Playlist:

❶ "The Clones"—The Clone Wars OST

After the two Y-wing fighters lifted into space, Naluma returned to her preparations for her testing day. Since her meditation exercises had stretched her muscles, she jogged around the field a few times to warm up her cardiovascular system and initiated dual saber drills.

When Madine and Kiner approached the field, she extinguished the sabers and came to attention. Kiner carried two battle gear packs and wore PT clothing. Madine looked sharp in his olive service garb.

Madine and Kiner saluted back before Madine said, "Oh, please finish your exercise."

Naluma grinned at the general. They're like two school boys whenever the sabers are out. I should probably let them try them out. Igniting the sabers once again, she stepped forward and began  once more. Maybe not. Don't want to be responsible for accidental dismemberment.

When she had finished the saber drills, General Madine said, "I never get tired of seeing the Jedi battle with lightsabers. It's at once graceful yet terrifying."

She wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Thank you, General."

Colonel Kiner handed her the second pack and a concussion rifle. "Twenty-click fartlek along that ridge line. Complete it within two hours." He pointed with rifle toward the eastern ridge as the sun crested over the trees.

❶ While she adjusted the pack and rifle on her frame, Kiner headed down the trail. Naluma started, holding her pace to a steady rhythm to conserve her energy. Slow down, Kiner. This is only the beginning.

At the five-click mark, she had caught up to Kiner, whose face glowed red in exertion. She slowed even further, staying with the older man in case he collapsed.

As they passed the ten-click mark, she realized that the higher elevation on Khalkha had increased her lung capacity. What caused her lungs to burn nine years ago as a specialist now invigorated her. Kiner, however, struggled.

Naluma stopped her run and exaggerated her panting. "Need water. You should drink some too, Colonel."

Kiner continued past her, but she caught up to him soon. "Don't have time."

"If you don't hydrate, you'll collapse. Now drink and catch your breath." She shoved the canteen at him. "You're no good to us dead."

With that statement, he stopped and glared at her. "Hey, I'm your superior officer. Respect."

Naluma shook her head. "In your dreams, Kiner." She waved the canteen in front of his face. "Don't make me shove this down your throat."

He snatched the container and guzzled a couple of mouthfuls before handing it back. "Thanks."

She drank a few swigs before replacing the cap and shoving it back on her pack. "Let's head out and see if we can make up some time on the way down."

Adjusting his pack on his back as it slammed against his hips, the colonel started up at a forced-march pace.

Naluma followed him down the ridge, as both struggled to maintain their footing on the graveled slope. By the fifteen-click mark, however, she passed Kiner in order to make her two-hour time limit.

She finished the course with minutes to spare. General Madine met her on the field. She stood at attention, waiting for his next instruction.

"Very good, Jedi Fau. Excellent time. Now, give me the teach-back for attention."

She ignored the desire to wipe the sweat from her face and drop her pack and started with the first of many teach-backs. 

"This is the Position of Attention. Purpose: position from which most other drills are executed. Counts: No counts. When: can be called at any time from any activity or liberty. Command: Atten-Hut! It is preceded by the size designator, such as Squad, Atten-Hut! or Platoon, Atten-Hut!"

General Madine nodded in approval and clicked it off on his datapad. "Continue with the instruction."

As Naluma described the seven steps to attention, she exhibited the maneuvers. Kiner stumbled in with his face flushed and his body wracked with pain during the demonstration.

Madine looked at his fatigued aide and said, "Colonel, dismissed. Meet us in the combat sim in an hour."

The ginger general returned to his target and continued pushing Naluma through the fifty pages of teach-backs and cadences. He did not stop even when rain pelted them and lightning crackled around them.

When they reached the end of the sequence, sleet stung their faces, and raindrops froze to their skin in large crystals. Naluma was sure she would not have gotten through if she had not called on the Force throughout the storm.

Even now, she could only think of quitting. A hot bath and a massage sounded good right now ... and she knew she would get neither in the next few weeks.

Madine said, "Not perfect, but good enough ... you can polish it en route to Ruusan tomorrow."

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Report to the combat sim in ten minutes in your combat fatigues, Fau. Dismissed."

"Sir, yes, sir!"

Colonel Kiner joined them in the combat simulator's firing range. While not heated, the building was warmer and drier than the sleet.

Naluma, now dressed in somewhat dry fatigues, tested on the new EL-16HFE blaster rifle, firing on short-range and long-range targets with variable wind conditions manufactured by the simulator.

This blaster had been in production for the last year, with the New Republic army adopting it as their standard infantry weapon during the last six months. Improvements over the older E-11 model included stabilization when firing and increased range up to a three-quarter-click area target. Sniper capabilities reduced the accuracy to 500 meters, but it was still a massive upgrade over the shoddy design of the original E-11.

The Jedi qualified in all four standard positions—standing, kneeling, sitting, and prone. Naluma also tested on DH-18A blaster pistol for close range targeting. She bulls-eyed every target.

Kiner grumbled at her accuracy while Madine smiled. Naluma deduced that Madine and Kiner had made a wager on the outcome, and Kiner just lost. She smiled back with mischief as she set her sight on her next target.

A full-blown battle in the holographic simulator followed the firing range exercises. She had worked in this facility nine years earlier—her third day as a Jedi Padawan.

That was also the day I trusted Luke. I still can't believe it's been nine years. I feel like I've known him forever. I can't imagine what life would be like without him. Naluma took a sharp breath as Luke's warnings from this morning reverberated in her mind. I've got a bad feeling about—

Kiner's instruction interrupted Naluma's maundering. "Hostile conditions. Don't shoot civilians. Proper technique, as well as accuracy, will be recorded. You have limited charge, so make every shot count."

"Sir, yes, sir." Naluma donned a helmet with a recorder and entered the holochamber. She jumped when she realized where she was—Felucia, her home planet.

The gigantic, luminous flora towered above her. She stared in wonder. She knew this part of the planet was now a memorial park for all the Felucians who gave their lives during the Clone Wars.

She jumped and rolled out of blaster fire, as her first enemy fired on her. The hologram faded in and out as if this were ancient battle footage. Native Felucians, short bipedal humanoids with chunky waists and legs, raced past her screaming. Their elongated heads resembled reptiles as did their green and orange skin tones.

Naluma's father oversaw the reconstruction of the planet that had endured four years of continuous battles, ravaging the entire population. Her family never left the planet. From the clothing these farmers wore, Naluma judged she would be fighting droids and not stormtroopers—this program was from The Clone Wars.

Forced to deal with memories of her father, she thought back to what he had told her about defeating the battledroids. She struggled as the terrors of his abuse paralyzed her. 

The Jedi barely moved in time to avoid a barrage of blaster fire. Slice them in two or aim for the heart. They can still operate without a head.

As the footsteps of the OOM-battle droids clanked through the jungle and the phosphorescence of the trees glinted off their limbs, Naluma crouched down behind a tree and aimed. The first were easy. They never knew what hit them.

However, they soon discovered her emplacement. The entire platoon  a hundred droids fired on her position. Normally, she would have pulled her sabers and blocked the bolts, but this time she could not use the Force against them. For one thing, it would not work against holograms, whether laser bolts or images. For another, she would blow her cover on her assignment.

She fired her blaster rifle in quick succession, taking out row after row of droids. When the blaster overheated, she switched to her pistol. When civilians or clone troopers ran through the battlezone, Naluma barely pulled her shots in time. She rolled, dodging the blaster fire as the droids continued to press on.

Grabbing her cooled rifle, she continued moving from tree-to-tree, leaping across the intervening spaces with the Force. She may not have been able to use the Force on the holograms, but she decided there was nothing wrong with using it to augment her physical condition. However, since the trees were holograms, they would not support her weight. Climbing into one for a birds-eye view was not going to work in the simulator.

Soon, the holographic Felucian battlefield transformed into the cubic walls of the holochamber. The Jedi set her safeties and pulled off her helmet before exiting the room.

Madine beamed as he tallied up her score. "Never seen marks like that."

Kiner was unreadable.

Naluma asked, "Permission to speak candidly, sir."

"Go ahead."

"Why Felucia?"

Madine coughed in reply.

Naluma placed her hands on her hips and challenged, "Look, General, I'm turning around right now and heading back to the academy if you don't tell me what's going on."

"You'll have to ask Master Skywalker. He picked the program."

Naluma inhaled as rage swelled in her—rage at Luke, rage at her father, rage at these circumstances. And yet she knew deep down Luke was right. She still needed to get past the anger, get past the pain, get past the control her previous life held over her.

She clenched her teeth and narrowed her eyes, not sure if she was angrier at herself or at Luke for putting her through this. As a result, she did not catch all the instructions for her next test—the advanced obstacle course.

Did you know ...

● Luke knows that Naluma still has some hang-ups about her earlier life. He's trying to get her to deal with them. This is only one of many methods, but the rest are in backstory.

● Naluma is human, but native Felucians are not. Naluma was born on Felucia after her father was assigned to help with reconstruction after the Clone War.

● A fartlek is a long run under heavy pack with varying terrain. 

Tell  me what you think ...

● Could Naluma have gotten through this without using the Force?

● Besides the physical use of the Force, in what other ways did the Force influence Naluma throughout this ordeal?