A/N: Welcome, new and old readers, to the next installment in our Star Wars sagas! We'd like to thank all of those who have given us feedback and stayed with us. We hope you're going to enjoy this one as well. As our other stories, it is based on previous role-playing and edited into a story format, so it involves alternating points of view. The main character is Eeth Koth who is canon. The rest of the characters are not since we started writing this long before the Clone Wars series made an appearance. If you'd like to read more on Eeth's youth, on his time as a master of his first padawan, Lakhri Tumuel, who will feature prominently in subsequent stories, or on his third padawan, Lok Dar, feel free to check the author profile of Livia Yoran. You truly and honestly don't need to read any of this to understand this story, though. It starts at the beginning.
In this story, Eeth is put in charge of a junior padawan, Eden. His interaction with Eden involves some discipline, including – sometimes severe – spanking of a non-sexual nature. It might also involve the occasional bit of coarse language. If this bothers you, don't read it. Very simple. We're neither intending this to be parenting advice literature nor a realistic description of childhood; it's fiction, and a type of fiction we happen to enjoy writing and hope some of you enjoy reading.
We realise that our master characters 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. That sometimes includes dispensing with the cuddling and telling them 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… 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 realise that this might not be everybody's cup of tea. We assure you, though, that there's always character development and growth involved in our story arcs. This will become obvious when we (soon) start on the story of Eeth and his second padawan, Raven. Until then, we hope you enjoy reading the story of Eeth's first mission as a newly knighted Jedi. It was fun for us to write and we're looking forward to sharing it with you all.
–Livia&Raven
Chapter OneJedi Knight Eeth Koth closed the kitchen drawer. The kitchen held everything he needed, he decided. Just as the rest of his brand new quarters did. Now that this was settled, he might as well make himself useful. Without giving his standard quarters with their standard furniture and equipment a second glance, he strode towards the door and set off for the Council chamber.
"You would like to request a mission," the Twi'lek Council secretary on duty repeated Eeth's statement. He looked at Eeth with narrowed eyes. "I've already seen you today," he said. "Weren't you knighted, like…"
"Three and a half hours ago," Eeth said promptly.
"Three and a half hours ago," the Twi'lek said in obvious amusement. "You passed your trials, when?"
"Yesterday," Eeth said with dignity. "And I believe I have asked for a mission, not for a discussion of my schedule."
The secretary chuckled. "You are keen, aren't you? Well, I will pass your request on to the Council. If they see fit to assign you a mission, you will be informed."
Eeth badly felt like asking him what he was supposed to do in the meantime. He did not even have any teaching assignments, nothing! However, he was aware that making such a request would be way too impatient; it might be construed as childish, even. Therefore, he contented himself with giving a curt nod of acknowledgement. Then, for lack of better things to do, he headed for the gym. After a long and thorough workout, he had still not received a call. He stopped for groceries on his way home, but nothing too much; after all, he might be assigned a mission any time soon! However, the evening passed by without a call and his impatience grew.
"Be patient, Eeth," his former master Fenya Jaa said. Eeth was glad that she knew him well enough to refrain from showing the type of amusement he had detected in the Council secretary.
"I am being patient," Eeth pointed out. "But I do not like being idle. How long will it be, in your experience, until they finally assign me a mission?"
"Not long," said Fenya mildly. "Usually, no more than a week or two. Maybe they are waiting for something suitable to come along."
That was an option Eeth had not thought of. Might it be that the Council was waiting to assign him a mission that would allow him to fully exploit his considerable potential? If that was the case, the wait might actually be worthwhile. Mollified, he pushed thoughts of missions aside and set his mind to sparring against his former master.
A week later, he was still waiting. While he had been waiting, he had – partly because his former master had persuaded, or even bullied, him – settled into his new life. The kitchen in his quarters was well-stocked. He had stocked up on mission equipment and sorted it into his new closets. He had arranged a few sparring matches with Saesee Tiin, an Iktotchi he knew from their padawan days. He had updated himself at quite some detail on the current political debates in the Senate, and he had started learning Taewok, a language he had, for quite some time, thought might come in useful someday. He had also got used to being addressed as a knight, not living with his master any longer, and his master actually being his "former master" now. Maybe, he mused as he stirred the rice he was cooking for himself one night, that had been among the purposes of the Council's reluctance to assign him a mission right away? The other purpose hopefully being, as his master had suggested, that they were waiting for the right mission! The one that called for a knight who had high prowess with a saber, was flawlessly good at concealing himself, was fluent in several languages, knowledgeable, and disciplined. He was aware that his master would have added "conceited" to the list, but he had always found that a tad unfair; after all, he had worked extremely hard to gain each and every single one of these skills.
When the call finally came, ten days after he had been knighted, it actually took him by surprise. As he picked up his comlink, on his way home from the gym, he realised that he had stopped expecting it any second. He was all the more glad that now was the moment: he was being summoned to the Council chamber to receive instructions for his first independent mission as a knight.
"I am here to see the Council for a mission briefing," he told the secretary – this time, it was an elderly human woman – after he had arrived.
"Eeth Koth?" asked the woman. "You are not required to see the full Council for this mission. The Councillor on duty, which is Master Tarr, and Knight Zecklaff from Field Service will brief you."
She pointed down the corridor to the right, away from the Council chamber. "Room eleven," she said.
Eeth frowned as he made his way there. He had undertaken any number of missions with his master and knew that critical, complicated or risky missions always meant a briefing in front of the entire Council, whereas the type of meeting he was heading for now was usually reserved for routine affairs or straightforward tasks that involved little risk or complexities. 'I will not complain,' he told himself sternly as he chimed on the door. After all, he was a Jedi Knight and his first and foremost duty was obedience. If the Order required his service, he was going to do his best, no matter how mundane the task.
"Right on time. Knight Koth, please take a seat," said Master Tarr politely, gesturing to the single empty seat beside Zecklaff. When Eeth sat, the Kel Dor slid a data chip and a rather slim folder towards him. It contained little more than a few pages of background on the mission he was being sent into, and a single profile page on the padawan he was to collect and escort back to the temple. "The Temple received an urgent message from Master Jayside-Wex, informing us that due to unforeseen complications, their current mission has become too dangerous for his young padawan, Eden. The Council has assigned you the task of traveling to Antaeus, retrieving the boy and ensuring his safe passage back to the Temple. The situation is not yet critical and can be salvaged if managed carefully, but we too believe it is no longer safe for an eleven-year-old boy. Knight Zecklaff was the field service Jedi responsible for assigning those teams and has a deeper understanding of the situation."
Tarr nodded once and the younger man began to explain. "Antaeus is experiencing a situation that involves the Trade Federation, which is becoming more and more common. Over the past few decades the Trade Federation have managed to obtain a near monopoly on the universal spice trade. They want to make this monopoly absolute. Given that Antaeus has the largest spice deposits of any planet, it is an obvious target. The Trade Federation have made many offers but they were so ruinous that Antaeus' government have thus far refused. Now the Trade Federation have grown tired of being nice, so they attempted to force the issue. They brought in a fleet of starships and threatened that if Antaeus don't relinquish the trading rights to them they will sell their own spice so cheap that Antaeus will be financially ruined. Since spice is the planet's only natural resource, this will hit them hard if the Trade Federation is allowed to proceed. Antaeus, being a member of the republic filed a complaint. The delegates talked, debated and discussed. Meanwhile the spice price dwindled and Antaeus' main source of income began to crumble."
The Knight paused briefly to allow Eeth time to absorb this, then continued. "This is where the Republic Senate requested Jedi intervention. We sent two teams to negotiate and prevent a civil war that would only make things worse. The complications intensified when a Senator from Malastare filed a complaint against Antaeus' chancellor based on what Antaeus claims was a false charge. Now there is even more debate. It looks as if Antaeus' government will topple and the Trade Federation will get their spice. However, as with most political 'wars,' nothing is black and white. It has since become common knowledge that the chancellor of Antaeus was a member of the wealthiest family on the planet. That wealth came directly from the spice trade. Very little of the revenue actually benefited the population; most benefits the chancellor and his family. He used his wealth to buy votes, which is how he became chancellor in the first place. The Jedi are currently engaged in negotiations in an effort to force the Trade Federation to cooperate but the situation is becoming too violent and difficult for padawan Eden. This is the boy's second mission and he is too inexperienced. They will have their hands full getting the important factions on Antaeus to negotiate and the trade federation to pay enough to ensure infrastructure and educational systems on the planet. They will also push for a democratic government to be reestablished," he explained. The complete background to the situation on Antaeus was not critical to Eeth's mission, but every bit of information would help as it might be more difficult to get the kid out cleanly if the Trade Federation had already established a blockade by the time Eeth arrived in the system.
Seeing that the Knight had nothing more to add for now, Tarr carded his fingers on his desk calmly and said: "A copy of the full report and a profile on padawan Eden are inside the folder. There is also a data chip containing all the information we have about Antaeus. As Antaeus is a five-day-trip from here, we have a ship ready to depart at your earliest convenience. Do you have any questions?"
It was good that Eeth had mentally prepared himself to do his duty and accept whatever mission he was assigned because what he had just been asked to do was less than thrilling. His master had forced him to look after creche children more often than he cared to remember; in the past years, he had also taught any number of initiates and junior padawans. The teaching part, he had actually liked. He was perseverant even when a child had difficulties grasping a new skill, and he was usually rather successful. As for the rest… He simply did not know what to do with children. He did not understand their desire to play, instead of exercising, studying or making themselves useful; he did not understand their penchant for silliness, and their emotional needs made him uncomfortable.
Still, this was what he was asked to do, and he had to accept it. There was very little in the explanations he received that he had not already been aware of, having updated himself thoroughly on the galactic news during the past week and a half. But he did not let that on, just as he did not display any of his feelings about this mission. He merely said: "No, I do not have any questions. Thank you, Councillor Tarr. Knight Zecklaff."
He stood, bowed and left, checking his file for the type of ship he was being assigned - a fast, but rather old and small vessel that was waiting for him in hangar five. Half an hour later, he took off.
Exactly five days after that, a displeased, albeit ultimately resigned padawan Eden stood stiffly at his master's five. The knight sent to escort him back to the Temple was due to land soon, and they were here to greet him. Well, it wasn't exactly a greeting, it was Eden being handed over to a babysitter because his master and the Order deemed him unfit to continue their mission, let alone manage to get himself back to the Temple without an escort. He had news for them! Sure, he could concede that this mission might be out of his range of experience right now, but he could have easily stayed out of the way or be set to other mundane chores, and he was certainly able to get himself back to the Temple. Unfortunately, stating as much had earned him a stern reminder of his place, closely followed by a much sharper, more painful reminder when the former had failed to stop his protesting.
Given that the boy was not stupid, he had not attempted to talk his master out of this decision since, but it was clear that he was not happy about it. This was something that Master Jayside-Wex had tolerated to an extent; but he was not willing to be pushed any further. "Stop pouting," the man admonished, not needing to see the expression on the boy's face to know that this was exactly what he was doing.
Eden pursed his lips. He was an averagely built, dark-skinned boy with silver hair and dark brown eyes. Well, except for the left, which was the same silver as his hair and contained no pupil or iris. This congenital condition had rendered him completely blind in that eye since birth, but with time and training, he had learned to overcome most of the disadvantages and, for the most part, was unhindered. He did, however, sometimes miss things, and his depth perception could be off.
He ran a hand through his spiky hair and flicked his padawan's braid behind him. "Yes, Master" was all he said, as entering into a debate about that now was not something he wanted to begin with Eeth's arrival imminent.
Jay was not exactly happy at having to send Eden back, either. The boy had only been his padawan for a few months, and this was only their second mission together. He was aware that Eden had hurt feelings about this. He was also certain that the decision to send him back had been the only option, and he had explained that to his padawan patiently and at length. The boy would have to accept it. Jay did not know the person who was coming to pick Eden up; apparently, he was a very recent knight. Well, the trip was not likely to hold any dangers.
"Padawan, behave for Knight Koth as you would for me," he told Eden quietly, resting a hand on his shoulder. "I do not want to hear that you have been any trouble to him when I come back. And I will be back with you soon; I promise that."
"I know you will, and I will," Eden replied to both statements. He was going to miss Jay but ultimately trusted him to know what was best, even if he didn't like it. And he didn't. He knew nothing about Knight Koth either, other than he was recently knighted. So when the ship touched down and the ramp lowered, he moved up to stand at his master's side, curiosity winning over formality for now.
Eeth waited for the ramp to lower, then strode towards the pair that was waiting for him, his back straight, his cloak billowing around him and his immaculate braids flowing down his back. He was a fairly tall and imposing figure, and he knew it. It couldn't hurt if the boy – Eden – developed a healthy dose of respect right from the start, he thought. Coming to an abrupt halt in front of the two Jedi, he bowed formally.
"Master Jayside-Wex," he said, his face and tone of voice entirely neutral. "Padawan Eden. I am Jedi Knight Eeth Koth."
The very first thing Eden noticed about this knight was that he appeared to be very stiff. His movements were purposeful and rigid. He looked up at the tall man. Two of his horns could be seen under his hood. As it was pulled back to greet them, Eden picked his species as Zabrak.
Jay replied with a formal bow, his padawan following suit as was expected. "Knight Koth," Jay said, his lip curling very slightly; a lot of newly-minted knights had what the older Jedi referred to as 'fresh polish' and Eeth was certainly no exception. "Eden is packed and ready to go. I have requested fresh provisions for your return trip." And true to his word, a loader droid could be seen toting a large crate of supplies towards the ramp of Eeth's ship. Jay wanted the two off-planet as soon as practical, which he knew was not going to be welcome news to the knight who had just emerged after five days stuck in a ship.
"Thank you," Eeth replied, not giving any indication of being displeased at Master Jayside-Wex's hurry. It was only logical for him to want his padawan to leave as soon as possible. And Eeth could deal with spaceship travel. He was not a fidgety human child, after all. He just hoped that the same was true for Padawan Eden!
"I have not been able to receive updates on the situation on Antaeus during my trip," he told Jay. "Has it deteriorated?"
"Yes," said Jay. "We are now dealing with terrorist attacks on a daily basis. The government's police action is taking on a more military character with each incident; this could fast turn into a full-blown war, in which case we will withdraw from the planet. But it has not reached that point yet, and we are still negotiating. However, doing so in the capital city makes us vulnerable."
Eeth nodded. The supply crate had been unloaded on his ship and a new power cell inserted into the hull, which meant that he could depart right away. "Very well," he said. "Let us leave, then. Padawan Eden?"
Understandably, Eden did not like the idea of his master being here when the potential for a full-scale war to break out was so high. That said, neither did he doubt the man's ability to both do his duty and get out safely. He looked up at Eeth when the knight spoke, and then turned to face his master who had knelt to embrace him. "Good luck with this. I hope that you and the others can prevent a war. These are a good people. The Trade Federation shouldn't get away with doing this to them," he spoke into the man's shoulder as he hugged him tightly.
"We will do all that is in our power to prevent that and fulfil our duty. Now it is time for you to fulfil yours." Jay pushed the boy to arm's length and met his eye, wanting to convey the sincerity behind his next words. "Don't worry; it will be how it will be. Behave for Knight Koth. I will be with you sooner than you know. May the Force be with you, my padawan," he told him and gave a warm smile. Before Eden had a chance to reply several blaster shots rang out behind them.
Immediately, Jay's saber was up, as was Eeth's. Eden's sprang to life a second behind.
"Knight Koth, get my apprentice to the ship and leave immediately," Jay ordered crisply. He did not like the idea of Eeth having to forego the standard pre-flight checks, but the danger was coming too close; if Eeth's ship was damaged, it would bring both a new knight and his own apprentice into unnecessary danger. Jay did not wait to see if Eeth had obeyed him, nor did he give further orders. Instead, he took off towards the source of the fire, hoping to neutralise it so the ship would not take damage before Eeth could get the shields up.
There was no question whether Eeth obeyed; he was trained to, it was correct procedure, and besides, he would have brought the boy to the ship and taken off as soon as possible even without being ordered to.
"Come," he said brusquely, steering the boy towards the ramp and following him, giving him cover against potential attacks. He banged the button to close the hatch and made for the cockpit. He, too, did not like the idea of having to take off without any pre-flight checks, especially since a new power cell had been installed and things had been known to go wrong with that. But, like Jay, he knew that the best course of action right now was to get his shields up, leave and take care of the rest later. Therefore, he pointed Eden to the co-pilot's seat and got to work doing just that.
Like Eeth, Eden had no problem with the concept of obedience. He did, however, take issue with leaving while his master ran towards blaster bolts. But there was nothing for it: out of the three Jedi here, his master was the most experienced, and it was likely he would simply be in the way should he try to assist him. Then there was Eeth. The man's order to 'come' had been uttered in a manner that gave him no room to move. It was an order, and it was a clear one. Thus, less than a minute later, he was strapping himself into the co-pilot's seat. Having just turned eleven barely a week ago, Eden had not yet qualified for flight training, as this did not usually happen until a padawan was at least thirteen years old. There were, of course, exceptions. Some masters had disabilities, similar or worse than his own, and required their apprentices to learn this skill as soon as practical. Then there were some apprentices – he could think of a few – who even at a young age possessed a maturity beyond their years. There were always exceptions to the rule. Eden was not one of them. Jay had begun teaching him the basics simply due to curiosity on the boy's part, but this was hardly enough to be of any assistance to Eeth right now.
He watched silently as the knight's fingers glided from switches to buttons and a host of lights surrounding a schematic of their ship began illuminating sections. Their shields were going up. A lever lowered from a hatch in the roof and a moment later a stick extended from the centre console. Eden knew that these two levers controlled elevation and thrust. The padawan looked through the side port window. He could see red bolts being rebounded by their forward shields, but their rear was out of his line of sight. Then, nothing. The bolts stopped. The boy looked to Eeth. Had his master neutralised the threat? Was their ship damaged? He didn't know
At this moment, Eeth took off, taking advantage of the fact that Master Jayside-Wex seemed to have drawn the attackers away from their location.
Since he had had no time to check the newly-installed power cell, he had set the controls to drawing power from the emergency power circuit for take-off. That was sufficient to take them into orbit and keep them there for a while, or for an interplanetary flight, or, in the worst case, an emergency landing. For interstellar travel, however, he needed access to the new power cell, and that was what he tried to establish as soon as they had reached the planet's orbit. Immediately, a number of red lights started flashing in warning. Eeth frowned and checked the controls. He tried to access the power cell manually, but to no avail.
"I cannot get us out of orbit," he said. "Either the new power cell is not working or there is some kind of malfunction. If the issue is only with the power cell, we have a reserve one in our cargo bay that should see us to Coruscant. If it is a malfunction, we will need to land to repair it. I will try to find out what is wrong. You stay here. If there is any incoming communication, call me."
He made for the ship's rear where a hatch located in the corridor allowed for access to the engine and power controls. What he saw did not look good. Apparently, the droids on Antaeus' spaceport had installed a defective power cell that had fried any number of circuits in his attempt to use it. Replacing it with the reserve would not repair the damage; he would have to be on the ground, with the engines powered off, to do so. And he might need spare parts.
He returned to the cockpit, scowling. "This is very inconvenient," he told Eden. "The new power cell damaged our ship. Possibly, there was some pre-existing damage that caused the security systems to fail. The ship is fairly old. In any case, this leaves us few options. Our energy is only sufficient for interplanetary travel or for landing somewhere on Antaeus."
He called up a map of the system according to which Antaeus had two moons. There were three other planets in orbit around the sun. "Do you know anything about the system?" he asked Eden curtly while searching for information in the files. "At first glance, none of these moons and planets look inhabitable."
"They aren't," Eden replied. "The temperature is too cold, and the atmosphere won't work." He paused, giving Eeth a once over. "Well, at least not for me. I don't know much about the exact physiology of a Zabrak, but I assume you're no Kel Dor."
"I was afraid so," Eeth said curtly.
The boy slumped into his seat, unsure how to help here. And then it hit him. "Wait, what about here?" He pointed to a section of land that lay on the outskirts of Antaeus' capital region. "The area is mostly communities who don't wish to be involved in the city or their dealings with the Republic. They're native inhabitants," he explained.
Eeth scrutinised the area Eden had pointed out and calculated the distance to the fighting zone. Then he shook his head.
"Too close to the city," he decided. "They might not want to be involved, but if a war breaks out, they might very well become involved nonetheless."
He called up a map of the planet from the database and had the planet's holo image rotate in front of them. He needed an area that was as far as possible from the capital city, but still likely to offer basic wiring components and tools.
"Here," he said after a moment's thought, pointing to a place nearly halfway around the planet from the capital: a tiny band of islands in a vast ocean. A caption that said "Niwago Islands" lit up. Eeth called up the relevant entry from the database. The Niwago Islands were tropical, hosted a number of fishing communities, and there was a port for speeders and ships on the main island of Auwago. It also had a landing pad large enough for their spaceship. The islands were part of the general political structure of the planet, but neither economically nor strategically important. The war was not likely to arrive there all too soon. "I will get us around the planet and land there," Eeth decided. "I will announce ourselves as a stranded courier vessel in need of repairs. No need to attract unnecessary attention from the Trade Federation."
Eden personally thought it was overkill that the Niwago Islands were halfway around the planet, not that he said as much. Instead, he merely shrugged. It wouldn't take them long to get there, not even with a busted-ass ship.
Sure enough, an hour later, they had obtained clearance from Auwago under a false identity, and Eeth was prepping the ship to land. The pair had not spoken much during the trip. It didn't bother Eden. He guessed that Eeth was busy concentrating on their ship and surrounds, and he was trying to do the same. For an eleven-year-old boy, he was gifted at most Force work, especially so at sensing and rebounding projectiles with his weapon. His teachers had commented that his abilities had most likely been born from necessity, as most Jedi with disabilities learned how to compensate using the Force without even realising it. His physical skills and fitness, on the other hand, needed work. His master had been quick to recognise this, and as a result, the boy had improved a little over the months since he'd been apprenticed, but workouts were certainly not his favourite activity.
He glanced over at the Zabrak Knight. The man was huge compared to himself, both in height and bulk. He doubted that the man studied Soresu as he and Jay did; he probably specialised in a more energetic form of lightsaber combat. That thought made him wince a bit. Then again, maybe Eeth wouldn't know what to expect from him? He brightened as another thought hit him: maybe the knight wouldn't even know about classwork or assign him any. It was possible that he would have a five-day vacation here!
As it turned out, nothing could be further from the truth…