STAR WARS: CONFLICTED

CHAPTER I - THE TEST

There was a silence which filled the air within the training grounds of the Jedi Temple, one which carried so much tension you could cut it with the hilt of a lightsaber, never mind the blade of one. All that could be heard inside were the low yet intrigued voices of the Jedi within, of which there were 6. Those included Nathan and his master, Shaak Ti, and two masters, with their padawans alongside them, each anticipating their turn to take to the stage of the training floors before them.

Stood upon said stage was Nathan Tynan, whose turquoise-coloured blade hummed in front of his green eyes, both carrying a sense of hesitation and anxiousness in them. He could feel the force flowing through his body stronger than he ever had before, and this was needed if he were to pass the test he had set out in front of him: not one, but two machines which Nathan could only describe as sword-wielding droids, with a design he had never seen before. Taking one last deep breath, he placed his right foot just behind his left, and grasped his hilt tighter than ever, with his stronger right hand over his left. He heard the sound of a short alarm go off, to signal the beginning of the test.

Moving quickly, Nathan jumped at the droid on the left, locking up with it's rather lengthy blade in an instant. The sheer size of the weapon forced Nathan to break the deadlock before he was overpowered. He then swept his blade along to his right, to parry the incoming swing of the other droid.

He took a step back. He had to think. What would his master do? Her preferred form was Form 2, or Makashi, but he had never gotten along with the style of lightsaber combat, due to its strict focus on saber-to-saber fighting, a style less required in the modern days of the Jedi Order. Instead, droids and blasters had become much more prominent, which needed a more defensive, bolt-deflecting form, something like Master Kenobi's Form 3, Soresu. He had always tried to mix the two, but as he was only 15 years of age, he only had enough room in his mind to focus on one, so he preferred to fight with the latter. Here, however, the droids seemed to focus on counter-attacking, waiting for the padawan to strike, and then swiftly reacting, so as to catch him off guard.

Nathan swung again, this time towards the lower half of the droid on the left, but it was blocked with ease. Simple strikes would be of no use here, Nathan knew that.

"Go on, Nathan, you can do it!"

Nathan glanced quickly at the stands beside him. Sat upon the long benches was another padawan, one he had much familiarity with. His name was Caleb Dume, padawan to Master Billaba. Nathan gave him a slight smile, acknowledging his encouragement. Caleb always seemed such a cheery type, much more outgoing and confident. He was always with another boy, named Cal. Nathan would always see the redhead padawan with Caleb around the Temple, laughing together in the halls or sat with each other in the cafeteria.

Focusing back onto the droids in front of him, he noticed something. Both of the machines had a very trance-like state about them. They didn't look as if they carried a great deal of common sense, as most droids don't. Nathan wanted to test that.

Using the force, he swept forward, delivering two strikes to the high and middle section of the right droid, and before the droid could react, Nathan leapt over the other droid, stood behind him, to put the left droid inbetween them both. As the left droid turned to face the padawan, it was caught with a counter-attack meant for Nathan, which plunged right into the chest area, shutting off its power in an instant. As the other droid tried to release the remains of the left droid, Nathan pulled them both towards him with the force, before slashing through the midsection of both with his ocean-coloured saber. He smirked as both heaps of metal crashed to the floor, followed by the applause of his little crowd to the side of him.

"Fantastic work, my young padawan." His master said, as Nathan flicked his saber off. She was more than impressed by her student, yet she never liked to show it too often, so as to not bolster his ego too much. She knew that was not the trait of a true Jedi, to be egotistical. The last thing she wanted was for her apprentice to carry such an unnecessary ideology of himself.