Lightsabers

4

The jungle clearing was alive with thousands—no, millions!—of living creatures and interesting plants, strangely colorful mushrooms and droning insects, all of which offered great distractions to Jacen. He had to work very hard to keep his mind from wandering. At the moment it was far more important to pay attention to Luke Skywalker as he set up the first lightsaber dueling exercise for the young Jedi Knights.

During the construction of their weapons, the trainees had sparred with dueling droids and with each other, using sticks the same length as a lightsaber blade. After completing their lightsabers, they had spent a week practicing with their real weapons against stationary targets, accustoming themselves to the feel of the energy blades.

Now, though, Master Skywalker had deemed them ready to move on to the next step.

The clearing was a burned-out spot where lightning had sparked a brief but intense forest fire. The jungle dampness and lush foliage had quickly smothered the blaze, but a huge Massassi tree—its trunk charred and weakened by the searing flames—had toppled over, taking with it several smaller trees and bushes. The rest of the clearing was a matted maze of pale green undergrowth—weeds and grasses and flowers attempting to reclaim the burned and crumbly soil.

Because today’s exercises would be both mental and physical, Uncle Luke wore a comfortable flight suit, as did Jacen and Jaina. Tenel Ka’s ever-present reptilian armor left her arms and legs bare, giving her complete freedom of movement. Her long reddish-gold hair had been plaited into intricate braids, with special ornamentation on each one. Lowbacca wore no garment other than his belt, woven of strands he had harvested from a deadly syren plant in the deep forests on Kashyyyk. Em Teedee hung in his accustomed place at the Wookiee’s waist.

All of the young Jedi Knights carried something new and special this time, though—their own lightsabers, completed after weeks of delicate construction.

While Jacen stood with his friends, flicking occasional glances in the direction of rustling leaves that hinted at the presence of strange creatures, Luke Skywalker took a seat on the massive fallen trunk. At last he unslung the mysterious pack he had lugged all the way from the Great Temple.

“What’s in there, Uncle Luke?” Jacen asked, unable to restrain his curiosity. Since he couldn’t investigate the interesting insects and plants, he needed to focus his mind on something else.

Luke gave a secretive smile and withdrew a scarlet sphere the size of a large ball, perfectly smooth except for tiny covered openings that might have been repulsorjets or small targeting lasers. Luke set the ball on the slanted, burned trunk; miraculously, it did not roll down the slope, but remained exactly where he had placed it. He withdrew another of the scarlet spheres, and another, and another.

“Remotes!” Jaina cried, guessing what they were. “Those are remotes, aren’t they, Uncle Luke? What are they for?”

“Target practice,” he said. All four remotes sat balanced on the burned Massassi trunk, refusing to roll, as if they could ignore gravity.

Lowbacca grunted with surprise, and Tenel Ka straightened. “We are going to shoot at them?”

“No,” Luke said. “They’re going to shoot at you.”

“And we deflect the shots with our lightsabers?” Jacen asked.

“Yes,” Luke said, “but it’s not as easy as you might think.”

“I never said I thought it would be easy,” Jacen muttered.

Tenel Ka nodded. “A lesson to sharpen our reflexes and concentration. We must react quickly to intercept each burst from the remotes.”

“Ah, but it gets harder,” Luke said. He reached into the sack again, removed a flexible helmet with a transparisteel visor tinted a deep red, and handed it to Tenel Ka. “You’ll each wear these.” He withdrew another pair of helmets for the twins, but the last one consisted of only a red visor fastened with crude tie-straps. “Sorry, Lowbacca, but I couldn’t find a helmet big enough for your head. This will have to do.”

Jacen slipped the helmet over his perpetually tousled brown hair and suddenly saw the jungle through a scarlet filter. The thick forest held a more primeval quality now, as if backlit with smoldering fires. The details were duller, darker, and Jacen wondered what the helmet and visor were supposed to do—protect them against stray shots from the remotes? He looked over at where the bright red remotes had rested on the burned tree trunk … or rather where they should have been.

Jacen blinked. “Hey, they’re gone!”

“Not gone,” Luke said. “Just invisible. When you look at the remotes through the red filters, you can’t see them anymore.” Luke smiled. “That’s the point. When Obi-Wan Kenobi taught me, he made me fight using a helmet with the blast shield down. I couldn’t see a thing. You’ll at least be able to see your surroundings … but not the remotes.”

Jacen wanted to ask how he was supposed to fight what he couldn’t see, but he knew what Uncle Luke would say.

“I didn’t want you totally blind,” Luke continued, “because all four of you will be training here in the clearing with different remotes. This way you’ll be able to see each other. I don’t want anyone getting too enthusiastic and causing injuries instead of just deflecting laser bolts.”

This brought a small chuckle from Jacen and Jaina, but Master Skywalker looked at all of the trainees sternly. “I wasn’t kidding,” he said. “A lightsaber can cut through practically any substance known—and that includes people. Remember this warning: lightsabers are not toys. They are dangerous weapons. Treat them with the utmost care and respect. I hope that the time you each spent building your lightsaber has taught you more about its power and its risks.”

Luke picked up a set of controls. “Now let’s see how well you work with the Force and your own energy blades.”

He flipped a switch, and Jacen heard a hissing, whirring sound. But he saw nothing until he pushed up the scarlet visor. The four remotes drifted into the air, spinning around and scanning the vicinity.

“These lasers are low power,” Luke said, “but don’t think they won’t sting if you get hit by one.”

Jacen muttered to his sister, “At least he’s not throwing rocks or knives at us, like at the Shadow Academy.”

“Visors down,” Luke said. “Take your positions.”

The companions spread out in the clearing, tramping down the weedy underbrush.

“Ignite your lightsabers,” Luke said, then sat back. He seemed to be enjoying himself.

As one, the four Jedi trainees held out the handles of their new weapons and depressed the power studs. Brilliant beams sprang out in the red dimness, bright slashes the length of a sword blade burning through the thick crimson in front of Jacen’s eyes. The tinted masks drained all other color from their lightsabers, transforming them into glowing red rods. It reminded Jacen of Darth Vader’s weapon.

“The remotes are circling now,” Luke said. “In the next thirty seconds they’ll begin to fire at random. Reach out with the Force. Feel them. Sense the impending attack—then use your lightsaber blade to deflect it. A lot of your training has been leading up to this. Let’s see how well you do.”

Jacen tensed, holding his lightsaber ready. Much as he hated to admit it, he drew upon some of the skills Brakiss had taught him at the Shadow Academy. He felt the energy blade humming in his hand, pulsing with power. The sharpness of ozone reached his nostrils. He heard his friends moving about, preparing for an attack that could come from any direction.

The buzzing lightsabers muted all other sounds, just as the red filter drowned all other colors. Suddenly Jacen heard a snapping shot, though he saw nothing. A loud Wookiee yowl preceded the vibrating hum of a lightsaber blade sweeping sideways and hitting nothing. Lowie roared again.

“Dear me, Master Lowbacca, that wasn’t even close,” Em Teedee exclaimed. “I do hope you’ll improve significantly with practice.”

Lowie snarled, sounding hurt, and Em Teedee responded in a somewhat cowed fashion, “Well, all right. I understand it’s more difficult since you can’t see anything…. Even so, I should think it inadvisable to allow it to strike you again.”

Jacen’s interest in the conversation vanished when a sizzling bolt shot out from behind and struck him squarely on the backside. He yelped with pain. The tiny wound burned as badly as if a stinger lizard had zapped him. He whirled, slashing with the lightsaber, but by then it was too late.

From across the clearing another bolt shot out, followed by a crash of underbrush. Through the visor he saw Tenel Ka leap to one side. A branch snapped in two as the invisible laser struck it where Tenel Ka had stood only seconds before. The warrior girl crouched, holding her lightsaber up, her head cocked in concentration.

Jacen reached out with his mind, trying to sense through the Force where his remote would shoot next. He heard two more laser blasts and then a spang as Jaina successfully deflected one of the bolts. Jacen focused on the pain at the spot where he had been struck by the laser, using it to intensify his determination. He didn’t want to be stung again.

Another laser beam shot out. He swiped the lightsaber at it, barely missing—though his motion was enough to shift him out of its path so that the beam sizzled past. He felt the warmth of its passage, but could not see it.

“That was close,” he said, then instinctively swung to strike again as the remote fired once more.

Jaina parried a flurry of bolts as her remote attacked mercilessly, firing five times in rapid succession. One of her bolts ricocheted off the glowing edge of her lightsaber directly toward Jacen. He responded without conscious thought, using the Force and flowing with it, somehow knowing what to do as he shifted his own blade sideways just enough to catch the diverted bolt. The deflected blast bounced up into the trees, where it fried a fistful of leaves.

In a single follow-through motion, Jacen spun, reaching up with the lightsaber blade to ward off a second bolt fired from the other remote hovering in front of them.

Lowbacca bellowed with triumph as he, too, got the hang of defending himself.

Except for her heavy breathing, Tenel Ka was quiet, thoughtful. Through the red filter Jacen watched as she parried one of the lasers and leaped upward with all her might, using her lightsaber like a cleaver. A shower of sparks erupted and a smoking hole appeared in midair. Jacen heard a thunk as pieces of Tenel Ka’s remote fell useless to the jungle floor.

“All right. That’s enough for now,” Luke Skywalker said.

Tenel Ka switched off her weapon and stood with her hands on her hips, her elbows spread. Jacen flipped up his red visor to discover his own remote hovering barely at arm’s length in front of his face. He stepped back, startled.

Tenel Ka’s remote lay on the ground sliced in two, its circuits flickering and sparking. Jaina and Lowie also shut off their weapons and stood panting and grinning. Jacen rubbed the burning pain in his backside and grimaced sheepishly, hoping none of the others would notice.

“Excellent, all of you—except now it looks as if I’ll need a new remote,” Luke said, smiling wryly at Tenel Ka. “You did very well with the Force.”

“Not only with the Force,” she said, thrusting her chin upward and squaring her shoulders. “I also used my ears to track the remote. When I concentrated, I could hear it even above the sound of the lightsabers.”

Luke chuckled. “Good. A Jedi should use all available skills and resources.”

Jaina gripped the lightsaber in both hands and positioned the brilliant, electric-violet blade in front of her. She looked past the searing line of controlled fire at Lowbacca, her opponent, who stood opposite her, a lightsaber in his hairy grasp. He growled his readiness.

Jaina looked into the young Wookiee’s golden eyes, saw the dark streak of black fur swirling up from his eyebrow and around his head. She swallowed and tensed. Though lanky, Lowbacca was much taller than she, and Jaina knew he was about three times as strong. But in his furry expression she saw an uncertainty, a genuine discomfort that mirrored her own.

“Do I really have to fight Lowie, Uncle—uh, Master Skywalker?” Jaina asked.

Luke Skywalker stood. “You’re not fighting him, Jaina. You’re fencing with him. Test your opponent. Gauge each other’s skills. Learn to judge reactions. Explore strategies. But be careful.”

Jaina thought of her training at the Shadow Academy and how she and Jacen had dueled with lightsabers, not realizing that they had fought each other in holographic disguise.

“Remember,” Luke cautioned, “a Jedi fights only as a last resort. If you are forced to draw your lightsaber, you have already forfeited much of your advantage. A Jedi trusts the Force and at first seeks other ways to resolve problems: patience, logic, tolerance, attentive listening, negotiation, persuasion, calming techniques.

“But there are times when a Jedi must fight. Knowing that the Shadow Academy is out there, I fear those times will come all too often for us. And so you must learn how to wield your lightsabers.”

He stepped back and motioned to Jacen and Tenel Ka, who waited on the edge of the clearing, sitting next to each other on the burned tree trunk. “You two will be next. Jaina, don’t worry about Lowie being so much bigger and stronger than you are. Dueling with a lightsaber is primarily skill, and I think you’re equally matched in that. Your one true disadvantage is that his reach is much longer than yours. Unfortunately,” Luke said with a sigh, “circumstances don’t always pit us against equal opponents. As for you, Lowie, be careful not to underestimate Jaina.”

He dropped back to watch. “Now, show me what you can do.”

“Well?” Jaina stepped forward, keeping her gaze locked with Lowie’s. “What are we waiting for?”

The Wookiee shifted his lightsaber, bringing its molten-bronze blade into position. Jaina moved hers up to meet it, crossing her blade against his. She felt the pressure, the sizzling of sparks, and the discharge as the powerful beams drove against each other. She saw the muscles bulging in Lowie’s long arms as he strained against her—but Jaina held her own.

“All right, let’s try something else.” Jaina withdrew her lightsaber, then swung it at her Wookiee friend slowly, cautiously—and Lowbacca met it with another crackle of released energy.

Swinging to strike again, she said, “This isn’t so bad.”

Lowie defended himself. He seemed reluctant to do battle.

Knowing that Lowie had endured horrifying struggles at the Shadow Academy—and remembering again that she had been forced to fight her own brother—Jaina realized that Brakiss and the violet-eyed Tamith Kai would stop at nothing to bring down the New Republic. She and Lowie would both be needed to defend against the Dark Jedi. She decided now that the best way to rid Lowie of his reservations would be to go on the offensive.

And this time she did not feel strangled by darkness. Today Jaina fought with full willingness, learning to be a defender of the light side, a champion of the Force. Uncle Luke had been correct in his speech in front of the Jedi trainees. She knew in her heart that the Shadow Academy had only begun to cause trouble, and she would have to fight to get her friend Zekk freed.

But first she had to learn how.

Lowbacca responded with greater strength, a better show of his abilities, as he parried her blows and struck back with his own. She had to move quickly to cross blades with him again. They clashed and struck. Sparks flew.

Lowie spun and chopped down, but she met his lightsaber with hers, smiling, intently focused. She heard Jacen cheering from the side.

“Excellent, Master Lowbacca!” Em Teedee said. “Now do be careful—you wouldn’t want a flying spark to damage me.”

Jaina felt the Force flowing through her; Lowbacca wore an expression of exhilaration on his furry face. He opened his mouth, showing fangs and letting out a bellow of challenge—not mean or angry, simply an outpouring of excitement.

Lowie grasped the handle of his large lightsaber with both hands and swept sideways, attempting to catch Jaina by surprise—but she turned the tables on him. Summoning a burst of energy, she astonished the Wookiee by leaping high into the air up to the level of Lowie’s head. His lightsaber swept harmlessly beneath her, and she landed lightly on the weed-covered ground behind him, laughing and panting.

“Oh my! That was most unexpected,” Em Teedee said. “Splendid work, Mistress Jaina.”

“Hey, that was great, Jaina!” her twin brother called.

Lowie raised his lightsaber in salute. Jaina grinned, her eyes gleaming.

“Most impressive,” Luke said, turning to Jacen and Tenel Ka. “Next, let’s see how well our spectators can do.”