My hand moved on its own as it gripped the lightsaber on my right hip. It was somewhat comforting to hold it. "That was when I snapped out of it. Those emotions receded, clearing my mind."
We both remained silent for about a minute before Satele spoke. "I understand your loss. I watched Malgus cut down my master. I couldn't do anything about it. I was so devastated. Barely, just barely was I able to resist jumping back off of that ship to avenge him. Loss is a source of extreme pain."
"If you haven't processed those emotions, I strongly recommend you do. If you don't, those emotions will keep coming back. This will lead to an eventual fall to the dark side."
She looked at me so I returned her gaze. "Soryn, you are strong with the force. With training, I have faith that you'll become an amazing Jedi. Just… for me, please control your emotions in the heat of the moment. The dark side is a slippery slope. Once you begin to fall, it's near impossible to stop it."
I smiled. "Don't worry, it happened several years ago. I can talk about it with my dad so it won't happen again."
[+20 reputation with Satele Shan.]
Satele smiled and nodded. "Very well. I'm here as well if you need to talk. Handling your emotions when it comes to the force can be a bit more… complicated."
I nodded, wearing a warm smile. "Thank you, Satele."
Satele reached into her pocket and took out what looked like an arcade token. She held it out to me. "When you return to Coruscant, bring this to the Jedi temple. I trust that the council will make the right decision."
I reached out and accepted the token. Instantly, a notification popped up.
[Quest Received]
[Becoming a Padawan]
[Unique]
[Jedi Knight Satele Shan has recognized your talents with the force. Bring the token that you have been presented with to the Jedi Temple and undergo an evaluation by the Jedi Council. Your own efforts will determine the results.]
[???]
Despite my shock, I still inspected the token as well. There was no way that it would be that easy.
[Token of the Light]
[Unique]
[This token was presented to Soryn Brenko by Jedi Knight Satele Shan. He must present the token to the Jedi Council in order to undergo evaluation for becoming a Padawan. Practitioners of the dark side of the force are highly sensitive to this token and will do everything in their power to obtain it.]
I sighed. This was going to be troublesome. However, the reward if I were to be successful would be unfathomable. I'm sure that a part of becoming a padawan would be getting my own lightsaber or lightsabers. Thus, I would then have at least 3!
Aside from them being valuable, lightsabers are a pretty cool thing to collect. I could already see it. I'll have a wall of lightsabers on display in my penthouse on Coruscant. So badass.
Looking Satele in the eyes, I nodded while wearing a solemn expression. "Thank you, Satele."
Satele smiled. "The rest is up to you."
I put the token into a velcro pouch on my belt and then looked around. The injured troopers in the squad were receiving first aid from the demolitionist. Weirdly enough, she was also a medic. I hadn't known this prior to the mission so I was surprised.
It appeared that with another few minutes, everyone would be up and moving. "Let's move out in a few minutes."
Satele nodded. "Good. I'll meditate in the meantime. You should join me."
I nodded, lowering myself to the ground and sitting on my feet. After closing my eyes, I cleared my head and just focused on breathing.
-GE-
Just a few feet ahead of me was a street. Aside from the clearing we ran across to reach this residential cluster, this street would be the largest open area we had to cross in order to reach our destination. After this street, there was just one more property between us and the building we were eyeing.
After the skirmish with Valent and his scouting unit, we ran into two other scouting teams. They both only had four people so they were easily handled. Our injured troopers were barely holding up. We were waiting to give them proper treatment until we arrived at what would become our FOB.
I held up my right fist, halting the movement of the squad behind me. Since we had moved into a different environment, we adjusted our formation to accommodate the narrow spaces in between the houses.
We were currently lined up in a single file line. I was at the front with Satele holding up the rear. The injured were situated in the middle.
I mounted up on the corner of a house and poked my head out to see around the corner. I looked to the left and to the right. From what I could see, there was no one. No droids, no troopers, it was all clear.
Seeing this, I raised my right hand and waved two fingers forwards. We started moving again, quickly across the street and towards the yard of the property in front of us.
I reached the fencing and knelt down. I put both of my hands together and waited. My dad arrived first. He stepped up onto my hands and then jumped as I pushed him upwards. He easily cleared the fence and landed on the other side.
His voice came through the radio as he whispered. "Clear."
I nodded at the next person that was behind him. Quickly, everyone jumped off of my arms and went over the fence. The last one was Satele but she jumped straight over me, using the force to boost herself.
Shrugging, I stood up and then hopped onto the fence, climbing over using my own strength. As soon as my head popped over, my expression turned ashen. From the back door of the building which was on the property we had just snuck into, two Imperial troopers appeared. "Fuck."
Seemingly having heard me, Tomas' head snapped towards the building. He immediately reached towards his chest, taking out two daggers. He flipped them in the air, grabbing them by the blade. He then threw them both in rapid succession.
*Dmp* *Dmp*
The two daggers landed clean in the middle of their foreheads. They both immediately slumped to the ground, very dead.
I looked at Tomas with shock. "Dude, that was fucking sick!"
I finished hopping over the fence while he walked up to the two bodies to collect his daggers. He wiped them off on their clothing and then sheathed them back on his chest. When he turned around, I noticed that he actually had ten daggers lining his chest plate.
He walked up to me and smiled. "Yeah, guess my knife throwing hobby is coming in handy."
I chuckled and fist bumped him. "Hell yeah." I then turned and looked towards the next fence. "Those two should probably be the ones that are patrolling this area. We should be clear to hop the next fence."
Satele nodded and started walking towards the fence. "I'll go first."
I nodded, taking her position at the rear of the group. After she jumped over, she spoke over the radio. "Clear."
Nodding again towards my squad, I started the process of boosting everyone over the next fence.
A few minutes later, I found myself standing in front of the back door of the building we had spent so much effort reaching. Finally, we were here.
[Quest Completed]
[Saving the Royal Family - I]
[+1k exp]
[Quest Received]
[Saving the Royal Family - II]
[Epic Chain Quest]
[After infiltrating Aldera, it is time to find where the Royals are being held. Give out your orders and gather information.]
[+5k exp]