The Tales of Alikka Nerdan-Chapter One The Padawan Test

2002 short story by Zizziana Nightstar

Twenty-seven years before Episode IV –A New Hope

Coruscant - Jedi Temple

Alikka held her breath and waited for her opponent. Sweat dribbled down her face and the weariness of fighting for a good two hours was beginning to catch up with her. She could sense the old Jedi Master Yoda watching her carefully, she could sense Tamers, whom she was fighting with, and she could sense another presence as well, one she wasn’t familiar with.

She seemed like a very small person in the scheme of things. A twelve-year-old Jedi with blonde hair, dark blue eyes and a youthful grace seemed very unimportant in such great times, but that wasn’t one of her concerns at the moment.

Alikka was blindfolded so she couldn’t see Tamers. The purpose of the exercise was to make her reach out with the Force and sense both Tamers and her surrounding. She slowly stalked through the room, making her way around obstacles carefully until her shin went right into a small crate. She bit back a yelp of pain and tried to calm herself, but her heart was racing wildly.

I can’t keep up this way, she thought. ‘There is no emotion: there is peace,’ she reminded herself of the first line of the Jedi Code. I must achieve peace.

She stopped, sat down, shut down her lightsaber, and started to clear her mind, while keeping track of her surrounding as she did so. She opened her mind up to the midichlorians that bound her to the Force and started to listen. Slowly, she felt herself becoming more energized and the edge of exhaustion was blunted.

Just as she had achieved this, she felt a sudden ripple in the Force. Realizing she was under attack, she transferred all of her trust into the Force and flipped backwards, calling her lightsaber to her hand and igniting it in a single liquid-smooth movement. She felt the silent hand of the Force guide her as she quickly blocked Tamers’ lightsaber. The blades met with electric clash and Alikka felt herself become one with her weapon and the Force.

Her movements became artistically fluid as she swung and blocked, testing for an opening. She swung low at his feet but he just managed to jump and avoid the blow. Tamers was holding out on his own but Alikka realized that he fought in a very specific pattern.

Big mistake, she thought. This time she shifted to one side and flicked her lightsaber up towards his wrist. There was a loud hiss as his skin was burned and Tamers screamed in shock and dropped his weapon. Alikka reached out with the Force and grabbed the cylinder, catching it in her other hand. She then shut down her lightsaber, clipped it onto her belt and pulled off her blindfold.

Yoda was standing there before them.

   "Master Yoda," Alikka bowed. She then turned to Tamers, a young man of twelve with cropped brown hair and big brown eyes. He was slightly gangly at this age, and he hadn’t found his balance in it yet. . Right now, he was collapsed on his knees and his blindfold was clenched in his good hand and he was shaking uncontrollably. "Are you all right?"

Tamers looked down at his wrist, these weren’t real lightsabers and the burn was nothing that a Too-One bee medical droid couldn’t handle. But when he looked back up at Alikka his face was full of fright.

"Fell into a pattern you did, hmmm?" Yoda clucked in disapproval, leaning on his gimer stick. The ancient Jedi Master had trained young Jedi for nearly eight hundred years now and he had seen every mistake that could be made over and over again. "Got hurt you did."

   "I’ll do better next time," Tamers promised. "I will, Master Yoda, you must believe me," he pleaded.

At two feet tall, Yoda was less than half of Tamers size. He was all green skin, wrinkles and big ears but there was someone commanding and powerful about his presence, nevertheless. Yoda shook his head. "Much anger in you," he said softly. "Too much anger." Yoda then turned his gaze to Alikka. "Felt the Force, you did," there was a sound of approval in his tone. "Learn to see it as an ally you have."

   "Yes, who is this young trainee, Master Yoda?"

Alikka turned, and saw the third presence she had felt. He was a Jedi Knight of about thirty with blonde hair and dark eyes. He held himself confidently and there was an easy grin about his face but Alikka knew that he couldn’t be completely easygoing or he never would have made it as a Jedi Knight.

   "My name is Alikka Nerdan," she said, bowing to him.

   "How old are you, Alikka?"

   "Twelve, almost thirteen."

   "She’ll become a Padawan soon, Yoda," the Jedi remarked. "She’s good with a lightsaber too."

   "Combat is her strength," Yoda agreed. "Strong in the Force she is, Jander."

Jander? Alikka thought. This must be Jander Zalar, she realized. Jander Zalar was one of the greatest swordsmen among the Jedi, his talents had been compared to that of Mace Windu!

   "Feel your thoughts I do," Yoda remarked. "To train her you want, hmmm?"

            "She needs a master," Jander said matter-of-factly.

Alikka felt her heart tumble inside of her, to be trained by such a master! Very few were ever so lucky. But her entire future was to be decided by the Jedi Council, the decision was theirs.

Yoda frowned. "Want you to harm the training of a Jedi I do not," he said slowly. "Great potential has she, great potential. Needs a special master she does."

   "Why not me, Master Yoda?" Jander asked.

   "Get into much trouble you do," Yoda shook his head in disapproval "No place for a Padawan. Danger too great."

Alikka was about to protest but then she paused. She knew what Yoda meant. He meant that the Council didn’t want another reckless Padawan let loose. The Council didn’t want the manners of someone like Jander to wrongly influence a Padawan. The Council didn’t want to risk spoiling another Padawan and that all went back to one source: Anakin Skywalker.

Obi-Wan Kenobi had still been unable to keep his Padawan from engaging in his past activities of racing and general recklessness. Everyone was tripping over the droids that the young Padawan had been building in mass number and some of the other Jedi joked that he was trying to raise his own droid army all on his own.

The Council was still worried about Anakin’s training and because of the power and potential Anakin had, they weren’t eager to let another high-potential trainee follow Anakin’s path. With the threat of the return of the Sith looming over the Jedi, they couldn’t afford the kind of mistakes a Padawan could make if they strayed onto the wrong path.

Alikka wondered just how much damage Anakin had done to them all.

   "It isn’t fair," she complained to her friends at dinner. "Why should Anakin Skywalker decide my fate?"

   "Calm yourself," Ina, her Twi’lek friend said. "Don’t give into anger over this."

Alikka mentally scolded herself. Ina was right.

   "Jander Zalar," her friend Kemin, a sleepy humanoid, sighed. "You deserve the chance, Alikka. Everyone thinks so."

   "Master Yoda doesn’t think it’s a good idea."

   "Master Yoda didn’t want Obi-Wan to train Anakin either, but he allowed it in the end."

   "But he isn’t eager to do it again," Alikka pointed out, frowning. Why is Anakin Skywalker above all of the rules? she wondered. He may have been a great hero at the Battle of Naboo but that shouldn’t be an exception.

   "Yoda will let you train," Ina promised.

   "Yes, but I don’t want to train under just anyone," Alikka said. "I could learn a lot from Jander, I know I could."

   "Leave it for tomorrow," Ina said. "Now eat your dinner."

Alikka looked down at her plate and frowned and pushed her plate aside. "I’m not hungry anymore," she said softly.

Alikka slipped into her small quarters and picked up one of the many stones she kept on her worktable. It was a deep purple stone, one that she had been saving so she could use it when she created her own real lightsaber one day.

She pushed it aside, at this rate, she felt like she wouldn’t get the chance. The Council was guarding her so preciously that she didn’t know what was going to become of her. Hot tears sprang at her eyes and she tried to fight them. "’There is no emotion; there is peace,’" she mumbled but the tears came anyway and she cried herself to sleep.

   "We can’t hold her back forever," Jedi Master Mace Windu remarked thoughtfully.

   "Dangerous it is to hand her fate out to just anyone," Yoda insisted.

Mace Windu took a deep breath. He was a tall, dark human with a solemn but powerful aura around himself. He had gained considerable respect for himself among the Jedi and he understood what Yoda felt because he felt it as well. The Council had walked on eggshells for the past five years, waiting for the Balance Anakin was suppose to grant them, but it hadn’t come yet. In the meantime they were all waiting for him to bring the Temple crashing down around their ears.

   "She’ll become resentful if we just hold her back. She is destined to do great things," Mace Windu added.

   "Yes," Yoda agreed. "Destined for greatness is she."

A knock on Alikka’s door woke her up. "Come in," she mumbled groggily.

A cloaked Jedi stepped in and pushed back his hood: it was Jander Zalar.

Alikka jumped to her feet at once and started to bow.

   "There’s no need for that, Alikka" Jander told her gently.

Alikka stood straight up and met his gaze. "You want to train me?" she asked, feeling a nervous jerk in her stomach.

   "Yes I do," Jander said with a wide smile. "You have a strength in combat, as do I. My master was the same one Qui-Gon Jinn trained under, and Qui-Gon trained Obi-Wan."

   "Who defeated a Sith Lord as a Padawan," Alikka added.

   "My knowledge would do well in your hands, Alikka, but the Council hasn’t agreed to it yet."

   "I know," she said and hung her head. "May, may I ask you a question?" she whispered.

   "Go ahead."

   "Has Anakin Skywalker damaged us?"

Jander looked at her in surprise. "That is a very daring question," he remarked.

   "’There is no ignorance; there is knowledge,’" she quoted the second line of the Jedi Code. "All questions lead to knowledge, do they not?"

   "You’re rather wise for one so young," Jander remarked.

   "I’ve listened to what Yoda has taught me."

Jander nodded thoughtfully. "As for your question, what do you mean?"

   "Anakin is a worry to the Council, he’s brought uneasiness," Alikka pointed out.

   "He’s why they’re so cautious with me."

   “The Council won’t hold you back for much longer. They know they can’t hold someone back for too long,"

   “But how long is too long?"

Jander didn’t have an answer for her.

   “Hmmm," Yoda said. "Perhaps an answer to this problem there is."

            Mace Windu looked over at him and arched an eyebrow curiously. "You’ve come to a conclusion?"

   “Let Jander prove himself we could," Yoda said.

   “Yes we could," Mace Windu agreed. "Yes we could."

The next morning, Alikka woke up, eat breakfast alone and left the Temple. At times like these she headed off for one of Coruscant’s rougher places: the spaceports. It was here among starships and alien species that she tried to sort things out. It helped her to realize how different the galaxy was from herself and how the Force was made up of connections between so many different beings. She couldn’t explain why she did it, except for the fact she believed that she was born in an area like this. She had been taken to the Temple when she was only five months old but she was certain that through the Force, she had unwittingly accessed the early memories of her life.

Today, something seemed wrong the moment she arrived. She sensed excitement, anger and fear as she entered the spaceport. Droids were rolling in every which direction and so were a number of official looking people.

Alikka reached for the inside of the jacket she was wearing over her tunic and pants. Inside of it was her lightsaber, and she was beginning to wonder if she was going to need it.

Someone bumped into her from behind and she nearly fell to the ground. She fought back the wave of panic that threatened to wash over and took several deep breaths, opening herself up to the Force.

She instantly felt the Force compelling her forwards. The binding part of the Force seemed to be tying her fate to the spaceport. She nodded her head slowly and pushed her way deeper into the masses.

It wasn’t long before she came across one official interrogating a young man who seemed to be panicking. She pressed herself into a corner and reached out to his mind with the Force.

She got a wave of fear and panic, but she could look into his thoughts. A criminal had escaped, a dangerous man who was being transported to Corellia where he was wanted for murdering an ambassador. He had managed to escape before the ship transporting him had taken off. He was believed to still be in the spaceport but no one knew for sure.

The odds of finding one criminal in the masses of Coruscant were seemed impossible at first. The only thing that did make it possible was with that many people, someone would eventually see him.

   "Alikka?" a voice hissed behind her.

She turned and saw Jander standing behind her. "Jander?"

   "What are you doing here?" Jander asked, frowning a little.

   "I come here to think," she whispered. "I think I came from a place like this; it seems familiar to me somehow."

Jander nodded with understanding. "I’ll be honest with you, there is a dangerous man loose here. He murdered an ambassador on Corellia."

   "I know, I read it in his thoughts," she pointed out to the young man being interrogated. "But why are you here?"

"They sent the Council a request and the Council sent me here. They’re hoping the Force can find the fugitive." He paused for a moment and frowned again. "The Council would probably want me to send you back, but I can’t help but to feel that the binding Force has brought us here for a purpose. I won’t send you back if you agree to stay with me, all right?"

Alikka nodded and just managed to stop herself before she said "Yes Master."

   "You’re the Jedi?" the Galactic official, Captain Gamberlin asked Jander. He was a middle-aged man who with a grisly beard, a cold glare and a waist that was starting to get a little flabby.

Alikka bit back a laugh. Jander was wearing a Jedi’s clothing with a brown robe and a lightsaber. He couldn’t look more like a Jedi if he tried.

   "Yes, I am. My name is Jander Zalar. This is a trainee from the Temple, Alikka."

   "I don’t want the kid to get hurt," the Gamberlin promptly said in a gruff voice.

   "She won’t get hurt," Jander promised.

   "We weren’t told that you’d be bringing a trainee," Gamberlin scowled.

Suddenly, Alikka caught Jander’s fingers moving in a slow, smooth circle. "But she may be of help," he said.

   "But she may be of help," Gamberlin said.

   "There is no need to worry about her getting hurt."

   "There is no need to worry about her getting hurt."

Alikka looked up at Jander incredulously and she noticed a small smile play about his lips along with a certain sparkle in his eyes. "Well," he said, tucking his hand into the sleeves of his robes. "Shall we go to the ship he was being transported on and start our investigation?"

The ship was nothing more than an old freighter that Alikka figured they were using so as to throw anyone trying to jailbreak the criminal off track.

   "The criminal’s name is Kalmer Dunsar," Gamberlin told them. "He’s about two meters tall with a medium build. He has brown hair, brown eyes and a scar along his jaw-line. He’s dressed in plain clothes, and he’s now carrying a stolen blaster so he’s armed and dangerous.

Jander nodded. It was amazing how he suddenly slipped into such a serious manner, Alikka decided. But she had been right earlier when she had concluded that he didn’t always fall back into such a relaxed manner.

Jander looked around the little cell they had put Dunsar in. He paused for a moment and then knelt down to the bars. "They’re weak," he remarked and pulled. The bottom of the bars came forward, giving just enough room for a person with medium build to slip out. "The screws were loose enough that he just took them out with his fingernails," Jander told the official. "He must have then rushed forward, attacked the pilot and grabbed his blaster from him."

Gamberlin nodded. "At least we know how he got out."

Jander turned and frowned at him. "I don’t imagine you’ll let that happen again."

Even Alikka could tell that Jander was giving the official the firmest reprimand he could give him under the circumstances. It wasn’t the duty of a Jedi to punish – but that didn’t stop one from pointing out a wrong someone had committed. Jander then turned to her. "Alikka, you feel a connection to spaceports, what do you think he would have done?" Gamberlin was about to protest but Jander gave him a look that would have stopped a rancor cold in its tracks. "Go ahead Alikka," he encouraged.

            "There’s too much attention outside, he could easily be caught," Alikka pointed out. "He’s going to try and hide until the excitement dies down enough for him to escape. My guess it that he’ll try and smuggle himself aboard another ship either bribing the pilot or by hiding aboard and hijacking the ship once it leaves Coruscant."

Gamberlin seemed to forget that she was just a trainee. He pulled out a comlink and gave out orders to not let a single ship leave unless it had been thoroughly searched. "All right, let’s see if we can find him now," he said.

   "Dunsar is going to be nervous," Jander whispered to Alikka. "He’s also going to be a little overconfident with success over escaping. See if you can pick out those emotions."

Alikka nodded and focused her mind on trying to find those emotions. It wasn’t easy with an entire spaceport riled up over the escape.

Deep breath, she reminded herself. She had to quiet her mind before she could really be effective with the Force. When she achieved it she could sense all of the minds around her. She started to pick out all of the different emotions that each mind was feeling and then she and Jander both stopped at the same time.

   "You felt that?" Jander asked.

Alikka nodded. "Overconfident, nervous, and his adrenaline is pumping through him like he was frightened animal."

   "I think we’ve got him," Jander said. "What’s in that direction?" he asked Gamberlin casually.

   "Storage," Gamberlin said. "But we checked there already.

   "He may have gotten in there since then," Jander pointed out. "I’d suggest we go investigate."

Gamberlin frowned. "If you insist," he sounded doubtful.

Alikka wondered if Jander was going to use a mind trick on the captain again, but it looked as though it wasn’t going to be necessary. Gamberlin lead them towards the storage rooms. "See, it’s just storage."

   "It’s a good hiding place as well," Jander said as Gamberlin opened the door up. "Are there ventilation shafts leading here?"

   "Yes."

   "It’s likely that he stayed in the shafts until you came through and looked for him here and then he came out and hid in here."

The official looked like he didn’t like how right Jander sounded and he muttered something under his breath about know-it-all Jedi Knights.

Alikka followed Jander in and noticed immediately that things didn’t seem completely right here.

   "Jander?" Alikka said softly.

   "I feel it too," he whispered.

Alikka felt a little more confident now. She looked around the storage room and saw dusty crates and boxes. But she knew very well that her normal senses could be deceived, and she should trust the Force instead.

There was a small noise and Gamberlin went running off to the other room.

   "Dunsar, come out and give yourself up!" he shouted, drawing his blaster.

   "Fool!" Jander exclaimed and went running after him.

Alikka started to follow and then there was another ripple in the Force and she whirled around as a hand clamped around her mouth and an arm circled around her waist, pushing a blaster into her ribs.

   "I should be able to get out with a hostage," a grating voice hissed in her ear.

Alikka fought to gain control of her emotions. All she had to do was calm down…

Dunsar lifted her up and started towards the ventilation shaft. "If you cooperate, you won’t get hurt little girl."

Calm down! Alikka shouted at herself. She had to call to Jander or he wouldn’t know what had happened to her.

Dunsar was a strong man and he easily pulled her up a series of boxes to reach the shaft. "All right, I’m going to open up the cover and if you so much as make a noise, you’ll get blasted, and let me warn you – it’s set on kill. Got it?" She could feel his anger and fear blending together inside of him – he was dangerous all right, and learning that the blaster was set to kill didn’t surprise her one bit.

   "Well?" he jammed the blaster into her ribs.

She nodded and he released her mouth and reached for the ventilation cover.

Jander! Help! Alikka called through the Force.

Suddenly Jander and the official were right back in the room and Jander had his lightsaber ignited, the green blade was humming with electric energy. "Dunsar!" Gamberlin exclaimed.

   "No fast moves or I kill the girl," Dunsar declared and his other arm wrapped around her waist. "You put down the blaster," he said to Gamberlin. "And you, Jedi, put down the lightsaber."

   "Just don’t hurt her," Jander said. He shut down his lightsaber and  set it down.

   "Kick it in my direction, I know what you people can do."

Jander gave the lightsaber a light kick and it rolled towards Dunsar and Alikka.

   "Please, we don’t want you to hurt her," Jander said. "I’m sure we can come to some sort of an arrangement."

   "Don’t say another word, Jedi! I won’t fall for one of your mind tricks!" There was panic in Dunsar’s voice. The fugitive then turned to the official. "I want free passage. I have a hostage and I don’t think you want to go down as letting a young girl get hurt. I want a ship to leave Coruscant and I’m taking her with me as far as another planet where I’ll drop her off."

   "You can’t take her of Coruscant!" Gamberlin said.

   "I don’t trust you otherwise," Dunsar declared.

Alikka tried to calm her mind. Dunsar didn’t know she was a trainee, she was sure of it! She was dressed in street clothes and he wouldn’t have any idea to connect her to Jander. If she could just try something to distract him…

But she had to be careful, he had a blaster in his hand and it was jammed right up against her ribs. She had to redirect the blaster before she tried anything. She would have tried to tug it from his grasp but he was gripping it so hard that the moment he felt a tug he’d fire it.

But there was one thing she could try to do…

Alikka took a deep breath and focused on the blaster. She pushed at it with the Force and switched the setting to stun. It might be able to buy her a precious moment or two and a moment or two could often mean everything.

Alikka, she felt Jander’s voice in her mind. Alikka, be careful and we will get through this. I promise.

Jander seemed to be lending her confidence. She took several deep breaths. This wasn’t at all like being at the Temple. When she sparred with someone there she knew she might get burned a little but the worst that meant was bacta and a Too-One bee droid hovering over her. But this was different, the stakes in this game were at their highest and the winners were those who were alive at the end.

Alikka turned to look at Jander and read in his face that he was focusing his mind very carefully. Suddenly she felt Dunsar’s grip loosen up a little bit on her and she felt the blaster turn away from her ribs. It was as though he was getting sleepy.

He still had a grip on her waist though. She had just enough time to make one good move and then he was going to snap to attention and go after her.

And then Alikka had an idea.

She focused her mind on Jander’s lightsaber; she couldn’t get to her own but Jander’s was right there. With a quick tug on the Force, she called Jander’s lightsaber to her and then pulled her right hand out and caught it.

Dunsar snapped to attention and swore. He fired but the shot hit a crate. He seemed to realize it should have exploded and then he reached for the setting control.

At the same time, Alikka quickly took the lightsaber hilt and slammed it right into Dunsar’s face. He stumbled back and she twisted out of his grasp and ignited the lightsaber. The green blade flared to life with a hiss and it’s electric hum filled the air. Dunsar fired at her and she instinctively lifted up the lightsaber and blocked it. The bolt went back at Dunsar who wasn’t expecting it and hit him in the midriff.

Dunsar’s blaster dropped from his hand and he fell over – dead. Alikka shut down the lightsaber and in a moment, Jander was at her side.

   "Hmmm," Yoda said softly. "A great warrior will she be, ehhh?" he turned his head towards Mace Windu. They were both sitting in the Council chamber; outside a thousand air taxis flew past them but neither seemed to notice.

Mace Windu nodded thoughtfully. "Alikka was able to save herself because Kalmer Dunsar was unaware of her strength in the Force. That and Jander gave her the opportunity to escape."

   "Yes," Yoda agreed. "Give her a chance Jander did."

   "He took Kalmer Dunsar’s exhaustion and increased it’s intensity to give Alikka a chance to break loose. The only reason they were separated was because of a Galactic official’s overreaction to a noise he heard."

   "Make good team they do," Yoda considered.

Jander found himself standing before the entire Council just a few moments later. There were twelve members of different races and strengths but they were all bound together by the Force.

   "We would like to hear your account of the events," Mace Windu told him.

   "I arrived at the spaceport only to find Alikka there. She feels bound to spaceports and believes that she was born at one."

   "This we know," Yoda told him.

Jander nodded. "I would have sent her back but I felt as though she was meant to be there. After we tracked Dunsar to the storage rooms, the official heard a noise and ran into another room. I ran after him to keep him from getting himself killed and Dunsar grabbed Alikka and took her hostage. She called to me through the Force and when we came in, Dunsar was trying to take her through a ventilation shaft and he had a blaster pointed at her ribs. We were ordered to put down our weapons and I was ordered to kick my lightsaber away and not to say anything. Alikka apparently set his blaster to stun while I searched his thoughts and realized he was tired. I used the Force to increase the intensity of this and his grip on her slackened. She freed her hand and called my lightsaber to it. Dunsar tried to shoot her but he missed. He moved to check the setting when he realized it wasn’t set on kill and she hit him in the face with the lightsaber hilt. He stumbled back and then fired at her but she had ignited my lightsaber. She blocked the bolt and it reflected back into him."

   "You worked together as a team," Mace Windu remarked. "What did you think of this?"

   "I would like to take Alikka as my Padawan apprentice," Jander announced.

Alikka soon found herself facing the entire Council, alone.

   "How feel you?" Yoda asked.

   "Surprised," Alikka said. "I was shocked when the bolt killed Dunsar, thought."

   "Never killed before have you," Yoda stated.

   "No I haven’t," Alikka agreed.

   "Frightened you are not," Yoda remarked.

   "No, I’m not. I calmed my mind after the event. By opening ourselves to fear, we open ourselves to the dark side, Master Yoda. You taught me that when I was very young. I was afraid at first, but then I calmed my mind like I said."

   "Ready to be a Padawan you are," Yoda sounded approving. He turned to Mace Windu and nodded.

   "Alikka, please bring in Jander."

A moment later, both Alikka and Jander were facing the Council.

   "Given you a test the Force has," Yoda remarked.

   "Test?" Jander asked.

   "The Council has agreed that Alikka is ready to start training as a Padawan," Mace Windu replied. "While you were at the spaceport the Council agreed to allow you to prove yourself ready to take on a Padawan learner with a recommendation from Yoda and myself."

Yoda then looked over at Alikka and Jander. "Agreed to let you take on Alikka Nerdan as your Padawan learner the Council has."

Jander and Alikka looked at each other and they both grinned. In one motion, they turned to the Council and bowed.

Alikka couldn’t believe it, she was going to train as a Padawan and under Jander Zalar nevertheless. The Force had brought them together, and the Force would guide them as well.