"Yeah," Beryl said tentatively. "I kind of have those same questions floating about my head, too. Especially, the 'getting out' part. And the ‘accomplice’ part. And the ‘bounty’ part. But more so the ‘getting out’ part." She paused a moment. "And did you say 'live' Jedi? So, like, what... there are other Jedi, 'live' Jedi, at this prison?” She frowned a bit, then circled her finger in the air as if she was rewinding a reel. “Ok, back to the ‘getting out’ part. If there are ‘live’ Jedi in this prison, and they can’t get out, how are you planning on getting out?”

"I want to go get in there to find out what's going on with these Jedi they're bringing in there, and even more particularly with a Jedi that was a very close friend of mine that is supposed to be in there. As for the getting out part, I'll have an advantage that no other Jedi that's in there has: an 'accomplice' with a rather interesting set of skills.

If this prison is built like any other prison, then its primary purpose will be to contain the prisoners as opposed to directly controlling them. That should give Beryl the edge she needs to get me out.

If that doesn't work, then I'll have to figure out something on my own. With that said, it does come down to this: if we aren't at the rendezvous point at the specified time, then give us one more week to meet you at a secondary rendezvous point. That'll give us a two week window to get things accomplished.

Its a risk for me and Beryl, but as far as you're concerned, Nic, there's really no other risk involved."

"We're not worried but our lives, it's yours we're worried about. Mainly because that is a terrible plan. I've broken out of an imperial prison before and that was only thanks to an Rebel attack on that prison, but that's another story. Your going to need a much better plan, perhabs one if more detail, if it's a Jedi-prison they're going to have some form of measures that pervents force power.@

As Beryl listened to Ryshana's plan, she began sense Ryshana’s fixed determination to do this, if not now with Nic, then some other time without him. Beryl didn't like the idea of trying to break out of a prison, but neither did she like the idea of Ryshana trying to do it on her own. Ryshana was right—in order to succeed she’d need someone else, an ‘accomplice,’ on the inside to help her.

“The Empire wouldn’t waste the credits and resources to have the entire prison dedicated to containing Jedi,” Beryl said to Jack. “There aren’t that many of them, which means they’ll be held in only a small part of the facility, away from the general prison population. Most prisoners wouldn’t be thinking about getting someone else out, only themselves, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for someone outside of that area to find a way to disable any force-shielding around where the Jedi are kept.”

Beryl looked at Ryshana. “Do you have any plans of this prison, even rudimentary ones? It would save time if we knew where the control points and power stations were located.”

Jana interrupted. “Wait…. you do realise that they’ll bio-scan both of you before they incarcerate you. They’d have to make sure Ry is indeed a Jedi, ‘cause I wouldn’t put it past people trying to turn in ‘fake’ Jedi just to claim the bounty. What I’m not sure of is whether they’ll be matching your scan against files they have, or… or if they have someway to scan for Force Sensitivity in general.”

Beryl frowned. She hadn’t thought of that. If she was discovered to be a Force Sensitive, then that would really throw a hydrospanner in any plans they made.

“Well then, you’ll just have to turn me in under my real name,” Beryl said, “instead of ‘Garajaminder Falsootaavichykar.’ Then there would be no reason to scan me for anything else.” She gave Jana a weak smile. “Remember, I was primary pilot for a blockade runner right before I joined up with you guys. It wouldn’t exactly be out of character for me to be caught assisting an Imperial fugitive.”

Jana gave her a dubious look.

“And just think,” Beryl added, “with me gone, you won’t have to worry about any ‘uncontrolled’ Force users pushing you around.” She paused. “And I am sorry about pushing you, by the way,” she added. “I didn’t mean it.”

Cloud had been relatively silent until now. “What about me?” he asked. “I’m a Force user, too. And after my fight with Sephiroth, I’ll be in the Imp databanks by now. I can’t exactly be on board when we turn you and Ryshana in.”

“No,” Beryl said slowly, as an idea suddenly came to her. “But just before we land at the prison you could bail out in the Headhunter and survey the area for a good place for us to rendezvous.” Her eyes alight, she smiled roguishly at Cloud. “And then, later, you could tell Ryshana through the Force where it is.”

“Me?”

“Well, who else would be able to do it?” Beryl asked. “It’s not like we’ll be able to smuggle a comlink into the prison. And besides, Jack will be flying the Echo. And Nic and Jana have to be aboard to do the turning-in bit.” She grinned. “So, unless you think Oliver could manage to…”

“Okay, okay,” Cloud said. “Point taken.”

“And when the Echo takes off from the facility with the bounty,” Beryl continued, “you can just pilot the Headhunter inside her again. Even if you’re detected on their surface scanners, the Headhunter should just come across as….” She grinned. “As an ‘echo’.”

"I have to admit." Nic Interrupted. "the plan is sound, it could work" Nic turned to ryshana. "If you're sure you want to do this, we'll set cource."

What do you mean it could work? It hasn't got a chance in hell of working "I know the location of this prison. I'll set a corse straight away." Said Jack.

"Alright, lets go. First things first: I'll need to be sedated sometime before you arrive while Beryl is kept locked up and in binders," Ryshana stated.

"Of course, that will be just before we arrive. For now, me and Beryl need to spend a bit of quality time together to prepare."

“Whoa, wait,” Beryl said. “Can we rewind from the ‘quality time’ part back to the ‘binders’ part? Do you mean, actual binders?" Her brow wrinkled as she looked at Nic, then Jack, then Cloud. "Do we even have any binders on board?"

"I think," Cloud started, looking like he was trying to remember, "that there might be a pair tucked away behind the..."

"I've got some binders in my room that should work," Jana cheerfully volunteered. "Even got the key. Picked them up the last time we were in Nar Shaddaa. They're heavy-duty," she added, "but, they're adjustable."

Cloud and Beryl exchanged looks, then they both took a moment to stare at Jana.

"Ok-ay," Beryl said slowly. "I just know I'm going to regret asking this, but.... Jana, why do you have heavy-duty binders in your room?"

Jana shrugged. "Just thought they'd come in handy one day." She grinned. "And they have."

"Ri-ght," Beryl agreed. She cleared her throat. "Okay… back to the ‘quality time’ bit now….” She looked at Ryshana. “Now, is that Jedi-speak for ‘training’ or I’m getting in trouble for something? ‘Cause all of a sudden, I’m starting to get that all too familiar feeling like when I was waiting outside the headmaster’s office at school. And, I am really sorry for pushing Jana,” she added quickly. “It was an accident. I didn’t mean to do it.”

She looked at Nic and Jack and Cloud. “And I‘m sorry, too, for not telling you that I was a Force Sensitive. I’ve known it for years, but it was just a label, you know? I didn’t know that I actually could use, or do use the Force until Ryshana pointed it out to me.” She paused. “And I swear, I never knew I used it when playing cards. If I cheated, I didn’t do it on purpose. Honest. I would never cheat my….” She paused a beat. “My friends,” she said definitively. "Will you forgive me?"

"Okay… back to the ‘quality time’ bit now….” She looked at Ryshana. “Now, is that Jedi-speak for ‘training’ or I’m getting in trouble for something? ‘Cause all of a sudden, I’m starting to get that all too familiar feeling like when I was waiting outside the headmaster’s office at school. And, I am really sorry for pushing Jana,” she added quickly. “It was an accident. I didn’t mean to do it.”"Well, you see, that's why we need to go over this whole idea of control. And don't worry, there's some other stuff that we need to go over so that you're ready by the time we get to the prison," Ryshana answered.

Noticing that Beryl was trying to apologize, Ryshana put her hand on Beryl's shoulder and said, "I'll meet you in the cargo bay." With that, Ryshana went over to the ladder and slid down to wait.

Nic watched Ryshana leave but stopped Beryl from leaving to follow, when ryshana had gone down to the Cargo level he looked at Beryl. "Give me five minuets with her, i need to discuss somthing in private."

He then turned and began to walk out of the room "Jack get us airbourne ASAP!"

Nic climbed down the ladder and looked over at Ryshana. "I know jedi are suppose to be selfless and noble, but Breaking into a prison to free some jedi seems a little extream to me."

"Way ahead of you captain," Jack reported as he controlled the Echo to lift off and head for outerspace.

"Well, technically, I'm not 'breaking' into the prison as you are turning me in. And second, there's a lot more to this than what I've said.

This probably doesn't seem like much to you, but I've served with several of those Jedi. And there is at least one Jedi that I know is there that has saved my life on many occasions. If it wasn't for him, I know that I wouldn't be standing here today; instead, I would be where he is right now or perhaps worse off.

I hope you can understand me when I tell you this, Nic, but the reason that I'm doing this is because I would expect any of them to do this for me. I trust Beryl with every speck of my existance, but if we fail for any reason, I know that those Jedi would've expected nothing less from me."

"Ryshana i've only ever heard of people doing somthing this suicidle for one of two reasons, Alot of money or Love... And you're a Jedi. You're not suppose to be involved with either thing." Nic Stated walking over too a crate and sitting on it. "Have i ever told you about the time i was killed for just doing the right thing?"

While Jack was flying the ship, and Nic was talking to Ryshana, Jana, Cloud and Beryl sat down around the table in the common room. Jana and Cloud were both watching the HoloNet News. Beryl was nervously tapping her fingernails on the table. Suddenly, Jana suddenly slapped the back of Beryl's hand. "Will you stop that?"

Beryl did, but only for a few seconds. "Wonder what they're talking about? Nic and Ryshana?"

"Obviously something that Nic doesn't want us to hear," Cloud stated matter-of-factly.

Beryl gave him a deadpan look. "Well, duh. I know that. I'm just curious as to what it is, that's all."

"The word isn't curious. It's nosey." Jana slouched down in her chair, getting comfortable.

"Why don't you use the Force to eavesdrop on them," Cloud suggested.

Beryl raised an eyebrow. "Really? You can do that?"

Cloud looked Beryl in the eye. "I was joking."

Beryl sighed. "Oh."

"So, Beryl," Cloud continued, "when were you going to tell the rest of us that you were a Force Sensitive?"

Beryl shrugged. "I told Jana," she said meekly. "And it seems that Nic apparently already knew. And you had to have suspected it."

"Yeah," Cloud said. "But you still could have told us. Why didn't you?"

Beryl shrugged again. "I dunno," she said, looking down at the ground. "I guess I've always been sort of... ashamed about it."

"Ashamed?" Cloud gave her an incredulous look. "You have the power of the universe at your fingertips and you're ashamed of it?" And to demonstrate his point, he lifted a piece of fruit from the bowl on the galley counter and passed one each to Jana, Beryl, and then himself.

"Thanks," Jana said, biting into it.

"See?" Beryl said to Cloud. "You've only known a short time that you're Force Sensitive, and yet you already seem so at ease with it. Me? I've known for a long time and can't even manage to slide a salt pot across the table." She sighed. "I hope Ryshana has some sort of accellerated training plan, because if I can't get it together soon, I don't know what use I'll be to her in this prison we're going to."

"You're not being polite," Jana said. As Beryl was frowning at her, Jana explained, "To the Force. You're not being polite enough to get it to work for you."

Beryl snorted. "Look, I know 'Arabelle' said stuff like that to you on the holovids you gave me to watch, but I'm sure that isn't my problem."

"Yes, it is," said Jana. "You're trying to 'force' the Force. You can't do that."

"Jana, how do you know about the Force?" Cloud asked. "You're not Force Sensitive, too, are you?"

"No," Jana replied. she grinned. "But that doesn't mean I haven't had lessons." She looked at Beryl. "Try not 'forcing' it. Just... ask it to move." She slid the salt pot across the table in Beryl's direction.

Beryl took a deep breath. "Ok. Here goes." She concentrated on the salt pot, thinking about it moving back towards Jana. Nothing happened. "I can't do this," she said, frustrated.

"You're trying too hard," Cloud said. He picked up the pepper pot and swiftly launched it at Beryl's head. With lightning quick reactions, she caught it just inches in front of her face. "See?" he said. "If you're not thinking about it, you use the Force just fine. You just need more focus."

"You just need to be more polite," Jana repeated.

"I just need a drink," Beryl said.

""Killed for doing the right thing", hmm, I'll have to remember that one," Ryshana thought out loud. "But no, I don't think you've ever told me much of anything about your past."

"Well i generally like to leave the past where it belongs, but on occasion it comes back to haunt you." Nic stated. "It happened about 6 years back, me and jana broke into a Vault to... liberate some credits from the imps... But while their we came across a guy with a pair of lightsabres. To cut a long story short in saving Jana i got this for my trouble." Nic lifted up his shirt to show the burn mark from where the sabre stabbed him. "Since that day i've had to protest jana for resons i don't know."

"I understand where you're coming from: why take almost insurmountable risk in order to save someone?" Ryshana asked rhetorically. Pausing for a second, Ryshana sighed to herself. Perhaps it was time to go ahead and tell the whole truth and not just some of the truth.

"Well, maybe I need to let myself come through on this and drop this whole facade that seems to keep me at arms length from everyone: I'm not some perfect Jedi. I remember when I tried to be the perfect Jedi almost immediately after being knighted, but then I found out how the real world works during the Clone Wars.

And one of the biggest contributors for me thinking and acting the way I do is because of a Jedi that served under me in a Commando Unit. He showed me how things really worked and how the Jedi Code is both the absolute truth as well as a flawed system. I never had a true mentor as a Padawan, but as a General, he was more than a mere mentor.

There are feelings that I have about him that I don't have for anyone in this Galaxy. If there is truly such a thing as love, then I guess that would suffice as an adequate description. I am willing to risk much for him, not just because of my feelings, but also because he has risked much for me," Ryshana said almost without pause. It was something that she hadn't told anyone before, and it layed her wide open. Thinking for a second, she thought of Beryl.

"Look, about Beryl, she needs guidance from me on how to deal with what she's going through. I know that I'm expecting much from her, but I have something special planned for her that should help to cover things. Don't worry about her. She's strong, and she has the capability to do what needs to be done without getting into an impossible situation."

Pausing for a second, Ryshana then said, "And I don't want you worrying about me either. I've made the calculations, and I know that I can do my part without failing." Smiling at Nic, she then added, "I'm a grown woman, Nic. I can take care of myself."

"O.K we'll do it your way, but remember while you're doing this that beryl needs you, so don't go getting yourself killed." Nic stated walking over to the ladder. "Also try to keep focused, loves has a funny way of getting in the way."

“So, Jana,” Cloud said inquisitively, while he watched Beryl make another attempt at moving the salt pot. “Who’s this mysterious ‘Arabelle’ that gave you ‘Force’ lessons?”

“Well, I’m not exactly sure…” Jana said hesitantly.

Beryl’s salt pot began to vibrate, and looked like it was just about ready to move… and then it tipped over on its side. “Ugh!” Beryl sighed. “I just can’t do this!”

“You’ll get it eventually,” Jana said encouragingly.

“Think I’d better just stick to flying and gambling,” Beryl said, as she planted her elbow on the table and propped her chin in her hand with despair. “It seems that’s the only ‘Force’ stuff I’m any good at.”

“Why don’t you try something lighter to start with?” Jana suggested. “Like a napkin.”

Beryl gave Jana a condescending look.

“Ahem,” Cloud cleared his throat. “Jana… Arabelle?”

“Oh, sorry,” Jana replied. “Arabelle was my caretaker when I was little.”

“She’s also known as Tarla Vel,” Beryl added, still staring at the salt pot. “Or Reibe… or whatever she wants to call herself these days. You remember, our ‘mysterious’ Jedi-type woman that flew in that small fighter and rescued all of us from Lord Vader’s ship?”

Cloud stared at the two women. “That’s Arabelle?!”

Beryl sighed, the salt pot still not moving. “Yeah, Jana had some old holovids of her talking to Arabelle about the Force and stuff and she thought there might be something in them that would help me.” She snorted with amusement. “You know, sort of like a home study course.”

“Be careful, Beryl,” Cloud said. “That ‘Reibe’… she’s not a Jedi.”

“So?” Beryl said. “She’s still a Force user.”

“Yeah? And so is the Emperor. And, Vader,” he added. “You want to fall to the Dark Side?”

“Arabelle isn’t at all like Vader or the Emperor,” Jana said defensively.

“Even if she is,” Beryl said, “I hardly think that learning to move napkins, salt pots, or any other innocuous cooking utensils with the Force leads to the ‘Dark Side,’ no matter who teaches you how to do it.” She paused, then grinned. “Although it sure would make preparing meals a lot quicker.”

Just then Oliver stepped out into the corridor from the medical bay and headed towards the common room.

“See, I could just stand over there,” Beryl continued, pointing to a spot in middle of the galley, “and direct things to come to me by just a wave of the hand, like …” And as she waved her hand to demonstrate, the salt pot shot across the room in that direction, slammed hard against the opposite wall, then ricocheted over both Cloud’s and Jana’s heads, skipped a down the corridor past Oliver’s feet, until it rolled to the edge of the ladder that led down to the cargo bay… then disappeared down through the opening, pinging against a few of the ladder rungs on its way down. Beryl blanched, then swallowed hard. “… that.”

“What was that?” Oliver asked, looking towards the three in the common room.

“Sorry,” Beryl said sheepishly. “’That’ was… me.”

“No,” Cloud said reproachfully to Beryl, “’that’ was you not focusing.”

“Well when I do focus, it doesn’t move!” Beryl snapped.

“That’s cause you’re not focusing properly,” said Cloud.

“And how come stuff like that never happened when I wasn’t focusing, properly or otherwise?”

“Because you’re more aware of The Force now.” Cloud looked at Beryl critically. “That’s why you wiped out on your new bike on the way here, isn’t it? Ryshana must have said something to you to make you realise you were using the Force, and that’s why you lost control. You’re afraid of it.”

Jana’s brow raised, and her ‘look’ began to appear. “Wiped out?”

“I didn’t wipe out,” Beryl said quickly. “And I’m not afraid of it.”

“You are, and that’s why you can’t focus,” Cloud said to her. “But you don’t have to be. You just have to learn how to let it flow through you. Ryshana can help you with that.”

“Speaking of flowing and Ryshana….” Oliver interrupted. “Where is she?” He held up his datapad. “I’ve got those blood test results she asked me for.”

“She’s down in the cargo bay talking with Nic,” Jana replied.

“I’ll take them to her,” Beryl offered, standing up. As Oliver handed her the datapad, she looked at Jana. “They’re bound to be finished talking by now, right?”

“They’ll be finished when Nic comes back up here,” Jana told her. “Don’t be so impatient. Sit down. Relax.”

"Thanks, Nic. I guess that Beryl isn't the only one that needs a bit of focus," Ryshana replied sincerely.

Then, in a flash, Ryshana could feel something about to happen. Prepared for it, she suddenly heard quite a bit of banging around, and then, she heard something bang off of a rung on the ladder. Looking up, Ryshana felt around the rungs of the ladder and felt an abnormality that was falling downwards. Stretching out her hand, Ryshana 'caught' the salt pot in the air with the Force, and it now stood hovering just above Nic's head.

In an instant, she quickly brought the salt pot over to her and held it in her hands. Looking over at Nic, Ryshana then said, "Speaking of Beryl, would you send her down now, please?"

"With pleasure." Nic replied contnuing up the steps and into the common room and walked over to beryl. "If you're done throwing condements around my ship Ry's ready for you now."

Beryl let out a quick snort of disbelief. “Me?” Beryl said incredulously to Nic. “Why do you automatically think it was me?” She looked at Jana. “She throws stuff, too, you know.”

“True,” Jana agreed, “but I normally have a reason. And I aim. And,” she added with a smug grin, “I use my hands.”

“Ha ha,” Beryl said without smiling. She exhaled with resignation, and then, with Oliver’s datapad in hand, headed for the ladder.

It was only then that she actually looked at the datapad. It had samples designated by ascending letters and these were followed by some numbers. Sample A: 11,989. Sample B: 12,694. Sample C: 1,221. She frowned, unsure what to make of them. She shrugged it off, and took the ladder down to the cargo bay.

On the way down, she began to think about the reason why she was here. All of a sudden she felt nervous, thinking that she was going to get scolded for something, although exactly for what she wasn’t sure of.

Then as her foot touched the cargo bay floor, she lifted her eyes and saw Ryshana holding the salt pot in her hand.

Beryl grinned nervously. “Well,” she said with a tiny, but apprehensive shrug of one shoulder, “I finally got it to move.”

((Ok... this is a joint mega-post with Stingerhs, who didn't have time to actually do the posting himself today. Hence the double post from me. :) (Hey, it saved us time and cuts down on the number of posts.) ;) ))

~~~~~~~

"Apparently without thinking," Ryshana replied. "But don't worry, we'll be going over a couple of techniques that will have you moving objects as large as the Headhunter.

I see you have the blood test results. Here, let me see them."

Looking at the Headhunter with trepidation, Beryl handed the datapad to Ryshana without looking. “Well, let’s hope I don’t drop that on someone’s head…” she said under her breath. She looked at Ryshana. “So… what do those numbers mean? And where, or rather whom, did those samples come from?”

"These numbers correspond to some little creatures called Midichlorians. These creatures are what allow us to feel the Force. Now, they live symbiotically with us which means that we can't survive without them, and they also cannot survive without us.

Now, the numbers correspond to the number of Midichlorians per mL in our blood," Ryshana answered. Taking the datapad, she then said, "Now, blood sample C is Oliver. I used him as a control, and as you can see, his count is quite low. Now, sample A is me, and as you can see, my count is quite high, but it isn't as high as sample B. Sample B is from your blood."

“My count is higher than yours?” Beryl’s brow wrinkled. “So, what does that mean? I’m stronger than you or something? And how did you get a sample of my blood anyway?" she added.

"I got your sample straight from Oliver himself. It doesn't take much to get a sample considering all the cuts you give yourself.

Anyways, a higher midichlorian count doesn't really translate into more power. Instead, it translates into a greater capacity for the Force. That means that you have a greater potential to connect with the Force than I do."

Beryl stared pensively at the floor. “So that’s why the Jedi wanted me when I was young,” she said quietly. “Why they were so persistent.” She looked up. “So, if I’m supposed to have such ‘great connection,’ why do I find it so difficult to move things around and stuff? When I’m trying to, I mean,” she added sheepishly.

"First things first, Beryl, when it comes to using the Force, you need to have a set of guidelines that you must follow. The reason is so that you don't end up throwing things around a room or shoving around your friends when you get angry; by following a set of guidelines, you can use the Force to a greater effect without endangering yourself or others.

Now, the guidelines that the Jedi used are the ones that I'm going to teach you. These guidelines form the most fundamental beliefs of every Jedi, and it is better known as the Jedi Code," Ryshana said. “Now the Jedi Code goes like this: There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no death, there is the Force.”

Beryl stared blankly at Ryshana. “Jedi Code.” She nodded, taking a moment to consider. “Sounds sort of cryptic and… well, no offence, but… boring,” she said frankly. “No emotion? No passion?” The corner of her mouth twisted up with doubt. “Doesn’t sound like much of a life. Certainly not a very exciting one. And it certainly doesn’t sound like any of the stories I’ve heard about Jedi in the Clone Wars. Not that I’ve heard many,” she added, “but they weren’t …boring. What’s wrong with emotions? And how can you live life without having passion?”

“Those are several questions that have been passed down through the years,” Ryshana answered. “The first thing that you have to understand is that the Jedi lived by the Code in order to achieve the goal of putting others before themselves. The idea of a selfless Jedi is derived directly from the Jedi Code. The biggest distinction that I would like you to make, though, is that I'm not training you to be a Jedi. What I'm teaching you is a set of guidelines that you can use to help control yourself."

Beryl exhaled with relief. She didn’t think she would make a good Jedi anyway, given her penchant for breaking rules and pushing limits.

"Now for your questions,” Ryshana continued. “Passion and emotion are both linked in that passion is a strong emotion. The Classical Jedi teaching is that emotions are a part of everyone's life, including a Jedi. Instead of revelling in emotions, a Jedi is supposed to repress them as much as possible in order to maintain a certain level of peace. In several ways, this makes a lot of sense as emotions can easily disrupt the way one thinks. The idea is that a Jedi needs to be as objective in their thinking as possible.

However, this isn't always true. Emotions can and do play a part in how the Force moves through you. Certain parts of the Force are never recognized through truly objective thinking. Subjective thinking, however, does lend a certain degree of knowledge. Most people would recognize this as intuition and forethought. Where you can get into trouble is by trying to use intuition through your passions.

As your passions are nothing more than strong emotions, any subjective thinking will thus be based on strong thought. Thinking that way makes things less complicated, but it also makes decisions to turn out very rashly, and those decisions will often lead to greater and more serious complications. This is why the Jedi have always taught to avoid your passions as they will lead to the Dark Side of the Force."

“Okay, I can see how the Code could apply to anger, or hate, or even envy," said Beryl. "But what about the other emotions? Compassion, empathy… love? Those aren’t bad emotions. Surely those don’t lead to the Dark Side.”

"Well, in classical terms, compassion and empathy are emotions that born out of peace. These emotions are thus the results of having peace. However, something to note is that any emotion, whether it be compassion or empathy, can lead to hasty decisions. A certain thought process is always needed in every situation, and emotions can always cloud that judgement.

Love, on the other hand, is a very different matter. For one thing, love is not an emotion; instead, love is a state of being. Love promotes certain emotions based on the situation, and it is also very complicated," Ryshana replied.

Beryl inhaled with apprehension. Complicated indeed. Which begged another question in her mind. “So, these two sides of the Force… Dark Side, Light Side… how do you tell the difference?”

"Knowing the difference between the two isn't very difficult. The Lightside of the Force is distinguished by warmth and life. The Lightside of the Force, in essence, is birthed out of new life. The Darkside is distinguished by coldness and death. It is birthed out of death and destruction. Whenever you connect to the Force, the way your surroundings feel is how you can determine which side of the Force is leading you," Ryshana answered. "Do you have any other questions about the Jedi Code? I don't want you to just hear the Code; I want you to understand it."

Beryl thought a moment. “Well,” she started, sort of thinking out loud. “The emotion/peace and passion parts you’ve kind of explained pretty well. And the ignorance/knowledge part….” She grinned. “That part seems pretty self-explanatory. I mean, Jedi would have to have to be pretty well educated in all sorts of different disciplines if they were supposed to be ‘Guardians of the Universe’.” She thought a moment more. “The Serenity part… that kind of baffles me a bit. But the Death part… well, that sort of brings to mind being brave in the face of danger, not being afraid to die in the performance of your duty. Is that right?”

"Sort of. The last part is the embodiment of a central Jedi belief that encompasses the Force. You might recall that the Force is split into two different sides: Light and Dark. However, you must know that there is only one Force, and the Light and Dark are a part of it. As all of life is tied to the Force, all of death is also tied to the Force. For a Jedi, death is merely a part of life. Life cannot exist without death, and thus the Force cannot exist without death, either.

"That is why the Jedi do not fear death: it is the ultimate means of becoming one with the Force."

“I don’t ‘fear’ dying either," Beryl said, "but I’ve just got a lot of living left to do before I do so. I mean, what’s the point of worrying about something that’s going to eventually happen anyway, right?” She grinned slightly. “You know, you would think that in all of the thousands of generations that the Jedi have been around, some really bright one would have meditated and contemplated enough to find a way to become ‘One with the Force’ without actually having to die first.”

"Actually, meditation is becoming one with the Force, at least to a certain extent. Deep and prolonged meditation, although dangerous, can lead to almost pure oneness with the Force with the only limiting factor being that we cannot leave our physical body," Ryshana responded. Thinking for a second, she then continued.

"That is yet another reason why passions are such an interference. Passionate feelings can often times cloud your perception and lead to an equal clouding of your abilities to use the Force. That is why having a certain degree of serenity is so important: it keeps your feelings from distracting you from the Force."

Beryl’s brow raised. “Distraction… so is that my problem? I’m too distracted by feelings?” She thought a moment. “But when I’m trying to concentrate, like moving that salt pot for instance, I’m not ‘feeling’ anything. Well,” she added quickly, “I feel frustrated, but that’s after I’ve been trying to concentrate, not during.”

Concentrating through the Force, Ryshana could sense Beryl's puzzlement. Distractions alone wouldn't be enough to stop Beryl from moving something with the Force. There had to be some other explanation. Thinking of an idea, Ryshana wanted to figure out exactly what it was.

"Well, let’s see if we can't figure it out together. First things first, you'll need to sit down, close your eyes, and empty your mind of thoughts and questions."

Beryl hesitated for a second, but then she sat down on the floor, legs crossed. She closed her eyes. “I have to tell you that I’m not really that good at meditation. We did some stress-coping exercises like this when I was at school.” She cracked open an eye. “I ended up ‘meditating’ in the headmaster’s office more often than not.”

"Close your eyes," Ryshana stated as Beryl opened one of her eyes. "If it bothers you about what meditation is, then just think of it as 'intense concentration'. Besides, this is different. Instead of focusing on yourself, you'll be focusing outwards. Now, lets go back to the first part where I told you to clear your mind."

Beryl closed her eyes, and sat there, trying to empty out all thoughts from her head. But she found it difficult. There were ‘distractions’ everywhere. She could hear the holoprogam Jana was watching on the deck above her. More propaganda… Focus, Beryl. She could hear and feel Oliver walking about in the med bay. Probably looking for that derned bacta spray again. She inhaled a breath. C’mon, Beryl focus. Don’t let Ryshana think you’re a complete idiot… And then she could feel a vibration in the engines, small and innocuous, but there nonetheless. Cloud doing a tune up. Typical perfectionist. Droyk it, Beryl! Concentrate! And then she began to feel herself ‘drift’, aware of everything at once, as if poised on the precipice of something large and overwhelming, ready to drop into an abyss of….

She coughed, suddenly cutting off the feeling she had felt. “I can’t,” she said, keeping her eyes closed though. “It’s too… noisy.”

Ryshana sighed to herself. Perhaps if she tried something different.

"The key, then, is to not focus on the noise. Instead, I want you to imagine that you're flying. Concentrate on the connections that you make while you're flying."

“Flying?” Beryl sighed, eyes still closed. “Ok-ay…” It took her a few moments, but soon Beryl began to imagine herself in the pilot’s seat of the Headhunter, checking the instruments, making sure everything was alright and ready. She started up her imaginary engines, feeling the hum and thinking how comforting the engine sounds made her feel. She imagined gripping the control stick, hard and firm in her grip. Then she imagined taking off, not from the Echo but from the test bay at Incom—her most cherished memories of Headhunter piloting. As the ship lifted off the ground, she felt the euphoria that went with knowing that she was responsible for every little movement. She was one with the machine. And it felt good.

As Beryl started to imagine flying, Ryshana closed her eyes and concentrated as best as she could on Beryl. Finally, Beryl was starting to connect to the Force, although she probably didn't realize it.

"Good, now imagine that you're flying through a large canyon at breakneck speed," Ryshana stated calmly.

Beryl knew the perfect one--Cutthroat Canyon on Talus near the TCTA. It had been a restricted area for the students, so naturally, she had gone there. She knew every twist and turn, every rise and fall needed to navigate through the sharp and narrow gorge. In her mind, the walls of the canyon began to blur…

As Ryshana concentrated on her, Ryshana could sense the right moment was coming for Beryl. Then, in an instant, Ryshana could recognize the oneness with the Force that Beryl had.

"Good, now, keep your eyes closed. I want you to hold that feeling Beryl. As you hold onto that feeling, I want you to lift the saltpot out of my hands and hold it steady between the both of us."

Beryl kept her eyes closed and her focus on her imaginary canyon, but with one hand, she reached out, intending to feel for the salt pot was. But instead of actually having to touch it, somehow, she just… knew where it was. She could almost feel the weight of it in her hand….

In reality, the salt pot had levitated itself from Ryshana’s hand and now hovered in the air, spinning slightly, but hovering between them.

"Good. Now, do the same thing with your swoop bike," Ryshana said. After a split second, she then added, "But keep the saltpot floating in the air."

With her hand still outstretched, Beryl ‘searched’ for her swoop. In a few moments, it vibrated, then jiggled, and then slowly, very slowly, it began to rise. Beryl opened her eyes then, but her gaze was distant, not focused on the salt pot or the swoop in the corner. Now more than a metre off the cargo bay floor, it hovered in mid-air. “How high should I take it?” Beryl asked in calm and measured tone.

Feeling around the room, Ryshana could feel that Beryl was slowly gaining control over the Force as she started to lift the swoop. "You can take it as high as you like," Ryshana responded calmly.

She felt a spike from Beryl and knew that whatever fear she had of the Force before had left her. She was definitely ready for more training.

For the next couple of hours, Beryl and Ryshana continued with their training.

Jack's climbed down the ladder into the cargobay and saw Beryl and Ryshana resting "Hey, Psycho," Jack called to Beryl "Once you've finished in Jedi school, I need a word with you." Jack then climbed back up the ladder and looked for Nic.

"Hey captain," Jack said once he found him "I hate to be pointing out the obivious but we need some sort of story for capturing Ryshana."

"Well that won't be too difficult to explain." Nic replied walking over to the Drinks cabinet. "We can just tell them we didn't actually catch her and mearly transporting her for a third party... that we we can avoid any specifics."

"Allright captain," Jack replied "I'm going to back to the cockpit. You know for once it's nice to have to plot a corse without having to worry about Imperial fleets and what not."

"Well don't get to use it." Nic said with a smile. "we don';t want those reflexes of yours to get dull without the practice of sneaking around."

Jack smiled before boasting "Captain, I've been doing this whole sneaking around since they Battle of Naboo. The experience will never leave me."

((So I believe I've gained a majority vote in here. In light of that, I hereby take full control of the character 'Jana Vincent'. And now, on a much less formal note, I must announce: I am sooooo gonna enjoy this :D ))


"Sneaking, Nic?" Jana echoed, shaking her head disapprovingly. "We don't 'sneak'. We're 'covert'." She tapped her head and then his. "There is a difference, you know."

At that, she left him, going in search of Beryl and Ryshana.

"Yeah." He replied to Jana as she left. "But we're being sneaky."

He turned back around to Jack, Cloud and Oliver. "Well we gotta' get ready for landing on the imperial station so we can actually leave. That means we need to hide anything illeagl and make sure that if we have permits for anything like guns that will still check out. So let the girls have their fun and lets get to work."

Beryl was sitting quietly on the cargo bay floor with Ryshana when she heard Jana coming down on the ladder. The salt pot spun slowly in mid-air in front of Beryl. Then it stopped, and began to reverse its rotation.

"Thanks to Ryshana, I finally got the hang of it," she said to Jana without looking over at her. The salt pot wobbled irratically and then dropped into Beryl's hand. She grinned at Ryshana, then looked over at Jana. "But I have to keep my concentration going or I lose control."

Beryl stood up and stretched. "At least I didn't bruise my swoop. Oh!" she said to Jana. "Speaking of bruising.... If the plan is to sedate Ryshana and put me in binders, I'm going to need some bruises. Not serious ones, mind, but more for cosmetic purposes." She grinned. "I mean, can you imagine me 'going quietly' anywhere I didn't want to go? Especially in binders?" She paused a moment. "Jana, I know you don't 'approve' of sparring," she said, mimicking as best she could Jana's signature 'look'. "But, think Nic or Jack might help me out? I promise I won't use any Force stuff. Well," she looked sheepishly at Ryshana, "I'll try not to anyway."

"I've got a better idea. How about you do your best to use the Force and spar with me," Ryshana offered as she got up.

Looking over at Jana, Ryshana grinned and then said, "Don't worry. You can join in if you want. I promise that I won't use any Force Powers or the like. Just some old fashioned Trandoshan Kickboxing."

Beryl's brow raised in surprise. "Trandoshan kickboxing? Is that something that the Jedi taught you? Or did you pick it up on your travels?" She grinned. "Either way, I'm game for it."

She looked around the cargo bay. "You, erm, want to get the mats out," she asked tentatively, "or do you want to just 'rough' it?"

"It'd be best if at least one of the crew also had a few bruises," Jana decided. She smirked. "And in a fight to beat down a person deserving of prison time, can you really picture me standing on the sidelines cheering the others on?"

She crossed the cargo bay and hovered a hand over the intercom. Frowning, she muttered, "Jack doesn't bruise easily... Cloud's likely busy with the engine, Impe's a pacifist..." She hit the intercom. "Nic, would you come to the cargo bay? We'll be needin' you for a minute or two."

Shutting the intercom off, she grinned at the other two. "Soon as he gets down here, we can begin!"

"Actually, that's just one technique that I can show you how to use. There's a couple of others that I know fairly well that don't involve using the Force, particularly some excellent Echani fighting styles," Ryshana answered Beryl.

"The ones that the Jedi use, and conversely utilized the Force, are mostly based on the various Echani fighting styles with more of an emphasis on disorienting and disabling your opponent rather than killing them outright."

Listening to Jana, Ryshana had to grin a bit at the idea. "This should be interesting; I've always wanted to see how Nic could hold up against trained fighters."

Nic heard the ship wide intercom from Jana for him to go down to the Cargo bay. "Well it looks like you guys will have to deal with that." Nic stated as he began to walk down to the Cargo bay. "What do you need short stuff?"

Beryl couldn’t resist answering Nic's question. “We need your body,” she said, flirtatiously wiggling her eyebrows at him. She patted the mat on the floor. “Right here. Right now." Then the grin she had been suppressing started to manifest. "Just for a bit of rough and tumble before we get sent to 'prison.'"

"O.K" He said slowly emphacising the K. "I'm flattered and all, but it's not really my kinda thing. It's also immoral for a Captain to fratenise with the crew."

"No 'fraternizing', Nic," Jana giggled. "More what it is, will be a bit of a brawl. After all, a few of us on the crew are going to need a bruise or two to make it seem realistic that we beat down our little fugitive here." She gestured to Beryl. "Jack doesn't bruise easily, Impe's the medic, and we need Cloud to be prepping the ship."

She grinned. "That leaves you 'n me to get and give some bruising, Cap'n."

"Why am i always the one to get beat up or shot in the leg." Nic said obviously annoyed with the situation. "I'm the captain i should not end up in pain everytime we need to get out or in this case in a sticky situation."

“Aw…,” Beryl said with mock dejection at Nic’s refusal to participate. “I think he doesn’t want to play because he knows he’ll get beat,” she said with a wink to Jana. “But that’s okay,” she said quickly. “You can be the referee, Nic.”

She stretched her arms over her head to limber up, then cracked her knuckles, and then took a place on the mat. “Okay, I’m ready,” she said with a challenging nod in Jana’s and Ryshana’s direction. She beckoned with her hand for either Ryshana or Jana to step forward onto the mat to fight her. “Bring it on.”

"Bring it on?" Jana echoed. TCTA? Beryl grinned and wiggled an eyebrow.

"Who's first?" she challenged. Stamping a foot impatiently, she repeated. "Come on! Bring it on!"

Jana smirked. "You got it!" She took a step back, placing herself behind Ryshana...

Beryl moved forward towards Jana--slowly, deliberately, and with a grin on her face. She knew that Jana was ready for her, but she took time to study her stance, trying to anticipate how she might react. Beryl raised her arms in a classic boxer’s stance.

And then Beryl struck out at Ryshana with a forward thrusting uppercut, while at the same time, Jana dropped to the floor behind Ryshana to do a sweep kick with the intention to knock the Jedi off her feet.

It was a team effort, similar to the moves that TCTA students would do when challenged by an instructor. It had worked well for Beryl in her class, albeit it was only good for one fall. But she was hoping that it would work just as well on Ryshana.

Ryshana was very quick to recognize the team effort and lunged forward away from Beryl's strike in a carefully timed rolling leap. As she rolled forward, she twisted sideways and scissor-kicked out at both Beryl and Jana at the same time.

Beryl was surprised to have her feet kicked out from underneath her by Ryshana, instead of the other way around. She fell, feeling the sting of the mat on her cheek as she hit the ground.

She was up in a second though, and facing Ryshana again. Without waiting for Jana to get up, Beryl launched a series of roundhouse kicks at Ryshana. The Jedi deflected them easily, but Beryl's intent wasn't to necessarily make contact with her but to make her back up. Jana was still on the ground, and Beryl hopped she would stay there and then rise at just the right moment, 'causing a tripping obstacle for the Jedi.

As Ryshana backed up, she sensed Jana behind her. However, Ryshana continued to back up, and as she reached Jana, Ryshana arched backwards as Beryl's last roundhouse flew harmlessly by. Reaching behind her, Ryshana braced herself on top of Jana's back as she started to perform a backflip.

However, instead of performing the actual backflip, Ryshana used the Force to launch herself feet first at Beryl.

Beryl didn't have time to dodge or even prepare for Ryshana's move off of Jana's back. It wasn't something that a 'normal' person would have been able to do. But then again, Beryl should have realised, and anticipated, that such a move was very possible for Ryshana. And, she also should have realised that it was possible for Ryshana to lie. She had told Beryl that she wasn't going to use the Force to fight her, but she had. But was it really a lie? Or was it one of those "from a certain point of view" things.

Beryl thought about all this while laying flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling. There wasn't much else she could do until she got her breath back. Ryshana had hit her hard with both feet smack in the middle of her diaphragm.

Slowly, Beryl began to rise to her feet. "That wasn't fair. You used the Force," she choked out to Ryshana. But somehow, Beryl knew that there was going to be a lesson involved in all of this.

"And so can you. Besides, I promised that I wouldn't use the Force on Jana. If you want this to be a fair fight, then stop trying to hit me and hit me," Ryshana said.

Without waiting for Beryl to respond, Ryshana performed a leaping spiral at Beryl. At the last second, Ryshana threw out her fist while still in midair.

Because Beryl didn't have time to think, her instincts and the Force served her well. Still short on breath, she spun, dodging Ryshana's fist with lightning quickness, but as she came back around, she pushed out at Ryshana with her hand--it was Beryl's first controlled Force Push.

Feeling the Force pushing her towards the wall, Ryshana quickly turned herself so that she was facing away from the wall. When she hit the wall, Ryshana appeared to be crouching down, but in reality, she was using the Force to pin herself against the wall.

In an instant, Ryshana released herself from the wall, and used her legs to lunge forward in a roll. Gathering the Force inside of her, Ryshana came out of the roll in an incredibly fast flurry of strikes mostly using her fists.