Earthlings

31

19 BBY, Coruscant

In the span of just 3 years, many things had come to pass for Eli. The clone war had separated him from his friends too many times now to count. It had taken 2 of them from the galaxy. It had taken many of his men, including but not limited to Commander Ponds and Sergeant Roughneck.

Now how did Roughneck die? Long story short, there was a fierce battle on a moon orbiting Levantha, called Levi Major. A battle droid shot Roughneck's cable while the 91st was ziplining to the other side of a canyon where the tactical droid was, causing him to fall to his death. A week later the 91st returned to Coruscant, and carved in Roughneck's name onto the Wall of the Dead- a little memorial service to those who'd fallen in battle, etched onto a wall from their barracks. Already there were over a thousand names written, including:

Tanner

Hawkeye

Terra

Hare

Max

Sketcher

Killjoy

Swift

Commander Ponds

And now, Sergeant Roughneck.

Eli had written the last one down once they arrived. His visits were now as common as 3 times a week, though Windu often kept him busy with training sessions. Today was such a day.

"Coordinate your attacks carefully," Windu intoned as they were sparring in one of the training arenas. "One wrong move can potentially become a weak spot for the enemy to exploit."

Eli grunted, parrying the next blow. "Or it can become a weak spot for the dark side to exploit?"

"If you choose to use Vaapad, yes." They separated, and Eli slid towards a pillar. "But as you are using Niman, you needn't worry about the dark side's temptations."

Most of Eli's peers and Kendall never used the actual terms for the lightsaber forms. It was just the number. For example, Leda and Caleb both used Form 3. Eliezer, Ahsoka (prior to her departure), and Toni used Form 5. Before they died, Avisa and Knox had used Form 1. And Eli used Form 6. So to hear Windu say the actual names was surprising, to say the least.

He reached out to force pull Windu towards him, before having a brief flashback of what happened the last time he tried to use this maneuver. He faltered as a result, and the next second he found himself cornered.

"Never hesitate. Always stay on guard." Windu lowered his blade. "We'll try again."

Eli went into ready position.

"And this time, do not hesitate when you make a move," He reminded him. "Either you err or you don't."

"I'll keep that in my mind, master." The match resumed, and they were on somewhat equal footing. By now the sun was setting, and his friends must be at the refectories already. Ferren would probably be staying at the back of the line just to wait for him and anyone else who was kept busy with training. Ironically, the oldest of the friend group was the least busy. His master wasn't on the Council, so one would assume he would have a busier schedule. But no. The busiest was Eliezer, then Eli, then Odyn, then Caleb, then Leda, and finally Ferren.

After another 30 minutes spent sparring, the match ended once Windu disarmed Eli. Tossing back his lightsaber, he deactivated his. "That'll be it for today. Now, I'm sure your friends are already at the refectories. I won't keep them waiting."

"Because you have to meet with Master Yoda again?"

"No, I must meet with the Chancellor." He walked out, and Eli followed suit before heading towards the refectories. There, as expected, Ferren was at the end of the line with Odyn, Eliezer, and Leda.