LordDarthYoda - Yup, Sascha is establishing an information network. Might come in handy if some sort of galactic war broke out in a few years? I think that Aurine and Nara are both just trying to say, 'hey, you can live a little.'

Speechbubbleme - I agree that Aurine is 'right' but Sascha feels like he's not ready for it yet, which is fair enough too. Nara is certainly a flirt, but she knows who to flirt with!

Mr. Insane - Interesting speculation - you might be right on a couple of those points.

Bodare2- Darn. Good catch! Ironically I'm much better at editing other people's writing (I edit legal documents in my dayjob) than editing my own! You will get your request that we'll be getting on with the mission quicker than usual.

Tristin- That's a lot of reading over the past week! Thank you very much for the compliment! I have seen Red vs. Blue but it was a long time ago!

A/N - Alright, time to reveal a mission! Let the speculation begin, heh!

As always, Please enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 4: Assignments

The Present Day

Aurine Brynar's glass was empty, but she wasn't drunk. She was certainly pleasantly buzzed though. In the seat across from her Tiplee looked similarly pleased. "Good memories," said the Rishati.

"Yes," she agreed.

"When it came to being, uhm, amorous, were you more like Nara or like Sascha when you were younger?" inquired Tiplee.

"First I was more like Nara, but without the restraint," she admitted. "Then I became more like Sascha," she admitted. "I let my guard down around boys too easily when I was younger. It took me a little while to find the appropriate balance between fun and, well, stupidity."

"So that is why you are so insistent that Sascha 'fix' his girl problem, you see him making some of the mistakes you made when you were younger."

That was probably closer to the truth that Aurine was willing to admit, slightly buzzed or not, "Good psychoanalysis. I can see why you are a Jedi Master."

Tiplee smiled wanly, twirling her empty glass, "I would not have made that rank without you, Aurine."

Aurine waved a hand dismissively, "I disagree, you were going to be made a Jedi Master regardless of we if you met me or not."

Tiplee bowed her head in gratitude at her praise, and paused for a moment before speaking again, "I have a question for you."

"Go ahead."

"Do you think that Nara and Sascha are ready to go on a mission together?"

She frowned, "Sascha and Nara have been on missions together before."

"Sub-missions, where we are always around. Even on Ubrora, we were on the same planet as them. I meant do you think they are ready for a mission where they'd be completely on their own?"

Aurine felt her eyes widen, "Somehow I don't think you are asking a hypothetical question."

"I'm not," said the Rishati. "Earlier today, while I were waiting for you to arrive, I received two missions from the Council and their suggestion was that our Padawans could be given one of the missions, while we take on the other one together. They've left the final decision up to me, though. Up to us," she clarified

"And the two missions are?"

"One is tracking down a bounty hunter that has gone...shall we say beyond the call of duty in tracking down some bounties. He is to be arrested on a rather lengthy litany of charges. The other mission is investigating some anti-Jedi sentiment at a few institutions of higher learning and if possible, putting an end to it."

It didn't take long for Aurine to figure out which of the missions would be assigned to their apprentices, "So you are essentially giving me the choice of going to track a bounty hunter with you, or to observe my apprentice as he goes undercover at a University."

"Pretty much," replied Tiplee with a knowing smile.

Aurine leaned back in her chair, thinking the scenario over. She has a far-reaching trust in Sascha. Her apprentice was now nineteen and more experienced in the ways of being a Jedi. In her opinion, he was level headed enough to be entrusted with a mission without her direct or indirect supervision. Especially a mission that doesn't seem to bring too much danger to it. Yet, she still has that old disquiet regarding Sascha and Nara being together, alone. But at this point it was a stupid thing to worry about, Nara hadn't shown the slightest bit of interest in Sascha and Sascha was too shy to kiss any girl, let alone Nara.

Aurine decided that it was about time she puts her trust fully behind Sascha and Nara, "I believe that Sascha and Nara are mature enough to handle being on a mission together."

Tiplee nodded solemnly, "I agree. When they get back, we'll give them the good news."

Sascha Whitestar entered the code to lower the boarding ramp of the Emerald Dream. Upon the ramp lowering to the ground, he gestured to the droid that he had rented, which was carrying the supplies that he and Nara had bought. Compliantly, the silver-gray droid, well-laden with the numerous supplies, rolled up the ramp, its motor whirring with the exertion. Once the droid had gotten inside, the droid turned it's optical sensors on him in a silent question.

Sascha waved a hand, "Just put it anywhere. We'll unpack the supplies. Thank you."

The droid lowered the pallet on to the ground, and beeped in satisfaction. Sascha bowed slightly to the droid and the loader droid wheeled itself down the boarding ramp and back towards the shop. Nara closed the ramp once the droid was off the ship.

Aurine and Tiplee soon joined them in the small cargo hold, "You got everything on the list I gave you?" asked his Master.

"Yep," he replied. It had taken a trip to a couple of different stores, but it had been an ordinary supply run, all things considered.

"Did you get anything for yourselves?" inquired Tiplee.

He jerked a thumb at Nara, "She got some of that Quintillan jerky that she likes."

"It's tasty!" said Nara defensively.

"And a mild stimulant for Togruta," he added impishly.

"It's legal on a vast majority of planets in the Republic," Nara retorted.

Sascha nudged Nara lightly on the shoulder, "It's so much fun to get you riled up."

Nara advanced on him, feigning being angry, "Oh, I'll show you riled up."

Sascha ran and hid behind his Master. He peeked at Nara over her shoulder, "Help! She's high on Quintillan jerky! She thinks I'm her next snack!"

Tiplee cleared her throat, instantly the two Padawans stopped their playacting and snapped into an attentive pose, folding their hands politely behind their backs. The Rishati smiled at their instant compliance, "While I generally enjoy your playful banter, I would appreciate if cut it out for just a moment." The Rishati took a deep breath, "Why don't you join Aurine and I in the lounge."

The oddly formal phrasing from Tiplee gave Sascha pause, and he cast a look at Nara to see if she knew what was going on, but the Togruta seemed equally confused. Sascha shrugged, and sauntered towards the small lounge. The four Jedi gathered around the small table, each Padawan shoulder-to-shoulder with their Master.

"We have a mission for you two," said Tiplee without formality.

It took a second for Sascha to process the peculiar phrasing, "For me and Nara?"

His Master turned her head towards him and smiled slightly, "Yes. You two have proved time and again that you are an effective pairing. You are both older now, and more than mature enough to handle being on your own together. This mission that we have for you is a good fit for your skills."

Across from him, Nara was trying, and failing, to keep her delight off of her face. He wasn't quite sure what his expression was at the moment, but he was probably doing something similar. Tiplee grinned knowingly at the two apprentices, "I know this is a big moment for you two. Your friendship has been one that has invited scrutiny at times, but Aurine and I also wanted to show the faith that we have in both of you."

"Where are we going? What is our mission?" asked Nara excitedly.

Tiplee pressed a button on her datapad, and Sascha heard his datapad beep, indicating that a file had been transferred to it, "I've sent you two the mission profile. I want you and Nara to look over the mission and give us a plan as to how you are going to complete it."

"Be open ended," Aurine advised, "As you know what is written on the datapad before a mission is rarely what you get when you actually arrive at the planet. Still, planning does have its uses."

Nara bounced off her seat enthusiastically, "Come on, lets go to your room and start planning, Sascha." The Togruta put words to action and took off for his room. Sascha offered a slight shrug to the two Jedi Knights and followed the Togruta to his room.

Nara had already set herself up on his bed, plugging her datapad into an open charging port. He joined the Togruta on top of his bed, flipping his datapad open. The first thing Sascha looked for was where their mission was taking them to. He sifted through the information that he had been given and found that the name of the planet was Estimar. He blinked once, and then glanced over at Nara. Nara was still staring intently at her datapad, so he surmised that either she hadn't discovered what planet they were being sent to, or she didn't know what was special about Estimar.

After surreptitiously observing Nara for a moment, he finally got a moment of satisfaction when her eyes widened and she looked over at him, with an expression of surprise on her face. "Are they really sending us to Esitmar?" she asked.

"Looks that way," he replied.

Nara blinked a couple more times, "So not only are we being sent on a mission together, we are being sent to a planet where we'll be probably have to go as a couple!"

"I guess our Masters really have faith in us," he said as he smiled slightly at the over the top reaction from Nara.

Estimar was a planet that was average in just about every way, but culturally, the colonists of Estimar had developed an odd quirk that had survived over many thousand of years. Knowing that most beings, regardless of species, were happier when they had a significant other. A large bureaucracy had been set up on planet that helped match up beings that wished to find a partner or lover. It was almost as if Estimar ran it's own planet wide dating service. It was an idea that sounded ludicrous, but seemed to have worked out well for the Estimarians. The planet had a healthy economy and Estimar was was routinely ranked as one of the happiest planets in the Republic.

But, as it related to the mission, Estimar presented some problems. Because a vast, vast percentage of Estimarians were in a relationship of some kind, it was almost something of a cultural oddity to be single. So, to try to not stand out too much, it made sense that he and Nara would have to fake being in a relationship together. Sascha smiled slightly to himself, he and Nara had faked being in relationship before, but they were, generally speaking, terrible, at convincing anyone that they were actually a couple. Despite their strong friendship, both of them were uncomfortable about even pretending that they were anything more than that.

"It's not the worst thing in the world," he said to Nara.

Nara shrugged languidly, "I know. I just prefer to think that I have at least a chance of making out with a cute boy on my travels."

Sascha put a look of faux seriousness on his face, "My fake girlfriend should desire no other male then her fake boyfriend."

Nara reached out and shoved his shoulder jovially, "Lets not even joke about this."

He bowed his head slightly, "That sounds like a good idea."

Nara smirked, "Come on, if we work hard it should only take us an hour or so to plan out the logistics for this mission – then we can finish that holomovie series that we started a few months ago."

"That holomovie series," snorted Sascha derisively, "How dare you refer to the critically acclaimed masterpiece The Masterless Jedi, like it was some mediocre Togruta comedy show."

The Togruta grinned and bowed in her seated position, "Of course, my apologies."

he Masterless Jedi was an ongoing holomovie that was all the rage back on Coruscant. The show followed the adventures of Kuri Farless, a force-sensitive on a remote world outside the Republic that had somehow not been tested for Force-sensitivity while young. Kuri had stumbled upon a reclusive old Jedi Master that had left the Jedi for reasons unknown. Kuri and the Jedi Master struck up a friendship, and eventually the Jedi Master had agreed to train him.

The Masterless Jedi had won many awards and praise for its storytelling and realistic plot elements, it was, in short, a cultural phenomenon. It was perhaps inevitable that such a show would make its way to the Jedi Temple. Most people would be surprised to learn that the show was immensely popular amongst the Padawans and younger Knights of the Jedi Order. But it was not because the Jedi thought the show was a good drama. No, every Jedi he had talked to found the show to be one of the most inspired comedies they had ever seen.

Sascha grinned to himself and went back to work.

While he and Nara were not as effective a pairing when it came to doing research as Tyra and him had been, or even as effective as he was when doing research with his Master, the plan that they constructed came together quickly. By the time they were both satisfied that they both had a good plan and could defend that plan from what was likely to be an intense grilling by their Masters, almost three hours had passed.

When he and Nara left his room, he found that while Tiplee was working quietly in the small lounge of the Emerald Dream, he found his Master meditating quietly in her room. "Hi Master," he said quietly.

Aurine's eyes fluttered open almost immediately, "You are done?"

"Yes, Master."

"I await your briefing then."

He smiled, "So formal, Master."

Aurine smiled mischievously, and she shoved him with her left arm as she exited the room.

"Careful, Master, or I'll shove you back."

"I would like to see you try," said Aurine, without breaking stride. The two Jedi Knights took their usual spot in the lounge, but he and Nara decided to remain standing.

"You two took a while," observed Aurine.

"We wanted to make a good first impression," replied Nara.

Tiplee gestured at them to start as she kicked up her legs to rest on the table, a gesture she had seemed to pick up from working with Aurine so often.

Nara began, "Sascha and I are responding to a request from the Estimarian Police Force and a couple of the Universities in the capital of Estimar, Apren. The authorities report that there is a growing anti-Jedi sentiment growing at these Universities. While it isn't uncommon that students at institutions of higher learning question the role of the Jedi within the Republic, the extent of the unrest on Estimar seems to be an outlier. The police indicate that they believe it is only a matter of time before this sentiment becomes organized and they start making demands. They'll start small, of course, demanding that pro-Jedi professors leave. But eventually they will garner media attention, and their movement may grow and spread to other worlds. Obviously, we'd like such a thing not to happen."

"What is it these people want?" asked Aurine.

Sascha answered, "They want the Jedi gone from the Republic. Immediately. They want the Republic to revoke the leases of the land that the Jedi Temple, and any other Temples are built on. They want to seize our operational funds, arguing that if we are truly an organization that believes in austerity, that we do not need an operating budget. Or a large Temple in the middle of Coruscant. There are other things, but essentially, they'd like to see the Jedi be, by and large either gone or replaced by local police forces or the Judicials."

"So basically they want us to stop being Jedi," said Tiplee unhappily.

His Master continued to look more and more frustrated as the conversation progressed. She slammed her fist hard on the table, "Does it matter to these people that we don't take a dime in money from the Republic? And that while admittedly, we do have a substantial war chest, we spend most of the money that comes in on charitable projects?"

He spoke up, "I think even if they knew about it, which they may not, since we try to not draw publicity to ourselves, they'd say that we shouldn't be donating money anyway. They'd prefer that we don't exist, really."

His Master rapped her fingers against the table, "I wonder if they know that our operating funds tend to come from those that donate to us of their own free will."

Tiplee placed a hand on her chin, musing, "I think our finances are so strong we could suspend taking donations and just operate on the interest that our funds accrue."

Nara held a hand up, "Master, you are sidetracking my briefing."

Tiplee nodded, "Apologies apprentice, please continue."

"Like I was saying…" drawled Nara, "Our mission is to find out all we can about these anti-Jedi protesters. Both Sascha and I feel rather strongly that we should not be arresting these people, but trying to make them see the error of their ways. If we just arrest them, they'll probably feel that they are being repressed by the Jedi, and it will make them even more determined to pursue their agenda. We need to defuse and deescalate this movement."

Tiplee and Aurine both nodded in approval. Aurine spoke up, "A very mature plan, Padawans, but one that might be difficult to pull off."

He glanced at Nara before he voiced his opinion, "I think we might as well set our goals high and adjust them accordingly as we go along."

"And how are you going to find these anti-Jedi students? I doubt they go around advertising themselves," pointed out Aurine.

Nara smiled conspiratorially at the two Jedi Knights, "We have some ideas. But our basic plan is to blend in as much as possible. The Estimarians have agreed to send us documents that will allow us to get through customs and to enroll in to Apren Polytechnic. Hopefully it won't take long to find these anti-Jedi students and we can go from there."

"Speaking of blending in," said Aurine, as she cracked her knuckles, "Are you ready to pretend to be a couple?"

Both Padawans sighed loudly. "Yes, we'll go to Estimar as a couple," he said. "It makes the most sense, and, while I don't think either of us are thrilled about faking being a couple, we can pull it off. Nara has agreed that I can put my arm around her without taking that arm and breaking it."

"In return I've agreed that there will be no cuddling, no looking into each other's eyes, and we will absolutely not give each other a cute nickname. I will however, beat the absolute stuffing out of any girl that tries to make a move on Sascha." Nara shrugged, "I believe that is fair."

"She drives a hard bargain," he said drolly.

Both senior Jedi didn't seem to be amused by their joking.

"Tough crowd," observed Nara.

"While I do appreciate your levity, Padawans," said Tiplee, "This is a serious assignment, and you are being given serious responsibility. We hope that you are taking this seriously."

"We are," said Nara. "It's just that playing around has always been a part of our friendship and it would be difficult to stop it entirely, especially as it will be part of our cover in this undercover mission."

"Just be careful that you don't overdo it," warned Aurine.

"We've gone undercover before, Master. We haven't blown our cover yet," he said defensively.

"We've just come really close," said Nara with a smile. "Remember when that grandmother asked us to kiss each other?"

Sascha's cheeks reddened, "I came up with a good cover story."

"Being allergic to kissing was not a good cover story," said Aurine.

"It was the best I could improvise. Plus, it worked. She didn't report us."

"Next time, just use a mind trick," Aurine said, rolling her eyes.

"Duly noted, Master Brynar. But do we have approval of our plan?"

The two senior Jedi shared a look and both nodded, "Your plan is approved," said Tiplee. "Would you like to be dropped off right on Estimar?"

"Actually," said Nara, "We'd like it if you dropped us off at a space station. We need to buy clothes that are appropriate for people our age, and I'd like to do that off-planet."

With the Padawans asleep, Tiplee and Aurine were in the cockpit of the Emerald Dream plotting the course for their next jump. Aurine felt wistful about the idea of letting Sascha go on his own. Which was crazy – she had given him assignments where she hadn't seen him or heard from him in days. But this felt like truly letting go. In a way, she was giving up an attachment to Sascha.

"Do you think they are ready?" she asked Tiplee.

"They are. And they aren't."

"Cryptic."

"And correct," said the Rishati. "They are ready to be on their own. I don't doubt that at all. But they are not used to being on their own, they are used to being able to turn to us whenever they get in trouble. Now they'll have to rely on their own decisions. It will be a transition. I think they are both up for it, but it could be a bit tricky."

"You are sounding less confident than you were earlier," she observed.

Tiplee shrugged and leaned back in her seat, "I'm still confident. I just don't expect everything to go smoothly for them. And I think that will be the most important lesson for the Padawans to learn." She glanced over at her, "Let us be honest, the mission that they having been given is not very dangerous."

"I think it will be a good learning experience," she said confidently. "Are you prepared to go track down a fearsome bounty hunter?"

"I am."

"You are?" She and Tiplee had barely started planning their mission, outside of doing a slight bit of preparatory research.

"I picked a great partner to go hunting with," the Rishati said, lolling her head to look over at her.

Aurine bowed her head, "You are too kind to me."

"Nara and Sascha aren't the only Jedi that work well together on this ship," said Tiplee.

"I agree, my friend."

Tiplee was silent for a moment before speaking, "There is a piece of wisdom on my planet that says, 'The best weapon to bring to the battle is not be a sword, or a shield or a gun, it is your faith in the warrior beside you.'"

"A nice saying," Aurine replied.

"I've always liked it," said Tiplee as she looked outside the viewport. "I've turned this whole thing fairly maudlin haven't I?"

"You have a tendency to do that."

"Ah, well that's something to work on."

"If you and I are going to hunt together, I'll help you with that."

Tiplee stood and started walking out of the cockpit, but as she passed her chair, Tiplee grabbed her shoulder firmly, "Deal, my friend."

Aurine waited until the door was closed before speaking quietly to herself, "I have a lot of odd friends." But at least her life would never be boring.