"What is this?"
"A training dummy." Stating the obvious, I know.
"I am aware."
"And your first enemey."
"Are you trying to mock me? I have fought in battles. You told me that you would teach me to be strong and fight like you!" I can feel Rhea's irritation. She is probably glaring.
"I did, and I will. First you must learn to control yourself."
"All I need to know is how to smash my enemies and punish those who wronged me," she snarls.
"Power without self-control is like a sword with a hilt. I show you how to swing a lightsabre and and crush people, send you back to Tephrike and point you at the enemy and you'll get yourself killed because you'll just burn out."
"You got not idea what I survived. What I've been through."
The old me would have felt bad about upsetting her. Old me would have been nicer - and in doing so failed Rhea. Old me was soft and weak. That's why the Jedi managed to turn her into their puppet. I am not her anymore. I take a step closer to her, then another. Until we are face to face. "Do you just want to survive or do you want to win? Do you want justice for yourself and your people, or do you just want to throw a tantrum? Because if that's your attitude, I'm wasting my time with you. I can point you at the nearest Jedi or Sith lackey and let nature take its course. Right now you're a mentalist's wet dream. All fury, nothing else. It's the way the Grand Inquisitor wanted you. Do you want him to win?"
I can feel the anger rise in her. "No." Then she relents. "Fine, then show me. What do you want me to do?"
"Give me your sword." After some hesitation, she complies. I take it and give her a blunted one instead. "You need balance. Mind, heart, body. Fury, control. That dummy is our outlet. Pretend it's the Grand Inquisitor, the Sith, anyone who hurt you. Hell, act like it's me if that helps you."
She takes the training sword and walks towards the dummy. She gives it a good swing. "Where did you grow up?"
"What?"
"Tell me about your childhood."
"A collective farm. My parents were farmers. We were very poor. Everything was owned by the Dominion."
"The Dominion treated you poorly?"
"Yes. The headman barely left us anything to eat - and sometimes even less. We got worthless coupons. We had to steal to survive."
"That is the headman. Hit it."
She swings her sword and the dummy shakes.
"What happened to your parents?"
"The Sith...they murdered them!" I can feel her voice almost crack. She forces the tears away." Another strike, with fury and force behind it. Her sparring sword smashes into the dummy.
"Tell me what happened."
"My paternal died fighting the monsters!" she declares hatefully. "The headman ran away. The Sith rounded up all non-humans. My maternal, me and the others were led to a ravine. We had to...line up for our deaths." Another strike. She throws in a furious punch. It smashes into the dummy's head. "They killed her. They murdered them all." The tears flow.
"How did you survive?"
"Before...just before the shooting started, I heard a voice. I threw myself into the ravine. My maternal...my maternal fell on top of me. With her last breath, she told me to live. I tried to be as still as I could. Body after body fell until was buried. I could not breathe...but somehow I did not suffocate. I tried to make myself as small as possible, while Stormtroopers marched on me. When they started burning bodies, I ran into the wilderness."
"That is the Sith who murdered your parents. Hit it." Several more furious hits. "The Dominion found you?" She nods. "What happened then?"
"I was conscripted into a labour unit. We looked after supplies, helped with the wounded, dug trenches. Manned flak cannons when those Sith bastards dropped bombs on villages."
"How did they find out that you have the Force?"
"I choked one of those Sith bastards who got shot down. He was so smug and full of arrogance. Acted like I was little more than dirt beneath his boots because I'm not human."
"Hit him." More.
"So the Jedi conscripted you."
"I wanted justice for my family. For my village."
A thought comes to me from my talks with Mara. "You had a family. The Dominion hates attachments. Everyone's supposed to grow up in a lab. How did they treat you?"
There is an angry gleam in her eyes. "They told me I was impure! That my parents had lived in sin. I hated them for it. For spitting on the people I loved. But I wanted to avenge them and there was no one else."
"That is the Jedi. Hit it." Hit.
"How did the Grand Inquisitor get his paws on you?"
"I took out a Sith bunker, single-handedly. I just wanted to hurt these bastards, no matter what happened to me. I killed them all. Buried my sword into the heart of a witch and broke the Stormies' bodies. He told me I was a hero. That I was special and could be the template of a new line of Jedi warriors. All I had to do was serve him...and denounce my master."
"Your master and him were at odds?"
"She didn't trust him. Told me to stay away from him. I felt she was holding me back. I was...a stupid girl."
"You wanted to be strong. To make a difference. He played on that. But it didn't work out that way, did it?"
I can feel the shame blossom inside her. "He used me. Beat me...humiliated me." I do not press. Even I know not to. "When I defied him, he tore my mind apart."
"This is the Grand Inquisitor." Hit , hit, hit, hit. It is a wild flurry of blows.
"I fought back and ran. But his goons found me and they took me to the camp...the one you were in."
"They hurt you. These are the Inquisitors. Hit it." I wait until the blows cease. It takes a bit. "What happened in the camp?"
"They chained me. Starved me. Worked me to exhaustion in the camp. Violated my mind. By the time they were done, I was broken. I was so pathetic. So damn weak. I thanked him when he took me back." She hacks at the dummy until it is in pieces. until it is in pieces.
"You are not pathetic. You are not weak. You survived hell - and you will put those who hurt you through it," I tell her slowly, intently. "Now go to the next dummy. Any time you strike, tell me who you are punishing."
She goes through half a dozen training dummies. By the time she is finished, they are all in pieces and she is covered in sweat. I can feel the energies of the Force writhe inside her. Her aura is fierce when she tosses the blunted sword away. "I want a real enemy," she declares.
I nod and pick up her sword. Perhaps she expects me to hand it to her. I do - after a fashion. By throwing it across the room. It lands on the floor, and a battle droid steps onto it. Another droid emerges from the other side of the room. Both level their blasters on Rhea. They are, of course, set to stun, but with the pain setting amped up. They also have electrostaffs. A third follows shortly thereafter. "You sink or swim. These are your enemies. Destroy them." They fire salvoes at her, and she throws herself into battle. Her aura is feral. She is like a Cylix. So fast even I have trouble following her.
"A training dummy." Stating the obvious, I know.
"I am aware."
"And your first enemey."
"Are you trying to mock me? I have fought in battles. You told me that you would teach me to be strong and fight like you!" I can feel Rhea's irritation. She is probably glaring.
"I did, and I will. First you must learn to control yourself."
"All I need to know is how to smash my enemies and punish those who wronged me," she snarls.
"Power without self-control is like a sword with a hilt. I show you how to swing a lightsabre and and crush people, send you back to Tephrike and point you at the enemy and you'll get yourself killed because you'll just burn out."
"You got not idea what I survived. What I've been through."
The old me would have felt bad about upsetting her. Old me would have been nicer - and in doing so failed Rhea. Old me was soft and weak. That's why the Jedi managed to turn her into their puppet. I am not her anymore. I take a step closer to her, then another. Until we are face to face. "Do you just want to survive or do you want to win? Do you want justice for yourself and your people, or do you just want to throw a tantrum? Because if that's your attitude, I'm wasting my time with you. I can point you at the nearest Jedi or Sith lackey and let nature take its course. Right now you're a mentalist's wet dream. All fury, nothing else. It's the way the Grand Inquisitor wanted you. Do you want him to win?"
I can feel the anger rise in her. "No." Then she relents. "Fine, then show me. What do you want me to do?"
"Give me your sword." After some hesitation, she complies. I take it and give her a blunted one instead. "You need balance. Mind, heart, body. Fury, control. That dummy is our outlet. Pretend it's the Grand Inquisitor, the Sith, anyone who hurt you. Hell, act like it's me if that helps you."
She takes the training sword and walks towards the dummy. She gives it a good swing. "Where did you grow up?"
"What?"
"Tell me about your childhood."
"A collective farm. My parents were farmers. We were very poor. Everything was owned by the Dominion."
"The Dominion treated you poorly?"
"Yes. The headman barely left us anything to eat - and sometimes even less. We got worthless coupons. We had to steal to survive."
"That is the headman. Hit it."
She swings her sword and the dummy shakes.
"What happened to your parents?"
"The Sith...they murdered them!" I can feel her voice almost crack. She forces the tears away." Another strike, with fury and force behind it. Her sparring sword smashes into the dummy.
"Tell me what happened."
"My paternal died fighting the monsters!" she declares hatefully. "The headman ran away. The Sith rounded up all non-humans. My maternal, me and the others were led to a ravine. We had to...line up for our deaths." Another strike. She throws in a furious punch. It smashes into the dummy's head. "They killed her. They murdered them all." The tears flow.
"How did you survive?"
"Before...just before the shooting started, I heard a voice. I threw myself into the ravine. My maternal...my maternal fell on top of me. With her last breath, she told me to live. I tried to be as still as I could. Body after body fell until was buried. I could not breathe...but somehow I did not suffocate. I tried to make myself as small as possible, while Stormtroopers marched on me. When they started burning bodies, I ran into the wilderness."
"That is the Sith who murdered your parents. Hit it." Several more furious hits. "The Dominion found you?" She nods. "What happened then?"
"I was conscripted into a labour unit. We looked after supplies, helped with the wounded, dug trenches. Manned flak cannons when those Sith bastards dropped bombs on villages."
"How did they find out that you have the Force?"
"I choked one of those Sith bastards who got shot down. He was so smug and full of arrogance. Acted like I was little more than dirt beneath his boots because I'm not human."
"Hit him." More.
"So the Jedi conscripted you."
"I wanted justice for my family. For my village."
A thought comes to me from my talks with Mara. "You had a family. The Dominion hates attachments. Everyone's supposed to grow up in a lab. How did they treat you?"
There is an angry gleam in her eyes. "They told me I was impure! That my parents had lived in sin. I hated them for it. For spitting on the people I loved. But I wanted to avenge them and there was no one else."
"That is the Jedi. Hit it." Hit.
"How did the Grand Inquisitor get his paws on you?"
"I took out a Sith bunker, single-handedly. I just wanted to hurt these bastards, no matter what happened to me. I killed them all. Buried my sword into the heart of a witch and broke the Stormies' bodies. He told me I was a hero. That I was special and could be the template of a new line of Jedi warriors. All I had to do was serve him...and denounce my master."
"Your master and him were at odds?"
"She didn't trust him. Told me to stay away from him. I felt she was holding me back. I was...a stupid girl."
"You wanted to be strong. To make a difference. He played on that. But it didn't work out that way, did it?"
I can feel the shame blossom inside her. "He used me. Beat me...humiliated me." I do not press. Even I know not to. "When I defied him, he tore my mind apart."
"This is the Grand Inquisitor." Hit , hit, hit, hit. It is a wild flurry of blows.
"I fought back and ran. But his goons found me and they took me to the camp...the one you were in."
"They hurt you. These are the Inquisitors. Hit it." I wait until the blows cease. It takes a bit. "What happened in the camp?"
"They chained me. Starved me. Worked me to exhaustion in the camp. Violated my mind. By the time they were done, I was broken. I was so pathetic. So damn weak. I thanked him when he took me back." She hacks at the dummy until it is in pieces. until it is in pieces.
"You are not pathetic. You are not weak. You survived hell - and you will put those who hurt you through it," I tell her slowly, intently. "Now go to the next dummy. Any time you strike, tell me who you are punishing."
She goes through half a dozen training dummies. By the time she is finished, they are all in pieces and she is covered in sweat. I can feel the energies of the Force writhe inside her. Her aura is fierce when she tosses the blunted sword away. "I want a real enemy," she declares.
I nod and pick up her sword. Perhaps she expects me to hand it to her. I do - after a fashion. By throwing it across the room. It lands on the floor, and a battle droid steps onto it. Another droid emerges from the other side of the room. Both level their blasters on Rhea. They are, of course, set to stun, but with the pain setting amped up. They also have electrostaffs. A third follows shortly thereafter. "You sink or swim. These are your enemies. Destroy them." They fire salvoes at her, and she throws herself into battle. Her aura is feral. She is like a Cylix. So fast even I have trouble following her.
