Jedi Fugitive (The Bad Batch)

97:

Astera:

Ventress's 'test' turned out to be making Omega balance on the most treacherous ground she could find with one leg, arms out and a fruit resting on top of her head. Now I could see what she was trying to do - balance was a fundamental of the Force and it started with the physical. Any child who could keep their balance on ground like this was usually showing the first signs of Force sensitivity already. It wasn't a perfect indicator, but it was a good start. 

Though Omega didn't seem to be performing well by those standards.

"This is the test?" Omega questioned nervously when she slipped yet again, forcing her to put her other foot down to stabilise herself.

"One of them," Ventress replied evenly from behind her. I'd thought as much. One couldn't determine a high M-Count on this test alone. But even though her test may have been legitimate, it didn't mean she didn't have ulterior motives. She might not be a Sith Assassin anymore, but too much had happened during the war for me to consider anything else. So I was up on the rocks with her and Omega, arms crossed and watching her every move with narrowed eyes. She was here for something, and I wasn't leaving her alone with Omega until I figured out what.

"But the rock is... slippery. Can we go someplace else?" Ventress didn't reply, and Omega visibly suppressed a snort of frustration before trying again. "How does standing on one leg have anything to do with M-Count?"

"You're focused on the wrong things. Stop trying to have balance. Let go of your conscious mind."

"'Conscious mind?'" Omega repeated dubiously. "I don't even know what that means- Whoa!"

Her foot slipped again and she stumbled forward, the fruit rolling off her head and only barely catching herself before she could pitch off the rock entirely. Ventress caught the fruit before it could hit the ground, sighing irritably and throwing a look at me on the rock across from them, still eyeing her suspiciously.

"Care to demonstrate?" She flicked her wrist and threw the fruit in my direction, my own hand flashing up to intercept it before it could hit me in the face. I scowled at her and set the fruit of my head, lifting my leg and extending my arms out in a pose identical to Omega's.

"What she means is you're thinking too much about keeping your balance. You want to focus on everything else instead. The shifting of the wind, the way life on this planet moves around you. It's like when you're trying to meditate. As soon as your focus turns away from yourself, you achieve balance." At least I didn't have to let go of my own conscious mind to balance properly. It had been a part of my life for so long it was almost second nature.

I exhaled and closed my eyes, slowly letting my awareness stretch out and follow the waves rolling on the ocean, the breeze stirring in the air... the warmth of the sun against my face. It was tempting, to fully let go of my physical body and immerse myself in the void of life that was the Force. I hadn't done it for so long. Maybe just this once...

'When have we ever followed orders?' I hurriedly set my foot down before the memories could rise up and disrupt my tentative focus, taking the fruit off my head and offering it to Omega again. "Here. Try again."

"Come on, Omega!" Wrecker cheered on encouragingly from the cavern, Hunter watching grumpily from beside him. Crosshair had disappeared, presumably to the ship after I'd mentioned Ventress's name to them. "You can do it!"

"Why don't you two make yourselves scarce?" Ventress snapped at the two clones. She was already annoyed that I'd insisted on overseeing her 'tests', but I knew enough about Omega and the Force to at least lend some help for Omega. Hunter and Wrecker, on the other hand, were just a nuisance for her.