Angry Zule stormed into the training gallery.

A coward! She thought about her master – now the former master.

The coward gave up on her as did all Zule's previous teachers, to whom she was assigned. Instead of showing persistence in teaching her as must a true jedi, they ran away because she wasn't docile as they wished. A bunch of cowards!

Zule looked around. She needed to spar with someone to calm down but unfortunately everyone was busy in the training gallery.

The girl scowled.

Suddenly Zule noticed an unfamiliar but nice-looking jedi who had just finished his training with the remotes. The droids moved towards the stand.

She headed straight to the young man.

“Hey, you! Do you want to spar with me?” Zuel asked him bluntly.

It seems he is older than me by only a couple of years.

Also, she noticed that he didn't have a braid.

Perhaps, he is a knight? But he looks young to be one. Or is he just gifted?

The young man thought for a couple of seconds and then nodded. “Actually, yes. I'd like to have a spar.”

“Good. Then let's begin. I don't want to waste my time.” She said and stood in a combat position in front of him.

The jedi did the same.

Shii-Cho?

“By the way, I'm padawan Xiss. Zule Xiss.” The girl introduced herself.

“Nice to meet you, Zule Xiss.” The opponent replied calmly. “I'm jedi Shuu Tu from the AgriCorps.”

AgriCorps?!

The padawan was stunned to hear that.

“Are you a washout?!” She exclaimed.

Frankly, the girl began to entertain herself with the idea that this spar could be interesting... But what did I get?! A failure from the Service Corps!

Zule felt as if she was deceived. It only fueled her inner anger.

The male jedi looked unfazed. He just activated his green-bladed lightsaber.

“Don't forget to turn your lightsaber into training mode.” The jedi reminded her calmly.

“I know!” She retorted rudely but did as he said.

“Are you ready?” He asked.

Fine! I'll beat you quickly and then will find a normal opponent! Zule thought.

“Ready!” She said and attacked the next second.

+

Shuu recognized Ataru, the fourth combat form, instantly. The man realized that Shii-Cho wasn't as effective as Niman in defense. Thus, he changed the lightsaber style at the last moment.

The girl moved quickly – no, she moved very quickly. The young male jedi was barraged by numerous powerful strikes.

The initiate Tu knew that Ataru emphasizes an all-out offense, aimed for ending the fight as quickly as possible by overpowering the foe. The practitioner of this lightsaber style uses many leaps and somersaults that are very demanding physically, in consequence the practitioner exhausts quickly during a prolonged fight.

The opponent's charge was strong and quick. This spar required all Shuu's concentration and skills but the man continued to stay calm and focused, as he was taught at the jedi academy.

+

Zule struck and struck with her lightsaber, expending her stamina quickly, but still couldn't break the defense of the jedi in front of her. Moreover, the young jedi looked composed, repelling all her blows.

The spar wasn't happening as the female fallen expected. It angered the girl.

Zule believed that she would win the duel in a few quick blows because she was a padawan while her opponent was just a failure from the AgriCorps.

He already must be defeated! The irritated padawan thought, doing a fast somersault that ended in a powerful strike.

The opponent had blocked it, although he was forced to lower his body under the pressure of the attack. Then the man stepped back, blocking a new series of fast blows.

All of a sudden the padawan stopped.

Okay, I need to get serious in this spar. She admitted to herself reluctantly.

The girl observed the male jedi (his stance, his manner of holding his lightsaber) for a couple of seconds, remembering his movements during the spar. Zule realized that her opponent's skill in Niman wasn't great. His skill was passable at best.

As well, the padawan realized that a majority of movements that executed the man were a little stiff. This detail revealed the fact that her opponent didn't practice Niman often.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

But he has excellent concentration and very good reflexes.

Thanks to these two factors and her own disregard of the opponent, the man managed to fight with her until the present moment. The padawan realized that.

But it will not help you anymore. Now I will crush you!

The padawan attacked. She got serious and began to spend more Force to enhance her own body and reflexes. Instantly Zule felt the difference. The opponent's defense began to show the first signs of breaking. Despite his calm demeanor, she could see clearly that her opponent was overwhelmed by her fast blows.

The padawan could feel the coming moment of her victory. It's close!!! I'm going to crush you!!!

Next moment the female fallen felt that she was pushed back by the Force.

Ah, Niman... The girl thought in irritation and landed on her feet.

Instead of a fair lightsaber duel, this combat style used the Force tricks. But that was okay with Zule. She would win despite anything.

+

Shuu stared at the annoyed girl calmly.

She is strong – too strong. Staying in the defense guarantees my defeat. I'm not a master of Niman. Thus, I need to attack. This is my only chance to win.

The padawan moved towards him leisurely.

“I must admit that you are good for a washout.” All of a sudden the padawan said seriously.

Is this supposed to be a compliment?

She stood in the combat stance, ready to attack her opponent.

It doesn't matter, actually.

The initiate Tu noticed that the girl tried to suppress her anger when she fought. It was obvious that the padawan couldn't do it effectively.

Calmness was paramount for a jedi, because calmness allowed a jedi to maintain the strong connection with the light side of the Force in any situation. It was what the instructors told old Shuu.

At that moment new Shuu remembered about Dun Moch - the special technique of the sith. The purpose of the technique was a distraction of a jedi. New Shuu heard about Dun Moch back on Earth.

A sith distracted a jedi in the fight (usually) through taunts and jeers. A sith tried to expose the opponent's weaknesses, doubts, and fear to erode his or her calmness and concentration to make a jedi less effective as a fighter.

Shall I use it on my opponent?

“Thank you.” Shuu replied calmly and continued to speak. “Alas, I'm not impressed, Zule. You fight as an amateur. Your skill is unimpressive. Frankly, now I doubt that that braid of yours is real. Are you sure that you aren't my fellow from the Service Corps who just came here to fool around?”

The padawan looked shocked at first, then she became angered and later – the man could see pure rage. As a result, any control was tossed away by her. She flared up at once.

“You...” The girl groaned, clenching the hilt of her weapon.

The initiate Tu didn't allow her to finish the sentence. He just used the Force. He concentrated and tried to press the padawan to the floor. Sadly, it failed but served as a good distraction for the girl.

The young jedi ran up to the opponent and attacked her, using Shii-Cho. He didn't pay any attention to his own defense. The human was on an all-out offense.

+

Zule was stepping backward, defending, while her opponent advanced steadily like a robot. Each step of the man was accompanied by a series of quick strikes. The girl realized that the man knew much better this lightsaber style than Niman.

The opponent was quick in his offense but the female fallen could cope with that. Shii-Cho was quite predictable lightsaber style. However, it wasn't easy for the girl to withstand the attacks because she was angry. This negative feeling was disrupting her concentration, thus it was harder for her to use the Force to enhance her body and reflexes.

Zule felt as her exhaustion was building up due to a fast pace of the spar. Their lightsabers moved very quickly and could look like a blur for ordinary people.

The Ataru wasn't suited for the defense, thus Zule changed the lightsaber style. She used Soresu at that moment.

Soon the girl became less angry but more disturbed about the outcome of this spar. She didn't want to lose, especially to the washout. A defeat wasn't acceptable for her!

I must find a way!

+

Shuu was tired. He had already used a lot of his stamina. It was obvious that old Shuu didn't train enough as a member of the AgriCorps.

The human realized that he couldn't hold on to this offense any longer. It meant his defeat if he wouldn't do anything right away.

The man halted in his advance for a moment and used the Force to push the girl away. It was a strong push. The girl barely managed to land on her feet instead of falling down.

Meanwhile, the initiate Tu grabbed by the Force a pair of the remotes from the stand and threw them at the opponent. He used the training droids as simple projectiles.

The surprised opponent jumped aside but, when she was in the air, Shuu pulled her towards himself. He used a lot of his Force to do that. As a result, she moved in the air towards him at high speed. The time as though slowed down to the man. He could see the coming padawan. She was disoriented.

The young jedi raised his weapon. He was prepared to indicate a fatal blow with his lightsaber.

I have won.

Unexpectedly the female fallen had adjusted at the last second and also raised her weapon for a strike. Next moment two lightsabers clashed.

+

Zule stood and held the blade of her weapon close to the opponent's throat. It was her victory.

“I have won.” She stated. "And who does fight as an amateur now?"

The last trick of her opponent was dangerous. Zule could admit to herself that he had a chance to become a winner of this spar.

“I yield.” The young jedi ignored her question and deactivated his lightsaber.

Then he put his weapon back on his belt.

“Thank you, it was a good spar. You are a good and talented duelist, padawan Xiss.” The young man praised her.

He paused and said. “But you get angry easily. I think this is a weakness that can be exploited by your enemies.”

Zule scowled, still keeping her blade close to her opponent's throat. “Are you lecturing me now?”

Frankly, the girl knew that he was right. Actually, she constantly had problems with control due to her hot temper. When she became angrier – it was harder to control the Force for her.

“No, I just point out that if you keep like this, you will not be a good jedi. Calmness is paramount for us.”

Irritated Zule turned off her weapon. She wasn't going to listen to a lecture from anyone, especially from the member of the AgriCorps. The girl was pissed off.

The padawan turned around and made a step forward when she heard the voice of the young man. “I'm not your enemy, Zule. I do want to help you.”

The angry female fallen halted and turned around abruptly. She hissed. “If you go on, I will punch you. Now listen to me, I don't need anyone's help. Especially I don't need it from the washout. Are we clear?”

“Yes, we are clear.” The young man said after a brief pause.

He looked as calm as ever. It irritated Zule even more.

She turned around and stomped out of the training gallery.

+

That's a shame. Shuu thought.

The man remembered who Zule Xiss was in the Star Wars universe. She was a member of the group of padawans who would die on the planet Jabiim during the Clone Wars.

Zule Xiss was an unimportant character but each surviving jedi could be converted into the stronger resistance to the future emperor's rule after the execution of the order 66. Thus, Shuu sincerly wanted to help her to become stronger. Sadly, it didn't work.

But it didn't mean that the young man was going to save the Jedi Order who served as enforcers of the laws and politics of the Coruscant government.

For instance, if something went not to their or the senators' liking, then be ready to meet a landing of a few hundred jedi upon your head as it had happened on Geonosis in the movie. Formally, Dooku was right. Geonosis was an independent planet and the jedi didn't have a right to intervene in the planet's inner affairs.

The initiate Tu sighed and moved towards the exit of the training gallery. He was going to rest for a while and then visit the bank to check his balance. The Jedi Order paid an allowance to every working jedi. The Galactic Constitution stated that everyone must be paid for his or her work – or else it is a slavery.

Old Shuu spent his money rarely in the past because they were useless for him. He got food, water and accommodations from the order. Old Shuu didn't need money (and didn't know how much he had) but not new Shuu who needed money to realize his plan.

All of a sudden the path to the exit was blocked by two instructors. One of them held a pair of damaged training droids.

Oh...