The New Adventures of Nomi Darklighter

Chapter 17 - Jedi Training

In the evening, Nomi Darklighter went to the small clearing she had discovered during the atmospheric flight with the X-wing.
She had hidden her lightsaber in a small backpack, which she took with her. Despite everything, she didn't want to neglect her Jedi exercises.

When she reached the clearing, the Jedi unpacked her lightsaber and placed it on the ground next to her. Then she sat down under a tree and began to meditate. Peace and tranquility surrounded her as she breathed evenly, just as Luke Skywalker had once taught her.
After a while, Nomi jumped up and summoned her lightsaber with the Force. It flew into her hand and she activated it with a single flowing movement.
She looked with satisfaction at the green blade that stood out against the dark surroundings.
Some time ago, she had replaced the Corusca gem, which had produced a red blade, with a new crystal from Illum. With the new blade, she honored her late father, whose lightsaber had the same blade color. The Corusca gem was back in its place in the ring Dash had bought for her long ago on Corellia.

Nomi brandished her lightsaber. Yes, as always, the well-balanced weapon lay comfortably in her hand. The Jedi began to go through the individual phases of the lightsaber battle with concentration. Then she took a deep breath, jumped up, did a somersault with the still activated lightsaber in her hand and landed safely on her feet a few meters away.
Delighted, Nomi went back to the place where she had put her backpack. There she opened it and took out a training remote that was programmed to fire small laser beams as soon as it recognized an activated lightsaber. After setting the intensity of the beams and the duration of the training session, the Jedi activated the remote, which now hovered in the air.
Nomi closed her eyes and reached out with the Force. At the same moment, the remote attacked. It circled the Jedi, changed its motion to a zigzag course, then suddenly came from the left and shot a tiny laser beam in her direction.
In a split second, she turned around, deflected the beam and it didn't hit her thigh, but a nearby tree. The remote turned around and attacked from behind. But the Jedi had anticipated the movement and deflected the laser beam again.
The remote attacked again and again, but Nomi fended off every attempt with her eyes closed, trusting only in the Force. It was impossible to break through her defenses.
Eventually, the pre-programmed training sequence ended and the remote sank to the ground. The Jedi deactivated her lightsaber, picked up the training device and put both back in her backpack. Drenched in sweat, but happy, she sat down by the tree to rest before making her way back.

Suddenly, a crack and footsteps could be heard in the undergrowth. Nomi was startled and pulled out her blaster. Poe Dameron came out of the thicket towards the Jedi and stared at the weapon pointed at him.
When Nomi saw the young commander, she holstered the blaster.
"That's not necessary here," Poe said with a wry grin. "May I ask what you're doing here, Commander Darklighter?"
The Jedi wondered if Dameron had noticed or even observed her training.
"I wanted to be alone for a while, Commander," she replied with an innocent look.
"I can understand that," nodded Poe. "Sometimes I need a little time to myself, too."
He turned to leave.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Commander Darklighter."
Nomi breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently Dameron hadn't noticed her lightsaber exercises. She grabbed her backpack and went back to her quarters, where Dash would already be waiting for her.

As Nomi entered the quarters, her husband looked up from his datapad and shook his head when he saw how sweaty she was.
"At your age, you really should stop trying so hard and take it easy, darling," he said with a loving tone and a concerned look.
The Jedi approached her husband and nudged him.
"What do you mean, at my age?"
Before Dash could answer, she undressed with a laugh and went into the bathroom to shower.
"Oh, by the way, I met Poe Dameron in the clearing," she called to her husband as she soaped herself up.
Dash frowned, stood up and walked to the door of the small bathroom.
"I hope he didn't see what you were doing."
Nomi shook her head as she enjoyed the shower.
"No, I don't think so. Otherwise he would have mentioned it to me, Dash."
The Jedi turned off the shower, got out and wrapped a towel around her body. She walked up to her husband and gave him a kiss.
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure Dameron didn't see anything. Let's go to sleep now. Tomorrow, I'm sure the young commander will test how well we two old fossils can handle the laser cannons."