The Force with us

How long has this been happening? One can easily get lost in time here, and I'm afraid even to guess how much time has passed since this darkness and cold became familiar to me. Despite that, I'm still alive. I don't think death can look like this. Hardly he did it for my death? No, my body is just frozen, but my mind is still alive. And because of that, I feel something that I cannot describe. Something dark and viscous clings to everything it touches. Like darkness. What is happening? I could still feel the cold, but now it was as if my body's position in space had changed. It seems like I've fallen. The surface beneath me is not as cold, but I can barely move, my muscles are still stiff, and my skin is numb to everything except warmth. I can't see anything, although it feels like my eyes are open. And there's no sound. I don't know how long I've been in this kriffing chamber, but I need to regain my senses as quickly as possible. This something now feels stronger. It's as if it has touched me too. I need to get out.

***

Noon on Coruscant. And life at this time is bustling and busy, with no one caring about others. The Jedi Temple, towering above the other buildings, remained a haven of quiet and tranquility. Life here flowed in its own rhythm, and all the conflicts that ravaged the galaxy never penetrated these strong walls, erected thousands and thousands of years ago. The Jedi Temple remained a place of peace and serenity when the galaxy was torn apart by countless wars. It was astonishing, but at the same time justified: the Jedi were never warriors; they sought to resolve everything peacefully, and in every war, if they were drawn into it, they looked for solutions that would not entail unjustified sacrifices. Master Jedi Dooku never ceased to be amazed that, despite the unsettled atmosphere in the galaxy, the Temple remained quite serene. Even the Jedi who set out on missions to resolve conflicts in their infancy were not particularly concerned about the blatant strengthening of the Dark Side in the Force. Today was just an ordinary day, no different from any other. Padawans spent their time carefree, often not putting much effort into their studies, foolishly hoping that everything would work out on its own. Undoubtedly, talented children received recognition without special effort, but the others would have to make an effort and try to show themselves. Padawans were more concerned with impressing their mentors. Knights sought to rest after missions, and Jedi Masters were absorbed in other Order matters. Dooku, who had recently returned from a mission to resolve a minor conflict on a small planet, entered the training hall, hoping to let off some steam through training. There weren't many Jedi here at the moment. Among the few adult duelists, Jedi Master saw his former Padawan, Savage Opress, who was engaged in a friendly sparring match with his Grand-Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Both young men were equally strong, but Kenobi was more cunning and resourceful, while Opress charged forward with enviable stubbornness and didn't hesitate to use a bit more physical power than required. Dooku smirked, shaking his head. He never managed to correct that aspect of Opress' character. But, nevertheless, others spoke quite highly of Knight Opress. He often accompanied Dooku on his missions, especially when they had to deal with very dark individuals. His height about 7'2, powerful figure, and sharp horns, coupled with a face whose expressions were heavily distorted by the tattoos of the Dathomirian Zabraks, allowed Opress to easily intimidate any interlocutor with just his appearance. And his master believed that such missions, dedicated to the study of life in the shadows, suited his former apprentice like no one else. Dooku's gaze slid farther away, to a group of children between the ages of ten and thirteen. The younglings, armed with practice sabers, were honing their swordsmanship skills, but it was more like small animals fiddling than anything really resembling swordsmanship. No tactics, awkward arm swings, constant falling on the training mats - they were far from even mediocre duelists. But one child did catch Dooku's eye. The girl was about thirteen, if not approaching her fourteenth birthday, the age when a youngling could still become a Padawan rather than go to the service corps so disliked by many young Jedi. She was relatively tall for a girl, with unruly black hair and dark eyes. Her behavior in battle was different. She was more cunning than the others and clearly followed some tactic that only she understood. The girl hardly used Lee at all and only used her saber to deflect her opponents' blows. She was exhausting her opponents, pitting them against each other, her eyes filled with the excitement of battle and a sly smirk on her lips. With a successful slash, she took out a boy who was taller and stronger than she was, and then knocked her lightsaber out of another girl's hand with a U-turn. “Nibrale!” she exclaimed, not hiding her superiority. The word cut Dooku's ears. The girl seemed to be speaking Mando'a. And he had heard of her before. Lee Joel was a Mandalorian by birth, taken from her family at a very early age, when she was about a year old or less. Strangely, she remembered her origins and the language she wasn't taught. She was a troubled child, and it's a wonder how else she wasn't cut off from the Force and sent to the service corps. Lee was silent until she was five years old, and the healers could not understand the reason for her silence. She was perfectly healthy and developing like a normal child sensitive to the Force. And then, at her regular checkup, it was as if she was tired of visiting the healers at least once a week, and Joel suddenly said only one word: “Di'kute.” Nothing but Mando'a words had been heard from her lips until she was eight. Her answers were short and one-word answers, but sometimes she would launch into tirades in a language that only a few in the Jedi Temple barely understood. Lee could understand galactic language quite easily, but she persisted in using only her native tongue. When she was eight, she gave up and began to speak Galactic, though Mando'a words still slipped into her speech. Now Dooku realized that no matter how difficult a child Lee Joel was, no matter how much pain she had to go through in teaching her, she couldn't just let her talents fade away and not develop. She needed a competent mentor who could find a common ground with her. Someone with the patience and wisdom to make Lee a true Jedi. Lee Joel was not an easy child, but she had a strategic mind and a phenomenal memory. The Jedi Master thought about her as he watched the friendly battle continue and the other younglings, already sweating and clearly tired, surrender easily to Lee's mercy. Dooku wasn't thinking of taking on another Padawan. At least not right now. But there couldn't be another chance, Joel wasn't of the age to wait quietly for a year or two until one of the older Jedi saw potential in her. Lee stood among a bunch of kids, standing out from them. Like an animal with a rather unsightly exterior, with a creepy predatory hunger in her eyes that scared the others away. While all the other younglings had a clear chance of becoming Padawans, having been attracted to other knights and masters, Joel had been shunned for three years. No one wanted to take on a problem like that. Dooku headed straight for these younglings across the hall, and that got the attention of the others. To these young Jedi, Dooku had always remained a grim figure, an overly stern master who they were afraid to get close to and whose classes they attended with obvious reluctance. So it was not surprising that many of the children immediately tried to find something to do at the other end of the hall or elsewhere in the Temple. But Lee, as if sensing the gaze on her, remained standing still, glaring back at the older Jedi with defiance. “Hello there, Lee Joel,” Dooku stopped a few steps away from her. Lee raised her head proudly so she could see his face, and not a single muscle twitched on her own face. Her gaze remained still as confident. “I am Master Dooku. And I'm interested in your lightsaber combat skills.” The girl tilted her head to the side, still not saying a word. She was clearly pondering the older Jedi's words and trying to analyze what he would say next. “Your skills need development and you need a competent mentor,” the Jedi Master continued. “I would like to take you as my Padawan.” Lee immediately pressed her lips together, tossed her training lightsaber aside, and strode out of the training room. Dooku looked at her with confusion. Did she really not care about her future? Did she not want to become a Jedi? “Master Dooku?” Savage had obviously noticed the scene, and now the Knight of Opress approached his former teacher. “I didn't expect to see you here,” the Zabrak smiled. “Ah... what happened? Why did the youngling run away from you?” “Apparently he doesn't want to become my Padawan,” Dooku smirked and looked at his former student. “It's good to see you, Savage. I heard from the Council that you're doing well on your missions.” “I might say I now have trusted contacts on the lower levels of Coruscant,” the Jedi Knight smiled radiantly. “Don't think anything of it, Master!" he added hastily. "No attachments, I remember! Just... just a... just a trusted acquaintance.” “I'm not judging you, Savage,” the Jedi Master smiled softly. “Better tell me if you know what clan this youngling belongs to? Mandalorian in origin.” The Zabrak frowned, hesitating. After a short silence, he spoke up: “Is she the one who beat up some Padawans last week?” Dooku arched an eyebrow in surprise. "Oh, I'm sorry, Master Dooku... I thought you heard." Savage coughed awkwardly. “Well, it seems she's going to be transferred under the supervision of the Reassignment Council next week, and she's no longer a member of any clan... She usually shows up either in the training room or sitting alone in the corridor near the archives. Spotted her there often.” “Thank you,” the Jedi Master nodded. “I saw that you had a duel with Knight Kenobi,” the man said. "Noticed your typical mistakes,” he smiled. “We can try a duel, Savage, I'll show you where you've been wrong a lot so far.” “Gladly,” the Zabrak nodded.

***

Dusk was descending on Coruscant. The lights in the windows of the buildings and the street lamps were on as the last rays of Coruscant Prime gilded the tops of the high-rises and the spires of the Jedi Temple. Master Dooku was returning from the archives when he noticed a silhouette against a column in the semi-darkness of the corridor. Today's acquaintance, Lee Joel, stood there all alone, watching the bustle of the other Jedi as an outside observer. She noticed the older Jedi and took a step back behind the column, but she wasn't about to leave altogether. Dooku approached her slowly, eyeing her. Lee had a particularly tired look for some reason, only wariness in her eyes for the actual stranger who approached her. “I wanted to talk,” the Jedi Master said in a soft voice. The girl nodded in agreement. “Why did you run away from me in the hall? Don't you want to be a Jedi?” “Tion'jor Ru'kel Ni vaabir ibac?” she looked away, crossing her arms over her chest. Dooku sighed. “Joel, I appreciate your knowledge of Mando'a, but I'm going to have to ask you to speak in galactic so we can understand each other,” the man tried not to press her, and Lee even seemed to begin to relax. “What can jetiise give me?" She asked, looking Dooku in the eye. "The Order is not organized well. The council does a lot of rash things. The Code is outdated..." Lee was silent for a moment. "Jetiise can't protect themselves, why should I become one of you? I'd rather go back to Mandalore where I can become verd." “That's it...” the Jedi Master stretched out thoughtfully. “But what if I told you that not all Jedi are like that?” “Don't waste your time on me, jetii,” she waved the man away. “The Council has already decided everything with me.” “I saw potential in you, Joel," Dooku countered. "And believe me, until I see what you're really capable of, I won't let the Council decide your fate in such a sad way. I want to see your lightsaber skills, so I suggest we meet tomorrow in the training room. If you win this duel, I will back down, but if you lose, you will become my Padawan.” “Very illogical terms, jetti,” Lee smirked, looking at Dooku. “Will you train someone who loses?” “Under different circumstances, you would have succumbed to me,” the Jedi Master smiled. “This way you have an incentive to show me all your talents. But I promise I won't give in or purposely try to win. It's fair. And the outcome of the fight will decide who you become in the future.” “I agree,” Joel nodded. “Jate ca, jetii.” With those words, Lee left, disappearing into the semi-darkness of the Temple's corridors. Dooku grinned at her and returned to his apartments. There he spent the rest of the evening studying the basics of Mandalorian martial arts and realized that his possible future Padawan had sought to emulate them in that friendly fight.

***

Coruscant Prime is at its zenith, and life is once again buzzing on the planet, but the Jedi Temple remains an unshakable hulk. The training room is bustling, and not the kind of bustle that usually happens when the younger Jedi are here, or the older ones are training. The Jedi who came to the training session witnessed a very interesting duel. Jedi Master Dooku stood ten paces across from the youngling Joel. Both were holding practice lightsabers, it was a duel designed to test the junior Jedi's skills, not to hurt anyone. The rest of those present watched them with interest, anticipating the soon to be spectacle. And when the Jedi Master activated his lightsaber, drawing an "X" in the air, and then assumed the traditional Makashi form stance, everyone held their breath. Lee activated her saber and crouched slightly on her feet, clutching it with both hands and holding it out in front of her. It wasn't the traditional stance of any of the forms, but it allowed the girl to immediately snap out of her stance, throw a deceptive strike, allowing Dooku to reflect it, and then slide behind his back. In a few precious moments Joel could almost taste victory, but she didn't have time to trip her, and she wasn't likely to topple a grown man so easily. She had to block an accurate punch that was aimed at her face. Dooku stood half-turned toward her, looking nonchalant with his free hand behind his back. He was putting almost no effort into fighting her, but Lee was eager to see the Jedi's vulnerabilities now as well. Joel was inexperienced, didn't know Makashi, but she was wily and quick to memorize everything, greedily absorbing any information like a sponge. Once Dooku had used certain techniques a couple times, Lee learned her way around them and forced him to change tactics. She played with him despite his obvious superiority. She studied him all over, looking for the weak link in his tactics. The rest of the Jedi watched this slow dance mesmerized. Dooku barely moved from his seat, only turning around to face Lee as she changed position. Everything looked so calm and peaceful until Joel caught a pattern in the Jedi Master's movements and threw him off his rhythm. Then their lightsabers crossed with a loud clang, furious and fast. The blows were coming too fast, and now the two duelists were circling in a wide circle in the center of the training room. They had only warmed up before, and now the real duel had begun. Lee used all the techniques she had learned in such a short time, striking one after another. Her breathing became heavy, and it was obvious that she was beginning to tire, but she still wasn't giving up. Dooku continued to study her and saw that there was indeed a great potential in her that no one had been able to see in her before. But enough was enough. The Jedi Master realized he was ready to take on his Padawan again. He blocked another of Lee's lunges and pushed her with the Force. Youngling staggered and fell to the mat, but there was no disappointment in defeat in her eyes. There was indescribable delight and excitement in her eyes. Dooku smiled and turned off his training saber and then reached out a hand to Joel, helping her to her feet. “So you still have doubts about the Jedi, Joel?” The man asked quietly, so they wouldn't be heard by the rest of the gathered crowd. It was unlikely their voices would be heard over the loud applause, though. “Teach me, Alor!” Lee replied with a smile. As the applause died down, one of the Jedi Masters, Gothal, approached them. He nodded a greeting to Dooku and turned an affectionate gaze to the girl. “Hello, youngling,” the Jedi smiled. "I saw that you have excellent swordsmanship talents... To be honest, your duel with Master Dooku was impressive." Lee remained silent and only pressed her lips together, her gaze once again full of distrust and wariness. “I would like you to be my Padawan. What do you say?” “Nayc. Ni ganar Alor,” Lee stood closer to Master Makashi, furrowing her eyebrows and looking at the Gothal with a challenging look. The man looked at the older Jedi and shook his head, but made no further request to give Joel to him. “Before I can call you my Padawan, you'll have a special initiation,” Dooku remarked as they left the training room. “But I think you can handle it.” “I'm ready, Alor,” she nodded. The man grinned: “And I will ask you, in that case, to explain the meaning of all those words you speak in your language, so that I can understand you.” Lee looked at him in surprise, but agreed, albeit reluctantly. Two days later, after Joel had spent twenty-four hours in the Meditation Chapel, she appeared before the Jedi Council with Dooku. The girl was clearly nervous, though she tried to keep a straight face. She smiled smugly, too, especially when she saw Grand Master Yoda, who was surprised to see that she would be transferred to the care of the Reassignment Council tomorrow, but now Lee was a Padawan. She had braided a short Padawan braid and cut the rest of her hair short so that it was now hard to tell her from a boy, especially in her baggy traditional Jedi apprentice robes. From that day forward, the story of the young Mandalorian girl who had not forgotten her origins changed. She wore her Padawan rank with pride and strove to impress her mentor with her accomplishments. Dooku realized that he had decided to train her for a reason. In the short time he had been training her, he had identified many of her characteristics. Besides her strange reluctance to use the Force and her lightsaber, Lee had a phenomenal memory, especially of what she saw. A single glance was enough for her to memorize the location of objects in a room, the faces of sentients, or text. Of course, it was her gift from the Force, and the more she used it, the more tired she became, but being stubborn and unwavering like a true Mandalorian, she didn't complain. Dooku tried to nurture her talents and abilities, and made sure it didn't hurt Joel. A trusting relationship began to build between them. Lee avoided socializing with other Jedi, but was more willing to make contact with her teacher's former Padawans and herself. On missions with her mentor, Joel stayed close at all times. She was ready to protect the Jedi Master, help him if needed, and showed true Mandalorian loyalty to her leader, Alor. Lee had arguably become one of his best Padawans, despite her violent temper, which she often displayed, especially in front of the Jedi Councils. Joel was almost openly critical of the Jedi Code, the Order itself, and many of its decisions. Most of all, she was unhappy with the Jedi Council's treatment of young Skywalker as if he were their only salvation. “Anyone can be the Chosen One, not just that sky guy,” Lee said when Dooku asked her why she was acting that way. “Why him? It's not like there aren't more Force-gifted people in the galaxy... Skywalker's not worth anything yet, and he's not much of a Jedi. Why doesn't the council look for the Chosen One among others? Jedi who have already proven themselves?” Joel sighed heavily and crossed her arms over her chest. They were standing in a part of the garden that was rarely frequented, so they were unlikely to be overheard. “Like you, Alor. You'd have no trouble chopping that boy's arm off while he's pulling out his saber!” “Lee,” Dooku frowned, looking sternly at his Padawan. However, the clear implication that Lee considered Lee more of a Chosen One than his grand Padawan flattered the man. “Enough about that subject,” he sighed. "How's your training at the Temple going while I've been away?" “Yes, that's right... You want to hear how tired I am of Yoda's lectures, don't you?” grinned the Mandalorian. “The Temple is boring... I'd rather go on a mission with you than listen to some very wise Jedi,” Lee said sarcastically. “Silence is not for me.” “I can see that,” Dooku chuckled. “Then, if you don't mind, I'd like to see your skills. Perhaps you've learned something in the meantime?”