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He stepped back, startled.

Tenel Ka's remote lay on the ground sliced in two, its circuits flickering and sparking. Jaina and Lowie also shut off their weapons and stood panting and grinning. Jacen rubbed the burning pain in his backside and grimaced sheepishly, hoping none of the others would notice.

"Excellent, all of you-except now it looks as if I'll need a new remote," Luke said, smiling wryly at Tenel Ka. "You did very well with the Force."

"Not only with the Force," she said, thrusting her chin upward and squaring her shoulders. "I also used my ears to track the remote. When I concentrated, I could hear it even above the sound of the lightsabers."

Luke chuckled. "Good. A Jedi should use all available skills and resources."

Jaina gripped the lightsaber in both hands and positioned the brilliant, electric-violet blade in front of her. She looked past the searing line of controlled fire at Lowbacca, her opponent, who stood opposite her, a lightsaber in his hairy grasp. He growled his readiness.

Jaina looked into the young Wookiee's golden eyes, saw the dark streak of black fur swirling up from his eyebrow and around his head. She swallowed and tensed. Though lanky, Lowbacca was much taller than she, and Jaina knew he was about three times as strong. But in his furry expression she saw an uncertainty, a genuine discomfort that mirrored her own.

"Do I really have to fight Lowie, Uncle-uh, Master Skywalker?" Jaina asked.

Luke Skywalker stood. "You're not fighting him, Jaina. You're fencing with him. Test your opponent.

Gauge each other's skills. Learn to judge reactions.

Explore strategies. But be careful," Jaina thought of her training at the Shadow Academy and how she and Jacen had dueled with lightsabers, not realizing that they had fought each other in holographic disguise.

"Remember," Luke cautioned, "a Jedi fights only as a last resort. If you are forced to draw your lightsaber, you have already forfeited much of your advantage. A Jedi trusts the Force and at first seeks other ways to resolve problems: patience, logic, tolerance, attentive listening, negotiation, persuasion, calming techniques.

"But there are times when a Jedi must fight.

Knowing that the Shadow Academy is out there, I fear those times will come all too often for us. And so you must learn how to wield your lightsabers."

He stepped back and motioned to Jacen and Tenel Ka, who waited on the edge of the clearing, sitting next to each other on the burned tree trunk. "You two will be next. Jaina, don't worry about Lowie being so much bigger and stronger than you are.

Dueling with a lightsaber is primarily skill, and I think you're equally matched in that. Your one true disadvantage is that his reach is much longer than yours. Unfortunately," Luke said with a sigh, ^circumstances don't always pit us against equal opponents. As for you, Lowie, be careful not to underestimate Jaina."

He dropped back to watch. "Now, show me what you can do."

"Well?" Jaina stepped forward, keeping her gaze locked with Lowie's. "What are we waiting for?"

The Wookiee shifted his lightsaber, bringing its molten-bronze blade into position. Jaina moved hers up to meet it, crossing her blade against his. She felt the pressure, the sizzling of sparks, and the discharge as the powerful beams drove against each other. She saw the muscles bulging in Lowie's long arms as he strained against her-but Jaina held her own.

"All right, let's try something else." Jaina withdrew her lightsaber, then swung it at her Wookiee friend slowly, cautiously-and Lowbacca met it with another crackle of released energy.

Swinging to strike again, she said, "This isn't so bad."

Lowie defended himself. He seemed reluctant to do battle.

Knowing that Lowie had endured horrifying struggles at the Shadow Academy-and remembering again that she had been forced to fight her own brother-Jaina realized that Brakiss and the violeteyed Tamith Kai would stop at nothing to bring down the New Republic. She and Lowie would both be needed to defend against the Dark