Take Over Control

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer admired the blade; she had always used the ones that were available to the padawans. She had figured out how to fix the blade so that it would be able to kill something if she needed it too. It was the only reason why she was able to escape from time to time from the temple. Looking at the blade, she listened to its story and ever so innocently asked her Master.

“Why did it take you so long to make it?”

The concept of making a lightsaber was something that Spencer really didn’t understand. She usually slept though those classes despite how much they did interest her. She looked towards her choices and frowned. Spencer had hoped she would gain access to other colors besides the typical green and blue that the training room had, but it was all she had. Beggars couldn’t be choosers.

“I’ll take a blue one…I always seems to get into trouble with green sabers.”

 

[Phylis Alince]

Phylis looked a little put out by the question. To her it showed a lack of willpower and attention which seemed an unfortunate part of Spencer Jacob's personality. Pursing her lips she took a deep breath.
"Why? Because building a lightsabre is not like jamming a bunch of parts together until it works. It's a construction that uses the Force, and where everything must be perfectly aligned. If the crystal is off by even a degree the weapon might just blow up in your hand. If you want something, you want it enough to do it properly," she said pompously.

She handed the blue lightsabre to Spencer and took one of her own. It was a wise idea for neither of them to use the real things! They headed next to the training room where various targets and droids were assembled.
"Have you learned yet how to use the Force to predict an oncoming blaster bolt?"

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer blinked as she was lectured by Phylis. She didn’t think her innocent question regarded such a lashing. Shrugging it off, Spencer remained a bit aloof about the situation and held her saber. Tilting her head slightly, she shook it answering Phylis question. She hadn’t gone into a training room without an organic either in control of the droids or with the person doing the attacking. It was easy for Spencer to pick up on ‘intention’. She didn’t rely on specific force techniques to help her.

“I kind of cheat. I’m sure you’ve read in my file that I’m an empath. Through the Force I can pick up on emotions and channel them. With the class trainers I usually can pick up when they’re going to have the droid fire or when they’re going to attack.”

She grinned sheepishly as her index finger scratched her cheek. Spencer didn’t know how Phylis was going to react to this bit of information, but she assumed another lecture was coming up. The padawan wondered how she ended up with such a lecture loving Master while everyone else was off doing cool things and having adventures. Still, Spencer did her best to keep her thoughts to herself as she chuckled and tried to play off the revelation of her cheating.

 

[Phylis Alince]

Phylis didn't seem upset. Rather, she just chuckled. "Clever, Spencer, very clever. See, to be a Jedi it's not just following rules, it's about instinct, adaption. That skill is one you must nurture because one day it might save your life. But, say a droid was attacking you, how would you do?"

Phylis pointed at a droid, and it began to walk forward. It had a blaster in hand (thankfully armed only with the lowest powered bolts). It brought up its gun and fired twice at Spencer, while Phylis watched on to make sure nothing got out of hand!

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer blinked, she had expected Phylis to get upset with her for using her skills instead of learning about how to feel the force and avoid the attack. Looking at the droid that her new Master pointed at. It started to move and Spencer took a quick step back. She looked at it like a scared dog as the droid raised its weapon. She could sense that her Master wanted the droid to shoot her and Spencer understood basic defenses, but she was scared still.

The bolts fired towards her and she quickly threw up a force shield. The first bolt had no where to go but the second got through the Padawan's defenses and quickly hit her shoulder. Despite that it was lowered Spencer still stumbled back and held her shoulder. She whimpered slightly and then stood back up, there was a different look on her face as she dashed forward and pounced the droid with a diagonal saber slash.

"HIIIIIIII YAAA~!"

 

[Phylis Alince]

Phylis felt pretty bad when she saw her Padawan get shot in the shoulder. She was about to call the test off when suddenly Spencer charged and attacked the droid!

Because the lightsabre had been reduced in power, the blade did not chop the droid in half, but it did stun it, and it slumped to the ground. It was a most astonishing move, especially the added sound effect.

Phylis walked forward to Spencer. "Are you alright? I hope it didn't hurt too much. A very...unorthodox way of dealing with the training droid...but it'll do for me!"

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer rubbed her shoulder a bit and grinned. She had expected to get lectured about her methods, but it was a nice reaction. Spencer felt the brief emotions from her Master and nodded. The moment Phylis had felt bad about the attack, it made Spencer feel safer with the woman. She had heard horror stories of some Masters never regretting getting their padawans killed. She closed the gap between her and Phylis, her hand fell from her shoulder as she sighed. Despite it being lower grade it still really hurt.

Bitting her lower lip Spencer looks up towards Phylis.

"It hurts a lot..."

 

[Phylis Alince]

Phylis smiled slightly. "Come here, Spencer. Let me show you another application of the Force."

Laying a hand gently on the girl's shoulder she reached into herself and the Force, and began to focus upon the wounded area. Her skills were not complete yet, but almost instantly the pain in her Padawan's shoulder receded and the swelling decreased. The discomfit might return in a few hours, and there would be a bruise there for a while, but the pain had mostly gone.

"The Force is a powerful ally, Spencer, and has many uses to those who are true in intent."

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer wasn't used to touch from other people besides Erich. When he touched her there was something different coming from him. There was a thirst and a hunger that only she could satiate from time to time. The way she felt needed by him was an odd comfort. There was something different about Phylis' touch. It was warm and there was nothing malicious behind it, Spencer couldn't feel anything but kindness behind the Jedi's touch and intent. A warmth spread through her shoulder and it was obvious on her face. She wasn't used to any of this. The healers she was usually sent to used droids, never their own skills with the force.

"I--thank you Master. I feel a lot better...why didn't you send me to the medical wing like the others do?"

Stretching her fingers, Spencer felt the feeling return to her arm. It felt a whole lot better and she looked down at the hand that lingered on her shoulder. Blinking a few times, she turned her head away from Phylis and looked towards the ground. The contact was lasting a lot longer than she was used to with another person.

 

[Phylis Alince]

Phylis smiled and pulled her hand back. "I don't like hospitals much. I have had some bad experiences with them. Rather, I prefer to help others when I can, and I don't want you to be hurt as a result of my training. We're Jedi after all."

Phylis turned away, unsure why using the Force to heal Spencer had felt so...exciting. It was perhaps an indication that she was doing something right.

"Do you feel able to continue, Spencer? I have some other exercises for you to perform."

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer tilted her head as Phylis turned away, it seemed that there was more than meets the eye with the Jedi Knight. Biting her lip, she rubbed her shoulder again, the pain was gone but there was something still lingering. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. Ignoring it, Spencer stopped nursing the shoulder and nodded quickly. She held tightly onto the training lightsaber and smiled. The blonde was eager to please her Master and was ready for the next challenge. Spencer didn't know why, she never felt like this before. Usually in classes she remained aloof and really didn't bother with doing her best...though now...she wanted Phylis to pay attention to her.

"I'm ready for anything. Teach me every thing you know Master!"

She readied the blade and remained focused.

 

[Phylis Alince]

Phylis grinned. "Well, we might have to break for lunch before you learn everything I know. Might make dinner though," she quipped.

"OK, Spencer, what I want you to do is to stand there with the lightsabre. I'm going to project these padded rods at you, and you need to defend yourself, either by evasion or deflecting with your blade." Phylis had a pile of a dozen foot long wooden rods covered in padding. Even at pull force they'd not hurt much. She scattered them around Spencer in a circle and knelt down to meditate.

The rods rose up at her invisible command and started to fly at Spencer from all angles. First one, then two, finally it seemed as though they were all swirling, diving, charging at Spencer. It was a difficult onslaught.

"Close your eyes if you have trouble. Your eyes can deceive you. The Force is what makes a Jedi."

 

[Allyson Locke]

Looking around Spencer saw the paddles that were waiting for her. This wasn’t something she was looking forward too, she had hoped Phylis had some wise words to give her or some other sort of lesson was going to be had. Standing in the middle of the paddles, Spencer felt her knees buckle slightly. She didn’t want to be here, she’d rather learn a different way. Phylis went to meditate and Spencer continued to freak out. Taking a deep breath, she watched as the paddles rose and then started to attack at all angles.

Her eyes darted quickly as she tried to defend against all of them. She hit nothing of course, the paddles wailed on her constantly smacking her in every which way. Taking her Master’s advice she closed her eyes and tried to fend them off, nothing really worked. She saw where they were in her mind sensing their closeness to her, but she was already over whelmed. Finally in a fit of frustration, Spencer pulled everything into her and lashed out with a force push from all around her. A thin barrier surrounded her as she fell to her knees.

“Owie…”

 

[Phylis Alince]

Phylis stopped the attack with a gesture and crossed to Spencer. Her unplanned counter attack had sent one of them speeding right at Phylis, and she had been forced to duck to stop herself getting schooled by her Padawan. She knelt by Spencer and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"You did well, Spencer. You let your frustration control you though. With the Force as your ally you need fear nothing. Let it fill you. Let's try again, and this time I will sit here with you and I will help you recognise the currents of the living Force."

Phylis knelt down with Spencer on the ground, taking the girl's hands. Concentrating, Phylis allowed Spencer to perceive the world through her. Thus, when the rods began again Phylis helped Spencer detect the current in the Force that heralded an attack and help her deflect it with the Force...all without moving an inch. After a moment Phylis stopped. She was tired out by the exertion and knelt for a few moments later composing herself before letting go of Spencer's hands.
"There, did you want to try again?"

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer felt her hands taken by her Master. This was starting to get overwhelming, there was so much electricity flowing through her nerves. Spencer wondered if she would get used to the contact, Phylis seemed to be quite hands on instead of barking orders at her. Though before Spencer could really ponder everything that was happening, she felt her senses pull from her and she was seeing the force differently. With seeing how Phylis sees she was able to focus more on what she was trying to sense. Everything started to make sense and she was able to see small string like connections showing where the paddles were.

Once the moment passed Spencer blinked for a moment as she watched Phylis. She could feel how tired she was and Spencer felt bad. She wasn’t smart enough to catch on as quickly as probably other Padawans had and she almost took off Phylis head with her outburst of the force. Phylis let go of her hands and Spencer could feel the cool air attacking the void, it caused Spencer to shove her hands into her lap to keep them warm, to remember the way it felt to have her hands held.

“Maybe we should take a breath Master; we’ve done a lot so far.”

Spencer reached out to place a hand on Phylis, though through her experiences within the temple she didn’t proceed to do so. Her hand hovered above Phylis’ leg and then retreated back to her body. Biting her lip nervously she wondered if what she said was okay.

“But if you want to we can keep going…”

 

[Phylis Alince]

Phylis looked up and smiled at Spencer. "Yes, you're right, we should pause a moment." She stood and stretched. Unfortunately for Spencer her Jedi robe concealed anything interesting that might have been shown.

"Spencer, I know this might be easy, but I want you to tell me everything you know about the Jedi code, and the basic philosophy of the Jedi Order." It was quite a switch from lightsabre duelling to philosophy, but she invited Spencer to sit beside her regardless.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Frowning Spencer noticed she couldnt see anything of the other Jedi. She at least wanted to know what her master looked like outside of the garments. Deciding not to think on it for too long Spencer moved to sit next to Phylis. The padawan showed her pleasure with the invite with a smile.

The question posed to her threw her off. She knew what the code was and what ot was meant for, but the general understanding she was still learning and accepting. A hand crossed her face as she brushed aside her hair.

"The code is meant to provide order. It helps guide the Jedi to do good and to help prevent temptations. Its our guidelines to being a Jedi..."

Spencer felt it at times was a prison.

 

[Phylis Alince]

"And it is indeed only a guideline, Spencer. The Jedi Code, some have looked at and seen it as an ironclad law which answers everything. I don't believe that. I believe it gives suggestions on how to act, but it is not a panacea for everything. Jedi of the past, in the time of the Old Republic, had less opposition to fight and could thus become insular. They let their obsession with the code blind them to the truth. We cannot fall for this in the same way. What I need, Spencer, is for you to have your OWN philosophy on right action, mixed with the Jedi beliefs. I don't want a drone as my Padawan, I want someone who genuinely believes in what she does and how she does it. Else...all this is pointless."

Phylis had spoken with real passion, but now made a shrug. "But that's just me. So what do you believe, Spencer Jacobs? What do you believe a Jedi and you should do to help the galaxy?"

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer knew this answer. She had gone over it so many times in her head every time she doubted herself. Taking a deep breathe she nodded her head and spoke with a sure tone.

"I believe that a Jedi should save the galaxy. By doing that a Jedi has to change it, create a rift in the current thought process of the galaxy at large."

She paused a moment, her next comment usually got her into trouble and she had a feeling she would disappoint Phylis.

"What I want to do as a Jedi...I want to prevent death...the idea of losing my classmates or even you Master is something I cant even fathom. I want to learn force techniques to help keep Jedi and innocent people alive."

 

[Phylis Alince]

Phylis nodded in sympathy. "I can understand that, Spencer. Death is always traumatic, and always more so when it happens to ones who are close to you. However, I must point out a determining factor in the galaxy; life does have a natural cycle. I have met those whose lifespan is longer than an ordinary human like me, and the long tale of years does not make them happier by itself. Often it changes a person, makes them selfish and greedy for every last moment. As it is now, you and I both know we will die one day...though hopefully peacefully and in many years time from now. However, if you take that away people become jealous of what they have, suspicious of others who might take it. from them."

"What I feel is better in the long run is to let nature take its course, but provide a galaxy where peace and medicine ensures that people's lives are full and happy."