The Wolf Pack

Chapter 16

Fortunately for all of us, the Republic had a very good healthcare system, so in a few days, I was able to start moving around and doing some light exercise. During the first few days of rest, I have to admit, I got a little bored. It's not like I had nothing to entertain myself with - the surviving members of the Pack visited often and the extensive reading my language studies demanded were enough to keep me occupied- but I soon found out that not being allowed to move around made me want to do it even more. Unluckily for me (or luckily, depending on your point of view) Commander Wolffe had decided to be a pain in the ass and station two troopers outside my quarter at all times to make sure I actually rested.

However inconvenient that had been, it made my recovery time faster. So a few days later I was able to head to the workout facility in the lower levels of the cruiser. Troopers and officials had to keep in shape at all times, and although it was them who used it the most, it was not unheard of for Jedi to make use of it as well. It did bring a lot of curious stares though. Most troopers rarely say their Jedi leaders since there were so few of us. As a result, it was no wonder many of them looked at me and saw a child at worst and an inexperienced teenager at best.

I decided to mind my own business and start my warm up. Once I got myself to work up a sweat, I moved to the side of the ring and began my Form V katas. My movements were not as swift and elegant as they were when I was at my peak, but it wasn't terrible. It was only a matter of time and practice, and repetition until I got back in shape. I closed my eyes and got started on my next set.

"Hey, kid. We don't give dancing lessons here." I heard someone say.

I decided to ignore him and continue my workout.

"Oi, I'm talking to you." He said, his voice now lower, deeper, annoyed.

Still I didn't mind him and continued on. That is until I felt him move toward me. He stood right in front of me, face dead serious just a few inches away from me. I opened my eyes.

"Do you need anything, trooper?" I asked him.

A small crowd had gathered around us and was waiting, holding their breath in anticipation.

"This is a training facility, kid. Not a dance academy." He said.

"You'd be surprised by how similar both disciplines are, trooper. But as much as I like dancing, that's not what this is." I answered coolly.

I wasn't in the mood for a fight, I was still a little tired from my injuries and I wanted to exercise in peace.

"Well, dancing or not, you need to take it somewhere else. We are training for combat here. This is no Place for a girl." He said puffing his chest and raising his head.

"I don't think I will. What's your name? I don't feel like calling you trooper." I asked.

"That is none of your business. And you will leave this place or else..."

He was sizing me up. I knew it. I knew he was trying to prove something, whether it was to himself, to his brothers or to me, I didn't know.

"Or else?" I repeated.

"Well, we can solve this matter in the ring." He suggested smuggly, as if he knew I would refuse.

Like a normal Jedi would. But I didn't feel like being disrespected, not that day, not ever.

"Hey, Headfirst, I don't think that's-"

"Very well trooper. Ladies first." I motioned to the ring to our left.

"Commander, you shouldn't-"

"I don't want to hear it, Twitch. The trooper is clearly insisting."

Now, at the time I was seventeen, and even if I wasn't the biggest or strongest Padawan my age, I was fast, and I was flexible. I had more often than not taken on opponents much bigger than me, so I had the advantage of experience. The downside was that I was not at full capacity, and using the Force to compensate was unfair on the trooper. So I entered the ring, fully aware that I could very well lose the fight to this trooper, but too annoyed to care. Turns out, I wouldn't have to.

"What is the meaning of this?"

I groaned when I heard him. Commander Wolffe had a knack for being anywhere I didn't want him to be. I turned around and saw the other troopers make way to let him through.

"We were about to have a friendly competition between the little girl and I, Commander." Said Headfirst.

"There will be no such thing. Commander Foreas needs to rest. She was ordered to do light exercise only." Said Wolffe looking at me pointedly.

Killjoy.

"Oh it wouldn't have been a fair fight anyway, Commander, the girl couldn't take me if I had a hand tied behind my back." He boasted.

"Oh it certainly wouldn't have been fair, Headfirst. For you." Said Wolffe, a little irritated now, probably understanding why I had agreed to fight the trooper.

The crowd around him started chuckling, there was no way a little scrawny seventeen year old could take him.

"You will have to forgive me if I don't believe you, Commander," He said as he got closer to me. "There is no way a kid like her-"

And then, he put his hand on my shoulder. And that was the last straw. I grabbed his arm and twisted underneath it, dragging his wrist with me. I pulled it up between his shoulder blades and kicked the back of his knee, making him kneel in front of me.

"I've been lenient until now, trooper. But if you touch me again I will break your arm in so many places you'll need reconstruction surgery." I said before letting him go and exiting the ring.

I grabbed the towel Wolffe handed me and started making my exit. The entire room was silent as we left, and the only thing I could hear before the doors closed was someone saying "What the fu-".

...

We walked back to the mess hall in silence. I could tell the Commander was annoyed, though I wasn't sure if it was me he was annoyed with or Headfirst.

"You should know better." He said finally. "You don't need to prove anything to anyone."

I chuckled.

"Right."

"A good leader is confident in their skills and doesn't need to show them off to anyone." He continued.

"Oh spare me the lecture, Commander. It's not like you would understand"

I said before entering the mess and getting in line to get food. He followed me but didn't take a tray for himself.

"What don't I understand? The fact that you feel like you need to prove yourself to everyone around you?" He asked, losing his patience.

"What you don't understand, Commander, is male predatory behavior," I snapped at him. "They didn't challenge me because of my age, they challenged my authority because I am a female and their superior. They know who I am and the battles I've fought, do you think they would have done the same if I had been male istead?"

He didn't respond. And I didn't give the time to do so either. I left the tray on the shelf and left the mess. I wasn't that hungry anyway.