Lightsabers

  large ball, perfectly smooth except for tiny covered openings that might

  have been repulsorjets or small targeting lasers.

  Luke set the ball on the slanted, burned trunk; miraculously, it did not

  roll down the slope, but remained exactly where he had placed it. He

  withdrew another of the scarlet spheres, and another, and another.

  "Remotes!" Jaina cried, guessing what they were.

  "Those are remotes, aren't they, Uncle Luke? What are they for?"

  "Target practice," he said. All four remotes sat balanced on the burned

  Massassi trunk, refusing to roll, as if they could ignore gravity.

  Lowbacca grunted with surprise, and Tenel Ka straightened. "We are going

  to shoot at them?"

  "No," Luke said. "They're going to shoot at you."

  "And we deflect the shots with our lightsabers?"

  Jacen asked.

  "Yes," Luke said, "but it's not as easy as you might think."

  "I never said I thought it would be easy," Jacen muttered.

  Tenel Ka nodded. "A lesson to sharpen our LIGHTSABERS

  ^ reflexes and concentration. We must react quickly to intercept each

  burst from the remotes."

  "Ah, but it gets harder," Luke said. He reached into the sack again,

  removed a flexible helmet with a transparisteel visor tinted a deep red,

  and handed it to Tenel Ka. "You'll each wear these." He withdrew another

  pair of helmets for the twins, but the last one consisted of only a red

  visor fastened with crude tie-straps. "Sorry, Lowbacca, but I couldn't

  find a helmet big enough for your head.

  This will have to do."

  Jacen slipped the helmet over his perpetually tousled brown hair and

  suddenly saw the jungle through a scarlet filter. The thick forest held

  a more primeval quality now, as if backlit with smoldering fires. The

  details were duller, darker, and Jacen wondered what the helmet and

  visor were supposed to do-protect them against stray shots from the

  remotes? He looked over at where the bright red remotes had rested on

  the burned tree trunk . . . or rather where they should have been.

  Jacen blinked. "Hey, they're gone!"

  "Not gone," Luke said. "Just invisible. When you look at the remotes

  through the red filters, you can't see them anymore." Luke smiled.

  "That's the point.

  When Obi-Wan Kenobi taught me, he made me fight using a helmet with the

  blast shield down. I couldn't see a thing. You'll at least be able to

  see your surroundings . . . but not the remotes."

  Jacen wanted to ask how he was supposed to fight what he couldn't see,

  but he knew what Uncle Luke would say.

  "I didn't want you totally blind," Luke continued, "because all four of

  you will be training here in the clearing with different remotes. This

  way you'll be able to see each other. I don't want anyone getting too

  enthusiastic and causing injuries instead of just deflecting laser

  bolts."

  This brought a small chuckle from Jacen and Jaina, but Master Skywalker

  looked at all of the trainees sternly. "I wasn't kidding," he said. "A

  lightsaber can cut through practically any substance known-and that

  includes people. Remember this warning: lightsabers are not toys. They

  are dangerous weapons. Treat them with the utmost care and respect. I

  hope that the time you each spent building your lightsaber has taught

  you more about its power and its risks."

  Luk-- picked up a set of controls. "Now let's see how well you work with

  the Force and your own energy blades."

  He flipped a switch, and Jacen heard a hissing, whiffing sound. But he

  saw nothing until he pushed up the scarlet visor. The four remotes

  drifted into the air, spinning around and scanning the vicinity.

  "These lasers are low power," Luke said, "but don't think they won't

  sting if you get hit by one."

  Jacen muttered to his sister, "At least he's not LIGHTSABERS

  ^ throwing rocks or knives at us, like at the Shadow Academy."

  "Visors down," Luke said. "Take your positions."

  The companions spread out in the clearing, tramping down the weedy

  underbrush.

  "Ignite your lightsabers," Luke said, then sat back. He seemed to be

  enjoying himself.

  As one, the four Jedi trainees held out the handles of their new weapons

  and depressed the power studs. Brilliant beams sprang out in the red

  dimness, bright slashes the length of a sword blade burning through the

  thick crimson in front of Jacen's eyes.

  The tinted masks drained all other color from their lightsabers,

  transforming them into glowing red rods. It reminded Jacen of Darth

  Vader's weapon.

  "The remotes are circling now," Luke said. "In the next thirty seconds

  they'll begin to fire at random. Reach out with the Force. Feel them.

  Sense the impending attack-then use your lightsaber blade to deflect it.

  A lot of your training has been leading up to this. Let's see how well

  you do."

  Jacen tensed, holding his lightsaber ready. Much as he hated to admit

  it, he drew upon some of the skills Brakiss had taught him at the Shadow

  Academy. He felt the energy blade humming in his hand, pulsing with

  power. The sharpness of ozone reached his nostrils. He heard his friends

  moving about, preparing for an attack that could come from any

  direction.

  The buzzing lightsabers muted all other sounds, just as the red filter

  drowned all other colors.

  Suddenly Jacen heard a snapping shot, though he saw nothing. A loud

  Wookiee yowl preceded the vibrating hum of a lightsaber blade sweeping

  sideways and hitting nothing. Lowie roared again.

  "Dear me, Master Lowbacca, that wasn't even close," Em Teedee exclaimed.

  "I do hope you'll improve significantly with practice."

  Lowie snarled, sounding hurt, and Em Teedee responded in a somewhat

  cowed fashion, "Well, all right. I understand it's more difficult since

  you can't see anything. . . . Even so, I should think it inadvisable to

  allow it to strike you again."

  Jacen's interest in the conversation vanished when a sizzling bolt shot

  out from behind and struck him squarely on the backside. He yelped with

  pain. The tiny wound burned as badly as if a stinger lizard had zapped

  him. He whirled, slashing with the lightsaber, but by then it was too

  late.

  From across the clearing another bolt shot out, followed by a crash of

  underbrush. Through the visor he saw Tenel Ka leap to one side. A branch

  snapped in two as the invisible laser struck it where Tenel Ka had stood

  only seconds before. The warrior girl crouched, holding her lightsaber

  up, her head cocked in concentration.

  Jacen reached out with his mind, trying to sense through the Force where

  his remote would shoot

  LIGHTSABERS

  ^ next. He heard two more laser blasts and then a spang as Jaina

  successfully deflected one of the bolts. Jacen focused on the pain at

  the spot where he had been struck by the laser, using it to intensify

  his determination. He didn't want to be stung again.

  Another laser beam shot out. He swiped the lightsaber at it, barely

  missing-though his motion was enough to shift him out of its path so


  that the beam sizzled past. He felt the warmth of its passage, but could

  not see it.

  "That was close," he said, then instinctively swung to strike again as

  the remote fired once more.

  Jaina parried a flurry of bolts as her remote attacked mercilessly,

  firing five times in rapid succession. One of her bolts ricocheted off

  the glowing edge of her lightsaber directly toward Jacen. He responded

  without conscious thought, flowing with it, somehow using the Force and

  knowing what to do as he shifted his own blade sideways just enough to

  catch the diverted bolt. The deflected blast bounced up into the trees,

  where it fried a fistful of leaves.

  in a single follow-through motion, Jacen spun, reaching up with the

  lightsaber blade to ward off a second bolt fired from the other remote

  hovering in front of them.

  Lowbacca bellowed with triumph as he, too, got the hang of defending

  himself.

  Except for her heavy breathing, Tenel Ka was quiet, thoughtful. Through

  the red filter Jacen watchedas she parried one of the lasers and leaped

  upward with all her might, using her lightsaber like a cleaver. A shower

  of sparks erupted and a smoking hole appeared in midair. Jacen heard a

  thunk as pieces of Tenel Ka's remote fell useless to the jungle floor.

  "All right. That's enough for now," Luke Skywalker said."

  Tenel Ka switched off her weapon and stood with her hands on her hips,

  her elbows spread. Jacen flipped up his red visor to discover his own

  remote hovering barely at arm's length in front of his face.

  He stepped back, startled.

  Tenel Ka's remote lay on the ground sliced in two, its circuits

  flickering and sparking. Jaina and Lowie also shut off their weapons and

  stood panting and grinning. Jacen rubbed the burning pain in his

  backside and grimaced sheepishly, hoping none of the others would

  notice.

  "Excellent, all of you-except now it looks as if I'll need a new

  remote," Luke said, smiling wryly at Tenel Ka. "You did very well with

  the Force."

  "Not only with the Force," she said, thrusting her chin upward and

  squaring her shoulders. "I also used my ears to track the remote. When I

  concentrated, I could hear it even above the sound of the lightsabers."

  Luke chuckled. "Good. A Jedi should use all available skills and

  resources."

  LIGHTSABERS

  ^ Jaina gripped the lightsaber in both hands and positioned the

  brilliant, electric-violet blade in front of her. She looked past the

  searing line of controlled fire at Lowbacca, her opponent, who stood

  opposite her, a lightsaber in his hairy grasp. He growled his readiness.

  Jaina looked into the young Wookiee's golden eyes, saw the dark streak

  of black fur swirling up from his eyebrow and around his head. She

  swallowed and tensed. Though lanky, Lowbacca was much taller than she,

  and Jaina knew he was about three times as strong. But in his furry

  expression she saw an uncertainty, a genuine discomfort that mirrored

  her own.

  "Do I really have to fight Lowie, Uncle-uh, Master Skywalker?" Jaina

  asked.

  Luke Skywalker stood. "You're not fighting him, Jaina. You're fencing

  with him. Test your opponent.

  Gauge each other's skills. Learn to judge reactions.

  Explore strategies. But be careful," Jaina thought of her training at

  the Shadow Academy and how she and Jacen had dueled with lightsabers,

  not realizing that they had fought each other in holographic disguise.

  "Remember," Luke cautioned, "a Jedi fights only as a last resort. If you

  are forced to draw your lightsaber, you have already forfeited much of

  your advantage. A Jedi trusts the Force and at first seeks other ways to

  resolve problems: patience, logic, tolerance, attentive listening,

  negotiation, persuasion, calming techniques.

  "But there are times when a Jedi must fight.

  Knowing that the Shadow Academy is out there, I fear those times will

  come all too often for us. And so you must learn how to wield your

  lightsabers."

  He stepped back and motioned to Jacen and Tenel Ka, who waited on the

  edge of the clearing, sitting next to each other on the burned tree

  trunk. "You two will be next. Jaina, don't worry about Lowie being so

  much bigger and stronger than you are.

  Dueling with a lightsaber is primarily skill, and I think you're equally

  matched in that. Your one true disadvantage is that his reach is much

  longer than yours. Unfortunately," Luke said with a sigh, ^circumstances

  don't always pit us against equal opponents. As for you, Lowie, be

  careful not to underestimate Jaina."

  He dropped back to watch. "Now, show me what you can do."

  "Well?" Jaina stepped forward, keeping her gaze locked with Lowie's.

  "What are we waiting for?"

  The Wookiee shifted his lightsaber, bringing its molten-bronze blade

  into position. Jaina moved hers up to meet it, crossing her blade

  against his. She felt the pressure, the sizzling of sparks, and the

  discharge as the powerful beams drove against each LIGHTSABERS

  ^ other. She saw the muscles bulging in Lowie's long arms as he strained

  against her-but Jaina held her own.

  "All right, let's try something else." Jaina withdrew her lightsaber,

  then swung it at her Wookiee friend slowly, cautiously-and Lowbacca met

  it with another crackle of released energy.

  Swinging to strike again, she said, "This isn't so bad."

  Lowie defended himself. He seemed reluctant to do battle.

  Knowing that Lowie had endured horrifying struggles at the Shadow

  Academy-and remembering again that she had been forced to fight her own

  brother-Jaina realized that Brakiss and the violeteyed Tamith Kai would

  stop at nothing to bring down the New Republic. She and Lowie would both

  be needed to defend against the Dark Jedi. She decided now that the best

  way to rid Lowie of his reservations would be to go on the offensive.

  And this time she did not feel strangled by darkness. Today Jaina fought

  with full willingness, learning to be a defender of the light side, a

  champion of the Force. Uncle Luke had been correct in his speech in

  front of the Jedi trainees.

  She knew in her heart that the Shadow Academy had only begun to cause

  trouble, and she would have to fight to get her friend Zekk freed.

  But first she had to learn how.

  Lowbacca responded with greater strength, a better show of his

  abilities, as he parried her blows and struck back with his own. She had

  to move quickly to cross blades with him again. They clashed and struck.

  Sparks flew.

  Lowie spun and chopped down, but she met his lightsaber with hers,

  smiling, intently focused. She heard Jacen cheering from the side.

  "Excellent, Master Lowbacca!" Em Teedee said.

  "Now do be careful-you wouldn't want a flying spark to damage me."

  Jaina felt the Force flowing through her; Lowbacca wore an expression of

  exhilaration on his furry face. He opened his mouth, showing fangs and

  letting out a bellow of challenge-not mean or angry, simply an

  outpouring of excitement.

  Lowie gr
asped the handle of his large lightsaber with both hands and

  swept sideways, attempting to catch Jaina by surprise-but she turned the

  tables on him. Summoning a burst of energy, she astonished the Wookiee

  by leaping high into the air up to the level of Lowie's head. His

  lightsaber swept harmlessly beneath her, and she landed lightly on the

  weed-covered ground behind him, laughing and panting.

  "Oh my! That was most unexpected," Em Teedee said. "Splendid work,

  Mistress Jaina."

  "Hey, that was great, Jaina!" her twin brother called.

  LIGHTSABERS

  ^ Lowie raised his lightsaber in salute. Jaina grinned, her eyes

  gleaming.

  "Most impressive," Luke said, turning to Jacen and Tenel Ka. "Next,

  let's see how well our spectators can do." ------------------TENEL KA

  HESITATED, rubbing her fingers along the ivory surface of the

  rancor-tooth lightsaber handle. She held the deactivated weapon in front

  of her, drawing deep breaths. Intent on her body, her surroundings, she

  tightened her muscles and brought them to full readiness. Jungle sounds

  f' tiled the clearing: the whisper of breezes ruffling leaves, the song

  of insects, the flutter of birds in the canopy.