Chapter 3: Prologue 2

I'll be honest and say nothing much happens here, but I wanted to show how Cameron goes about the first few days in his new identity.

I pulled my head up as I finished the first assignment, surprised that it seemed far harder than I remembered from primary school in my old life – though that may have been because I was using a new language that, even though my brain seemed to know how to use, I did not – and noticed the pillow was no longer floating around beside me but was resting on the floor.

"I wonder… List Force Powers. Damm! No change." I'd been hoping that the power had levelled up, but no luck. "Hmm, List Stats." I glanced down the list and saw my FP was back up to 1280, meaning I'd been at the homework for about 45 minutes, if my mental math was right.

"That's about three minutes if I try Push/Pull again. Will that be enough to get me over the XP limit?" I asked the empty room.

With a shrug I decided to do so and lifted the pillow with the Force again.

I began to get bored as I watched the pillow floating there so I sent it flying around the room, try out pushing and pulling it until a notice box appeared in the lower right corner of my vision.

Dropping the pillow, I pulled up the box.

Force Power Levelled-up!Push/PullLevel 2...

"List Force stats." I smiled as I saw the changed level though I had been hoping for a drop in FP cost. "Still, that's about 15 minutes for a level up, which works out as… 4500 not including the 500 to activate the power! Damm! That's a full load and a bit of FP. That's going to slow down my levelling. Still, while I'm waiting I can do this homework; maybe it'll level up some of my skills and if even if not, it's a way to pass the time."

...

"Cameron are you in there?"

My head popped up from the pad I was using at the sound of the man's voice outside his door. "Yeah, why?"

The man opened the door but stayed in just outside. "Are you busy?" He asked slowly, and I got the feeling he was trying to avoid something.

"Not really. I've finished most of the remaining assignments." I replied, which was true. I'd spent the last four hours in the room working through all but one of the assignments while also burning through another full load of Force Points.

It hadn't taken me over the limit, but I felt I was close and would only need to try once more for a few minutes to gain another level in Push/Pull.

"Ah. Good. I need you to come downstairs. There's someone on the Hypercomm." He said and turned slowly.

I frowned as I stood. 'Who would he… Right the Jedi!' I tried to control my emotions as I walked.

As I reached the lower landing I remembered about Player's Mind and considered using it but held off given I'd only have 16 minutes of usage.

I followed the man into what seemed to be something equivalent to a living room which was dominated by a large central table; on which a hologram of an old woman – possibly even older than the man – was watching me from the moment I entered the room.

I knew that they used holograms to communicate over long distances but seeing it for real was something else. Once I got over the shock at seeing a real hologrammatic image of someone, I frowned a little as there was something about her that was familiar, but I couldn't place it.

"My how you've grown," she said with a slight smile in a voice I also felt I should know. "I'm not sure if you remember the last time we saw each other, but you were young child, just learning to talk." She paused and smiled, though her eyes drifted from me to the man.

"Um, not to sound rude, but who are you?" I asked to break the strange silence that had fallen over the room as the two older people locked eyes and seemed to remember something.

The woman smiled. "Yes, I imagine you have forgotten me. My name is Bastila Shan, your great-grandmother."

I felt my jaw drop a little at that revelation. I mean, I know I picked 'Shan' as a family name, but I just assumed I'd be some long lost relative or descendent of hers; not a direct and living one!

"I see you've heard of me." She said with a slight twitching of her lips and I nodded slowly.

"Bastila Shan, Jedi Master and wife of Revan; the Prodigal Knight." I replied, stating his nickname from the games.

Her smile faltered at Revan's name and I remembered that he had disappeared by the time of the second game; though I never bothered to read any comics or try the MMO that followed later. Not a fan of online gaming.

"Yes, your great-grandfather." I had suspected that at her saying she was my great-gran, but having it confirmed was still a bit of a shock.

She seemed to pull herself up – though that was hard to be sure of given the hologram was just from her waist upwards. "Now, your grandfather tells me that the Jedi may have made a mistake with your testing."

I glanced over at the man I now knew was my 'new' grandfather. "Yeah."

I looked back and saw her brow had raised, as though challenging me. Then it occurred to me. She wanted a demonstration.

I turned and looked around the room until I saw a lamp. With a twist of my wrist I lifted it, made it fly around the room a few times before putting it back where it had come from.

I turned back to Bastila, trying to not smile. "Player's Mind on." I whispered, figuring that using it to numb my emotions would be a good thing for a Jedi to see. I saw a notice box in the lower right corner and assumed it was another level-up for Push/Pull.

"Hmm. That was certainly a clear connection with the Force, but I distinctly remember your mother telling me that you were not Force Sensitive." She gently rubbed her chin. "I will have to contact the Council and see if I can check their records of testing." She paused and glanced at my grandfather. "Vaner, I'll call you either tonight or tomorrow once I have more information." She turned back to look at me. "Cameron, I want you to continue practicing your telekinesis. Also, I want you try to meditate in silence in your room. Try to feel the Force around you; feel it flow through you and everything in the room."

"Yes ma'am." I replied, wondering what meditating like that would do.

She smiled and turned back to my grandfather, her son. "Goodbye Vaner. May the Force be with you."

"And you mother." He replied as the hologram cut off. He had a small smile on his face as he turned to look at me. "Well, you heard her. Go and practice."

I nodded and turned to leave, only to stop and look back at him. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Well if I hadn't caught the plate this morning then I might not have to leave like my mum did." I said slowly, as I had worked out that while my grandfather couldn't use the Force, my mother must've been able to. The way both he and Bastila spoke of her getting me tested hinted that she was, if not a full Jedi, then at least Force-Sensitive.

My grandfather smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "This is not your fault. Having the ability to access the Force is a gift, but it comes with heavy burdens. If you are accepted, then you will not be allowed to contact me until after you become a Knight; and the only reason that may be possible is because of who my parents were, and the fact I was once Chancellor."

I was glad that Player's Mind was on at that revelation. That my great-grandparents were Raven and Bastila was a shock, and learning that my grandfather was a former Chancellor of the Republic was definitely another.

"Ah, well, um," I hemmed, not sure what to say, but he seemed to know as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Whether you become a Jedi or not, I am proud of you and know that you will do great things. It's in your blood." This smile reached his eyes and I could only nod in reply. "Now go. You have your training for the day, and I want all your assignments finished before dinner."

A gave him a small smile and then left, heading upstairs once more to my room even as I tried to work out how I could be here and now. The games were set thousands of years before the movies, yet I had selected the Rise of the Empire Era to play.

"Right, the quest." I murmured as I closed the door. It did say I wasn't in the right era, but how am I going to get thousands of years into the future?" I tried to come up with ways it could happen, but none were appealing so I decided to ignore that for now.

"Hmm, Bastila said to practice on the Push/Pull and to try and centre myself. What does that… List Skills." I ran down the list until I found what I was looking for. "Dammit! Meditation grants 50% bonus to regeneration, meaning if I meditate a regenerate my FP at 60 per minute. Hmm, is there a Force Power that does the same?"

I closed the list, sat down on the floor with my legs crossed – not something my new body found comfortable, but it was how I imagined people meditated – and closed my eyes.

It was weird trying to reach out and feel something else there; something that until I woke up here I thought was just a hand-wavey way to explain away powers in a movie.

Still, I figured I might as well take a crack at seeing what this whole thing was about as I began to clear my head and slow my breathing.

...

When I opened my eyes later, I glanced around and saw that the light from outside was dimming, and a quick glance at the datapad showed four hours had passed and I frowned as I wondered why I didn't feel hungry.

"List… Hold on," I saw a handful of notice boxes.

Force Power Discovered!TranceWhile in this state, your meditation bonuses improve, helping you recover much faster than normal.You also stop your need to eat or sleep for days at a time.~~~Force Power Discovered!HealThe ability to use the Force to heal yourself.~~~Force Power Discovered!Breath ControlThe ability to slow your breathing to avoid toxins in the air.At higher levels grant the ability to go without breathing for several minutes.~~~Force Power Levelled-Up! X14TranceLevel 15~~~Skill Levelled-Up!MeditationLevel 51...

"Damm! That's a lot of level ups! List Force Powers."

FORCE POWERSThese are the powers you have learned or discovered that use the Force to work.Many of the more advanced powers require training from a master Force user to learn.You may discover many on your own by simple trial and error, however this is frowned upon by the groups around the galaxy that can use the Force since control is needed to truly use the Force.As to what the Force is, well it simply is.It's neither good nor evil [which in most cases are open to interpretation] but emotions of all kinds do influence what you can do with the Force.Importantly, the better you get a using a power, the easier it is to use.Currently you have the following Force Powers:Push/Pull3 NoviceThe ability to push, pull and levitate objects or block objects in motion so long as their mass is within your power range.At higher levels this can grant self-levitation.Can currently lift objects up to 30kg in mass.Costs 499FP +5FP/secondTrance15 NoviceWhile in this state, your meditation bonuses improve, helping you recover much faster than normal.You can also stop your need to eat or sleep for days at a time.Currently grants an additional 7.5% bonus to meditation and self-healing.Costs 98FPHeal1 NoviceThe ability to use the Force to heal yourself.At higher levels, you can heal others.Heals at a rate of 1HP/secondCosts 100FP +15/secondBreath Control1 NoviceThe ability to slow your breathing to avoid toxins in the air.At higher levels grant the ability to block all gases from entering or leaving your body through breathing or skin contact.Currently you can hold your breath for 1 min.Costs 100FP +15/second...

"I feel like I'm being insulted by only being able to hold my breath for a minute, but I imagine that will go up over time. Hmm, both Push/Pull and Trance have strange costs and I know that Push/Pull started at 500, so the more levels I get in a power, the easier it is to activate. I will have to see if that holds true for continual costs later.

Huh, if I use Trance with Meditation, I get 57.5% boost to regen. Nice. Hmm, I wonder if I can get them all up to level 15 before I have to leave?"

Quest Alert!One with the Force [User Defined]Improve your powers before the end of the prologue.Rating: EObjective:Get your 4 current Force Powers up to level 15 Novice before the quest 'Prologue' ends.Bonus: ?Bonus: ?Rewards:300XPPenalties:-100XPAccept?Yes/No...

"Yes." I said, since that was my plan even before the quest was offered. "So that's how that works, though I assume the low XP is for the low rating. Still, waste not, want not.

"Trance will be easy as I'll need to regenerate Force Power to use the others. Breath Control will take time, but should be doable, same with Push/Pull. Boy, does that need a better name; like Telekinesis…"

Force Power Renamed!Push/Pull - Telekinesis (TK)...

I stared at the notice for a moment before blowing out a breath. "Arseholes." I muttered in reference to the PtB – the alien whatever's that had granted me this new life – as I shook my head.

"So, how to use heal. I'm assuming it will only work when I'm injured, which sounds less than fun but for now it will have to do." I decided and turned to the metal table, giving it a shrug in apology.

"Cameron! Dinner's ready!"

"Looks like you survive for now," I said to the table with a chuckle before I left my room.

You have slept in your bed for over 8 hours.HP, FP, PP and STAM 100% restored.All negative statuses and aliments have been removed.~~~Note:You only need to sleep for 8 hours to fully restore HP, FP, PP and Stam.While a minimum of 4 hours is required to get any restoration [50%]I grunted as I saw the text floating before my eyes as I woke the next morning, blinking as I processed what I saw before it vanished....

"8 hours are all I need? Ugg. Wish I knew that before I went to bed and slept for… 10 hours." I mumbled as I pushed back the covers and rolled out of bed. "So that's another few hours that I can add in to my training slash grinding." I noted as I stood up and stretched.

The night before I'd tried levelling up Breath control, but I could only hold it for about 4 and a half minutes due to the high per second cost, though I had levelled up Trance 4 more times and Meditation once.

Getting Trance and TK up to meet the quest level was going to be easy but Heal and Breath Control were going to be a bitch. Still, I had time before breakfast so did another round of Breath Control, and almost as soon as I activated it I got the first pop up.

Once my time was up, I pulled up the Force powers list and saw I could only hold my breath for a minute.

"Well that's just shite," I mumbled as I waved away the list and headed off to have a shower before breakfast.

…

"Morning," I said as I walked into the kitchen to see my granddad putting out the plates.

"Well you're up early today," he commented with a weak smile. I figured he was still less than thrilled about me possibly becoming a Jedi but was trying to stay strong for my benefit.

'The fun of being 28 in an 8-year-old's body. I understand when someone is trying to hide things easier.' I mused as I sat at the table. "Yeah. I'll admit I'm excited about using the Force, but I know there's no point getting too worked up until… great-granny calls back." I stumbled a bit at the end due to not knowing what exactly to call Bastila as I'd never had to deal with great-grandparents before.

Vaner chuckled at my chose of words, probably enjoying the term as well as my uncertainty. "Great-granny? I have to remember that one!" He chuckled. Yup, he enjoyed the term. "But you're right. It could be you simply weren't rated high enough to be taken as a youngling. Still great-granny did ask you to meditate on the Force, and since you've almost finished your school work for the holidays, I see no problem with you doing so. Though do remember to get out and stretch your legs from time to time."

I smiled and nodded. "Yes sir."

We ate in a comfortable silence and I returned to my room, FP fully restored and smiled as I pointed my hand at my pillow.

…

Green in brownClouds of dustLooming shadowRed clashing with greenFire and smokeBlue liquid poolingRunningWalls closing inSeeing a windowCan't breatheRed cutting metalFade to white

I jumped out of bed, and stumbled a few steps, feeling sweat dripping down my face.

"What… what was that?" I asked the empty room, though no obvious answer came as I breathed heavily to calm myself.

Noticing a few blue boxes, I opened them. There were ones for Trance, which I'd expected as I seemed to get a few every time I restored my Force Points, but the last one is what caught my eye;

Force Power Discovered!VisionGrants the ability to glimpse what is going to happen in the future....

"Huh, well ok. List Force Powers."

I ignored the ones I already had and read the full description of Precognitin.

Vision1 NoviceGrants the ability to glimpse what is going to happen in the future.Normally, these would be glimpses of possible futures, but due to your status as The Player, your visions are the future; unless you change them.You have a small chance to experience visions, though the longer you meditate for, the greater the chance becomes.No Cost...

"That was a Force Vision? OK, but I have no idea what it meant." I sat back down on the bed and tried to remember what I'd seen, though after ten minutes I'd still gotten nowhere.

"Well, I guess I'll figure out what it means lat… Hold on. Force Visions, as in glimpses of the future? Meaning what I know will happen can be passed off as visions if I am vague enough to start with I can hint at what will happen and if what I initially predict comes to pass, the Jedi might be more willing to believe me about Palpatine, Dooku and Anakin." I grinned and chuckled as I realised I might have a way to alter things for the Jedi, though it was all depended on my escaping the prologue.

My grin fell as I remembered that and I sighed. "Wonder how long I have left?"

"Cameron! Lunchtime!" Came the voice of my grandfather and, after taking a moment to calm my thoughts regarding surviving whatever was to come, I moved off.

…

"Cameron are you still up?" I broke from my trance meditation at the sound of my grandfather's voice and with a wave of my hand, opened the door.

"Yes." I replied as he looked into my room. I was simply sitting cross-legged on the bed, having been working on restoring my Force Points.

"Hmm, well it's time for bed. If your light is not out and you're not under the sheets in 5, I'm banning you from any Force training tomorrow.

"Yes sir." I replied, keeping my face as clam as I could until the door closed. "List Force Powers."

I scowled as I looked at the list. A full after day of training up Heal, and I'd only gained 2 levels. The quest was looking virtually impossible to pull off.

Sure, Trance was now 53 Novice, but at the current rate, it would take me 2 weeks here to get Heal up to 20 Novice; and that was ignoring Breath Control and TK.

I grumbled as I stood and moved to the bathroom to clean my teeth.

'There has to be a way that I can get more time. I mean, I lose 8 hours slee…' "List Player Powers."

I browsed the list. "Gamer's Body; The body experiences the stresses of the physical world as if it was a video game." I tapped my chin as I thought things through. Now, this wasn't a game, the PtB had made that clear enough that I was willing to believe them, but this power treated my body as if it was in a game. And in most RPG's, you only had to sleep to heal, which I could do using Force Heal instead. Sure, my hunger would drop but that happened even if I slept, so it was worth a shot.

I walked back to my room and settled into the bed, waiting for the hall light to go out even as the idea that I could train during my sleep filled my thoughts.

Clearly, I couldn't train Force Heal, as I need to hurt myself first to use that power and hitting anything would generate noise.

Breath Control however, was a skill used by simply doing nothing but slowing down my heartbeat, meaning I could do it while in bed and faking sleep. Sure, I could stop myself breathing for a few minutes instead of simply slowing my heart, but that would mean stopping and starting; which struck me as inefficient.

"List Stats." I said quietly in the dark and waited quietly until my Force Points were fully restored.

"Right, time to breathe," I smirked at the bad pun as the hall light went out.

Again, sorry for the slowness.

Things should pick up from the next chapter.