…I don’t want it just cause you feel sorry for me.”

  “I don’t,” Asajj narrowed her eyes at the other girl.

  “Nnn…” Allaya made a displeased noise as she thought it over.

  I held in a sigh, but weighed in to get her moving. “Refusing because of pride is stupid. If you don’t want to owe her something, then accept the offer now and repay the favor later.”

  The redhead considered for another few moments before nodding and taking the bar. To her credit, I didn’t have to explain proper manners to her. She nodded to Asajj and mumbled a quiet, “Thanks.”

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  As Allaya’s second job was finishing, I looked around the materials collected and found some simple durasteel bars. Once she moved her parts out of the machine, I threw the bars in and began playing with the computer. After a few minutes, I had what I was looking for and grinned as it quickly worked to produce what I’d programmed in.

  When the machine finished, I reached in and pulled out the two tools I’d made, before offering one each to Asajj and Allaya. The girls looked confused for a moment, before the redhead asked, “It’s a shovel?”

  “It’s an entrenching tool, or e-tool,” I explained, leading them from the room and towards the exit. “It folds and the handle telescopes for easy transportation and height adjustment. It has a straight blade on one side of the shovel for chopping wood or necks, and a serrated blade on the other end for sawing. The shovel head can be locked straight or at an angle and the handle contains a pick that can be used for a variety of tasks.”

  “So it’s a fancy shovel,” Allaya rolled her eyes. “What do we need a fancy shovel for?”

  “Why, for its intended purpose, of course. It’s right there in the name. An entrenching tool is for entrenching.”

  The girl sighed. “So you’re gonna make us dig a hole?”

  “Oh no,” I shook my head, sending her a smile. She took several steps away from me at that. “Not one hole. Several.”

  It was Asajj who asked the smart question. “Why would we need to dig holes? How does that help build teamwork?”

  I turned my smile on her. She was slower than Allaya to react, but she did shuffle a couple of steps closer to the wall. “Both excellent questions. You see, a trench has many uses. You can use it as a latrine, to capture or redirect water, to bury things you want to hide such as phone or power lines, or mines for enemies to step on. You can use them to traverse a battlefield without risking enemy snipers. You can also dig a foxhole and use the displaced earth as a berm to shield you from enemy fire, be that machine guns or artillery.”

  “Yeah, but there isn’t any artillery on Dathomir,” Allaya grumbled.

  I raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t there?”

  She blinked, before remembering what she’d seen last night. Her eyes went wide. “Oh no.”

  “I’ll give you a five minute head start. Run outside and head back for the village. I’ll follow, and when you’re down to one minute, I’ll warn you. Then, you have an entire minute to dig a trench to survive the coming artillery fire.”

  “But, but you said you wouldn’t hurt us!” Allaya protested as I started the countdown on my computation orb.

  “Mm, no. I said I wouldn’t maim, disfigure, or kill you. There is an entire world of possibilities of things I can do to you that won’t cross those lines. For instance, bombarding your position with simulated mortar fire. And yet here you stand attempting to argue, when you should be running. Because the longer you’re in the forest, the more chances I have to attack you. Four minutes now, by the way.”

  Asajj turned and started full on sprinting. Allaya looked conflicted for a moment, before she quickly followed after.

  Asajj ran as fast as her legs and the Force could carry her. Behind her, the annoying redhead quickly caught up and passed her. She ignored the other girl, panting as she ran, leapt over downed logs, ducked under vines, stepped around a venomous snake, and kept going.

  From above, she sensed danger. Looking up, she saw their Master, floating in midair. The red skinned maniac grinned and Asajj pushed herself just a little harder.

  Finally, after what felt like no time at all, the red woman called down, “The enemy is commencing their artillery bombardment on your position! You have one minute to dig a foxhole!”

  Asajj stopped and pulled out her tool, even as Allaya kept running. She ignored the redhead and began digging as quickly as she could, tossing dirt out of the quickly forming hole. Entirely too soon, she heard a whistling sound from above—it started out high and loud but quickly grew quieter and deeper. Then…

  Boom!

  The ground exploded only a few feet away from her position, showering Asajj with dirt and tossing her out of the hole.

  That’s what she meant about making a berm!

  Asajj scrambled back over to it and dove in, covering her head as her Master whistled again. This time, an explosion went off near Allaya, blasting a tree apart and sending the girl tumbling to the ground with a yelp.

  More whistling, and then the explosions came one after the other, practically on top of them. Until finally, it stopped. Asajj jumped to her feet and took off running. Allaya had some trouble getting up, wobbling as she tried to force herself to her feet. Asajj stopped and helped her up, then threw the taller girl’s arm around her shoulder and got them hobbling as fast as they could.

  “Why’re you helping?” Allaya asked, her words sounding a bit funny. Although, that could just be the ringing in Asajj’s ears.

  “Because she said it was a ‘team building’ exercise. That means working together,” Asajj explained as they picked up speed and Allaya grew steady enough on her feet to run without her support. Letting the taller girl go, she added, “Two people can dig a hole and pack dirt into a berm faster than one!”

  Allaya considered it for a few moments as they ran, before nodding. “Fine! We’ll try it your way!”

  “The enemy has spotted you! Prepare to take mortar fire!” their Master called from above.

  The pair stopped and quickly got to work. It didn’t take many shovel fulls of dirt to figure out that they both needed to dig, and take turns scraping everything together to try to build a mound of dirt to protect themselves.

  There was no warning when their Master began whistling. Both girls jumped into the hole, making themselves as small as possible and covering their heads with their arms. The ground exploded nearby, showering them with dirt, rocks, and pieces of plants. That went on for some time, before it stopped.

  “The enemy has discovered your position! You’re now being pursued! You’d better hurry~!”

  The girls jumped out of the hole and started running, only for their Master to laugh as she filled the air around them with blaster fire. They both ducked, keeping low as Tanya shot over their heads.

  “She’s shooting at us! I can’t believe she’s shooting at us!” Allaya screamed over the sounds of fire, only to yelp as one of the blaster bolts smacked her in the back and sent her to the ground.

  Asajj went wide-eyed, a momentary fear running through her at the sight as she hurried over, barely missing being hit herself. She saw the redhead’s shirt was a bit singed and her skin beneath bruised where the shot had impacted, but she was otherwise unharmed. Once more, she helped Allaya to her feet. This time, the redhead recovered much faster and they got back to running.

  They were sweating and panting, covered head to foot in dirt, mud, leaves, and bits of roots what felt like hours later when their run through the jungle of Dathomir was interrupted by a mounted patrol of Singing Mountain women. The women slowed to a stop, dismounting their rancors.

  “What’s going on here?” the leader demanded, taking in the state of them.

  Allaya tried to push past, only to be caught about the waist. Going wide-eyed, the red faced redhead yelled, “You’re interrupting! She’s catching up and she’s gonna shoot! We have to run!!!”

  “Who…?” the leader asked, looking around as she stood, readying her spear. The other four members of the patrol took their cues from her, readying their weapons.

  “Our Master,” Asajj explained, as she finally got enough air to do so. “We need to go! Back to the village!”

  “Why would your Master—” the leader started to ask, only to be cut off by a maniacal laugh from somewhere in the trees around them.

  “Aaahahaha~! What do we have here?! Is it fresh volunteers? Well, if you wanted to play too… All you had to do was ask~!”

  The patrol shared a nervous look as one of them quietly asked, “That’s the Jedi, right?”

  “Yeah,” another confirmed with a nod.

  “Has she gone crazy?”

  “Maybe she ate a bad mushroom—”

  The only warning they got to the intruder in their midst was a flutter of cloth and a shadow of movement. The young woman who had been speaking was cut off as something descended from above, grabbed her, and leapt back into the trees. Asajj followed it with her eyes as the cloaked figure shimmered, blurred, and then disappeared—taking her captive with her.

  “What the fuck just happened?!” one of the women demanded, looking around with frantic, wild eyes.

  “We tried to warn you!” Allaya whined.

  “One minute,” Asajj warned, and began digging. Allaya hurried over and joined her, the pair of them working quickly to get a hole dug as the other women watched on, confused.

  From somewhere above them, the missing woman yelled, “Hey! She left me up here! Cut me down!”

  Allaya didn’t even look up as she shook her head. “Don’t do it! It’s a trap!”

  The patrol all exchanged looks, before one of them began climbing into the tree above them to get at their teammate. She almost made it, when a thick vine whipped out from a nearby tree and wrapped and tied itself around her. A laugh announced the presence of their Master as she swung in from another tree, planted both feet in the woman’s back, and kicked her off the tree branch—leaving her swinging below.

  “Time’s up!”

  Blaster fire filled the path and Allaya and Asajj dove into their trench as the other women cried out, taking shots to the body, arms, legs, and face as their Master ruthlessly mowed them down and disappeared. The women groaned where they lay, barely moving.

  “Get to cover! Quickly!” Allaya warned, and the women began crawling towards the base of one of the trees. Then, the simulated mortar fire began and they suddenly found the energy to move. Their rancor mounts, disturbed by the noise ran off into the forest.

  As soon as the mortar fire stopped, the pair of Padawans hopped out of the trench and took off running.

  “Sorry!” Asajj called after them.

  “We tried to warn you!” Allaya laughed.

  I hid a smile behind a cup of tea as I felt the sheer frustration rolling off of Augwynne.

  Sitting across the table in her office from me was the leader of the squad of guards who my Padawans had met, along with the head of the village guard force—an older woman who looked annoyed to be there. Beside me, my students looked very much like two children who believed they were in trouble and were just waiting for punishment to be handed down. Augwynne herself sat at the head of the table, rubbing at her forehead as she nursed a burgeoning headache.

  “Okay. From the beginning,” the village leader finally said, lowering her hand and looking around the table. Her gaze settled on Allaya, who flinched. However, she shifted it over to Asajj a moment later, who also winced. Finally, her focus landed on me. I set my cup down and sent her a small, expectant smile. “Why did you let them fight in the middle of the village?”

  “As a lesson. I let them choose to make the mistake so they would understand why it was a bad idea, after they experienced the consequences for themselves.” Augwynne frowned, but I kept going. “And yes, I am aware of how it looks. If anyone has a problem with it, refer them to me. I’ll be happy to address it as their Master. Regardless, the issue is settled. They were disciplined appropriately and now understand why what they did was wrong and won’t be doing it again. Will you?”

  ““No, Master!”” the girls both answered reflexively, at the same time.

  Augwynne looked visibly annoyed, but nodded. “I don’t like it, but as their Master, their discipline is your responsibility. If you say you’ve handled it, I’ll leave it at that. And I’ll take you up on sending anyone who has an issue with it to you,” she said, before focusing on the head of the guard, who shook her head.

  “I have no issue with it. Some of the younger women took exception to the sight of a daughter of the Nightsisters fighting with our leader’s daughter… But I’ll make sure they understand that this is a special case and not something they need to worry about.”

  “Good,” Augwynne nodded, before shifting her attention to the leader of the squad who had found us in the jungle. “Now, explain what possessed you to step into the middle of a training exercise and interfere.”

  The woman looked up and paled as she saw me smiling at her, before turning her head and studiously ignoring my presence. “That wasn’t a training exercise, ma’am. If you had seen what we saw, you’d understand.”

  Raising an eyebrow, the redhead demanded, “Walk me through it, then. Make me understand.”

  The guard captain nodded. “We followed the sounds of blaster fire and explosions heading towards the village, when we came across the children running through the jungle, as though being chased by rancor. We thought, from the sounds, that they had gotten mixed up with the pirates Talzin’s Nightsisters have been consorting with.”

  Augwynne let out a quiet sigh. “Right. You wouldn’t know because it only happened last night and I haven’t had a chance to tell everyone. I gave Tanya her second trial last night. Instead of taming a rancor, I had her go eliminate those pirates. They’re no longer a threat. She also crippled Talzin’s clan.”

  “Oh,” the woman murmured. Then, to my surprise, she turned to me and bowed slightly at the waist. “Congratulations, sister.”

  “Thank you,” I nodded.

  “You’re still fucking insane though.”

  I scoffed. “I’m perfectly rational, I’ll have you know.”

  “What did she do?” Augwynne asked, and I both heard and felt the exasperation from her.

  “She decided to fold my patrol into her ‘training exercise.’ Then she strung two of them up from a tree, shot the rest of us with her blaster rifle, then proceeded to bombard the area with explosions. Like I said, that wasn’t training, it was torture. Our mounts panicked and fled into the forest and the rest of the patrol are still out hunting them down. I found mine quickly and returned to report, and make sure no one mistook the sounds for a coming attack.”

  Augwynne nodded, before shifting her attention back to me. “And how do you explain yourself?”

  “I installed a low intensity training setting on my rifle, just as I have on my sabers. The worst you’ll get is a bit of concussive force and some singeing, maybe some bruising. The explosions I was using for simulated mortar fire were all low powered, and more noise than anything. Just enough concussive force behind them to be interesting. As you can see, they are unharmed,” I gestured at the pair of filthy girls, who were otherwise none the worse for wear. “They were never in any real danger. And in fact, the noise served a second purpose, of ensuring that any local predators were well aware of their presence long before they arrived and cleared out ahead of them.”

  “Oh yes, I’m aware of that. I’ve received several complaints already about ruined hunts, or animals being pushed over onto my people, who were gathering things at the time,” Augwynne shook her head. Finally, she waved at the two guards. “Dismissed. Consider the situation resolved. Tanya will be leaving with her students within the hour.”

  The other women both saluted and stood, hurrying out of the home. Augwynne slumped in her seat and let out a deep sigh. Turning an exasperated look on me, she asked, “Simulated mortar fire?”

  I turned to the two girls. “Hurry and go get cleaned up and changed. Allaya, let Asajj borrow some of your clothes.” The redhead started to open her mouth and I raised an eyebrow. She frowned, but nodded. “I’ll be getting you both new clothes anyway on the way. Now go.”

  As soon as they left the room, I picked up my cup and took a sip. Augwynne glared at me.

  “Please tell me why you felt the need to simulate mortar fire at my daughter.”

  Finishing off my tea, I set the cup down. Spreading my hands out around it, I picked it up in the Force, leaving it floating between them. I didn’t bother meeting her gaze as I quietly asked, “You know what else behaves a lot like mortar fire?” I waited a beat, let her really chew on the question for a few seconds, before answering. “A strafing run from fighters. Or a bombing run. Or a bombardment from the cannons on an AT-TE, and I’m sure whatever else the Republic comes up with in the next decade. The two most common weapons they’re going to see if they ever cross paths with actual organized enemy troops are going to be some type of heavy indirect fire along the lines of mortars, and high power, high volume blaster fire. Do you know what the best method for surviving both is? To dig a foxhole and hunker down. Sometimes, the simplest method is the best. After all, it’s not stupid if it works. Learning how to quickly dig a hole, build a dirt berm, and hide is an invaluable skill. Learning how to put aside your differences and cooperate with someone you dislike? To rely on them in the heat of the moment, when all that matters is survival? That’s worth even more.”

  The cup spun idly as I continued, laying everything out for her. “Everything I did today was calculated. Sure, I took advantage of the opportunities they presented me with, but I had a general plan laid out to introduce all of those lessons at some point. They simply gave me an excuse. As for the exercise? It’s a tried and tested method I’ve used before, to produce elite troops capable of not just working under pressure, but thriving in it.”

  The cup clinked quietly as I set it down. Looking up, I met the clan matriarch’s eyes. “I say this with all due respect to you as the matriarch of the clan… As much as Allaya is your daughter, she’s my Padawan now. My responsibility, not yours, until I return her to you. Matters of her training and safety are my concern. I will take your requests for her training into consideration and make sure to incorporate them into her lessons, as promised. However, the method for teaching everything else is up to my discretion. I can’t have her mother second guessing me and putting it into her head that I’m doing something outlandish, unfair, or needlessly dangerous. That would only sabotage her development in the long run. From here on, I ask that you don’t interfere.”

  The redhead across from me glared. I could feel her anger, but also, oddly enough, a bit of happiness. Finally, she nodded once. “Very well. Fine. You’re right. But if she gets hurt—”

  “She will,” I cut her off. “And when she does, I’ll be there to put her back to rights.”

  “By the Mother, what was I thinking, agreeing to this madness,” Augwynne whispered. Closing her eyes, she took a breath and nodded. “Go quickly, before I change my mind. I’m… going for a walk. Be gone by the time I get back.”

  With that, she stood and left the room, as the mask of the ruler fell away and all that was left was a mother’s worry for her child. Touching, I’ll admit, but ultimately counter-productive to what needed to happen—and she knew it. I rose and made my way to the restroom to check on my Padawans.

  They’d survived the night. That counted for something.

  The galaxy was a vast, untamed thing—stars upon stars, worlds without number. Each planet, each culture, each war would demand something new from them. Endless permutations of battlefield conditions, and infinite possibilities of PT.

  They will not laugh. They will not cry. They will learn by the numbers. I will teach them.

  And I would make sure they were ready, no matter how many circuits of hell it took.

  “Padawans,” I called into the shadows of the restroom. “You’re not thinking of sneaking off, are you?”

  They thought they were quiet, and they were. Just not enough.

  Two quick footsteps scuffed the tiles and the toilet seat, likely climbing out the back window. A chuckle left my throat as I set my rifle to low intensity again. Deliberately making the hum audible. They apparently recognized the sound by now, because the sounds of struggling became more frantic as they began crawling out the back window of the restroom.

  They learned the value of teamwork. How adorable. At least now we’ll be on our way and I can catch some sleep. I’ll have a few days to start teaching them the simple things, while we travel.

  This should be simple enough…

  A pair of footsteps quietly thumped away on the other side of the wall.

  …After I catch them.