My shadow walking has never been smoother. My breath has never been quieter. I’ve never been more aware, more controlling over every movement and impulse. Not a single snap of a twig, a single rustle of a leaf.
Her back was to me, draped in smooth, pale fabric and a tight spiral of brown hair tucked between her chair and lower abdomen. The target leaned her head forward and something hidden behind her body crinkled and then something else tore. It must have been lunch time. A growl emanated from my own stomach, but I can’t focus on that right now. This must come first.
This closer i got, the more my doubts melted away. After all these years, will I finally, finally-
“You know, Terava, when I first go here I couldn’t believe that you Tail-Mearene borns would ever eat hill lizards. Their big eyes and the way they scuttled around grossed me out”, she called over her shoulder, a smirk in her voice. “Now I have one for lunch every day”.
Giving an exaggerated groan, I padded over to Alexandra, no longer trying to mask the noise. “Why can I never sneak up on you?”
Alexandra flicked her wrist and and through the incomprehensible power of the force, the chair on the other side scraped out from under the table. I sat down. She smiled and replied, “It doesn’t matter if I can see or hear you. The force is like a sense all on it’s own and unlike the others, it can’t be deceived or hidden from. I’ve told you all of this before.”
“Can’t you pretend to be surprised, at least once?”
There was an evil glint in Alexandra’s eyes as she responded. “We all need a lesson in humility every now and again, even the Royal Assassin.” Then she walks over and gives me a hug. “I missed you Terava.”
I hold you her tighter. “You too, Alex.” The emotion in my voice surprised me. “Well, when the war ends we can see each other whenever we want”.
Something flashes in her eyes. Then it’s gone and she smiles again. “I would like that”.
I lean forward. “So tell me.”
She cocks an eyebrow. “Tell you what?”
“What happened while I was away, what else? I know how you love gossip”.
“Hmm, what to start with? We got Greytson back.”
“No kidding?” I said. Greytson, before the Revolution, was the most prosperous and industrial city on Tail-Mearene, home to the world’s greatest engineers and architecture. The Royalists would have tried taking it out of pride, even if it didn’t have mines for just about everything, including metal. “Who led the attack?”
Alexandra chews off a piece of her hill lizard. “I did. It was a surprise attack. We killed most of them before they knew what was going on. A few offworlders and Sith were a problem, but it ended surprisingly quickly.”
“I would expect no less from you, Alex”, I say as I slowly reach out to get a piece of Alandra’s hill lizard meat. She slaps my hand away.
“Thank you and no, you cannot have my food. Get your own.” She holds her hill lizard closer to her. Alexandra is serious about her meat. She continues, “So, tell me how your little adventure went.”
“No way, I’m not done asking you yet. What else is new?”
“Do you know Varnada? His sister-”
“What?”
“What?”
“What are you hiding from me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You hesitated.”
“I did not.”
“You did. I saw it. You wanted to say something and then you hesitated.”
“Terava, I had no idea you could be so insightful-”
“Don’t change the subject, true as that comment may be.”
A sheepish look crosses Alexandra’s face. She puts the meat down. I briefly consider snatching it, but decide I want to hear this more.
“Ambassador Quan told me that he will appoint a padawan to study under me. I am going to be a Master.”
I throw up my arms, “Finally! I was beginning to think Quan was getting senile.”
“Do you think I’m ready for this?” There was a strange sort of tension in Alexandra’s voice.
“Are you serious? Alex, you’ve been ready! There isn’t a single person on Tail-Mearene, not even among those who were actually born here, who have fought harder for the Royalists than you.”
“I wouldn’t say that . . .”
“I don’t know why they can’t just hurry up and make you part of the Jedi council.”
“Now i know you’re joking.”
“I’m actually not. I can’t believe this, you’re getting a padawan. You better not be full, because we are celebrating right now. What restaurant do you feel like? I’m buying”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“It’ll be the last time that I do. When we have a padawan, we can just have it do all the buying.”
“First of all, she will be my padawan. Second, it would be a gross abuse of my authority to have her go out and buy snacks for us. I would never stoop to that level. Unless it’s hill lizard. And even then, only in emergencies, like if I didn’t have lunch that day.”
“She? You’ve met her.”
“No. Quan did tell me a bit about her though.”
“What’s her name?”
“Vequala.”
There’s a roar, the crunch of feet on grass and a man’s thick body lurching to it’s target, his sword dulled, drawn and held aloft at his side, bowing with every lumbering step. Vequala let him come close, closer, his charge one part strength, one part swagger, three parts impulse and no part stealth. He is just beginning to raise his weapon in an exaggerated downward strike when she raises her hand and he barrels backwards the way he came. Three more were nearly snapping on his heals; the thick bodied man plowed through them like grass. They couldn’t have done anymore than envision themselves jumping over or around the fleshy projectile before they found themselves in a hopeless tangle of limbs and dirt. The rest of the crowd neatly carve themselves around their fallen comrades, like a stream around a stepping stone. Their faces are marked by wind and sun, limbs sculpted with outlines from bone and engorged muscle, their ranks bristling with swords, clubs, knives and spears.
One of the woman to the front, a gaunt farmer with red hair, makes the mistake of pulling Vequala with the force. I’m sure she expected, hoped rather, that my second in command would be caught off guard and dragged into the fray of soldiers, where she would be overcome by superior numbers and manpower. The redheaded soldier’s misstep lies in her assumption that Vequala can be surprised.
Vequala adds her own power to the power being exerted on her, using the force to drive herself forward. She shoots into the ranks like a laser blast, a glint of grey in a green field. My second in command had even the body of troops before those closest to her found themselves flying through the air. The rest weren’t that far behind. A few stragglers somehow remained on their feet, before she put them down. The last one was also the darkest and the grittiest, a short, scarred man with a mane of styled black hair. With the force he tears stone after stone from the ground and hurls them, too fast and wild to precise. Most of the rocks fall short or too high or miles to either side. Vequala pushes the others back or redirects them with a flick of her wrist. Soon she finds her way close to the lone survivor and drills a punch into his jaw, flattening him onto his back. I’m so proud.
Her eyes wander a field of of her sore, humiliated and groaning opponents. She says, “That will conclude our drilling for today. Everybody gather up.” Her students crowd up in front of her and she ignites her lightsaber, starting another lecture on weapons and the force while I sit back and ponder.
Sometimes, when I see Vequala I can’t help but see shades, Alexandra’s and mine, working inside of her. Especially when she fights. Her movements are my movements, light, silent and lethal, her armor the same dull steely color, her equipment the same, her strategy and calm the same as mine. But when her light saber flickers on, on the occasions when she laughs or jokes or teases, when she teaches . . . it feels like Alexandra is there, fighting, joking, laughing, teasing, teaching. I wonder, would Alex have trained Vequala if she knew the her student would someday help lead an attack on Castle Vernot, on the Republic? I suppose if she had known what the future holded, my dear friend Alexandra would have killed me before I had a chance to find out.
After Vequala’s lesson is over I walk up to her. She turns to me and says, “Greetings, Master. How is the main body of troops progressing?”
I grimace. “As well as can be expected, considering our deadline. How about your force sensitives?”
She replies with a stone face, “As you say, as well as can be expected. I’ve had to cut off at least half, either because their motivation or progression hasn’t been strong enough. As for the rest . . . I could never replicate the skill or power of a Jedi in this short a period of time. That being said, they are learning. None of them have had a chance to enhance their powers before me and all of them are eager.”
“By the way, why did you have them all go against you like that? It couldn’t have been much of a challenge, considering they stood no chance.”
Vequala cocks an eyebrow and says, “We could all use a lesson in humility, maybe even the new Revolutionary General.” She cracks a grin, “Or maybe it was just fun.”
I laugh. How silly of me to compare Vequala to someone else.
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