A New Player in the Force

"What are you doing in here?!"

I spun at the question/accusation and saw Sate standing in the doorframe of Palpatine's private office. The same one I had been clearly told to stay out of less than a week ago and was currently standing in.

"I wished to report to my master about my first week," I replied calmly. "As far as I know, this room has the only outside commlink."

That was all true, but I had mainly wanted to sneak into Palpatine's private office and snoop around a little. Sure, it was unlikely I would find anything, but it couldn't hurt to look.

However, now I had his assistant – a man that the interface rated as an average threat, although why he was rated so high was still unknown to me – glaring at me as he stalked over to the desk I was standing behind.

"This commlink is for the Senator's private business. Get out." Sate snarled as he towered over me. I was sure he expected me to cower if only a touch, but I didn't. I might be currently lacking in the size and strength departments, but by coming so close, he had removed his greatest advantages if we fought.

"Then how am I to communicate with Master Dooku?" I asked evenly.

My lack of reaction to his tone and closeness seemed to irk the man. "I don't care. You need to leave. Now!"

He moved to grab my shoulder only to stop at a gentle cough from behind him.

He turned, and I stepped to the side, to see Palpatine standing where Sate had been a minute before.

"Now, now Sate. Cameron only wished to speak with his master. There is no need to threaten a child." He said with a soft smile, though his eyes were hard.

"Yes sir," Sate replied, his head dropping even as Palpatine stepped closer and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"However, I do believe that I asked you to stay out of this room Cameron." He waved off my attempt to reply before continuing. "I will arrange for a secure communications unit to be placed within your room to allow you to communicate freely with Master Dooku."

"Thank you, sir. And sorry." I said, playing up my apparent innocence. "I didn't plan to come in, but I wished to speak with Master Dooku about a combat manoeuvre but was lacking a way to do so. Then I remembered you mentioning you had a commlink in here."

"Ah. Well, even if you had opened the channel, you would have been unable to use it. For security reasons it has a biometric lock," Palpatine explained as he guided me past Sate, who scowled at me once out of Palpatine's vision, and out of the office. "You understand of course?"

"Of course, sir. I imagine much of your work is important and needs to be protected from people wishing to do you harm." I replied which earned me a larger smile.

He chuckled a few times before he spoke again. "Yes, indeed. I must say, you are far more understanding of how the real world works than Jedi three times your age." He said as we walked to my room.

"Probably because I grew up outside the Temple and had a real childhood."

He laughed openly at that comment. "Yes, that may well be it." He paused and looked around for a moment before leaning down. "Do not mention this to others, but I feel that many of the Jedi are, shall we say, unaware of anything that happens outside the Temple and the Order."

"I think I may have said something like that a few times during my time there," I replied, a small smile growing on my face.

He laughed again and stepped back. "Then I hope they listen to you more than they do to me." He stated as his smile returned. It appeared genuine and friendly. "Now, I hope this is the last time we must talk about you entering places you shouldn't be."

"Yes, sir."

"Excellent. If you will excuse me, I have a holo-meeting with a banker."

I bowed in the Jedi fashion and he left the room.

As I sat on my bed, I replayed the last few minutes over in my head. From the moment I entered the office until Sate had turned up, only five minutes had passed. That meant that some form of alarm, either on the door or just inside, had detected my presence and alerted Palpatine and his aide.

That would make searching the room exceedingly difficult since I wished to avoid using active Force powers around Palpatine; the less he knew about what I could do the better. Under these circumstances, I doubted I would be able to access his computer systems.

How the incident had been handled by the two men was also interesting. Sate had played bad cop to the Senator's good cop. It was a simple technique, but one that would work on most children.

Good thing I wasn't really a child.

… …

… …

Two weeks after being placed undercover, I found myself sitting outside the office of the headmaster of the middle school that I had to attend. This had to be a new record for me if I compared this to my old life.

The schooling system on Coruscant was split into three levels, primary, middle and high, totalling thirteen years in total length and I was assigned to Year 6, making me one of the youngest students in the middle school as I was still a few months shy of my tenth birthday.

The school was an impressive place, full of what I was told were state-of-the-art educational systems, with the best organic teachers that money could hire. And I had to admit that all the teachers were quite good. They engaged with the children, explained things in clear and concise ways and never seemed to be offended by a question.

However, it seemed that even in a galaxy far, far away, cliques existed as I had been singled out by a group of boys in Year 9. These boys either didn't like me, my uncle or possibly both, and had taken it upon themselves to teach me how things worked. I was mildly impressed that such things still existed in a middle school if you ignored that this was a very expensive and exclusive private school.

Since every one of the legitimate students here was from rich, powerful Core-world families, they had grown up thinking themselves better than others. And here was me, a son of farmers from a backwater Outer Rim planet now part of their ranks. Even if Palpatine was wealthy in his own right, to them he was still from the fringes of the galaxy.

Sadly, this was just proof that certain behaviour was common no matter the technological level of a planet or the species in play; certain people were just born arseholes.

"Cameron, what has happened?" Palpatine asked as he entered the small waiting area outside the headmaster’s office. He was doing a good job of acting concerned, though Sate, who had stopped at the doorway, was unimpressed as he glared at me.

Not that I cared about him much. He couldn't do anything to me while the assignment was active, nor possibly afterwards if Sidious decided I was worth watching/attempting to corrupt.

Plus, I planned to kill the shite at some point before Palpatine started the Clone Wars, though only once I had found a way to do so without linking it back to me and making sure I gained experience from it via a quest.

"Senator Palpatine, welcome." The Secretarial droid said in a feminine tone. "There has been an incident involving your nephew that has required Headmaster Cromth to become involved."

"What sort of incident?" Palpatine asked me, ignoring the droid.

I shrugged. "Nothing big. Just some older students not liking me as I'm a country boy from the Outer Rim." I replied simply. I had taken to dumbing down how I spoke a touch while in school as I was meant to be from the 'working class' of society. It was sad that such behaviour existed in this galaxy, but there wasn't much I could do about it now, if ever.

"And how long has this been going on?" Palpatine inquired as his brow began to crease, acting the part of concerned parental figure/fellow Outer Rim citizen.

"Since I started here. The other boys are…"

"Senator Palpatine, greetings. I'm Headmaster Cromth. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances." Stated the headmaster as he stepped out the door to his office into the waiting area; his hand already extended.

"Indeed Headmaster. What exactly has happened with my nephew?" Palatine replied as they shook hands.

At a gesture from Cromth, the three of us stepped into his office.

Cromth moved slowly - whether because of age or his large girth, it was hard to tell - around the table and sat in his high-backed chair while my uncle and I sat in comfortable but simple chairs on the other side of the large, highly polished wooden desk.

After the standard pleasantries were over, including both men agreeing to drop their titles, Cromth began to explain what had happened.

"Just after lunch today, your nephew began to verbally assault four of the older students; making disparaging remarks about their ancestors and other family members, their appearance and even their bodies."

I bristled as Cromth spoke. The bastard was leaving out the fact those four boys and the other half dozen or so in their group had been making snide remarks and attempting to prank me since I had arrived. And the only reason I called their actions pranks was that none of them had succeeded, otherwise, I would have called them attacks.

"While Cameron has only been living with me for a few weeks, I find it hard to believe that he would just decide to randomly torment four boys from an upper year. Perhaps there is something you and your staff may have missed?" Palpatine said slowly, clearly not buying the story given by Cromth. Which made sense as I was a Jedi, and it was unbecoming of a Jedi to resort to name-calling.

Then again, I was hardly a normal member of the Order and I had said everything Cromth said I had, though I may have been more colourful in my vocabulary than the headmaster had indicated.

"No. I have spoken to all the males involved and others who were nearby, and the story is the same. Young Cameron simply stepped toward the older males and began calling them names, before moving onto insults regarding their families and bodily functions."

"Hmm." Palpatine gently tapped his chin, looking from Cromth to me and then back again. "What is the school going to do about this incident?"

"Since this is Cameron's first offence, and he is a new student, I have decided that he will be given a detention for a month and a formal notice will be placed in his records. Don't worry, the notice will be expunged if there are no other incidents before he graduates." Cromth added at the end to cut off an incoming comment from Palpatine.

"Very well," Palpatine replied with a small sigh after considering what Cromth had said. "However, I will be asking my nephew for his side of the story once we return home. If there is more to these events than you have mentioned, I may have to speak with Commissioner D'rath." He placed his hands on the armrest and began to rise slowly.

Cromth's expression, which until this point had been a little smug, fell at the mention of D'rath, so I could only assume he was someone with a lot of power within the school system.

"Th-there's no need to involve the Commissioner in this," Cromth blurted out as he leaned forward, which was enough to stop my 'uncle' from standing further. "Perhaps… perhaps we could forget about the formal notice, and maybe limit the detention to a few weeks."

"Perhaps we could," Palpatine replied as the corners of his lips twitched upwards. "Though I still do not believe that young Cameron here would simply decide to make a scene. And certainly not against four older, stronger boys."

"It was not in keeping with the reports I have gotten from his teachers," Cromth agreed quickly. "Cameron has already placed at the top of his class in most subjects."

"Indeed, well that is most welcoming to hear." Palpatine gave me a small smile. I didn't respond as I was more interested in watching how the Senator was twisting the whole conversation around to his advantage. "I admit to having been concerned that he would struggle to keep up with his classmates."

"Oh, there is no risk of that. Cameron is grading well above the year. Truthfully, if he keeps it up it may be possible to push him up a year for the new term."

Now Palpatine preened like a proud relative even as I shrugged. Say what you will for the more advanced subject matter here than in my old life, it was still aimed at ten-year-olds. And with my knowledge from my last life, as well as what I had been taught in the Jedi Temple, it was still generally a waste of time. Even if anything new was mentioned, I remembered perfectly with Eidetic Memory.

"That is wonderful to hear. But wouldn't a formal notice cause…"

"As I said, we can forget about that since it is the first offence." Cromth interrupted and for a mere instant there was a twitch of a sneer on Palpatine's face at the interruption, but it was quickly smoothed over.

"Ah, well then I look forward to hearing all about Cameron's successes. Is there anything more to discuss?"

"No, no. Thank you for coming in to see me, Senator." The usage of Palpatine's title signalled the end of the informal meeting.

"It was my pleasure, Headmaster," Palpatine replied as the pair again shook hands.

I followed my uncle out of the school, Sate falling into step just behind us. We walked in silence until we had all boarded a Senatorial shuttle, at which point, Palpatine turned to me.

"How much of what Headmaster Cromth said is true?"

"All of it, though he did leave out why I reacted," I replied. "The older boys and it is a group of about sixteen or so, have been making comments about my parentage, coming from the Outer Rim and attempting to hurt me with pathetic tricks since I arrived at school. I simply had reached the limit of my patience with their behaviour and decided to respond."

Palatine nodded and gave me a gentle smile at my answer. "Ah, yes. You are different and an outsider. The weak-minded see that as easy prey, but you are far from that."

"True, but if I did not retaliate, then things would continue and likely become worse. There is also the fact that not behaving like a normal boy might tip off the kidnappers that there is more to me than meets the eye."

"Yes, indeed." Palpatine shared a glance with Sate. "I must say, I did not expect a Jedi Padawan to be able to adapt so easily to the situation, and in a way that diverted attention from you even while standing out."

"I'm not a normal Jedi," I stated honestly knowing it was both true and why I suspected Palatine had arranged for me to be assigned to him.

"Yes, yes. Master Dooku is unusually proud of you and I am beginning to see why. Did your grandfather perhaps teach you about social structures before he died?"

"Not directly, but he often made comments about what was reported in the news or the way people reacted. I guess I picked up more than I thought from that." I replied with a shrug.

"It seems you did indeed. It is a pity you are in the Jedi Order as with the right training I could see you being a powerful voice for good in the Senate."

I cringed. "I'd rather fight a pack of rancors than be a Senator. No offence."

Palpatine laughed, and while he honestly sounded genuine, I couldn't be sure if it was. "Oh, none taken. I understand perfectly how you feel and often wish for the comforts of any other place than being on the Senate floor. Far too often those in power have no interest in anything but themselves.

"However, here is where I feel I can do the most to help the galaxy. Where I can help the largest number of people."

I smiled at him, even if I knew that what he had just said was not entirely true. Oh, I did not doubt that he felt he was doing the right thing, but it wasn't for the masses; just for himself and the Sith.

"Perhaps I will find such a place for myself," I said slowly, watching the buildings, speeders and starships shoot past as our shuttle moved towards 500 Republica. The building was massive and very exclusive and Palpatine was proud to have a large apartment on one of the upper floors.

The place did not fit perfectly with Palpatine's public persona, but I suspected that being so close to the rich and powerful on the capital of the Republic suited his darker side.

The fact the building had a dedicated private security force that I was sure he at least partially controlled was just another reason I felt the place served as sort of a base for his work as Darth Sidious. Though how that business was conducted, I didn't know, as nothing had happened in the few weeks to even hint at Palpatine having a hidden life.

"You do not feel content within the Jedi?" He asked his tone now quieter and more probing.

"Yes and no. While I am grateful for all they have done, and will no doubt do for me in future, there is much about the Temple I do not like." I replied honestly. "But perhaps things will change as I grow older," I added, cutting off him from probing more.

It was a risky game I was playing as outright lying that I was happy or comfortable in the Temple would probably be seen through and raise his suspicions. However, if I revealed too much, I may find myself visited by assassins or a certain Zabrak before I was able to defend myself.

"While I am sure you will eventually find your role in life, if, at any time in the future, you need an outside voice please don't hesitate to contact me."

"Thank you, uncle," I replied with a small smirk, intentionally using the false relationship to amuse him. That earned a small chuckle from the Senator.

"Senator remember that you have a holo-meeting with the banker," Sate stated and when I glanced his way, I saw he was glaring at me.

I ignored the glare as Sate had yet to act on his clear dislike for me. Heck, even me stealing all his kaffa – via dumping it in my Inventory to then sell it to a street merchant – hadn't annoyed him enough to try anything.

I doubted anything short of me doing something to endanger his life would have Sate react as Palpatine was very keen to stay in my good graces. Sate might be a decent threat according to Examine, but he was clearly being kept on a leash by Palpatine and thus was a non-threat. For now.

"Ah yes. Cameron, I will try to see you before bed, but I cannot guarantee it."

"I understand uncle. Hope your work goes well."

We hugged briefly as we were in a public area of the building to keep up appearances before I took a private elevator that took me up to the apartment.

Sadly, I was unable to use the time to search the apartment as another of Palpatine's assistants, a man named Kinman guided me to my room.

Kinman was one of three close advisors of Palatine – the others being Sate and another man named Janus – and the easiest, and lowest threat, to deal with. There was more to Sate than he let on – a threat rating of Medium was proof of that – while Janus was highly prejudiced speciest against any non-humans. A stereotypical Xenophobe.

Kinman was not a fan of Jedi but seemed willing to put up with me as 'I hadn't had the arrogance drilled into me yet'.

Once I was alone in my room, I called up a new quest notice.

Quest Alert!

Better Than Your Peers

Prove yourself in the end-of-year tests.

[2 months until the tests]

Rating: C

Objectives:

Pass each base subject test with a score greater than 95% [0/6]

Pass any support subject with a score of greater than 90% [0/4]

Bonus: ?

Bonus: ?

Rewards:

300XP per base subject test [0/6]

200XP per support subject [0/4]

Promotion to Year 7.

Penalties:

-100XP per base subject test [0/6]

Note:

This quest has already been accepted.

It was auto-accepted by the Player not denying it at the time of creation.

...

I was a little annoyed at having the quest be accepted without my consent – how was I meant to reject it while in the meeting without raising questions? – but it should be easy enough.

My skills in the base subjects – Maths, Basic, computing and the three core sciences – were more than high enough, and I knew everything from the teaching materials thanks to Eidetic Memory.

The four support subjects – music, physical education, politics and a second language – were where I might struggle, but I should be able to pass two of them at the required level.

I had already gotten a similar quest for monthly tests - with the option to reject it if I wanted - though that was for only a third of the XP of Better Than Your Peers, and I had passed all ten subjects and gained a few bonuses.

If my performance in those tests held – they were why I had the chance to move up, so it was likely – the quest would be easy enough to complete, and I wasn't going to complain about the easy-to-earn XP.

… …

… …

Just over two months after being placed undercover in the school, and a month or so after being hauled into the headmaster's office because of the older boys, I was walking down one of the halls in the school.

I was now in Year 7, the headmaster having kept his word and moved me up a year after I had easily passed the end-of-year test for Year 6. Though he had only kept his word after Palpatine arranged another meeting, right after speaking with the Senate-appointed Commissioner for Education. I'd passed all the base subjects, even managing to get four of the bonuses for acing the tests and three of the support subjects.

Year 7 was still easy; my skills and perks were a godsend in making sure of that. Sure, it made schoolwork boring, but that allowed me to spend my time working on my Force powers that were more passive – read not flashy – in nature.

I rounded the corner and smiled at a few of my classmates, who shied away from me. I frowned, wondering h…

A hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled me into a classroom.

I mentally activated Enhance Stat for Agility and Strength.

My hand went into my Inventory for a small knife I now stored there.

I prepared to pounce at my attacker.

"Shan! Calm yourself!" A female voice hissed as the lights came on.

I spun, keeping my hand in my Inventory by hiding it behind my back, and came face-to-face with a familiar, and friendly face.

"Dammit, girl! I almost attacked you!" I spat out at Bultar Swan; the other Jedi assigned to this school and Master Giiett's Padawan.

She chuckled once. "I knew it was coming, and I don't think you can call me a girl when I'm older than you." A single eyebrow rose in amusement as I slid my hand out of my Inventory and disabled Enhance Stat even as those powers that automatically engaged for combat did likewise.

"Whatever," I muttered, ignoring that I had reacted instinctively and made a reference to her young age even when I was physically a child. "I thought we were meant to avoid meetings."

"Yes, but we were also to avoid standing out," she replied with a very slight smirk. "Like beating up a group of boys three years older than yourself. What was that about?"

I sighed, and after using TK to lock the door to avoid anyone walking in on us, began to explain.

"I've been having, issues, with a group from your year since I arrived."

"Yes, I remember the verbal beating you gave them a month ago," she interrupted as the smirk grew. "Thanks for the new curses by the way."

"You're welcome. Anyway, they didn't stop, and neither did their pranks. And I use that word very, very loosely." I could feel my anger rising as I remembered the incident that led up to me attacking the boys.

"Be mindful of your anger Cameron," Bultar said, having sensed how I was feeling. "What pranks?"

"They started small. Gum in my desk, changing the password to my terminal, that sort of crap. But after I spoke up, things got worse." I paused and took a breath. This was where Eidetic Memory was a problem as I remembered every little thing that had been said or done over the last month-plus, and every consequence of their actions.

"They programmed the sprinklers to spray water when I walked into the classroom, placed seemingly harmless explosives in my locker and similar pranks until recently where they rigged a durasteel plate to be thrown at me as I entered a room."

Her smirk fell and she gave me a quick once-over. "They what?!? Are you well?"

"I'm fine. Their pranks have never hurt me, but the brick struck one of my classmates in the chest." I felt my anger rise again as I perfectly recalled the pained scream Recel had given as she fell, and the sounds of laughter coming from just down the corridor.

"I figured that was going too far and decided to, discuss, things with those boys." Now I couldn't help but smirk as the aftermath replayed in my mind.

"Discuss? Cameron, you send eleven boys to the infirmary with seven having to be transferred to the hospital." Bultar stated, though there was far less disapproval in her tone than I would've expected for me beating up eleven boys.

I shrugged. "I didn't use the Force," 'visibly' "or kill anyone." I countered. "Not my fault they didn't back off after my warning in the canteen."

Bultar sighed loudly and turned away, flipping her hands into the air. "Didn't kill anyone he says," I heard her mutter as she stepped away from me and shook her head.

"What? Would you have preferred I let them keep trying to prank me until someone else was maimed or killed because of their actions?" I snapped. "If the fucking administration around here did their damm jobs and stopped that shit from happening, Recel wouldn't have suffered two cracked and one broken rib!"

Bultar turned back to me and sighed again, even as she moved to sit on one of the empty desks. "I…" She began only to stop, shake her head and mutter something I didn't catch. "Cameron, we are Jedi. We cannot go around assaulting people to fix problems."

"But…" She raised her hand to cut off my retort. "But they had gone too far and needed to be stopped. While I do feel you may have also gone too far in dealing with the boys," her face grimaced and I realised there was a chance she shared classes with a few of them as they were all in Year 9, "I accept you did what needed to be done. My report to my Master will say as much."

I looked at her in confusion for a moment, having expected to be given some drivel about going too far in my actions before I smiled. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," she replied, returning the smile, which grew as she continued. "However, I am unsure how Master Dooku will feel about this or Senator Palpatine."

I groaned and sunk into a chair. "Fuck me."

Bultar chuckled softly as she walked to the door. As she opened the door she paused and glanced back at me. "You did what you felt was right, which is sometimes all we can ever do. Just try to be more, restrained, in doing so."

With that she left the room, pulling the door closed behind her.

I chuckled once, in disbelief that a Jedi had accepted why I had all but assaulted eleven older boys, placing all of them in the infirmary or hospital. I had been and still was, expecting a stern lecture from Dooku about my actions, but it was nice to see that not all Jedi were closed-minded to the idea that to make an omelette you must break a few eggs.

… …

… …

"Well, that was unexpected," I muttered as I exited the Headmaster's Office with Palpatine for the fourth time in three months.

"Indeed, indeed." Palpatine agreed as we walked through the empty corridors of the school, the ever-present Sate falling into step behind the Senator. "I will admit that I feared another incident like last time."

I chuckled and looked up at my uncle. "If they hadn't learnt from their lesson, I think a meeting with the headmaster might have also involved the local police."

Palpatine glared down at me. "That is not something to joke about Cameron." He sighed and looked down at the datapad Cromth had given him. "Still, this is, as I said most impressive. How did such an idea come to you?"

"I remember my grandfather reading me stories about low-tech worlds, I think," I replied, mixing in truths from my old life to explain things. "When we were told to create our own stories, I remembered those stories and wrote that."

I pointed at the datapad, which held the first chapter of The Lord of the Rings. Sure, I could've written something original, but why waste the time when with Eidetic Memory I could remember everything I’d ever done? That included every story I’d ever read, seen as a movie or written myself, including the works of authors such as JRR Tolkien, CS Louis, Dickens and Shakespeare. While most were too Earth-based to be of use, The Lord of the Rings was fantasy, and thus usable.

I just never expected it to result in me being called into the Headmaster's Office once more.

"Hmm." Palpatine was silent until we entered the senatorial shuttle.

"It is a shame you are a Jedi," he started as the shuttle began to rise into the constant traffic of the planet. "Otherwise, I believe you could make a living from writing."

I was silent as I considered his words.

I doubted stories would earn me much – people preferred to watch holo-movies and such on the HoloNet – but if I could find a place to publish the stories from Earth, and earn money for people reading them, I could at least start to generate positive cash flow.

Heck, many of those novels had been adapted into movies on Earth, so maybe the same thing could happen here. Or I could adapt Earth movies, like Alien and Predator, for local consumption.

"There is nothing wrong with at least seeing if such a thing is possible," I stated, figuring I could at least humour the man, and use him to discover if there was a place to publish for money. "After all, there is no certainty I will become a full Jedi or stay with the Order for all my life."

"You still feel the Jedi are not for you?" He asked gently, as a notice appeared in my interface. Palpatine had again tried to use a force technique that Master Fay had called Force Persuasion. It was a more benign version of compulsion and operated as a general field that made anyone affected by it more likely to listen to what the user was saying and be open to their suggestions.

Palpatine had used the power on me a few times, but thankfully most times he had, Player's Mind had been active. While I doubted that he would use it around adult Jedi, I suspected he used it with others to ensure they began to see things his way. Combined with his clear natural charisma, it would help to ensure he got what he wanted in the long run.

Player's Mind was able to protect my mind from outside influence. However, to not raise his suspicion, I pretended at times to open up to him a little, like now.

"I am, uncertain," I replied. "But there is no harm in seeing what my options would be if I did leave."

"No, no there is not." He said and he placed a hand on my shoulder. "Again, you impress with your wisdom. I shall ask Sate to search for locations on the HoloNet where you could publish your story for money." He paused and glanced away. "Even if you stay with the Jedi, you could use the credits to support charities or indeed, the Order itself."

"That is a good idea. Thank you." I replied with a small smile.

While he would think I was smiling at his help, I was really smiling at the idea that he was going to help me find ways to earn money, which I would use to hopefully counter his ascent to Emperor.

Sometimes it was the little things in life that made it worth living.

… …

… …

I grumbled to myself as I walked from the school shuttle stop towards 500 Republica.

It had now been just under five months that I had been on assignment and save for my last visit to the Headmaster's Office regarding my writing assignment, nothing had happened.

Well, that wasn't totally true.

I had passed the Better Than Your Peers quest easily, acing four of the core subjects while passing the other two and achieving the bonus on two support subjects. Since I also succeeded in the two lightsaber quests and the first bonus for each, it meant I levelled up before the birthday bonus of XP.

I had also maxed out my base skill for using a standard two-handed lightsaber as my only weapon which granted me 500XP from maxing it out. This did not affect how quickly I learnt the various lightsaber forms, but just meant I was as comfortable as the interface allowed with using a standard lightsaber in combat.

These combined with the monthly tests at the school meant that I was well over halfway to reaching level 15.

I had taken a further quest to raise Shii-Cho to Savant:1 in half a year with a reward of 3000XP. I could've taken a similar quest for Soresu, but after deciding to concentrate on maxing Makashi, I decided against doing so for now.

My time at Palatine's had been pointless. I had limited myself to the more passive Force powers, such as Detection, to avoid allowing the Sith Lord to learn what I was capable of. I had also explored as much as I could of 500 Republica in the hopes I could find a hidden lair or passageway, but nothing in the areas I could access without arousing the suspicion of Palpatine, his helpers or the building's formidable security force had stood out.

Perhaps there was something in the basement – that did seem the most likely area – but access to the building's sublevels was restricted.

One small plus was that Sate had discovered a site on the local HoloNet, with connections to other Core worlds, where I could place my stories, but I had declined to post. What I had done was finish 'writing' the entire The Lord of the Rings trilogy on one of my Inventory-stored datapads.

Given I was underage, I'd need Palpatine to sign off on allowing me to publish if I tried to open an account with the site. And any credits earned would be placed into an account under his control. That was not going to happen, so I figured that once the assignment was over, I would try to persuade Fay to allow me to publish the trilogy on the site.

I planned to use the songs I had sung to her, which I had managed to fill a memory module for a datapad with, to help convince her.

Like with the stories and movies I remembered, many of the songs would not work here as they referred to Earth-specific details, but a lot would. And everyone deserved to hear classics like Living on a Prayer, Welcome to the Jungle and Freebird.

Still, that was for a later date. For now, I was actively looking to get kidnapped and learning what the kidnappers were up to. To increase the odds of that happening, I had taken to walking home from school.

Oh, I still took the assigned shuttle to the area around where I was living, but I got off early and walked. The district was generally well-lit and maintained but even here, with the senatorial district, there were areas that most people avoided.

Several such areas were on my route home, and after a month of taking the safer and longer route home, I had started using these avoided areas to shorten the route.

I had made sure to not keep to a set path, making it seem I was experimenting/exploring the area around 500 Republica, but I still made sure to head through a few secluded areas regularly.

Both Palpatine and Dooku had been unsure of this plan, but I was able to convince them that just taking the shuttle to and from school defeated the purpose of my assignment. Especially since almost all the abductions that had occurred before I went undercover, and the four since including a Padawan from another school, had happened when the student had been walking the short distance from the shuttle to their home building.

Dooku had stated the other Padawan had been missing for a few days when we had last spoken - which was at the end of last week - and while there was some concern about a Padawan being taken, the Council was not recalling the other Padawans just yet. Though Dooku had insisted I make sure to be carrying my emergency beacon at all times as they had discovered the Padawan's beacon where he had been staying, meaning the boy had not had it on him when he was abducted.

As I ducked down an alley in one of these secluded areas, I spared a glance at my mini-map and noted four beings were seemingly following my route. I had Detection running constantly from the moment I stepped off the shuttle, and constant glances at the mini-map confirmed that four were tracking.

Whoever and whatever they were, they were being careful. No one sentient stayed on my tail for more than a few hundred metres, yet I was never out of sight of any of them for more than a couple of seconds.

The only mistake in their tracking, beyond probably assuming I was just a normal ten-year-old, was that the first tracker always started following me from a diner next to where the shuttle dropped me off.

Having spotted that for the first time a few weeks ago, I now tagged everyone who exited the diner after I started walking. Regular but seemingly random stops at certain shops helped me notice others also following me.

Thanks to the combination of Detection and the mini-map, I didn't have to look up and scan the area, and thus let on I suspected I was being followed.

As I reached the end of the alley, I noted that two of the four were now in front of me, and at the end of a narrow section of the next street that I normally took. A street in which the lights had been broken for the last week.

Since it appeared that they were planning to spring their trap, I had to consider how to resist.

I could simply not resist at all, but that felt wrong.

If they had done their research on me, they would've known about my fight at school a few months ago, and thus not engaging would run the risk of alerting them that I was more than I appeared.

However, if I fought back too much, I risked them giving up. The abduction took too long, they'd more than likely break off to avoid the police who patrolled around the area semi-regularly.

Then again, they could easily have bribed one of the police officers or hacked the security system to deal with droids and cameras.

As I rounded the turn to the street where the two were waiting, I spared one last glance at my mini-map and spotted that the two behind were closing fast. Their plan looked to be to block me in and then somehow whisk me away; probably with a speeder that was waiting nearby.

"Hey, boy. What you doing here?" One of the two men – both of the figures in front of me were Human – asked in a deep, gruff voice.

I ignored them and kept walking, only for them to both push off the walls and block my path.

"Hey, he asked you a question." The other grunted out.

"Sorry, my uncle told me not to talk with strangers," I replied quietly as I analysed their faces.

Both had worn, well-weathered skin and rough, but trimmed beards. The first man was holding a death-stick one of his hands, the other behind his back. A posture matched by his companion.

"And who's your uncle, sonny?" the second man asked as both tensed, the first glancing past me, telling me their friends had arrived.

"None of your business," I replied with a scowl which just made the two men chuckle a bit more. "Let me pass."

"Now why would we do that, when you be the nephew of a Senator." the first man stated, flicking his death stick at me.

I tensed, knowing a fight was to come. Even if I had to lose, I was going to get my –

My vision went blue and the interface became jumbled before everything went dark.

… …

… …