I Choose You ( discontinued )

Chapter 5: Nothing Less Than Victory

"Why would you talk to a slave?" Krell asked, as if this somehow made sense. "They're the scum of the earth."

Al felt her insides burn. She suddenly realized she hated this man. Alien. Whatever he was. He was the real scum of the earth. At least clones have a sense of dignity. 

"You will only address me as Master," said Krell. "I don't do first name basis."

Al was relieved. He wouldn't see her calling him Pong. What kind of name was that? "Yes Master."

"You will do as you're told. If you break any rules, you will be significantly punished. Any one step out of line, and I will speak to the council about your removal."

Al nodded. Master Reugen's words rang in her ears. She would have to tread lightly around this guy. 

"Do you understand?"

Al nodded. "Yes Master. I understand." She understood that this is not what she wanted. Not even close. 

<~>

The next few days, Al was decently ignored by Krell. Usually she hated when people ignored her, but this time she didn't mind. She hadn't heard from Ahsoka or Caleb and that made her feel more neglected. Honestly, her heart hurt. She felt more and more downcast over the few days where Krell made no recognition that she was there. After about a week of being ignored, she finally got used to it. This gave her more time to work on her lightsaber attack and defense forms. The clones had taken a liking to her and set up a training course in the remote areas of the cruiser. It was just old crates with automatic blasters, but Al was touched either way. Krell never left the bridge anyway, so the chances of him finding it was very low. About a week and a half after she had been assigned to Krell, he acknowledged she existed. 

The door to her room slid open and her master walked in. Al happened to be meditating, trying to reach Ahsoka, but his dark presence caused her to jump out of it. 

"Up," he barked. "Follow me."

Al jumped up and followed him out. "Where are we going Master?"

Krell stiffened. "It seems I am required to train you in the ways of the Force."

Al shrugged behind his back. Of course he was. They were Jedi weren't they? 

"So you will come with me to your first lesson."

Al suddenly felt giddy. Her first training session! As soon as the emotion arose, it quickly fell. Training? With this guy? This could not be good. Not in the slightest. As she walked down the hallway of the ship as the clones saluted her and her master, she wondered how Ahsoka and Caleb were doing. She wondered if they liked their masters. The doors to a remote hanger opened. As the lights flickered on, Al realized how vast the space really was. Her footsteps echoed around the room, it's noise bouncing off the walls.

"We're training here?" she asked, her voice bouncing off the metal walls. She wanted to yell and listen to the echo, but kept quiet.

"Yes," said Krell stiffly. "I want to see what you can do."

Al raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Show me what they taught you," said Krell.

"With what?" Al asked, looking around. "There's nothing here. No training equipment, no ships--"

"It doesn't matter," Krell said through clenched teeth. She could tell he was getting irritated and felt a leap of joy knowing she had pissed him off. "Just--bounce off the walls a little--I don't know!"

Al shrugged and looked around the empty room. She closed her eyes and focused. Suddenly she could hear...everything. The sounds of the clones in the barracks hanging around, their footsteps clanging on the metal floor, each and every droid as they rolled along the floor of the ship, all of Krell's men deep in conversation, and...something more...somewhere, far away...was it, rain? Tall necked people came into her view. They were talking to someone...someone in a cloak. As quickly as it came, it disappeared. She was snapped back into the present and the world she knew so unfortunately well.