Ahsoka's Return

Chapter 12

For almost a month everything stayed the same. Ahsoka and Ventress trained Leia and Spetevge, and Luke occasionally came to the training sessions. Usually however, he just stood in the doorway and watched, if he even came at all. Once he had tried to get into R-2's filing system while he was hooked up to the computer for repairs, but the firewalls had thrown him out of the program completely. After that, R-2 had avoided being alone in the same room with him, and spent almost all of his time with Ahsoka. Ahsoka seemed to love that R-2, or "Artooie" was spending more time with her. Occasionally she would rest a hand on him, and sometimes she would even have him show a video to clarify something she was trying to teach.

Spetevge and Leia had grown so much since they had first started training. They could both pick objects up and move them around the room using the Force, as well as pulling, throwing, and crushing them easily. Leia had developed a technique where she could temporarily lift herself off of the ground and levitate, but she was still trying to figure out how to focus on fighting while doing that. Spetevge was trying to apply the Force towards her sight. She wanted to be able to fight normally even in complete darkness, so she was working towards seeing everything with the Force. Ventress seemed to understand what she wanted, so she had been working with Spetevge more closely.

Today, Ventress and Ahsoka were having Leia and Spetevge use their techniques against each other to see what working with the Force in a fight was like. Spetevge had climbed up to a ventilation shaft early in the fight, and she had spent most of the time directing objects towards Leia. Leia wasn't having any issues deflecting them, but she couldn't seem to find a way to attack Spetevge back. Ahsoka and Ventress were both watching from the back of the room, far enough away that Leia and Spetevge didn't feel like they were being closely observed, but close enough that if something went wrong they could help. "Leia isn't being aggressive enough." Ventress frowned and crossed her arms. "She wants an actual weapon." Ahsoka shrugged. "I haven't figured out when we'll be able to get lightsaber crystals, and when I do she's going to need a strong connection to the Force to find hers. So until then she needs to work with feeling more comfortable with the Force." Ventress shook her head, smiling slightly. Ahsoka looked at her out of the side of her eye. "What are you laughing at?" "You expect them to understand how to use the Force, and even fight with it, when they've barely seen anyone use it."

Suddenly there was a crashing noise, and they both turned to look. Spetevge had managed to pick up two crates at the same time and hurl them at Leia from opposite sides of the room. Leia had seen one, but the other had caught her by surprise. She was bleeding from a cut above her eye, but she didn't seem to notice. She pushed her hands towards the ground and started levitating, and quickly rose to the same height as Spetevge. She made a grabbing motion with one hand, and Spetevge and the ventilation shaft she hanging from both ripped loose from the wall and dropped to the floor.

Spetevge yelped in shock and pain, and Leia blinked. "Spetevge I'm so sorry!" Leia wobbled then dropped to the floor, landing with a thud. She ran over to Spetevge as Ahsoka and Ventress rolled her over. Spetevge shook her head and sat up grinning. "That was impressive Leia! You'll have to show me how you did that sometime." Leia shook her head. "But I could have hurt you." Spetevge shrugged. "We're learning how to fight. You can't learn how to properly fight without getting hurt. That reminds me." Spetevge looked up at Ahsoka and Ventress. "Would you show us how you fight with the Force? I was thinking we might be able to learn better if we saw actual Jedi using it in a battle." Ahsoka blinked and looked at Ventress, and Ventress shrugged. "Why not? It would feel good to go up against someone who actually knows what they're doing." Ahsoka grinned. "All right." She looked at Spetevge and Leia. "Why don't you guys go where we were standing. That way you can still watch and not be in danger of getting hit." Spetevge nodded, and she pushed herself onto her feet. "Come on Leia, this is going to be very interesting."

Ahsoka looked at Ventress as they walked to the center of the room and faced each other. Ventress was smirking as she rolled her neck out. "Don't take it hard if I beat you. I've been practicing." "As have I." "Well then, let's see who's practiced more." Ventress crouched then launched herself into the air. Ahsoka looked up at her then whipped around as a crate came hurtling at her. She threw it to the side and kept turning to face Ventress. She flipped backwards and landed on top of the crate, then started hurling the droid pieces she hadn't been able to reassemble at Ventress. Ventress simply batted them away as if they weren't even there. "Is that all you've got pet?" Ahsoka shook her head. "I'm just getting started."

Leia stared at Ahsoka and Ventress as they fought. Not only did they use the Force, but they also traveled all over the room to dodge the other person's attacks. "They're so connected. They see what the other person is going to do and counteract it." Spetevge shook her head. "This isn't anywhere close to what they can do." Leia looked down at Spetevge with confusion. "What do you mean?" "They aren't using any of the actual attacks they've told us about. They're only using things they've shown us. This is only a fraction of what they were like in the war." Leia blinked and looked at the two figures in the middle of the room. "That's amazing. How did they survive so long with the Emperor hunting down any Force users?"

Spetevge opened her mouth to respond, but the entire facility shook as something hit it. Ahsoka and Ventress both whipped around as the sirens began to wail. They sprinted towards Leia and Spetevge and were pulling them out of the room before Leia even realized that her communicator was going off. She grabbed it off of her belt and opened it to see Luke yelling orders. "Leia! Thank goodness you answered. There's a fleet of star destroyers right outside, and they're nothing like the group we had last time. They've surrounded one of the entrances, and they're trying to blow their way in." Leia's eyes widened. "Where's Han?" "He's there trying to barricade that entrance. The Millennium Falcon is in one of those bays, and he doesn't want them to damage it. Leia." Leia looked down at the change in Luke's voice and stopped. "Do you feel that? They have a Force user with them." Leia closed her eyes and focused. She could feel the malicious intent outside the base, but she also felt someone who felt closer than the rest. They felt more familiar, as if they also understood what Leia did. Leia shook her head. "That's what a Force user feels like?" Luke nodded. "When you're looking for them, yes. They're other people who know the Force, so they feel closer than normal people." "We don't have time to discuss this right now. Leia, can you give Spetevge a blaster?" Spetevge looked up at Leia, and Leia nodded. "Good." Ahsoka looked down at Spetevge running next to Ventress. "Today no one stands by. We lost too many in the last attack. Everyone fights if we are going to have a chance of driving this many back..."