Boil: - Where did you get that from? - He asked in shock.

Icarus: - From the battlefield. -

Boil: - Did you... kill a jedi? -

Icarus: - No. It wasn't me. - He paused and looked at the clone slowly. - It wasn't my troops. -

Boil couldn't do more than lower his head slightly while his gaze was lost on the concrete and metal floor. Memories came to his mind, painful memories of the past. It had been almost six years since he had last seen a lightsaber on Utapau. The peculiar blue color of his former general Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Icarus: - Tell me what time. - The clone raised its head, looking with confusion at the lightsaber that the droid had in its hands.

Boil: - A lightsaber? - He said something reluctant to the obvious.

Icarus: - And what does that mean? - He asked suddenly, leaving the clone completely baffled.

Boil: - What does it mean? -

Icarus: - The more I compute it, the more the simple existence of this weapon escapes logic. In a universe where blasters fly deadly over the battlefield, the galaxy's most famous warriors; the Jedi, decided to use a close range weapon. A sword... Their simple implication means they are the first to go into combat. The first to receive shots from their opponents. That is beyond all logic for a commanding officer. -

Bill: - Good. I guess that was what made them so special. And the reason why many clones admired them. - He said concluding with a more melancholic tone.

Icarus: - Leading the troops, fighting on the front lines, and reflecting shots that don't escape any organic eye. It is simply impossible.

Boil: - Do you admire them? Do you plan to become a Jedi? - He said mockingly.

Icarus: - Of course not. - He answered serenely. - In my hands, this weapon is not much different from the electrostaff that you hold in your hand. Only a close range weapon. Using it turns out to be a reckless act, or an outright desperate measure. But... What makes the same weapon so special in the hands of a Jedi? -

Boil: - The force? - He said without hesitation, doubtfully answering the first thing that came to his mind.

And there it was, the same old crossroads. The force. Whatever it was, it was something that was repeated over and over again like a broken record when talking about the Jedi. Something that his mechanical circuits were reluctant to understand, given the lack of logic or any concrete explanation. But... Was he the wrong one? Were there things that simply escaped his understanding? I didn't know what to compute about it, but I knew where I could find an answer.

Icarus: - Thank you very much, Commander. That is all for now. -

Bill: - What? That was it? Barely twenty minutes passed. -

Icarus: - Alpha. Prepare a speeder. We will go out again. - He said through his communicator as he walked away, leaving Boil completely alone.

Boil: - Damn. It may be a droid. But he's just as erratic as my old general's padawan. Hmm. And now what am I supposed to do? I have too much adrenaline to go back to bed. -

Mirana: - Problems, Commander? - He said suddenly.

Boil: - Mirana. What a scare you gave me. -He said as he turned around, seeing the woman leaning on the entrance door of the training room.

Mirana: - What were they doing? -

Boil: - Train... combat. - Boil's voice felt a bit doubtful, but seeing the two electric rods in his hands there was no way to think otherwise.

Mirana: - A bit early for a sparring partner. Do not you believe it? -

Boil: - No way... Do you want to try it? - He said while offering him one of the electrovaras.

Mirana didn't answer a word, she simply placed the coffee cup she was holding on a shelf and accepted the challenge.

-------------------------------------------------- ---------O---------------------------------------- ----------------

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of shelter.

Alpha: - Commander. We are ready to go. -

Icarus: - Very good. Head to the same place as yesterday. -

Alfa: - Roger. Roger. -

Icarus went to that peculiar forest a couple more times, but the strange voice simply did not respond to his call, and he was not even able to find that strange tree, despite walking the same path over and over again. But I always ended up going around in circles. I would make several attempts, but at the end of the day I couldn't find anything, and it all resulted in a total waste of time.

They say that the third time is the charm, and this was the occasion. Once again, the two droids were preparing to go to that strange forest, which seemed to defy all logic. Icarus didn't seem to notice, but Alpha was somewhat worried, realizing that something could be wrong with his commander, but he didn't dare say anything. To him, it just didn't make any sense to cross half a planet to see a couple of unremarkable trees.

The speeder was hurtling over the Gwori plains. This time, the commando droid knew where to go, and didn't have to blindly follow instructions from Icarus, so the trip went much faster. But when the vehicle shook due to uneven ground:

????: - Also. -

A strange voice complained behind him. A voice that wasn't supposed to be there. The speeder came to a stop, allowing the droids to check the thick piece of cloth that rested on the vehicle's rear seats, but when they lifted it up, they were in for a big surprise.

Icarus: - Tova? - He said in shock.

Tova: - Hello. - He said with an innocent voice.

Apparently, the small elusive slipped in at some point of distraction from the droids.

Icarus: - What are you doing here? -

Tova: - When I heard that you were going out again, I wanted to go with you. -

Icarus: - You shouldn't be here. Let's go back to the shelter. - To which the girl responded with a pout.

Alpha: - Commander, we are too far from the shelter. IF we return we should abort the mission until tomorrow. -

Icarus: - Very good. Sit down and buckle up. - He told the little girl.

Tova: - Yippee! - She yelled excitedly, knowing that she had won the little battle.

The trip continued as planned, with the only difference that little Tova bombarded the droids with hundreds of questions related to the little adventure. The classics: where are we going? A lot is missing? and what are we going to see? That no child is able to resist asking. Still, the droids suffered from "loss of patience," and responded to each question with a logical comment, even if the "What were they going to do in that place?" it was something that not even Icarus knew for sure.

Shortly before noon, the speeder arrived at the indicated place, stopping just a few meters from the first trees that began the forest.

Tova: - Where are you going? -

Icarus: - There is something I have to find out. -

Tova: - Can I go with you? -

Icarus: - No. It's too dangerous. -

However, no matter how much the little girl insisted, this time the droid did not plan to give in to her request. And when Tova had no choice but to grudgingly accept his words, Icarus headed into the forest until his silhouette disappeared from those who were watching him from the speeder.

He walked and walked, mentally mapping his circuits so he wouldn't get lost, but he couldn't find anything. He was upset, disappointed. He wanted to know what had happened that day and why. But he had to find that place, that mysterious tree, or at least that's what he believed. And when he had already traveled more than twice as much as the previous days, he decided to try another method. Maybe another approach would work better.

During those days he studied the Jedi in detail, and tried to define the secret of their strength by a logical method. But of course, all roads led to the Force. Accepting the fact that he couldn't define the Force as a concept he could understand, he decided to ignore his programming and try a less conventional method, something he saw on the records repeatedly.

He searched for a small clearing and found a flat section of ground and sat down on the grass. Legs crossed and hands on the groin. He tried to straighten his torso, but his heavy metal body couldn't help falling on his back in a ridiculous way as if it were a clumsy newborn baby. For the second attempt he had to lean over a bit, just enough to keep his balance. And then, "he meditated."

Meditation: wide spectrum of practices that include techniques designed to promote everything from relaxation to building internal energy or life force. Develop compassion, love, patience, generosity and forgiveness. A particularly ambitious form of meditation aims to sustain concentration at one point without effort, focused on enabling its practitioner a state of well-being in any activity of life.

A concept that a droid couldn't quite understand from their logical point of view.

He tried to "make his mind blank," in order to achieve the state necessary for such a task, but all he could do was repeat over and over a code in his circuits that literally said: mind blank. After all, Icarus's processor had never stopped executing commands and solving problems. Despite everything, all he got was a strange discomfort at his core, similar to indigestion in organics. And just a few minutes later:

Tova: - Icarus. Are you OK? - Said the little girl suddenly.

The droid turned on his optical sensors and saw the little girl right in front of him, with a somewhat curious look.

Icarus: - Tova, what are you doing here? What are you doing alone so deep in the woods? -

Tova: - I'm not alone. You're here. Also, the speeder is over there. -

Icarus looked up and couldn't believe his eyes, barely twenty meters from the clearing in the forest where he was, he could see the speeder on the outskirts of the forest and Alpha waving. That didn't make sense, he had been walking for hours inside the forest. He even calculated that he was at least 5 kilometers from the starting point. But the reality was different.

Icarus: - Good. Let's go. - He said as he stood up. - It's late and we must return before nightfall. -

Tova: - Late? Barely three minutes have passed since you left the speeder. -

Another element that shocked the droid, since he thought it would get dark in just a few hours. At first he thought it was Tova's bad joke, but when Alfa confirmed his words, he had no choice but to accept the facts, even if they lacked any possible logic.

Icarus: - Tova! Let's go! - He told the little girl, who was looking into the forest for no apparent reason.

Tova: - I'm coming! - He screamed as he turned around, feeling a strange sensation that made his fur stand on end.

And without saying another word, the three of them got on the speeder and returned home just five minutes after arriving at that place, ignoring a strange ghostly silhouette that was looking at them curiously from the most illuminated corners of the forest.

????: - The Force has very strange forms, master. -

????: - This new presence, dangerous do you think it is? -

????: - I could not tell. But it's unlike anything we've ever learned. That is sure. -

????: - And about the other one what do you think? -

????: - He is still very young. The force manifests in her, but she doesn't have the potential to be a great user of the path of light. -

????: - Hmm. Watch them you must . In these chaotic times, all hope important is. -

????: - I will, master. -