Creative physical conditioning

"Rise my apprentice," you bid her.

She obeys without question, her eyes searching yours for guidance. It is in this moment that you finally take some time to search her thoughts, which prove to be a whirlwind of conflicting emotions, a farcry from the calm demeanor she maintains on the surface. Your actions have heavily shaken her faith in the Jedi Order and the Light Side of the **** as a whole, though you could still sense some mental barriers hindering her potential. It fell to you to tear those barriers apart yet you remained unsure of where exactly to start. After taking a moment to think, you resolve that her combat skills would be the foundation.

"You are skilled to be sure, but you still lack the conditioning needed to use Form IV effectively. When did you begin training in Ataru?" you question.

"About two years ago when I turned 18," Barriss answered with a slight bow of her head. "Master Luminara permitted me to expand my horizons when it came to lightsaber combat, trusting my judgement in which direction I wanted to develop with my saber skills."

You nod in approval. It was a pleasant surprise to find that Barriss' master held an open mind about her padawan's development, though it remained clear that whomever it was that instructed the Mirialan girl was only sub-par at best.

"Yes. Your instructor had a fair grasp on the foundations of Form IV; acrobatics, a pressing offense, sweeping strikes. It all falls apart however if your body can't keep up with the strain, and it is here that your training shall begin."

You motion her to follow and make your way to the main elevator at the back of the Observatory. The swift yet gentle descent into the bowels of the Star Forge is spent in silence, with Barriss keeping her gaze fixed upon the deck, ruminating on her defeat and servitude. She was impressionable to a degree but far more willful and headstrong than you would like. This entire experience had proven to be a hard pill to swallow but your words appeared to have fallen upon fruitful ground. You felt that her training would become a favorite pet project of yours. Within moments, the elevator slowed to halt at your chosen destination, the massive mechanical doors sliding open with a hiss. What awaited you beyond took your apprentice's breath away and you couldn't help but smile.

The station itself, while massive, barely reached around 1500km in length if you included the fins with only a fourth of that dedicated to its diameter, but in this chamber awaited an entire world with its own self-sustaining ecosystem. The concept was simple enough, borrowed from one of your favorite sci-fi series back home. In your spare time between building your network of connections, laying with your lovers, and constructing your fleet, you set to work creating dimensional bubbles within the heart of the Star Forge, with each bubble representing an iconic biome from back home. Tundra, desert, tropical rainforest, and the like were all planned in placeholder templates on a datapad to allow your Godly powers to bend physics in such a manner, but this was the bubble in particular was first of many you were able to complete, and you took immense pride in your work. Your personal Garden of Eden so to speak was modeled after the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern North America.

Verdant valleys and tall, rolling hills thick with spruce, pine, fir, and countless other trees concealed a vibrant culture of fauna perfectly balanced with itself. Stretching your senses, you can feel the hundreds of thousands of life forms pop out to you, from the precious rabbit nursing its young in a burrow to the slinking and powerful form of a mountain lion stalking a herd of deer. Crisscrossing through the greenery were freshwater rivers, some cascading over cliffs in magnificent waterfalls, and all draining into a distant sea just as vibrant and filled with life as the forests themselves. High above in the sky you even constructed a miniature "sun", absolutely minuscule compared to the natural counterpart, to provide the perfect amount of light and warmth. The work was arduous and painstaking, but absolutely worth it. As willing as you were to take life to further your goals, you still felt a burning desire to create it as well. Being God came with an uncountable list of perks, but being master of your own world was truly rewarding and by your own Will, what was once a tool of the Dark Side used to destroy life was transformed into an Ark to preserve it; a shielded world within space station.

"How..." Barriss breathes out in wonder. "How is this possible...?"

"Through the ****, anything is possible," you say simply. "What you see here is what my homeworld once looked like before the interference of civilization. Consider yourself fortunate for you're the first to see my masterpiece."

Barriss could hardly muster a response as she stepped out of the elevator with tentative movements. This entire world was more fantastical than any of her wildest dreams. Fresh, crisp air filled her lungs and her skin was warmed by the gentle caress of daylight, but most importantly of all, the **** permeated strongly through everything. Here there was no Light or Dark, simply the Living ****. All at once, you felt her stress and worries fall apart as she closed her eyes and breathed deep.

"This place is beyond anything I could ever imagine," she says softly. "It shouldn't exist on a space station, and yet here I stand. It's as if you're a God."

You smile wryly yet withhold from confirming or denying her conclusion.

"At any rate, this is where your training shall begin," you state, moving forward with business. "You are tasked with surviving in this world for three months."

"Three months...?" she asks slowly, her peace quickly giving way to fear and anxiety. "But the war!"

"Time flows differently in this bubble compared to the outside galaxy. A month in here is simply a day on the other side," you explain. "Don't let the natural beauty of this place fool you. Exposure, hunger, fatigue, predatory creatures, and disease are all very real challenges you must overcome. Living off the land will not only condition your body and harden your will, but also strengthen your connection to the Living ****. Sentient concepts of good and evil don't exist out here. Only survival of the fittest. Your only tools are the clothes on your back, your mind, and your will in the ****. I expect you to not only survive but thrive."

"The Order never trained me for this!" Barriss protests in panic. "I don't even know where to start!"

"I'm not the Jedi Order. I won't be holding your hand," you quip with a shrug. "Human physiology limits one to approximately three days of no water before ****, so I'd hazard a guess that a Mirialan is similar. I suggest you begin with finding fresh water as quickly as possible followed by constructing or finding proper shelter from the elements. From the looks of things, rain is fast approaching."

Barriss follows your gaze to find the dark forms of storm clouds rolling quickly towards you. You could feel the distress welling up in her by the second. Chuckling quietly to yourself, wave your hand at the elevator controls.

"Good luck to you, my apprentice," you say with a smile. "I'll be seeing you again soon."

"Wait! Come back!" she yells in protest as she rushes back towards the closing doors. "At least give me back my lightsaber!"

Too late. They seal with a click and hiss followed by the light thump of her fist on reinforced metal. Maybe you were a bit hard on her to begin with, but this felt like the right move. As a Jedi, she possessed far more potential than just a pleasure ****. A powerful warrior would sire powerful offspring and you were eager to see what kind of children she would bear for you once her training was complete. Spinning her aforementioned weapon in your hand, you smile with satisfaction. The matter of Barriss Offee was now settled for the next 72 hours.

A/N: What's this? A new Star Wars chapter? Who woulda thought I'd be continuing this thread? Inspiration struck me so I put nose to grindstone and penned this little setup. Bonus points to whomever can guess the sauces (yes, plural) for the world bubble. Despite most of my time and attention being dedicated to my RWBY thread and now my Alternate History projects, my previous chapter in Star Wars has accumulated quite a bit of support, so I felt it's time our sci-fi epic got a move on. See you soon!