A/N: Hey to all who have followed us, and to any new faces. During the past months, 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 third story that focuses on Eeth and Raven, our team embarks on their first mission, to the planet of Fenesteer, with some unexpected company tagging along.
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 our story "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. We assure you, though, that there's always character development and growth involved in our story arcs. If you like our stories (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.
"Why does Fenesteer require Jedi representatives at their king's crowning ceremony?" Raven asked Eeth as she followed the hovercart home from the commissary where they had acquired clothing and gear for their first mission to Fenesteer.
"For a number of reasons, most of them being purely diplomatic," Eeth replied. "The Republican Senate, of course, sends a representative whenever a new ruler is invested on a member planet. For important planets or those that have close relations with the Jedi Order, the Jedi often send representatives as well. Part of the reason the Jedi have been requested to attend this particular occasion, however, has to do with the strong political opposition against the future king. Fenesteer, like a number of other planets, has recently replaced hereditary monarchy with a system where the king is elected – he is more of a president than a king in this respect, but with many traditional duties and ceremonial functions attributed to him. Part of Fenesteer's upper class was against the change and has supported the old crown prince who would have granted them extensive privileges in exchange. Nevertheless, the elections have taken place and the new king has been elected and will be enthroned on Wednesday. Both the Jedi Order and the Republican Senate are strongly supportive of the new political system and want to demonstrate their support. We do not think civil unrest will occur, but we think it would be wise to monitor the situation."
That was a lot of information, and Raven took her time digesting it as they made their way back to their quarters. "So, we have to be there for political reasons, but also, maybe there is some civil unrest in which case…" She did a few air punches. "Pew, pew pew! We get to take them out." Raven was still a bit hyped up from re-taking Rool's hand-to-hand exam that morning.
"I did not say that," Eeth said severely. "First of all, in the unlikely event that civil unrest does break out, we will call for reinforcement. I will certainly not set an eleven-year-old padawan loose on armed terrorists. And even if we happened to be forced to take action against someone, our aim would be to arrest them, not to shoot them."
"I suppose setting me on them would be a bit unfair; they wouldn't stand a chance," said Raven with a grin. Since Eeth just raised his eyebrows in response, she wasn't sure he knew that she hadn't been entirely serious. Not entirely.
"So," she pushed on. "We get to sit, and sometimes stand, around in fancy robes. Occasionally we may bow or make small talk, but mostly we don't do much at all? Gee." Raven stopped short from complaining, but only just; any mission was better than no mission at all…
"We will also attend banquets," Eeth said, his face betraying none of his amusement. "And possibly concerts. Apart from that, your summary was adequate."
The banquets Raven couldn't care less about, but the concerts, now that had her attention. Of course, she had no idea what stiff and ceremonial affairs Fenestrian concerts could be!
When they arrived home, Raven went to her bedroom to start packing. To say that she was excited about this was an understatement. Would Fenesteer be green like Naboo, or maybe hot like Mustafar? Lost in her thoughts, one by one, four pairs of socks hit the floor instead of her travel pack. What would the king be like? Eeth had mentioned that they spoke Basic, but were they human? Oh! And she would get to tell Bindi over lunch! A shirt hit the floor and joined the socks.
"Padawan, pay attention to what you are doing," Eeth said drily, appearing in her doorway. He laid a datapad onto her desk. "After lunch," he said, "read this mission briefing and the attached information on Fenesteer, and read them thoroughly. I will talk to you about it during the flight and make sure you will not get us into trouble by accidentally offending anyone. With ceremonial functions, there is always a risk."
At first Raven had no idea what he was talking about, and then she noticed that only half the clothing she'd packed had actually made it into her bag. She scrambled to pick it up and stuffed the gear into her pack. This was Raven's very first mission and she didn't want to mess anything up, starting with her packing! Raven gave Eeth an indignant look at the mention of her accidentally offending someone, but she allowed him to leave without voicing it.
Half an hour later Raven was ready. She emerged from her bedroom, the datapad Eeth had put on her desk tucked under her arm. Reading wasn't exactly her favourite past time, but this was reading for a real mission and that was totally different. She jumped onto their couch, intending to read until it was time for her to meet up with Bindi for lunch.
"A mission? You only got clearance," Bindi looked at her watch, "three hours ago!"
"Yeah, I know. I guess that is one upside to having a master who is as regimented as Eeth; no time like the present. It's not an exciting mission or anything. The risks are limited to putting on ceremonial robes correctly and managing not to insult people. Anyway, that's what all the secrecy was about." Raven rolled her eyes. "Apparently, Eeth didn't want me to flunk a second time because I was preoccupied with questions or whatever."
"Seriously, Raven, that's cool. Do you know how long you'll be gone?"
Raven shrugged, swallowing a bite of her sandwich. "He didn't say. I don't think for too long. It's only a crowning ceremony, after all. Maybe a week?"
Bindi thought that from what Raven had described that a week sounded about right, too.
They talked about every conceivable (and a lot of inconceivable) outcomes to Raven's mission until her watch went off, signalling that her time was up. "This is it," said Bindi. "The next time I see you you'll be one mission up on me." The Twi'lek didn't really care about such things, but she knew it was important to Raven.
Raven guessed as much and pulled her friend into a hug. "Well, you're a lightsaber up on me, I think that counts for more."
"Next time when you're not going on a mission, we'll go back to the gardens and work on that." Bindi gestured to the weapon that hung at her belt.
Raven smiled. They had meant to be testing that out today, but they had talked for too long. "For sure. See you soon. Uh, unless Master Azlin decides that you've both been complacent for long enough and you're not here when I get back. It could happen."
"It could," Bindi agreed, returning the hug.
Ten minutes later Raven entered their quarters, a spring in her step. "Master?" She could sense his presence in their quarters so he was not at a Council meeting.
"I am here, packing," Eeth called from his room. "Please study your mission briefing now. We will talk about it later, after a workout."
They would have to spend about two days on a spaceship; thus, Eeth wanted to give Raven an opportunity to get rid of some excess energy.
Raven had left her datapad on their coffee table. She grabbed it, lay on the floor, put a socked foot up the wall and read until Eeth called her to leave for their workout. It was, as usual, an extremely thorough couple of hours in which Raven was run ragged. Suffice it to say that the padawan's playfulness and general restless nature were well exhausted by the time they were done.
"What have you learned about Fenesteer?" Eeth asked Raven as they made their way back from the gym.
Raven thought about that for a minute. "It's pretty diverse. The planet has everything from subtropical to frozen regions, seasons in the non-equatorial regions, and magnetic poles. It also has a lot of Force-sensitive plants, some of which aren't found anywhere else in the galaxy."
"True," said Eeth. "What do you know about the people inhabiting the planet?"
"Well, some of them are pricklier than a dune cactus." At receiving a raised brow from Eeth, she elaborated. "They're hung up on etiquette, especially so in aristocratic society. Something as innocent as calling someone silly could be considered a dire insult to a Fenestrian. You might even end up in jail." Raven looked up at Eeth, but he was still in listening mode, so the padawan continued. "They're fanatical about preserving their customs and traditions, and everything has to be done by the book. They don't appreciate individualism and they don't like outsider influences. People from other planets are treated with the utmost respect, but kept at arm's length and not usually trusted."
"What about their relationship with the Jedi Order?" Eeth inquired.
"The Order helped them negotiate their fair trade laws. We also assigned our Agri Corps to help during their development, assisting with primary crop plantations, which now supply 97% of their food. With tension between the aristocrats and the old monarchy over the new political system, I don't know how long the Jedi Order, who is supporting this move, will remain in Fenesteer's favour. We may have the support of the general populace, who are responsible for the newly elected king, but it could depend on how much influence the old have over the new as to whether or not we remain in their good books."
Eeth nodded. "Thus, an important part of our mission will be to bolster our relations with the political elites and the aristocracy," he said. "Fenestrian society has become a lot more open to interplanetary involvement in recent decades, due to rising economic prosperity levels. But as is always the case, there are winners and losers, and there are people who fear change. The crowning ceremony will be a good opportunity for us to meet all the people who matter and to tip the scales in the Jedis' favour. Therefore, while this will not be a particularly action-packed mission, it will certainly be far from pointless."
As it turned out, Eeth was right about the second part of that statement, but entirely wrong about the first…
They were just about to have a quick breakfast the next morning, an hour before they were supposed to leave, when the comm unit beeped.
"Can you get it, padawan?" Eeth called from the kitchen where he was straining the tea.
"Coming!" Raven called from her bedroom and ran for their comm unit. She skidded to a halt, still sliding as she activated the call button. "Master Granzien." Raven was surprised; she had not heard from the tall, handsome man since handing him the extra assignment he'd assigned her for zoology the cycle before last. She managed a slight bow, clearly curious to know why he was contacting them. "Whatever it was, I didn't do it," she whispered through cupped fingers so that Eeth wouldn't overhear.
Granzien smirked. "Really? I was under the impression that you were the one who was assigned a mission to Fenesteer, alongside her master. Or did I call the wrong people?"
"No, that's us!" Raven replied excitedly. "We leave in," she looked at her watch, "forty-five minutes." Raven still had no idea why he was calling or even how he knew about their mission. "Do you need to talk to my master about something?" Because she was pretty sure he didn't call to rehash zoology. Besides, Eeth was a member of the Jedi Council; it wasn't unheard of for random knights and masters to call after him.
"Yes," said Granzien. "Preferably in the next forty-five minutes."
By now, Eeth had dried his hands and come to stand next to Raven.
"What is it?" he asked, a hint of impatience tingeing his voice. He assumed that Granzien would want them to bring plant samples from Fenesteer. Well, he could just have left them a message!
"I've been assigned to your mission team," Granzien said, "alongside Padawan Sato. I've been tutoring her in working with Force-sensitive plants. Her master had to leave to Katsubah on short notice, which was deemed too dangerous for her to join him. Master Yoda, who was on Council duty last night, decided that this is a good opportunity for her to get some on-site training. So, we are joining you – not so much for the ceremonial parts, more for exploring the flora. I just wanted to let you know so you don't have a heart attack in the hangar or something."
"I would certainly not have had a heart attack," Eeth said with supreme dignity. "But it is good to be … forewarned. Will we be assigned a bigger ship?"
"They weren't sure if one was free," said Granzien. "We'll see, I suppose. It's not that long a trip; only around forty hours."
"I know," said Eeth. "I will see you in the hangar, then."
He ended the call, a slight frown marring his brow.
Raven, who had stuck around to listen, looked up at Eeth, noticing that he now wore his frowny face. "He's right, you probably would have had a heart attack if he just rolled up and joined in at the last minute." The padawan grinned; she did enjoy teasing him.
"No, I would not have," Eeth said severely. "Well. It is what it is. Let us have breakfast quickly. We do not want to be late."
He did hope they had been assigned a larger ship than originally planned; that would offer more opportunity to avoid Granzien. In any case, they would have a pilot. They usually did, for diplomatic functions.
And indeed, in hangar nine, a sleek diplomatic vessel, staffed with two Nautolans, waited for them. It was fairly large; it would certainly do. Granzien and Padawan Sato were nowhere to be seen; but then, Eeth and Raven were five minutes early. Eeth exchanged a few words with the pilots and then motioned for Raven to follow him aboard.
"To our right is the cockpit," he said. "I can show you later. To our left is the passenger area. We will pick our cabins and drop off our luggage there."
It turned out that there were five spacious cabins, each with its private refresher, and there was a large, comfortable-looking lounge. Eeth was wearing a look of slight distaste as he took it all in.
"Padawan, pick a cabin," he said curtly.
"That one." Raven pointed to the cabin closest to the cockpit. She tossed her pack inside the door. She was about to ask Eeth if she could go to the cockpit and watch when the sound of hurried footsteps running up their ramp drew her attention.
"I call dibs on this one," came a voice that Raven did not recognise. She turned to find a slender, female Mirialan padawan, with black hair, deep blue eyes and purple skin, who looked to be about sixteen years old, running towards the room that was closest to their galley area. Raven thought she was quite striking. She had a traditional Mirialan face tattoo, consisting of eight blue diamonds that ran from her forehead to the bridge of her nose and stretched out across the tops of her cheeks. Her long, black hair was pulled back into a twist that sat at the base of her neck, a long padawan braid flying along as she ran.
"Whatever," said Granzien, amused, striding into the corridor at a leisurely pace. He had a slightly shabby backpack slung across his left shoulder and his hands buried in the pockets of his robes.
"Good morning, Eeth," he said. "Raven. Meet Padawan Sato."
Eeth bowed to both of them, rather stiffly. His face was carefully neutral.
Having claimed her room, Sato ran back to meet the others. "Hi, Raven. Hello, Master Eeth." Of course Sato had heard of Eeth Koth before, and she knew of his role on the Jedi Council and his reputation for being strict. Thus, she added a very slight bow to her greeting.
Raven liked this girl. She was energetic, much like herself, and seemed to have a hard time keeping still, although she did a far better job of it than herself. "Can I go watch the take-off?" Raven asked, bouncing from foot to foot.
Eeth frowned. "Calm down, padawan," he admonished her. "Ask the pilots for permission. If they allow it, you may watch."
"I am calm," Raven replied, immediately stilling and copying Sato's pose. The older girl looked as if she too wanted to watch the take-off, but Raven could not be sure. Not wanting to miss out on anything, Raven ran to the cockpit where their two Nautolan pilots were prepping for take-off.
"Take-offs are dull, take my word for it. If you've seen one of them, you've seen a million," commented Sato to the two remaining Jedi. It wasn't that she couldn't understand, she had been much the same herself at Raven's age, but it had worn off quickly for her.
"Nice ship," said Granzien, opening the door to the free cabin next to Sato's and tossing his pack inside. The beds were decidedly larger and softer than what they were used to from the Temple, and what he glimpsed of the refresher looked rather luxurious.
"It would have to be, given that we are diplomats," Eeth said, with a hint of distaste in his voice as he entered the cabin next to Raven's, thereby leaving the cabin between his and Granzien's free. He was not particularly fond of the concept of luxury but had to admit that he could hardly blame Granzien for their choice of vessel. Besides, whatever faults the man might have, self-indulgence was not among them; his battered backpack and the frayed hem of his cloak made that quite clear.
"Do we have any plans for the trip?" asked Granzien, re-emerging from his cabin and poking his head around the door to Eeth's.
"Apart from the usual, such as school work and workouts," said Eeth, "I will want to make sure that my padawan knows as much as she possibly can that could be of diplomatic relevance. Are you going to be part of the ceremonial functions at all?"
Granzien shrugged and handed Eeth a datapad. "Here's a briefing for you concerning myself and Sato," he said. "Essentially, it says we are to spend most of our time hunting for plants. We won't be part of the diplomatic delegation, as such, but we're asked to take part in the crowning ceremony because it would look odd if we arrived alongside you and neglected to attend the biggest event in Fenestrian history. Well, and if you need backup, we'll be there, of course."
"Unlikely," said Eeth. He read through the contents of the datapad quickly, nodded and pocketed it.
"Let me look for my padawan," he said politely and made his way to the cockpit.
Granzien grinned at Sato. "He's charming, I know," he said. "If you want to do yourself any favours, don't break rules when he's around. He's head of his mission team and I suppose that means he won't hesitate to call you to task."
Granzien, himself, was fairly easy-going. He did enforce boundaries when necessary, but he was rather reluctant about it.
"I suppose. I won't give him any reason to, though," Sato replied breezily, as Eeth strode off towards the cockpit. She looked at Granzien with a smug expression. "He'll be too busy with his own padawan; she's only a baby."
"She's obtained mission eligibility," Granzien said in a tone of mild reproval. "As such, she's not a baby. Treat her with respect."
"Of course," said Sato, aiming a reproving look at her mentor.
"Come on," said Granzien, "let's check out the lounge and start discussing the Fenestrian flora. I want you to know what to expect once we arrive there."
Meanwhile, Raven had found the cockpit.
"Pleeeeease. I won't get in the way I swear it. I'll be quiet and you won't even know I'm here."
The Nautolan pilots were not happy about having a kid in their cockpit, but nor did either of them want to deny such enthusiasm. They were both relieved when Eeth entered. "Master Koth, we're on schedule. Departing in five minutes."
"Alright," said Eeth. "My padawan has not been off-planet often and has never watched a take-off before. May she stay?"
He got the sense that the pilots were not thrilled with the idea but did not want to deny Raven the opportunity either. "If you prefer me to, I can stay as well and see to it that my padawan does not get in your way," he proposed.
"Aw, master, I don't need babysitting," Raven protested, although if the looks on their pilots' faces were anything to go by, they rather thought it was a good idea.
Eeth just gave her a pointed look and motioned for her to sit in one of the seats at the back of the cockpits.
Half an hour later, the ship had entered hyperspace. "That was amazing! I bet I can do it myself, I remember all the steps," Raven told Eeth as he escorted her from the cockpit.
"Yes, you doubtlessly learned how to calculate hyperspace coordinates just by watching the pilots for a while," Eeth said drily. "You will learn starship navigation in due course. After having passed a class in starship astrophysics."
"Blasphemy. The words starship and astrophysics should not be uttered in the same sentence," Raven told him as they made their way to where they sensed Granzien and Sato were.
"If they were not, starships would not exist, let alone travel," Eeth said matter-of-factly, garnering a withering look from Raven.
"Go and unpack your things," he continued. "We will be on this ship until tomorrow night. I suppose it offers… adequate comfort. If you happen to like such things." The expression on his face made it quite clear that he did not.
Raven looked down the long, well presented corridor that preceded the entry to her rather spacious and inviting room. "What's a little luxury between friends?" Raven ran her fingers along the plush carpet that lined one of the walls and jumped when static electricity sparked. Alas … Raven was but a mere mortal, and thus, she could not resist the great temptation her oblivious master presented. She shuffled her feet to build up the charge, and then, like a seasoned Sith Lord, extended her fingers and zapped the crap out of Eeth.
"Very funny, padawan," Eeth said icily without bothering to turn around. He had only just been able to keep from flinching but of course he did not show that.
Raven frowned. It was now official; Eeth had absolutely no sense of humour and she was convinced that that part of his brain had been lobotomised at birth.
Ignoring her expression, Eeth continued: "And have you ever thought about who pays for all this luxury? And what other causes all that money could be spent on?"
Raven sighed. Still, she thought it best to at least attempt placating him lest she wind up writing an essay on it. "It's taxes that pay for it, and, those taxes could be spent on other things like medical equipment and the like."
"Yes," said Eeth. "But since we will arrive as diplomats, a certain standard will be expected from us. I will show you around the ship now. After that, we work on mission preparation. Then lunch and a workout. And then you will work on the lessons that next cycle's teachers sent you."
Raven looked up at him, paused and leant into the wall. "We're on a forty-hour trip. Do you intend to fill every hour of that with work?"
"I assume we will need some time for sleeping and eating," Eeth said, straight-faced.
"You assume?" Raven just stared at him.
"Unfortunately, yes," Eeth replied, unperturbed. "The cycle of classes starts tomorrow and you will miss the first week of it. You will have little time to devote to catching up on your studies while we are on Fenesteer. Therefore, you need to make good use of our trip." As a matter of fact, he planned to give Raven the evening off if she did good work. But that remained to be seen.
Raven sighed. She had hoped to get out of class work given that they were on a mission, but apparently this wasn't to be. In fact, she probably had more of it! "Just for the record, I think that having to do school work on top of a mission is cruel, even for you."
"It is not cruel, it is simply your duty," Eeth said in an even tone of voice that indicated he was not altogether pleased. "As it is for any junior padawan leaving on a mission. It would be pointless to have you repeat the entire cycle of classes just because you did not want to spend your free time during space travel productively. Now do you want to see the ship or do you want to keep complaining?"
"I guess. It's probably going to be one of the few things you'll let me do that isn't work," Raven replied and waited for him to lead the way.
Eeth glared at her. "Work is all you will get to do unless you lose the attitude right now," he snapped.
"Aww, c'mon, don't be like that," Granzien drawled. He was emerging from the lounge to fetch a data chip from his room and had overheard Eeth's last threat. "It's her first mission, isn't it?"
"It is," Eeth said icily. "And I fail to see what that has got to do with anything. She will still do her classwork. As will Sato, I presume."
"Yeah, sure," said Granzien, giving Raven a half-smile. "I guess your master didn't forewarn you," he said, "but it really is what missions are like for padawans. At least during the spaceship travel part. Maybe we can have a workout together later on?"
It was not as if Eeth wanted to spend any more time than absolutely necessary with Granzien, but then, it was always useful to know the strengths and weaknesses of one's team mates. Plus, they would need to have a workout anyway and it might do Raven some good to spar against different opponents.
"Alright," he said stiffly. "After lunch."
"Yeah! Now we're talking," Raven wooted; she did like Granzien and now she remembered why.
"Have you been to Fenesteer before?" Raven asked Eeth as he led her down the corridor. She thought it was a good idea to change the subject from how much work she would end up doing, and keep it on safer topics.
"Once," replied Eeth. "It is quite a contrast to Coruscant. Sparely populated, with few big cities. Its richness and influence, of course, derive from the extensive amount of mineral resources that are mined on its moons. On the planet's surface, there is a lot of wilderness left, even quite close to the cities."
The ship was fairly large, larger than any Raven had ever been on, for that matter. Eeth showed her around the galley where they had droids preparing meals for them, and then they wandered through the common room area where Sato and Granzien were seated on a comfortable-looking couch discussing plants. Finally, they went to the opposite end of the ship where the cockpit was located and looked around the crafts hangar. They found a large cargo area that could be used for their workouts. It wasn't until Eeth pulled off his cloak to climb onto a platform that they might use for aerials practice that Raven noticed he had that blasted paddle tucked into the back of his belt. "Masterrr, for real? Did you absolutely have to bring that horrid thing? We're on a mission! What if somebody sees it? How embarrassing!"
"Of course I brought it," Eeth replied matter-of-factly. "People will be no more or less likely to notice than they would be at the Temple."
"Yes, and it's equally horrifying there. Can't you just leave it in your pack or something?"
"During the ceremonies, I will," Eeth replied, unperturbed. "At other times, I will not. Since I am not gifted with foresight, I have no way of knowing if and when I might be required to use it. If I am not, that will be all for the better."
He jumped down from the platform and pulled the cloak back on.
"Unpack your things and fetch your mission briefing," he told Raven. "I will meet you in the lounge in twenty minutes to discuss our strategy. We will need to identify the persons we ought to speak to and memorise their names and backgrounds."
Far from placated, but entirely unwilling to complain further, Raven did as instructed. She took her time about it, too. This bedroom was almost three times the size of her room at the Temple, and it was certainly more extravagant; it was nice to spend time in here. The corner of her mouth pulled into a slight smile as she imagined how Eeth would be handling all this luxury.
Twenty minutes later the padawan reluctantly left her bedroom to find Eeth. He was in the lounge, as he had said he would be. Granzien and Sato were there as well, occupying a group of armchairs in the far corner and discussing holograms of plants in low voices. Eeth was sitting at a large, oval table that looked like it could seat twenty people comfortably. She went to the far end and sat beside him. "Let the fun begin," she drawled. Raven could think of one hundred things she would rather be doing right now, but conceded that they ought to, at the very least, learn the names of those people they would be meeting.
"Padawan, this is a mission, not an amusement trip," Eeth said sternly. "And it is your mission as much as mine. I will not have you slacking off, trailing behind me and relying on me to know and do everything."
"Force forbid," Raven replied drily. The idea of slacking off while Eeth was around was almost amusing. Almost.
"Quite so," said Eeth. And thus, they spent the next few hours discussing the details of every high-ranking Fenestrian politician and member of the political opposition, memorising their names. Fortunately, Fenestrians' skin color varied widely which made things a little easier.
Lunch was served by droids and was well above average standards for spaceship travel. Of course, they had only left Coruscant this morning which meant that their ship was stocked up on fresh food, as opposed to the usual bland spaceship variety.
"It would be good if you too could memorise the names and details of the most important persons who are likely to talk to you during the crowning ceremony," Eeth told Granzien and Sato during lunch. "Anything that will help the Jedi's reputation will be a bonus. I will prepare a file and send it to you this afternoon."
"Wait a minute," Sato interrupted. "That's your job, not ours. We're here for the plants, not the politics." Sato thought she'd had her fair share of ceremonial-type missions, and now that she was sixteen, her skills should be put to better uses.
Eeth's eyes narrowed. "You have been sent to Fenesteer as part of this mission team with specific instructions to attend the crowning ceremony," he said brusquely. "I am the leader of this mission team, and when I tell you what you need to do, you will do it. At sixteen years of age, you should be familiar with the concept of obedience."
"He's right, you know," Granzien remarked mildly, leaning back in his chair. "We'll do it, of course. We might primarily be there for the plants, but if the crowning ceremony is important to the Jedi Order and if we have to attend it, then we'll do our best to represent the Order. Send us the file, and we'll study it. Both of us."
"Ridiculous," muttered Sato, leaning back in her chair and trying to appear as casual as Granzien did.
Raven looked from Eeth to Granzien, and then to Sato and back again. It was like watching a tennis match. Well, rubbing Eeth up the wrong way was not a good way to start, and so Raven decided to stay out of this one.
"No, it is not," Eeth snapped. "When two senior Jedi tell you what you will do, you would do well to accept it. In a respectful manner. Is that understood?"
"It is," Sato replied frostily. She wasn't happy about this latest development, but neither was there much she could do about it.
Raven was just glad it wasn't her being chewed out for a change. She didn't say anything, although she did think the teenager brave for taking on Eeth, however mildly.
Eeth pointed a glare at Sato but let the matter rest. Granzien had said he would see to it that they'd study the mission file and Eeth knew that the man would keep his promise. So he would leave matters to him.
Sato didn't say much else after that, although Raven made up for it by chatting animatedly. Sato wasn't a particularly quiet personality, but neither was she as animated, or as endowed with bottomless energy, as Raven seemed to.
When lunch was over, all of them went to fetch their workout gear. "You might have stood up for me," Sato commented as she followed Granzien down to the far side of the corridor, after Raven and Eeth had already disappeared into their rooms. Her tone was not angry, but neither did she sound pleased with him.
"I concede that he's way too bossy and can be mightily annoying," Granzien said, "but he's right. We'll have to attend the crowning ceremony, everybody will recognise us as Jedi representatives, and they might talk to us. If we know the people who're addressing us and their interests, it might help. Especially in a politically volatile situation. I like diplomacy just as little as you do, but sometimes it's unavoidable. Plus, it's Eeth's job to give us these instructions. It's not like he went out of his way to make life difficult for you."
"I wouldn't put it past him," Sato replied, but there was no bite to her tone. She was still not happy with Granzien for not sticking up for her, but there was no point in arguing that.
Their group workout was everything Raven had hoped for and more. Sato was agile and powerful, and sparring with Granzien was outright fun! He had rolled her around the floor a few times and looked as if he were enjoying himself as much as she was. Watching Eeth with Granzien was something else. Eeth was clearly better; there weren't many in the Temple who could best him in a lightsaber duel. Granzien, however, had something unique, connected, almost earthy, to his style that Raven found fascinating.
When Eeth called an end to their fight, Raven was disappointed. That had been fun and she wasn't keen on going back to work … a trend that carried on into the next day.
It was lunchtime on their final day of travel. Sato was constructing pieces to a holographic plant puzzle on the common room floor, Granzien was sifting through data chips on the couch and Eeth sat opposite her at the table reading something. Raven glanced over her datapad to look at his, but it was too far away to focus on the words. "What are you reading?" she asked, clearly bored.
"Food production on Fenesteer," Eeth said a little absent-mindedly. "Finish your maths."
Raven huffed, but it took no more than a look over his data pad to have her complying.
Twenty minutes later she had finished with the maths section of her work. She didn't say anything, though, because each time she announced a section was done with, Eeth told her to start on the next one. Instead, Raven pulled her datapad into her lap so Eeth wouldn't be able to see her screen, and started playing a game.
This went on for about five minutes until Eeth asked: "Haven't you finished your maths yet?"
It briefly crossed Raven's mind to lie, but that had yet to pay off. "If I say yes, will you make me do any more work?"
"You know you still have your Basic assignment to finish," said Eeth sternly.
"I don't care. I'm tired of working all the time." Raven closed down the game and slapped the pad onto the table; she was irritated.
"Welcome to life as a Jedi," Granzien remarked without looking up from his data chips. He was not actually as laissez-faire as he often seemed to students. He was just a lot nicer than Eeth about getting people to do what they were supposed to do.
Raven turned a 'who asked you' kind of look on Granzien, and then she looked back to Eeth as he spoke.
"Indeed," Eeth said coolly, giving Raven a look that clearly said she had better start working on her Basic assignment, fast.
The look was noted, but Raven was far from placated. "I've been doing nothing but class work since we left Coruscant. I'm bored with it. I'll do it later, it's not like it's going to disappear if I take a break." Not that Raven would complain if it did; she was sick and tired of this and it showed.
Eeth rose wordlessly, stepped around the table, pulled her up by the ear and gave her a scorching swat with the paddle that he had pulled out of his belt an instant ago.
"You will do it now," he snapped. "This is not open for negotiation."
Granzien was studiously NOT LOOKING.
Conversely, Sato's head shot up at the sound. Having been entirely focussed on completing the puzzle she was piecing together, she had not been following their conversation. She let out a low whistle of appreciation; that had sounded like a gunshot. Ouch. Then, she returned her attention to the puzzle. Apparently Eeth had not got his reputation for nothing.
Raven knew that, yet she had still pushed him. Why? Because she was BORED and frustrated and everyone was being entirely unsympathetic about it! She couldn't have cared less who saw; her only priority right now was trying to rub out the sting while angling her butt so that Eeth would have to physically turn her in order to land any more. "Nothing is ever up for negotiation," Raven hissed through gritted teeth. That had fucking hurt and it was taking her a few seconds to pull herself together.
"True," Eeth said icily. "Particularly during missions. Are you going to obey or do you want me to take this further? I give you five seconds to make that choice."
"No! I'll obey." Because what else could she possibly do? Sulking, Raven quickly sat before she could do herself another disservice and quickly got back to work.
The next half hour Raven spent trying to concentrate while wriggling around on her chair. Sure, Eeth had only given her a single swat, but he had made it count. Despite this, Raven was still excited. There was only a few hours to go before they would be exiting hyperspace. Her very first mission was about to begin!