A/N: Hey to all who have followed us, and to any new faces. During the past year (and wow, yeah, we've been rewriting these stories for over a year now. How time flies when you're having fun!) we've been editing stories that originated as online role-playing, situated in our alternative Star Wars universe – well, mainly the universe of Episode One, pretending that the tragedy of the Great Jedi Purge never happened! Ahem. In this, the fourth story that focuses on Eeth and Raven, we pick up a few months ahead of where we left off in Ceremonies, Stampedes and Assassins. Our Jedi have spent almost a year working as a team, Raven is about to turn twelve and will be forced into making some major progress in her development as a Jedi, well before she believes she is ready.
There are approximately twenty-five stories pre-written in this series. Although each story can stand alone, it might be a better reading experience to start from the beginning with "Of Padawans Fake and True".
And now for the housekeeping. We realise that our master characters, especially Eeth, will at times come across as harsh to some. However, please keep in mind that this is a fictional universe in which teenagers with extraordinary, potentially lethal abilities are raised to do an incredibly hard, dangerous and responsible job. Their masters feel an obligation to keep them in line in order to protect them and others by various types of discipline, including corporal punishment, i.e., spanking with the hand and different implements. And sometimes, they will need to dispense with the cuddling and tell their charges to do their duty. These are teenagers, after all, not small children. There will always be times to offer comfort and moments of closeness between master and padawan, but they might sometimes have to wait. Plus, masters might have their own issues … which is certainly true for Eeth. His journey with Raven is a learning experience for him as much as for his padawan. Fortunately for our padawans, our master characters have near-magical healing abilities at their disposal, allowing us to indulge our preference for strict discipline.
We do realise that this will not be everybody's cup of tea, and suggest that you not read our writing if it's going to upset you. We would also like to assure you that our story arcs are detailed and well thought out. There will always be character development, depth and growth through all our stories. If you like them, (or if you don't like them), let us know in a review; we love to hear what you guys think. Okay, so here we go. Enjoy.
A couple of months had passed since the mission to Fenesteer where Raven had taken it upon herself to interpret Eeth's orders to suit and entered into a dangerous situation. This had almost resulted in both of them losing their lives. It had been a hard lesson to learn, but Eeth had made the punishment suitably dire to ensure that Raven thought long and hard before doing something like that ever again. At the time Raven had thought she wasn't going to survive the week of restrictions, but she had, and soon enough things had settled into a comfortable routine of classes, workouts and other training. Eeth also took her into the city quite frequently. Of course, these outings merely provided additional training and had nothing to do with the fact that his padawan happened to enjoy them…
"Padawan," said Eeth, raising his head as Raven entered their quarters Wednesday afternoon, coming home from classes. He was sitting at the terminal. Lunch was already on the table; he had prepared a spicy vegetable stew that Raven enjoyed.
"Wash your hands," he told her. "Lunch is ready. Afterwards, we will go into the city. I have just booked us tickets to a special exhibition on sea mammals at the aquarium that will be very educational. We will have dinner in the vicinity and then return to the Temple."
"For real! Wahooo!" Raven wooted, jumping up and firing off a few air punches. Today was Raven's twelfth birthday. However, she had resigned herself to the fact that the only acknowledgement of this was going to be the passing 'happy birthday' Eeth had given her upon waking. Granted, a padawan turning twelve was no cause for a big celebration by Jedi standards; it was their thirteenth birthday that was significant.
Of course, Eeth would never admit that he was doing this for Raven's birthday. A birthday, in his opinion, was no reason to slack off. The aquarium was a purely educational experience. And while they were in the area, it would simply be more practical do have dinner at that new Chalactan stir-fry place than going back to the Temple!
One hour later, they were making their way to the speeder garage.
"I registered you for a class on combat strategy," Eeth remarked in passing. "Every Sunday for the next eight weeks. The teacher is Master She'am."
Raven looked over at him, surprised. "Why?" It was a fair enough question. Classes on Sunday weren't exactly new to her, but this one was not in the standard syllabus. At least as far as she knew.
"It is quite a unique opportunity," replied Eeth, garnering a curious brow from Raven. "Master She'am is an extremely experienced master strategist and slots in this class are hard to come by. It only takes place every six or seven cycles, as Master She'am is rarely available. His classes cover exactly what you tried to do in your hand-to-hand combat exam – reacting to unforeseen situations in a flexible manner. You will be teamed up with other padawans and confronted with various types of difficult situations, either in the Temple or outside or even off-planet, and your team will be required to master them by all available means that you can think of. Your strategies will be discussed afterwards, and there will be drills to improve them. it is a very well-designed class that is taught at a high standard, and I think you would greatly benefit from it and find it rather engaging. I should also mention that passing Master She'am's class is often considered a sign that a padawan can be trusted to accompany her master on more dangerous or challenging missions. There are no guarantees, of course, but if you are interested in being assigned more action-oriented missions in the near future, Master She'am's class might be helpful. It will not be an easy challenge for you to meet, though. Students in this class are usually around fourteen to sixteen years old. However, given your general aptitude at sparring and other physical training, I am confident that you will manage. Else I would not have registered you."
He picked a speeder, took the ignition control, opened it and motioned for Raven to get in.
Of all that Eeth had just told her, hearing that passing master She'am's class meant that she might be trusted for more dangerous missions was what stood out most to Raven. After all, their last mission had been a complete debacle that still caused her guilt. Maybe completing this class would be a way to start regaining the Council's, and more importantly, Eeth's trust? Of course, there was the inevitable limitation that it would put on her social life but Raven thought that a small inconvenience, especially given what she hoped to achieve. "I can do it. I won't disappoint you, I promise," Raven said confidently. She had always done very well at such classes and she expected this one, although challenging, would not be more than she could handle. Besides, Raven was eager to prove herself to Eeth, and this would be a good way of doing that, or so she thought.
"I know," said Eeth simply. He thought that Raven would be good at this class, and this class would be good for Raven. The space it allowed for creativity matched her independent personality. At the same time, she would have to learn to think more carefully of the consequences of her actions and to curb her impulsiveness. And she would, for the first time, work in a team where she needed to find support for her ideas. Eeth thought it very likely that, given enough time and training, Raven would become a very competent team leader. Classes like Master She'am's would help her achieve that goal.
Raven smiled, pleased that Eeth was willing to believe in her, even after she had put him in such danger during the last mission. They were silent for a long moment, wherein Eeth piloted them into the correct lane. "What do you know about Master She'am?" There were a couple of reasons for this question. Firstly, after master Rool's class, the padawan was a little wary of combat instructors. Sure, she had liked Rool, admired him even, not that she would ever admit it, but he had also flunked her out of semantics. Raven had not appreciated that, even if she had been in the wrong.
"He is an Abyssin," said Eeth, "and they can reach a very old age. Master She'am has 150 years of mission experience to look back on, and he is still quite fit."
"A hundred and fifty years! Eesh, the guy is a fossil," Raven remarked, her expression contemplative. She didn't know a lot about Abyssin as a species, except for the fact that they tended to have a swarthy greenish skin and had one single, split-pupiled eyeball in the middle of their foreheads. Well, now she could add long-lived to her list. Given that Raven had just turned twelve years old, she had never really considered her own mortality. She looked over at Eeth. He didn't look it, but he was forty-three, and it had her wondering. "How old do Zabrak live? I mean, when you don't have crazy padawan's trying to get you killed and all..." Raven made light of her failure, but deep down the guilt over having almost gotten them both killed still niggled at her.
"Zabrak are fairly similar to humans in that respect," Eeth replied, steering the speeder towards the gate of a parking lot. "Most of us die around 100 to 120 years, if we get to die a natural death. Which not all Jedi do. And that is rarely due to crazy padawans."
The corner of Raven's lip curled into a very slight smile at this. "I guess. Master Fenya died of old age, there is hope for us yet," she quipped, and then her expression turned contemplative again. "Are you scared of how you will die?" she asked, curious.
Eeth shook his head as he parked the speeder in a bay. "No," he said simply. "Whatever happens, it will be the will of the Force. If the Force wills for me to die prematurely, though, the only thing I am hoping for is that it will not be a pointless death." Eeth had seen too much pointless death during his early childhood. He had a hard time forgetting about it, much as he wanted to.
Personally, Raven hoped that he didn't die at all, as unreasonable and futile a thought that was. He was right, though, it was the Force that decided such things, and so she was satisfied with that topic for now. Excited, the padawan vaulted from their speeder, landing near the front end, and bounced impatiently while waiting. Eeth had brought her to this aquarium a handful of times over the last year. The special exhibition on sea mammals, however, was totally new.
And it was indeed informative, even to Eeth, not least because the guides had been recruited from sentient aquatic species who were ready to answer questions about their anatomy and the make-up of aquatic mammal species on their homeworld. The aquarium presented some of the smaller sea mammals in large tanks and had extremely realistic holographic simulations for many of the larger ones. Consequently, it was only when the aquarium was about to close for the night that they finally headed towards the exit.
"I thought we could go to the Chalactan stir-fry place around the corner," Eeth told Raven. "Their food is exclusively vegetarian and seems to be rather popular."
"Yes!" Raven wooted, totally on a high from their afternoon at the aquarium. It had been amazing, and she spent their speeder ride, and most of dinner, regaling Eeth with her favourite parts of the aquarium and why they were her favourites! "Oh, and the skibs! How cool were those?" Skibs were cute, buck-toothed creatures who used their elongated, water-ski-like feet to build dams. They were native to the forest moon of Endor, though, which meant that like a lot of the creatures they had seen at the aquarium, they needed special food brought in to ensure they remained happy and healthy. Eeth and Raven had been there during feeding time and Raven had thought them amazing. The padawan leaned back in her chair, her belly full from the asprow egg salad and herbed breadsticks. That said, when the dessert menu appeared on their table, she found her second wind … or was it stomach? "Can I try this?" Raven pointed to an alcoholic coffee. According to the picture it was small, sweet and left your belly feeling warm. That sounded good to her.
"No," said Eeth. "It contains alcohol. Which you are underage to drink and which affects your Force awareness. Nor do I want you to drink coffee at night. You have a hard enough time falling asleep as it is."
Raven had zero experience with alcohol or caffeinated substances. Thus, she took what Eeth told her at face value and continued skimming the menu. Eventually, Eeth and Raven ended up with a piece of Jogan fruit cake each. It was delicious. By the time they were heading home that evening, Raven was pleasantly full and had a smile on her face. "Thank you, master. That was fun." The padawan stopped short of adding anything about her birthday, if only because she suspected Eeth wouldn't want to be seen to be celebrating such a thing. It didn't bother Raven, they'd had an amazing day and she was on a high.
A few days later, they were sitting in the common room, working in companionable silence. Raven was just about to finish an essay she had to write for homework and Eeth was halfway through the second chapter of a report he was preparing for the Council. It was getting close to dinner time.
Suddenly, the comm unit beeped, emitting the signal that meant Eeth was urgently needed in the Council Chamber. This was no unusual occurrence – his presence at the Council was required frequently for all kinds of reasons, be it a request from the Senate or a Jedi calling in from a mission with a matter that required an immediate decision.
Rising smoothly, taking his cloak from the coat rack and flinging it over his shoulders, Eeth said: "I do not know for how long I will be gone, padawan. When your homework and chores are done, you are free for the rest of the evening. Do not wait for me with dinner; better have it in the dining hall. If I am not home before your curfew, please do not forget your evening meditation and be in bed on time. Remember, you have Master She'am's class tomorrow."
He gave his padawan a brief smile and left in fast strides, his cloak and long hair billowing behind him as he made his way down the corridor.
"Yes, master. Have fun," replied Raven, having stood from her spot on the common room floor where she was writing an essay. She found the idea of Eeth going to have 'fun' at a Council meeting amusing, which was probably lost on her not-so-humourous master. No, Eeth being called to the Council was not an uncommon occurrence. Raven knew her evening routine, not that she always stuck to it; being left to one's own devices could sometimes prove advantageous.
As fate would have it, today was one such day. After completing her homework, replacing the sheets on her bed and cleaning her refresher, the padawan planted herself in front of the geographical channel. By the time dinner came around Raven was neither hungry nor in any hurry to move, but knew she'd have to make some sort of effort lest Eeth find her out. With that in mind, she contacted Orion and arranged to have dinner with him and his master. The evening was enjoyable as Orion always had interesting things to tell her.
Back at her quarters, Raven completed her nightly meditation early, and then settled in to watch the geographical channel once again.
The Council meeting took a long time. The situation on the planet of Escolar, where three Jedi teams were currently stationed, had escalated, and the Council was consulting with all three teams and debating how best to proceed. Eeth could soon tell that he would not be back in time for Raven's curfew, but that did not worry him. After all, it was not the first time this had happened, and Raven usually got along fine. Once, he had found her staying up far too late in order to do some last-minute studying for an exam. He had given her a good incentive not to try that again. As a rule, she was rather responsible for her age, and he trusted her to follow her routine without him there to supervise.
Eeth entered the common room as quietly as possible so as not to wake his padawan and was surprised to find her stretched out on the couch, with the holo channel on.
Raven had been woken by the sound of their door sliding open. She had fallen asleep on the couch! Surprised to find it was now almost midnight, Raven stretched, rubbed at tired eyes and stood. "Master," she greeted Eeth, offering a clumsy bow. "How was it?"
"I was expecting to find you in bed, padawan," Eeth said calmly, taking off his cloak and giving her a look that had "explain yourself" written all over it.
At this, Raven was awake. "I fell asleep on the couch," she admitted and then, wanting to change the subject, repeated: "How was it?"
"Long," Eeth replied drily, sitting down to pull off his boots. "I assume it is safe to say that you did not do your evening meditation, then. Did you at least fall asleep before your curfew?"
"Of course I did it," Raven replied quickly, because she had done the meditation. What time she had fallen asleep, however, she honestly had no idea. Well, there was no way Raven was going to admit as much. Instead, she yawned and stretched. "What was your meeting about, anyway?"
"The Escolar crisis," Eeth replied, giving her a stern look because he suspected that she was not being entirely truthful. "I am not about to keep you up in the middle of the night by giving you details, though. You will have a demanding class to attend tomorrow morning. If you are interested on what is going on on Escolar, I can tell you during breakfast. Now go to bed and get some more sleep."
Relieved not to be getting the third degree, Raven didn't argue and complied without protest.
Sleep was almost instantaneous that evening, and before she knew it, two hands were rising to block out the glare as Eeth flicked on her light. "Ug!" Raven squinted at him through splayed fingers. "Why can't Master She'am start his class after lunch?" she griped while dragging herself out of bed. Raven was not a morning person, she never had been.
"Because he sometimes needs the entire day, among other reasons" Eeth replied, turning to head back to the kitchen in order to prepare breakfast. "He might take you off-world. Then again, he might just take you to the gym. In either case, the class is open end, depending on what strategies you develop and how much correction and practice they need."
This had Raven's attention and she perked up, shower momentarily forgotten. "Off-world? As in, away from the Temple and Coruscant?" Raven followed him into the kitchen. "Maybe we'll go to Asret, that's close by. No, wait Eron! How cool would that be?" That question was rhetorical, but she kept at the speculation all the same. "Hesperidium!"
"Calm down, padawan," said Eeth drily. "Go, take a shower and get dressed. Master She'am's classes are never predictable. He might take you to the Temple's speeder garage, for all I know."
He poured milk into a pot and started cutting up some fruit.
Raven's expression conveyed exactly what she thought of a lesson in the Temple's garage. Maybe if the cleared it out and… Her mind was off again.
"Get going," Eeth said. "You have fifteen minutes until breakfast is ready."
Raven ran off for her bedroom to do as told. Fifteen minutes later she emerged, dressed in her workout gear, hair brushed and looking presentable. She sat at the table, still pondering the possibilities this class might offer. "Did you ever take a class like Master She'am's?"
"Yes, I did," Eeth replied and served her some porridge. It did not occur to him to volunteer more information than that.
"Well, what was it like?" Raven asked, exasperated. Sometimes getting Eeth to talk was like drawing blood from a stone.
"Interesting," said Eeth. In fact, it had been quite a challenge for him to learn to work with a team but he did not feel like elaborating on that.
"Interesting? Is that all? Master, c'mon, use your adjectives. I'm about to take this class, and I want to know more about the one you took other than the fact that it was an interesting experience. I know you can do it," she coached, a very slight grin forming. She did enjoy making fun of him occasionally.
Eeth raised his eyebrows. "It did teach me a lot about working with teams," he conceded. "It was one of the areas I was not very proficient at, as a junior padawan."
Raven knew that Eeth was not without fault, but to hear he struggled with something in particular was intriguing. Well, he had shared more than was usual, and so she let it be for now. "What are you doing today? Anything exciting?" She doubted that even if it was something she deemed exciting, he would admit to as much.
"Council work," Eeth replied. "There is another meeting scheduled in half an hour on the Escolar crisis. We can leave together. I don't know how long it is going to take, but it will be sure to create enough work to keep me busy for the rest of the day."
"Oh yeah, that. So what's the crisis anyway?" Raven had some idea from the occasional comment here and there, but hadn't exactly studied it or anything.
"The planet seems to be heading into another large-scale war," Eeth replied. "It has already seen twenty years of civil war before the Jedi were able to negotiate a truce, which has been in force for more than two years now. Parts of the militias have been disarmed. However, there is still far too much private and government-owned weaponry around. Last week, what started as a neighbourhood squabble has escalated into civil unrest, several of the planet's governments became involved, and there have been massive outbreaks of violence. There are three Jedi teams on the planet whose original task it was to observe the keeping of the truce and the militias' disarmament. We are currently debating whether we should call them back, send reinforcements or wait for a decision by the Senate."
"Why is there so much war, anyway? Why can't people just get along?" Raven didn't actually expect Eeth to have an answer to that, but it was frustrating all the same.
"Because they have different interests," Eeth replied simply. "Many of them seem to be under the impression that it would be easier to get along if they had a larger share of the planet's wealth or if the right people were in power. And indeed, those are difficult and crucial matters. I am not saying that it is right to fight a war about them, but they are not easy to resolve either. The Jedi have been trying to negotiate a final peace treaty for two years, without success, and it is not even clear who is to blame."
"Messy," Raven conceded. The truth was, the padawan had little experience with such things, although perhaps she might start getting some if the Escolar crisis continued to escalate. Eeth seemed to be somewhat of an expert on the situation, after all; maybe they'd be called to help? The prospect had Raven sitting up a little straighter, but she said nothing of her thoughts.
When breakfast was done and they had cleaned up, Raven went to her bedroom to get what she needed for She'am's class. Eeth had told her that she would only need what would fit on her belt and a bottle of water. So, the padawan grabbed her saber, commlink, utility pouch (which was full of useful gadgets), and exited her bedroom. "Ready," she announced, taking her cloak from the rack and turning to face Eeth.
Eeth put on his own cloak. "We can leave together," he said. "I am on my way to the Council chamber anyway."
They walked together until they reached the bottom of the Tranquility Spire from where Raven needed to head across the courtyard towards the gym whereas Eeth needed to take the elevator.
"Goodbye, padawan," he said. "I hope you have an interesting day. It will be sure to be challenging, but I trust you to do your best."
"I will, promise," Raven assured him, and took off across the courtyard towards the gym.
Moments later Raven was met by a terrifying-looking Abyssin and three very tall Jedi apprentices, all of whom turned their own version of surprised expressions on her as she stopped. "Umm, hi." She gave a cartoonish wave, feeling uncharacteristically shy.
"Hi, I'm Leyasu," a tall, humanoid boy offered, holding out an arm inviting her to the group.
Raven stepped forward, the gesture taking the edge off her nerves.
"Padawan Raven," said Master She'am in a rumbling voice that had a slightly metallic edge to it, checking her off on his list. "You are young to take this class, but your master is convinced that you will manage to keep up, and I have always trusted Master Eeth Koth's judgment."
He was distracted by the appearance of two further padawans, around fourteen-year-old boys whom he identified as Toman and Arranxal. A tall and slender Twi'lek girl called Lin arrived next. Shortly after Lin, a female Chiss who introduced herself as Javhei arrived, and finally a slightly younger human boy called Cheeto who looked no older than fourteen.
She'am put away the course roster and said: "Now that we are complete, follow me." He turned and strode off in the direction of the turbolifts. It soon became apparent that he was taking them to the Temple's hangars.
When their destination became obvious, it was all Raven could do to contain the woot of excitement that was bottling up inside her. They were going to the hangar bay! That meant that they would be going off-planet! Then again, they could just as easily be having the lesson in the hangar bay. One never knew with She'am's classes, or so Eeth had explained that morning over breakfast. Thus, the padawan managed to curb her enthusiasm, if not the skip in her step.
Master She'am led the group towards an old freighter in the back of the hangar. The hatch was open, showing a dimly lit corridor.
"Right," he said. "You, you, you and you."
He pointed at Raven, Leyasu, Javhei and Kyle.
"You will be the passengers of this freighter," he continued. "You will enter it in a moment and retreat to the passenger quarters. I will close the hatch behind you. The other group will try to seize the ship, first by gaining access to it, then by taking control of the bridge and capturing all of you. You, of course, will try to defend yourself and to capture your attackers, starting from the moment in which you are receiving my signal on your comm units that the other group is entering the ship."
He turned towards Lin, Arranxal, Toman and Cheeto. "You will give me your sabers," he said. "Since you are impersonating pirates, you will not use them. You will, however, find a crate next to the hatch that will contain an array of tools and weapons. None of them will do more than give you a slight bruise, of course. The group with sabers, use the lowest setting. Beyond these instructions, both groups can make use of whatever means your Force skills and utility belts offer you, and of everything you find on the ship. However, nobody is to get hurt by any means. If I find that any of you is taking the slightest risk of that happening, there will be trouble."
He paused and gave each of them a stern look before continuing: "The exercise is over when one of the groups has achieved their goal or when I ask you to stop. We will then evaluate your strategies together and discuss alternative solutions. I will be on the ship to observe, but I will not interfere unless one of you is in real danger. If any of you needs my immediate assistance, my comm code is 3976. You may use your comm units to comm each other as well, but only within your respective groups."
He pulled out two datapads and handed them to Leyasu and Arranxal who were easily the oldest students in their respective groups. "These contain the ship's schematics," he said. "Look at them before you develop your strategies. Any more questions before we start?"
Yeah, how are we meant to defend ourselves effectively without leaving a bruise? Raven wanted to know, but she didn't say as much; She'am's class was about thinking outside the square, so they'd just have to do that.
Kyle sat in one of the passenger seats by Raven, who had beaten them all inside. "Ideas?"
"Let's start by looking at this," said Leyasu, placing the datapad on a pull-out table where everyone could see it. It contained the ships schematics She'am had given him, and it was probably the best place to start.
They studied it for quite some time. The ship was standard, and it did have an astromech droid in the bridge. There were only a few ways into the bridge, the most obvious being the door. Each of those were points that needed to be guarded once their attackers made themselves known. They decided that the best way to fend off attackers was to stick together.
"That will leave the bridge unguarded, though," Raven pointed out.
"True," said Leyasu, "but I had an idea about that…" He turned to Kyle and began to explain.
The attacking group had quickly decided against entering by the hatch for a number of reasons. For one, any other point of entry would be more difficult to identify, let alone anticipate, for the other group. Besides, opening a closed hatch from the outside was quite a task. There were a number of weak points in a ship's hull that were much easier to cut through with the tools they found in the crate. They studied the schematics together and settled for a repair hatch on the roof that was designed to give R2 units access to the hull for repairs. None of them had brought grappling hooks, but they managed to get Lin onto the roof by letting her climb on Arranxal's shoulders. She then let down her cloak and hauled the others up with a bit of help through the Force. They quickly cut through the hinges and pried the hatch open, at which moment She'am sent the defending group the comm signal he had promised. When the last of the group had squeezed himself through, Master She'am propelled himself up onto the roof by a Force-enhanced jump and entered the ship himself.
As She'am's call came through, Kyle grinned; his job was going to be fun.
Two minutes later, he exited the bridge, a loud mechanical clunking sound signifying that the hatch had been sealed. The teen wore a satisfied smile on his face; he did so enjoy mechatronics, especially when his skills could be used for cunning and devious plans like reprogramming droids to do his bidding.
"It work?" asked Javhei skeptically, only to receive an indignant expression from Kyle.
"Of course. Nobody will access that bridge while our R2 unit is still functional, and if they try, we'll each be notified on our comlinks. Not bad for three minutes and a utility knife," Kyle boasted, spinning the tiny tool in his hand once before sliding it into his utility belt.
Raven rolled her eyes. Show-off! But she did not say that out loud.
"We should go find them."
"Agreed. Remember the plan. Watch out for each other, but don't forget our mandate; keep the bridge safe and try not to be caught in the process."
The other group had entered the ship unhindered and retreated to a storage hold, discussing their strategy in whispers. Before they did so, they had made sure there was more than one exit; they did not want to risk being ambushed!
"How about one of us retreats to the bridge by way of the crew's sleeping quarters and holds it?" Lin asked. "That would be one of our tasks fulfilled already. Once that person seals the bridge from the inside, the others should have a really hard time entering, so even if they manage to capture the other three of us, they won't have won."
"What if they cut open the bridge with their sabers?" Arranxal inquired. "Or use an air duct or whatever?"
"Well, we'd have to prevent them," Lin said. "Besides, it'd take them all day to cut through the hatch or the walls. It's really, really thick steel. I know that because on our last mission we brought down a smuggler's vessel and had a hell of a time getting access to the bridge. And the air ducts are too small for any of us. Only maintenance droids can use them. Anyway, they'll be distracted trying not to be captured by us."
"Alright," Cheeto agreed. "But the other three will have to capture four of them. How do we do that?"
"We'll have to capture three plus a kid, you mean," Arranxal interjected, and they all sniggered.
"We'll have to find out where they are," said Toman. "Let's split up, disguise ourselves through the Force and find them. As soon as we know their location, we can make plans. And if anyone comes across the squirt, just capture her directly and lock her up somewhere. It shouldn't be hard. Otherwise, we should try to remain undetected."
"Alright," said Arranxal. "Let's exchange comm codes and set off. Lin, you take the bridge. The rest of us go and explore the ship."
The others nodded, and without losing any more time, they split up and set off, keeping clear of the galley.
Meanwhile, Kyle, Javhei, Raven and Leyasu were honing in on the nearest Force presence, planning on taking them out. Four on one would be an easy capture, they knew. Unfortunately, just as they were getting close, their comlinks vibrated. Apparently, one of their attackers was already at the bridge and were attempting to gain access. Leyasu swore. "One of us will have to go back." Given that none of the students in She'am's class had any idea what skills they each possessed, they weren't sure who it was best to send and had very little time to make that decision. "I'll go," volunteered Javhei.
The team exchanged glances, but they really didn't have time for lengthy discussions! "If you think you can do it, go for it," encouraged Kyle.
"Besides," added Raven. "Kyle is the only one on this ship, with the possible exception of master She'am, who can reprogram that astromech. If the other team doesn't know it, we do; he's too valuable to risk."
This drew a collective nod from the others. "Also, they're going to be targeting Raven. Let's not let them get a numbers advantage if at all possible," said Kyle.
As much as Raven didn't like that, she had to concede that he had a point. Less than a few minutes later, Lin was being secured and concealed by Javhei, while Leyasu, Kyle and Raven were having more of a hard time. Arranxal, Toman and Cheeto had regrouped after Lin had managed to send them an emergency signal. They were unable to contact her and find out what had happened since Javhei had taken Lin's comlink but they had to assume she had been captured.
"Let's try to capture the others quickly," Arranxal said. "They are near the cargo bays; I was nearly upon them when Lin's signal reached me. They outnumber us now but they won't anticipate a counter-attack this quickly. If we take out one or two of them fast, we might still have an advantage."
They concealed their Force presence as best they could and were upon Leyasu, Kyle and Raven fast, cornering them in a corridor. Arranxal immediately took on Leyasu since he was the tallest and oldest of the group and Arranxal the most likely to be a match for him; and indeed, using a clever move he had recently learned in an advanced hand-to-hand combat training class, he brought Leyasu down before he could pull his saber. Toman and Cheeto both went for Kyle, considering him more of a challenge than Raven. Unfortunately, Raven didn't see it that way, and she jumped on Toman's back, kicking out at Cheeto. It was enough to have them lose focus on Kyle for a split second, but they quickly tossed her aside and were back on target in a heartbeat.
In the meanwhile, Arranxal had actually managed to shackle Leyasu and notice what was going on. He came to his team's aid immediately; Leyasu was quite powerless although he did throw in a few Force pushes. The fact that they were not actually allowed to use violence proved severely restrictive, though, and so Kyle withdrew; continuing this was pointless.
Raven, however, kept at it for a few seconds longer. She was clearly outmatched but she was still giving it her all.
"Raven!" Leyasu barked, drawing the girl's attention to the futility of her situation. She really was outmatched, as much as she didn't want to admit that. Thus, Raven withdrew with Kyle, both padawans retreating to a safe area to regroup.
"We have Lin and they have Leyasu, it's even. We could lay a trap?" Raven suggested as they ran; that had been an awesome fight and her adrenaline was still pumping.
Kyle had to agree. They needed to reconnect with Javhei, though, and quickly.
Arranxal, Toman and Cheeto, unfortunately, came to the same conclusion as the opposing team: laying a trap was their best option. Since the application of brute force had been ruled out by She'am, they thought they needed to rely on cunning. Kyle and Raven would want their team leader back, they assumed. So, they put Leyasu in a room that was not quite impossible to open from the outside Then they started working on programming the fire doors to close upon their signal. It was a bit slow going since none of them were as good as Kyle but Arranxal was confident it would work.
"Given you are one short and not carrying bodies, I assume we haven't won?" Javhei surmised as the two came running up to where she was still guarding Lin.
Kyle and Raven gave a quick rundown on what had happened so far, and their idea to set a trap. "They will be trying to recover Lin and outnumber us. We could use her as bait," suggested Javhei.
Raven thought about this for a moment. "But what if they're thinking the same thing? Shouldn't we try recovering Leyasu?"
"It's possible. There isn't much else we can do short of using brute force which, of course, we cannot do. We have to try and be smarter, is all."
"Their goal is to access the bridge, right? So, why don't we just grab Lin and lock ourselves inside it?" Raven wanted to know. She thought that a pretty good plan herself.
"Because we're supposed to be defending with a view to capture our attackers. She'am would expect us to come up with something better than hiding in the bridge and waiting," said Kyle, much to Raven's disappointment.
Eventually, they came up with a plan. Lin was restrained and sat on a chair inside the pilot's room that adjointed the bridge. That was all the bait their opponents needed, as it combined each element their attackers were after. They were in for a surprise when they tried to accessing that door, though. Kyle was looking very proud of himself again.
However, Arranxal, Toman and Cheeto had no intention of trying to capture the bridge since they were busy manning the trap they had laid themselves. Which nobody ran into, of course, because Kyle and Raven were busy waiting for the others to fall into their own trap!
Half an hour later, the ship was still quiet, and Master She'am was not pleased.
He pulled out his comm unit and barked: "Both groups to the galley. NOW. I expect to see all of you within three minutes." With long, impatient strides he made his way to the galley himself.
Kyle, Javhei and Raven exchanged looks as they approached their teacher. Kyle was not really surprised to see he didn't look pleased, as they had been sitting around for too long; they should have come up with another idea when it was obvious that this one was not working.
"You blew our cover," Raven accused the man, trying to make light of his frowny face.
The other padawans – Lin and Leyasu, of course, having been set free – were actually pretty impressed by Raven's refusal to be intimidated. Master She'am, however, was not.
"And what use was that cover to you? Were you waiting to grow moss?" he growled. "Instead of making witty remarks, you might think of ways you could have fulfilled your assignment. Completely. For a start, imagine for a moment that this had been a real-life situation. Would you really have dispensed with attempts to free your captured team members simply because it wasn't easy?"
"Of course not," said Raven, indignant. "If we had managed to lure the others into our trap and capture them, freeing Leyasu would have been our next move." Raven tried to keep her gaze steady and not to fidget, which was no easy feat.
Leyasu rolled his eyes. In his opinion, it would have been a good idea to act a little more apologetically at this point. And apparently, Arranxal agreed.
"Yes, well, so did we plan to free Lin," he said. "But I admit that we should have acted sooner, once we realised the others were not intending to fall into our trap. We simply had no clue how to win the upper hand without violence, to be honest."
The others in his group nodded.
"By the way," said Lin, "what did you do to seal the bridge from the inside without getting one of you stuck in there? That was neat."
Master She'am agreed to this assessment. And then he asked Kyle to teach everyone the basics of that skill. After that had been accomplished, he took the group on a tour of the ship and coaxed them into thinking of better strategies. He also had them practice those strategies. Including a brief lunch break, the class went well into the afternoon. When Master She'am called it to a close and accompanied the group out of the hangar, they all had a pretty good idea of which sparring strategies were good in a starship corridor, how you gained access to a locked bridge and the basics of how to program an astromech.
"That was a good class," Leyasu said as they made their way towards the padawan lounge.
"Force, yeah, even though it didn't take us off-planet." Their group spent a good hour chatting about the class and teasing each other over the flaws in their strategies before Raven's comlink started vibrating, drawing everyone's attention. "Alarm," she said in way of explanation and stood. "I gotta go."
This comment garnered a few chuckles from the group, all of which seemed to immediately sober upon catching each other's eye. "Yes. I guess you don't want to piss off someone like master Koth," said Javhei.
"Besides," added Kyle, "you'll need your rest for next week."
Raven wasn't sure if they were taking the piss out of her or not, so she decided to assume they were, lest they add 'naivety' to their list of things to gripe at her over. "And I suppose you all have something better to do?"
"As a matter of fact, we were planning to spend our free time tonight over at Eldora's night markets," replied Javhei. But not before glancing at the others briefly; was it a good idea to invite the kid?
"Best place on Coruscant for hanging out at night," Arranxal confirmed. "Wanna come? Or will that get you into trouble with your master?" He grinned.
"Pff, hardly," Raven rolled her eyes, blowing the comment off. Truth be told, though, the padawan wasn't at all confident Eeth would let her go; he could be prickly about the whole unsupervised thing.
"We're leaving around six," Leyasu said. "We probably won't be back all that late, 'cause we've got classes tomorrow. Around ten or so, I'd say." He smiled at her and offered: "You've got my comm code, right? Just comm me to tell us if you're coming as soon as you've got your master's approval."
"If she gets it," Arranxal said, smirking.
Raven ignored that last comment, pulled on her cloak and took off for her quarters. She had done well in this class, so maybe, just maybe, Eeth would take that into consideration and grant her a little leniency. Course he would! He had enrolled her for this class when it was meant for older padawans, ergo, he must be willing to trust her with more responsibility. Or so Raven reasoned as she made her way towards their quarters, her confidence growing with each step and consequent thought.