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Second Chance 2001
short story by Louis Turfrey Thirty-six years after Episode IV – A New Hope The first attacker leapt high, his glowing blade coming
down before him in a deadly arc of red energy. The second attacked
simultaneously from the opposite direction, chopping in sideways with her
green blade. Both blades missed their intended target. The young woman leapt
sideways, cartwheeling across the floor. She pulled
upright and took another defensive posture with her own blade. The first attacker attacked again, this time coming in
incredibly fast and incredibly quick. His crimson blade smashed against the
blue blade of the woman, causing energy to arc across them both and
temporarily locking them into place. The second attacker, seeing her chance,
brought to bear her own blade and nearly took the young woman's head off. She
ducked just in time, bending nearly double, and the second attackers
lightsabre smashed into the remaining two. The impact separated the other two
blades, causing sparks to fly. In the same fluid movement that she had used to duck, the
girl flipped backwards. Her blade was catapulted up into the air with the
effort and she called it to her as she landed. She turned as she sensed both
attackers running towards her, breathing hard. She had not even drawn a
sweat. The two attackers brought their blades in incredibly
quickly now, trying to work a way around to cover both sides. She wasn’t
going to wait for them. Two quick counter attacks and one of the blades was
knocked out of the second attackers hands. She silently berated herself as he
had to jump backwards out of range. The first attacker brought his crimson
blade in low, causing her to have to leap above it. However, as she leapt
above the blade, he extended his palm quickly outwards. She hit the wall with
a painful impact that knocked the wind out of her. By the time she had come
around, he had disarmed her and was standing over her, his lightsabre
extended. She heard the blade deactivate and a hand reached down to help her
up. “That was quite
a battle, but you should always be prepared for the unexpected.” The hand
gripped hers and helped her to her feet. She got back on to her feet and
paused to remove the ornate black cloth that covered her cybernetic eyes.
Blake De’Athe stood in front of her, Nera behind him. Both had smiles on
their faces. Trude smiled back in response. “You know uncle, I could have sworn that I heard you breathing hard.
Don’t tell me I was causing you to struggle.” Blakes grin dropped
momentarily, but he soon recovered. “Tell you what,
when you’re as old as I am then I’ll get you to try the same trick on one of
your initiates.” Nera came up and put her arms around her husband. “Oh, I don’t
know. You’re not that old.” Both Nera and Trude laughed together at that.
Blake was momentarily embarrassed. Trude took the brief silence as a chance
to make her exit. Thanking the two Jedi, she retired to her quarters. When she had closed the door behind her, she grabbed her
pillow from the bed and screamed loudly into it. The pain behind her eyes had
built up to a crescendo moments before Blake had
pushed her with the Force into the training room wall. The impact had given
her a reason to stay down and had allowed her to collect her wits. She
concentrated hard on the Jedi healing and pain blocking techniques that
she had started to learn. Within a quarter of an hour she had fallen asleep. The knock on the door awoke her with a start. She checked
her chronometer and realised that she should have been at the second training
session over an hour ago. She cursed to herself and leapt out of bed. The
pain behind her eyes had dropped to a dull thud, but it was still there. She
decided to go see the doctor, just as soon as she had trounced Blake again.
He was waiting for her outside the door, a smug expression on his face. “Guess you were
a little more worn out than you let us see, huh?” She nodded, not trusting
herself to speak until she had masked the pain behind her eyes. She adopted a
sarcastic stance. “Ooh, yes. I guess
that’s it.” She hadn’t succeeded. Blake saw the pain instantly. He grabbed
her by the arms as she started to collapse. “Let’s get you
to the infirmary.” The 2-1-D unit finished it’s
examination and moved back to the scanner unit. Within a few seconds it had a
result. “Mistress
De’Athe. I am afraid that I have bad news. The implants are being rejected by
the nerve grafts. I am afraid that I will have to remove them again.” The
droid sounded apologetic but Trude wasn’t surprised. “When?” There was no pause from the droid. “Now Mistress.” Two hours of combat training and the two Jedi continued
to throw themselves at Trude. She sensed they were still holding back a
little. She rewarded their kindness with a smart slap on the wrist as she took
both of their lightsabres and knocked them away. “Give me a break
will you? Feeling your age again Blake?” Blake merely smiled and came back
into the attack, retrieving his blade with the Force and bringing it in low
again. Trude knew he was attempting to perform the same trick that he had
earlier that week. Trude was ready. She saw the blade and simply blocked it,
bringing it up so quickly that Blake was unable to use the Force Push
technique again. He waited as his wife edged around and then they both
attacked again. The ferocity of the attack moved Trude backwards to the edge
of the combat circle. She knew that if she exited the circle the battle would
be over. She wasn’t going to let that happen. In a leap that took her just short of the five metre high
ceiling, she turned the tables on her trainers. Landing lightly behind them,
she attacked rapidly with her lightsabre blade. The Force flowed through her
as she attacked, counterattacked, attacked again. Blow after blow rained down
upon her trainers. Nera stumbled and went outside the circle. Blake kept
himself near the edge, just managing to block her. She saw him start to tense
in the Force, and immediately knew that he was going to slash to her middle.
She blocked him high and kicked out with her boot, knocking Blake off of his
feet and out of the circle. She stood there, panting. Slowly regaining control of her
tired body. The two Jedi approached her and bowed their acknowledgement of
her skill. She bowed back. “I’ve never seen
anybody learn how to use a lightsabre like you have. I think you’re ready to
progress on to the next level.” Blake retrieved his lightsabre and made some
adjustments. “Right, five
minutes rest and we’ll start again.” Trude nodded and took the chance to
remove the cloth from her eyes. Nera gasped. “What are they?”
Trude smiled. “Something my
father left me in his will. Do you like them?” Nera nodded, obviously stunned. “Why do you
cover them up?” Trude laughed. “I don’t want to
shock anybody. Why, do you think I shouldn’t?” Nera nodded. “Keep them
uncovered.” Trude did so and as she turned to face her teachers again, the
light reflected off of the two durindfire orbs that
sat where her eyes used to be. Blake smiled. “They are rather
attractive, and not a little distracting.” Trude smiled back. “Then let’s hope
they allow me to beat you again.” She took up a defensive posture. Blake
stood opposite her but Nera remained on the sidelines watching. “Last one
standing is the winner.” Blake lunged into the attack, which was easily
parried by Trude. “You think you
can beat me, one on one?” Trude sounded confident, parrying and deflecting
blow after blow. Blake said nothing, he was readying himself. As Blake lunged forward, Trude stepped to the side,
allowing him to fall inside her guard. He didn’t. Instead he pivoted on one
foot like a dancer, sweeping the blade quickly round. Trude barely blocked
it. “Concentrate.” She heard the words
in her mind. Was that Blake? She saw him through the Force and parried
another blow. No it wasn’t. There was a presence nearby, she felt it. “Concentrate, let the Force flow through you.” There it was again. What should she do? “Concentrate,
the Force is your ally, let it guide you.” She relented. Ignoring her doubts she relaxed into the
Force. Suddenly everything became clearer. She could feel Blake’s heartbeat,
sense his movements, almost sense his thoughts. Blake heard the voice as well. It would have been
difficult for any Jedi Master not to. He knew who was speaking though.
Anticipating a step up in Trude’s levels of response he, attacked harder.
Trude looked momentarily surprised but compensated quickly. Blake knew it was
time to go that one level further. He reached out into the Force and called Nera’s lightsabre to him, the blade activating mid air.
Altering his stance he started attacking with both blades, windmilling his arms and using an ancient form of Sith
combat style. Very ancient. Trude managed superbly for the first few seconds,
but then Blake altered the style again, using short stabs and quick parries.
Trude started to back away from the onslaught. She felt herself tiring and
knew that her control on the Force was weakening. It was difficult enough
seeing with the Force when in combat, but trying to fight for extended
periods was a drain on her concentration. The end came quickly. Blake stepped into the attack, briefly catching her arm
with the lightsabre. She yelped as the blade burnt a gash in her shoulder.
She switched hands, but she was fighting a loosing battle, and she knew it.
Sweat was pouring down her face, if she had eyes they would be stinging by
now, and she was fatigued. She tried to concentrate, but couldn’t parry
quickly enough. A second slice caught her just above the wrist. Standing to the side, Nera saw what was happening and
also saw the complete lack of emotion on Blakes face. There was coldness in
him. “Blake, No!” Too late. He lunged and twisted, Trude executed a perfect
parry, and Blake threw the second blade outwards and around. The timing was
precise, catching the top of Trudes lightsabre
pommel, millimetres above her fingers. She dropped the blade as it arced energy, and found herself facing two lightsabres. “Okay, you’ve
proved your point, I surrender.” Blake relaxed and grinned. Nera ran up to them. “What the hell
did you think you were doing? She’s not up to that level yet. You could have
killed her!” Nera was annoyed but Blake smiled back at her. “She had a
little help.” He looked at Trude. “Didn’t you?” Trude called her damaged lightsabre to her and examined
it closely. “Yes, I think I
did. Though I don’t know who, or why.” Blake just grinned back at her. “I do.” He
turned and walked away. “I’m going to get a shower, I’m beat.” He waved his
hand over his head at the two astonished women. “What was that
all about? I haven’t seen him that happy in months.” Trude looked across at
Nera, who frowned. “I don’t know,
but we’ll find out soon enough.” Blake sat down in his quarters, relaxed himself and
cleared his mind. “Okay old
friend, where are you?” The air seemed to shimmer, then coalesce. The image
of a robed figure appeared opposite him. “It was you I
was telling to concentrate. I knew what you were planning. She’s powerful
isn’t she?” Blake nodded at the figure and smiled. “Blood kin. You
should know how strong the Force is in our bloodline.” He sobered himself and
the smile slipped for a moment. “What brings you here my friend,
you are a long way from home.” The figure opposite him smiled and appeared to sit down
on the bed. “I have been
chosen to impart a message to you. Return to Setnin. A storm is brewing; one
that Letitia may not be able to manage on her own. She needs your help.” The
figures face was stern. Blake sighed. “I told her I
would never set foot in the Setnin Sector again, and I meant it. What am I
supposed to do, drop everything? Trude is barely into her training and Nera
needs me to guide her. I can’t leave now.” The figure looked back at Blake and shook his head. “You of all
people should know. To deny the will of the Force is to court the Dark Side
and disaster. Nera is capable of taking over Trude’s training and she can
identify with abilities that you cannot. Nera no more needs your help than
you need hers. Her abilities will
develop quicker if you are not here to stifle them.” Blake looked hurt. “Stifle them? I
never thought of it like that. I suppose if I look at this objectively you’re
probably right. Will you be coming along?” The figure smiled. “I’ll be around
from time to time. I must go.” The door opened and Nera walked into their quarters. “Blake, about
the...” She gasped as she saw the figure sitting on the bed. It turned
towards her. “Be patient with
him Nera. He has a long journey ahead
of him.” The figure disappeared. Nera looked over at her husband. “Was that who I
think it was?” Blake nodded. “Yup.” He
reached under the bed and brought out his travel holdall. “Now, let’s talk
about how you’re going to progress Trude’s training.” Second Chance 2001
short story by Louis Turfrey Thirty-six years after Episode IV – A New Hope Histories
– The training of blind Jedi Trude
De’Athe, the hints of a return
to the dark side for Blake De’Athe and a possible return of Tarr Ranth as a Jedi spirit, this
story involves many elements – not least the request for Blake De’Athe to
return to the Setnin Sector after six months away. Cast of Characters Blake De’Athe Nera De’Athe Trude De’Athe |