Read Online Clone Wars Gambit: Siege by Karen Miller - Free Book Online
Authors: Karen Miller
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pockets, terraformed into marshy quagmire, thick foliage, a ravine, a cliff, a stretch of wide-open quake-ground, a very small and self-contained river,
and
four large blocks of streets complete with buildings and towers, it was also populated by a panoply of actual Sep battle droids—salvaged from real battles—which had been modified to shoot stingers instead of blaster bolts. In short, it was the ultimate in urban and natural habitat warfare training terrains. The poor little Padawans were going to get their butts
kicked
.
But better they were kicked in the safety of the Temple than out there in the real war, where second chances were rare and dead really meant dead.
“So,” said Taria, teasingly taunting. “Are you game? Say yes. This could be the start of a Temple tournament.”
“It sounds like fun,” Ahsoka said slowly. “But—a tournament means winning and losing, doesn’t it? The Jedi philosophy discourages pride.”
“True,” said Taria, her amusement fading. “But this isn’t about pride, Ahsoka. It’s about finding a way to train without dwelling on what we’re training for. War. Padawans learn better when they aren’t afraid. When they’re actually enjoying themselves? That’s when the lessons stick.”
And that was true, too.
As for me, this might be the perfect thing to take my mind off Skyguy
. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go get our teams!”
Twenty minutes later Ahsoka stood outside the dojo with eleven eager senior Padawans. They were the Green team. Taria had won the toss, so her Blue team had twelve. The Blues were now their enemy—at least for the next hour or so. Given that this was these Padawans’ first time in a war zone, all were wielding training lightsabers designed to stun instead of kill. They wore colored bibs to identify one another, too, although the fluctuating light levels and sudden bursts of storming rain would make it tricky to see anything clearly.
Green team entered the dojo first, its consolation prize for losing the toss. Ahsoka’s Padawans were entirely trusting and alarmingly impressed because she was Anakin Skywalker’s apprentice and knew the best clone soldiers by nickname and had crossed lightsabers with the likes of Asajj Ventress—and lived to tell the tale.
Hey, Skyguy. Don’t let me mess this up
.
“Right,” she said, raising her voice over the dojo’s first computer-generated cracks of lightning and howls of wind. “Focus on the objective, people: reaching the tallest tower in the center of the mini city and lighting its beacon. That means you keep your eyes peeled, and if you get into trouble then you rely on the Force… and each other. Understood?”
“Understood!” the Padawans shouted.
The rules only gave them a three-minute head start on the Blues. Since the opening terrain was the dreaded quake-ground, it was time to get cracking. First of all, though, she had to inspire her team. Captain Rex’s Hints for Leaders #4:
If they think you’re having fun, they might forget to be terrified
.
Spinning to face her Padawans, walking backward without missing a stride, Ahsoka smiled at the youngsters closest to her. Chivas and Tabrugni smiled back, two small peas in a Kuatipod, the glow of their ignited training lightsabers reflecting in their wide, excited eyes.
“There’s an old Hutt saying,” she told her Green team, as beneath their feet the treacherous quake-ground woke and shivered a warning. “And it goes like this:
Ungdaliki-aigoto-aigoto-grutaaaaah!
”
A moment’s startled silence, and then the Green team shouted back. “
Ungdaliki-aigoto-aigoto-grutaaaaah!
”
Then the game began, and Ahsoka forgot that none of this was real. Long since blooded in battle, she couldn’t think that way anymore.
Christophsis. Teth. Maridun. Kaliida Shoals. Bothawui. Kothlis
.
Memories of each encounter rose to drown her, and instead of fighting them she let herself sink beneath their hot red surface. What she’d
and
four large blocks of streets complete with buildings and towers, it was also populated by a panoply of actual Sep battle droids—salvaged from real battles—which had been modified to shoot stingers instead of blaster bolts. In short, it was the ultimate in urban and natural habitat warfare training terrains. The poor little Padawans were going to get their butts
kicked
.
But better they were kicked in the safety of the Temple than out there in the real war, where second chances were rare and dead really meant dead.
“So,” said Taria, teasingly taunting. “Are you game? Say yes. This could be the start of a Temple tournament.”
“It sounds like fun,” Ahsoka said slowly. “But—a tournament means winning and losing, doesn’t it? The Jedi philosophy discourages pride.”
“True,” said Taria, her amusement fading. “But this isn’t about pride, Ahsoka. It’s about finding a way to train without dwelling on what we’re training for. War. Padawans learn better when they aren’t afraid. When they’re actually enjoying themselves? That’s when the lessons stick.”
And that was true, too.
As for me, this might be the perfect thing to take my mind off Skyguy
. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go get our teams!”
Twenty minutes later Ahsoka stood outside the dojo with eleven eager senior Padawans. They were the Green team. Taria had won the toss, so her Blue team had twelve. The Blues were now their enemy—at least for the next hour or so. Given that this was these Padawans’ first time in a war zone, all were wielding training lightsabers designed to stun instead of kill. They wore colored bibs to identify one another, too, although the fluctuating light levels and sudden bursts of storming rain would make it tricky to see anything clearly.
Green team entered the dojo first, its consolation prize for losing the toss. Ahsoka’s Padawans were entirely trusting and alarmingly impressed because she was Anakin Skywalker’s apprentice and knew the best clone soldiers by nickname and had crossed lightsabers with the likes of Asajj Ventress—and lived to tell the tale.
Hey, Skyguy. Don’t let me mess this up
.
“Right,” she said, raising her voice over the dojo’s first computer-generated cracks of lightning and howls of wind. “Focus on the objective, people: reaching the tallest tower in the center of the mini city and lighting its beacon. That means you keep your eyes peeled, and if you get into trouble then you rely on the Force… and each other. Understood?”
“Understood!” the Padawans shouted.
The rules only gave them a three-minute head start on the Blues. Since the opening terrain was the dreaded quake-ground, it was time to get cracking. First of all, though, she had to inspire her team. Captain Rex’s Hints for Leaders #4:
If they think you’re having fun, they might forget to be terrified
.
Spinning to face her Padawans, walking backward without missing a stride, Ahsoka smiled at the youngsters closest to her. Chivas and Tabrugni smiled back, two small peas in a Kuatipod, the glow of their ignited training lightsabers reflecting in their wide, excited eyes.
“There’s an old Hutt saying,” she told her Green team, as beneath their feet the treacherous quake-ground woke and shivered a warning. “And it goes like this:
Ungdaliki-aigoto-aigoto-grutaaaaah!
”
A moment’s startled silence, and then the Green team shouted back. “
Ungdaliki-aigoto-aigoto-grutaaaaah!
”
Then the game began, and Ahsoka forgot that none of this was real. Long since blooded in battle, she couldn’t think that way anymore.
Christophsis. Teth. Maridun. Kaliida Shoals. Bothawui. Kothlis
.
Memories of each encounter rose to drown her, and instead of fighting them she let herself sink beneath their hot red surface. What she’d
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