Time to step up

[Kriel Firin]

Something hard slammed into Kriel’s left thigh. He spun to confront his attacker, and as he moved, he saw the object that had struck him. It was a stone, which fell on the rocks near his feet.

Another stone smashed into his right shoulder blade. He grunted as he spun again, this time to look back at the Knight.

Lifting his gaze to the ceiling, the Knight said, “Most Disciples fail. Not because they lack an ability to call upon the Force. But because they lack imagination. Ultimately, that is why they all fell by the wayside. They failed to see something very simple yet too difficult for them. They were unable to see potential.”

Kriel sensed a small stone whizzing toward his head. He raised his hand to catch it. Not stones he realised…they were weapons.

 

[Kriel Firin]

“Tell me what you know about the Jedi.”

The young Disciple responded to the Knight’s question. “I know only what I've learned from the files. They are strong with the Force. They serve the galaxy as peacekeepers.”

“Correct but somewhere short of the full facts. The Jedi Order was founded many thousands of years ago by a group of beings who were strong with the Force. Before the Jedi Order, such Force-sensitive beings were isolated instead of united. There were not many. Nearly all were considered unique on their own worlds. They were strong, powerful individuals. Free to live and die as they wished. But the Jedi Order changed all that. They started by analysing the Force to understand its power. They found it had a wide spectrum that was influenced by emotions. They debated their findings. Over time, they discovered there was much they could not understand, and they chose to believe what they wanted to believe. They believed some mysteries were best left unsolved. They believed that the Force itself was testing them. Like narrow-minded, superstitious children, they created explanations for the Force.”

“And rather than embrace the full spectrum of Force, the Jedi ignored the infinite shades of grey that stretched between light and darkness. They declared the light side of the Force was good and the dark was evil. To them, there could be no in-between, no middle ground.”

 

[Kriel Firin]

“An obvious error. It's one thing to examine an energy field that binds the galaxy. But to give an energy field characteristics of good and evil? One might as well say, ‘That cloud wants to protect us from solar radiation, but that other cloud wants to strike us dead with lightning.’”

“And they proclaimed the Force should never be used for selfish purposes, that all Force-sensitive beings were obligated to use their powers for the benefit of others.” The Knight scoffed at his words. “Many joined the Jedi Order, but the Jedi were not satisfied with just some. They sought out every Force user, and gave them three options. Join the Jedi, cease using Force powers, or die. And they pretend they are benevolent!”

“But almost ten thousand years ago, a group of Jedi rebelled. The battle that ensued lasted one hundred years. The peacekeepers believed the war was over when they banished the rebels to an uncharted region of the Outer Rim Territories. But the exiles did not meet their end in the Outer Rim. They discovered the Sith species, and they used their powers to conquer the Sith. They became the Sith Lords.”

“Learn from them, as you should learn from the Jedi, but do not be blinded into thinking the Sith are right either. They change their mind over what’s right every thousand of years or so. Both Jedi and Sith have flaws. Jedi are compassionate. Sith are too fond of in-fighting.”

 

[Kriel Firin]

“Hold still,” said the medical droid as it wiped blood from Kriel’s rib cage.

The young Disciple squirmed on the edge of the metal table and said through clenched teeth, “You have the bone-knitter on the wrong setting.”

“No, I don’t,” said the droid as it moved the medical tool deeper into the wound on his left side. Then it repeated, “Hold still.”

They were in the training room again. Five months had passed since he first set foot in the room. In recent days, he’d learned how to throw blades with great accuracy, and also how to dodge and catch blades that were thrown at him while he simultaneously did his exercises. As for running up walls and flipping backward to the floor — the old Sith training exercise — he had become so adept that he could do it with his eyes closed. However, he had been unprepared when, a few minutes earlier, he had kicked away from the wall and straight into one a flying knife - thrown by the medical droid.

The droid set aside the bone-knitter. “To leave yourself vulnerable is an open invitation to death.”

Kriel eased himself off the table and reached for the shirt he'd been wearing earlier. It now had a hole in it, where the knife had torn through the fabric, and was stained with blood.

 

[Kriel Firin]

The Knight looked at Kriel. “Tell me, do you think I've been rough on you?”

Kriel shook his head.

“You do understand that your training serves a greater purpose?”

Kriel nodded.

“I can assure you that you are an excellent pupil. And ready for the next stage of your training. This time, you are not permitted to use the Force.”

 

[Kriel Firin]

Kriel was taken to a combat area. Instead of one on one training, he was in amongst tens of other Disciples. As he looked at them, he saw they were undertaking exercises with combat staffs - no use of the Force was apparently permitted here.

The instructor addressed the group. “We have a new arrival. I'm told he can fight. I'm looking for a volunteer. Will any one of you fight the newcomer?”

Kriel did not expect every Disciple to shout in unison to volunteer to fight him. Kriel spoke softly to the instructor. “May I choose the opponent?”

The instructor nodded his agreement and Kriel removed his mask and non-essential armour, revealing his burned and scarred body. Regardless of the damage to his skin, his body was lean.

Kriel looked around and identified the biggest and most intimidating opponent. He walked over the the tall individual and nodded. “I pick you.”

The Disciple seemed surprised to be chosen — perhaps he was usually feared as opposed to selected. Kriel cared nothing for the rationale for the confusion. The big man shifted uneasily whereas Kriel remained impassive yet alert.

 

[Kriel Firin]

Suddenly there was a sweeping kick that knocked Kriel off his feet, and then an arm connected with him in midair. Kriel flew across the courtyard and crashed to the ground. The gathered Disciples roared with laughter.

The tall man leaped forward but waited for Kriel to rise. Kriel shook his head as if he were making sure nothing was loose as he slowly pushed himself up from the ground.

The tall man kicked Kriel in the stomach. The sound of the impact made a few of the crowds wince. Kriel was again lifted off his feet. Hitting the ground, his body rolled over a few times before coming to a stop.

Kriel braced one hand against the floor, lifting himself carefully off the ground. The tall man grinned and was now clearly playing to the gallery.

 

[Kriel Firin]

From moving slowly and surely, as if nursing a bad injury, Kriel suddenly moved with tremendous speed and grabbed the back of the tall man’s head and with the other he put a hand around the man’s throat.

As the tall man tried to shake Kriel off, the young Disciple spun around and slammed and drove his knees into the nerve clusters in the man’s shoulders. In a second the tall man was flat on his back as he convulsed, his arms flopping uselessly beside him. And then he passed out.

Kriel rose to stand beside the unconscious body. Turning slowly, he looked at every one of theˇsurrounding Disciples, letting them see that he wasn't even breathing hard.

 

[Kriel Firin]

For the next few weeks, Kriel was put through a demanding set of both physical and mental tasks that had been modelled on the Rule of Two Sith training. He had to fight saber-wielding droids in the arena. Blindfolded, he threw daggers at targets. Droids threw daggers at him. In locked chambers, he was exposed to extreme temperatures and deprived of food. For each test, he drew strength from the dark side of the Force.

When the three weeks were over, Kriel was exhausted. His entire body ached. Not only had he passed every test, he had destroyed every test.

 

[Kriel Firin]

But now he faced his toughest test. Still mentally and physically exhausted he was sent a a remote planet in the Outer Rim for what was described as a make or break challenge. From his studies, he recognised this as a familiar test that often preceded Knighthood.

He was, however, given the bare minimum of information. The planet was made up of three kinds of terrain. Desert, swamp, and mountains. He was to face assassin droids at various locations. And they were programmed to kill.

 

[Kriel Firin]

Kriel travelled alone on the journey, unless you counted the pilot droid. At one point he wondered if this was one of the assassin droids but he decided he was just being paranoid. Little did he know that it would be paranoia that would keep him alive for the next two weeks.

So he kept himself busy in a makeshift meditation chamber for the journey, accompanied only by the survival bag he'd been given. He was denied his saber - apparently it would make the contest too easy.

 

[Kriel Firin]

As he meditated, he reflected on the key eras of Force history that resonated most strongly with him.

As well as the inevitable Knights of Ren, there was one Sith that he'd read more about than any other. A female Lethan Twi'lek who became a Sith Lady in Darth Krayt's One Sith. As a Sith apprentice, she was trained by a fellow Twi'lek Sith Lord, whom she later killed shortly before ascending to the rank of a full fledged Sith in Krayt's Order.

She was appointed as one of his two Hands, thus making her an extension of the Dark Lord's own will. As well as her obvious skills, it was her loyalty that he found most powerful.

 

[Kriel Firin]

Finally the pilot activated an alarm that told Kriel he was close to the planet. He headed to the cockpit and looked at the world as it loomed ever larger. He could see the various landmasses, knowing the next few weeks would see him experience many of them as he would be forced to endure all manner of weathers and terrains.

The bag of equipment he'd been given was sparse and he knew it would have to last. There were no medicines, just rope, a foil blanket, some water purifying tablets and a multi-purpose knife. There was one day of rations too.

As the detail of a continent loomed large, he left the cockpit and went to the cargo bay. Once he knew he was less than 50 metres above the sea, he opened the cargo door and jumped. He figured he's rather be in control of his arrival as opposed to landing where the droid dictated.

 

[Kriel Firin]

The water was freezing and the impact knocked the wind out of him. He broke the surface, sucked in a lungful of air and immediately ducked under the water and began swimming for the shore.

There was every likelihood that surveillance was tracking him, but he figured that remaining under water gave him a slight edge. He broke the surface once more before he reached the shore. Once on the beach, he ran to the tree-line and surveyed his surroundings. It was a tropical environment. The humidity was unbearable and a glance at the sky said that the dark clouds rolling in would bring a storm.

The safe thing to do would be to erect some sort of shelter but Kriel knew he had to get moving. So he called on the Force and ran as quickly as he could inland.

 

[Kriel Firin]

The first day felt as though it was going to be the toughest. Little did Kriel realise what lay ahead.

Within the first twenty-four hours, the want to be Knight endured tropical temperatures and humidity, two violent storms, eight assassin droids and the loss of his kit bag. Worse still, he'd saved his rations for later and so never got to taste them. But one day in and he'd travelled all the way across the island and found a small chain of tiny land masses that he could swim between to travel to what appeared to be a mainland.

In the distance he saw mountains and so headed for them, still not pausing for rest and definitely not risking sleep. He hoped by now he was one step ahead of the chasing droids and leaned against a tree, catching his breath. He'd stopped using the Force long ago. He did not have the capacity to use it for long periods of time, so was saving it for when he needed it.

Finally, he pushed off from the tree with his left hand - which was when the energy bolt took a chunk out of his left bicep. On the plus side, if he hadn't moved, it would no doubt have pierced his heart. But it was a bonus linked to a significant negative. He had no meds and was in a terrain where infections were as likely to kill you as a droid. And there was the owner of the blaster to contend with too!

 

[Kriel Firin]

The lack of sleep, added to the wound caused a wave of nausea to sweep over Kriel. His only saving grace was the adrenaline that kicked in as a response to the life or death situation.

He ducked for cover as two more shots were fired. His brain worked quickly enough to determine the shots all came from the same direction and he was able to ascertain where.

So he kept low and circled around on the spot he believed the droid to have fired from - knowing even AI wouldn't stop in one place for too long. But he needed to find something to redress the odds - given he had no weapons. Unless you included the Force of course!

 

[Kriel Firin]

He expected to come up empty handed, life was never that simple. But he was sure he was still behind the droid. He pulled the Force to him. He'd learned Force Sense and Force Sight and between them, he was able to create a mental map of living things around him. And as living things exuded an aura — regardless of being Force Sensitive or not — he looked for anything on his map that suggested it was inorganic. And he spotted it, a human shaped null point ahead and slightly to his left. And it was moving away from him — which suggests it hadn’t worked out his ruse. At least not yet.

So he pressed forward, maintaining the mental map in his head as he did.

 

[Kriel Firin]

Kriel closed within a few metres. By now the pain in his arm was no longer dulled by the adrenaline and he bit his lip to try to block out the urge to cry out in agony.

Perhaps he paused at the wrong moment and lost a little focus. Whatever the reason, the droid spun and faced him. With no time to react, Kriel looked down the barrel of a blaster that was integral to the droid's arm. The Disciple threw himself to one side and narrowly avoided the shot. Unfortunately he landed on his arm and the pain was excrutiating.

Looking around, he saw little to work with - and then saw them. Stones. As quickly and as aggressively as he could he used the Force to lift them and directed them at the droid - peppering it in the hope of distracting it for long enough to formulate a more precise attack.

 

[Kriel Firin]

The diversion stopped the droid from firing on him immediately, but the assassin retreated and slowly raised its arm, ready to blast the would be Knight to smithereens.

Kriel did precisely the same thing. He dropped his focus on the stones and stretched the fingers of his right hand towards the droid. Summoning the Force, a lightning arc of purple flew from his fingertips and hit the droid square on the chest. It spasmed and lost control of its limbs, crashing to the floor. Kriel continued to stream ions into the droid until he was sure he'd overloaded all of its circuits.

He slumped to the floor, blood pouring from his wound and his energy levels way too low for comfort. What he needed was rest. What he did not need was the sound of an incoming ship that told him a fresh batch of assassin droids were about to be dropped off.

 

[Kriel Firin]

Kriel ripped some of the cloth from his cloak and wrapped it around his arm, making as good a makeshift bandage as he could. He hoped to have applied enough pressure to stem the flow of blood.

Once that was done, he was on the move again, heading towards the mountains - as he heard the ship land behind him - and figured he only had a twenty minute head start on his pursuers.

Knowing they would not tire the way he would, he pushed himself relentlessly. His training had often required him to go up to seventy-two hours without sleep and so his body was used to the punishment, even if it did not relish it.