‘Star Wars: Shatterpoint, A Clone Wars Novel’ – Chapter 5 (Part 6)

Wednesday.  Hump day, and boy did I get humped!  Well, metaphorically speaking of course!  I got up this morning and realized that today was going to be the first day of final exams with this particular group of students.  For some of my classes I can’t wait for them to change quarters and move on to another teacher.  For other classes, I wish I could just clone the class and get all my classes to do the same amount of work that some of them do.  Anyway, I got up this morning and got myself going for the day.  My own children seemed to be in a particularly good mood today.  Not quite sure why, but they just were and I would never argue with that, EVER!  Anyway, they goofed around a little, but managed to get themselves out the door on time.  I headed off to work and they headed off to school.  My day was going to be interesting to say the least.

I got to school and prepped everything for giving the final exams in my classes today.  It was a long day simply because I was giving final exams all day long and you could cut the tension in the room with a knife.  To make matters worse, I had to give my finals with no assistance and no reprieve.  I find it amazing that when other teachers give their finals in their classrooms they all need assistance, but when it comes to any arts teacher giving a final exam in their classroom, no assistance is provided.  Of course, I think I’m one of two arts teachers who still gives a final exam.  The rest don’t want to waste their time with it because they don’t get assistance.  Anyway, it was a long classroom day and most of my kids worked on their finals.  I had those choice few students who refused to take the exam.  I can only urge them to, I can’t take it for them.  I got done with my day, but my day wasn’t over.
After school it was time for tech rehearsal and things seemed to go okay.  Overall, I think the team is starting to come together and work fairly well together.  I’ll be happy when I can get my afternoons back, however, so I can get some things done that need to get completed.  I came home and had some dinner with the wife and kids and the kids cleaned up dinner and went off to bed while we went downstairs and relaxed a little before another long work day tomorrow.  Long day and tomorrow was going to be just as long.
Okay, let’s talk about Part 6 of Chapter 5 of “Star Wars, Shatterpoint, A Clone Wars Novel” by Matthew Woodring Stover…..

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Chapter 5 (Part 6):  From the Private Journals of Mace Windu:  I’m not sure how long I frowned at the sky, but I did finally climb down from Galthra’s back and released her Force-bond.  She went running off looking for Chalk as Nick came down the slope as giddy as a school boy at having watched me single handedly ravage three Balawai gunships.  By the time he got to me, I realized he was wounded on the side of his head.  I tired to tell him he was bleeding, but he couldn’t get over the fact that I alone had bested three gunships.  Mace tried to explain that he wasn’t alone, as The Force was his ally.  I will never forget that I watched the other two get away and Nick commented that it was a shame I couldn’t roast those ships either.  I was now mad at Nick, so furious I wanted to punch him.  Simply because he now suddenly understood my savage urge.  I was in shock.  I felt guilt like I couldn’t believe because for the first time in my life, I didn’t care that I took a life.  I felt for survivors in the wreckage but none existed, yet I am not sorry about how the fight turned out.  However, I did pass judgement throughout the fight and decided that the Korun lives were more important than the Balawai, which is not the Jedi way.  What I did gained no ground for peace and some may say that what happened here was an accident of war.  I may tend to agree with them.  I would agree if I had not this will to win no matter what.  Some sort of blood fever that I feel even now.  I haven’t fallen, not yet.  Instead it’s a feeling of anticipation that has been dissapointed.  Haruun Kal has now brought me so close to tumbling to the other side of control of The Force.  All of this is an aftermath of using the powerful Vaapad Jedi technique.  Part of Vaapad is the expectation that you will enjoy the fight.  It brings you on the edge of the Dark Side and I need to be careful, or I may know all too well what happened to Depa, as it may happen to me……