Chapter Ten: Consequences
"Is that everything?" Master Austrina rubbed her hands together and critically eyed the small pile of luggage in the Jedi freighter's cargo hold. It was the day after the padawans' return to safety, and now that the Jedi's part in the debate over the attacks on the Outer Rim was done, they were free to leave for Dantooine. Austrina, for one, was more than happy to leave, especially after the harrowing experience of nearly losing the padawans.
"I think so. The apartment is cleared out." Khvee came up behind her in his usual silent way, and smiled wryly when she turned to look at him. "Orion, Eliatra, and Trisana are in the bunkroom. I just checked."
She shook her head ruefully. "I wouldn't put it past them to try to stay behind now… I'm not going to feel safe until we're in space and those three are still present and accounted for. Varian isn't on board yet, is he?"
Khvee shook his own head, looking faintly annoyed for a moment. "No. He's back in the hangar control center, speaking with Senator Artillhan."
"The insistent one with the lisp from Yl'sran?"
"That's the one. From what I gathered before I left them, the Senator thought that he would have a better chance at gaining permission to colonize Frasdel if he could get in Varian's good graces, and from thence the Senate's."
Austrina tisked admonishingly. "He should have known that Varian hates being bothered with political matters. It was a wonder that he agreed to even do this. I remember when he declined becoming a member of the Grand Council here on Coruscant…"
Orion silently crept away from the alcove where he had been listening to the masters' conversation, and made his way back to the bunkroom undetected. "Is Master Varian back yet?" Tris asked anxiously the moment he opened the door.
The lanky padawan slipped into the bunkroom and shut the door behind him, then shook his head, causing Trisana to sink back against the side of a bunk in relief. Orion glanced over at Eli, who was watching him with an unreadable look. Ever since their conversation the previous day, she had remained silent on her opinion of their escapade, and that silence was beginning to make him nervous. "It was just Austrina and Khvee," he said, shrugging. "They said Master Varian was talking to some senator."
Trisana raised her head, her pale blue eyes wide. "They didn't say anything about me?" she asked worriedly.
"Don't be so self-absorbed," Eliatra snapped suddenly, startling both of them. "There are more important things for them to worry about than us going off and making mischief."
"So you're not going to tell Master Austrina about it?" Tris snapped back, her eyes narrowed slightly. "After all of your speeches about it being important that they know? Now you're saying that they don't care?"
"That's not what I said," Eliatra retorted, unaware that Orion was watching her with an expression of something akin to amazement. "I said that they have more important things to worry about than us being stupid and getting captured, as long as we came out of it alive. What they do need to know about is the Sith base in the undercity of Coruscant!"
Orion looked amused. "She does have a point, Trissy."
"Oh—you--!" Tris stood, her fists clenched and her eyes flashing a near-silver color, a sure sign that she was upset. "You think you're so special, the Jedi's little pet, always the best at everything! Can't you just forget about being perfect for one minute and be a real person for once?!" She spun on her heel, shoved Orion aside, and strode out the door, slamming it shut behind her and leaving the other two staring after her.
Orion glanced back at Eliatra. "Well? Are you going to go after her?"
She shook her head and crossed her arms resolutely. "No. She needs to grow up sometime and realize that the galaxy doesn't revolve around her. The Masters need to know about the Sith, and her temper tantrums aren't going to stop me." She looked worried in spite of herself though, and bit her lip as she leaned against the wall. "I just wish…"
"Wish what?" He watched her curiously.
She sighed and raised her dark gaze to his as he slowly took a few steps toward her, his own arms crossed. "I wish she wasn't so temperamental. I know Master Varian's been trying to teach her patience, but… she's so hasty to judge, to make decisions. She never thinks things through, like this whole disaster with the assassins. I just worry that… that something will happen to her, something out of her control, and we won't be there to help her. We won't always be able to."
"Oh, Eli." He took a step forward and drew her into his arms, hugging her tightly as she sagged against his chest. "We'll do what we can. I'm sure she'll come around soon… she's just worried about what Master Varian will say when things clear up. Let's face it, I would be too," he said wryly.
"No, you wouldn't," she replied, her voice muffled against his robes. "You would have annoyed him so much within the first two weeks of being his padawan that he would have passed you off to another Master." She couldn't help noticing the near-perfect fit of her head under his chin, which was lightly resting on it.
He laid his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away, catching her eyes with a mockingly stern look. "Now, Eliatra. I'm not that bad. He wouldn't be annoyed… just… " He trailed off, looking thoughtful.
"Suspicious of who was playing pranks on him constantly?" She supplied mischievously.
He grinned back at her. "Probably. Now come on, let's see if the masters are ready to leave yet."
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Soaring through the infinite reaches of hyperspace, inside the small Jedi freighter all was silent, save for the steady click, click, click of Master Varian's boot heels as he slowly paced before the three padawans. Eliatra, Trisana, and Orion stood at nervous attention beside each other in the small, central meeting area of the ship, and while Khvee and Austrina stood to the side of the room, all eyes were fixed on the commanding Jedi Master. His piercing, gray-blue gaze moved over the three of them like a hawk over its prey, and he finally came to a stop before them, the silence deafening as his movement ceased. "Well?" he said at last, his voice sharp with disapproval. "What do you have to say for yourselves?"
Trisana swallowed and shot a look at Eliatra, who was staring calmly forward toward Varian. She looked back at her master, took a deep breath, and stuttered, "I-it was my fault, M-Master Varian. Orion—well, I mean, Eli—"
"And leaving the debate?" Varian snapped, interrupting her. "Was that all your fault, as well?"
"No, sir," Orion said, meeting the Master's gaze with his own. "We all decided to leave. It was only going to be for a short while, and then we would come back to the debate."
"And you, Eliatra? I suppose you helped to hatch this plan?" Varian said sharply.
Eliatra opened her mouth to reply, but Orion beat her to it. "Master Varian, Eli didn't want to go along with it, at first. Me and Tris convinced her to come with us."
"And look what happened to her for it." Varian motioned at the still-healing bruises visible on Eliatra's neck. She bit her lip. "I suppose you're proud of what you did, even at that cost? She could have been killed. All of you could have. You three should thank the Force that you escaped with your lives. The fact that you did shows a measure of competence in yourselves and your masters, but the fact that you three even got into the mess only goes to show just how much you still lack in skill. Our trust has been severely undercut by this drastic display of dishonesty. Eliatra, I expected more of you. One of the Academy's brightest padawans, and now this! Orion, your master has given me glowing praise of your abilities, and despite your…checkered past, I had hoped for better things from you. And Trisana. You know exactly what we have been working on. You know your flaws, and you know what to do in order to improve on them. I placed my trust in you for this visit, after Corellia, hoping that you had learned from your previous errors. I see I was sadly mistaken. You three have disgraced the Order with your actions and caused us to doubt your capacity for Knighthood, especially in light of the recent events affecting both the Jedi and the Republic. If this kind of immature, irrational behavior continues, it may permanently jeopardize your chances at becoming a part of the Jedi Order. If you wish to be a Jedi, you must act like one, and so far your actions have not attained that position at all. As your masters, and therefore responsible for you, we are deeply ashamed. Orion! What are you doing?" He glared at the tallest padawan.
Orion blinked. "Me? I, uh, nothing, sir." Eliatra stifled a snort and hastily smoothed her expression. She knew, of course, exactly what Orion had been doing: mimicking Varian's predictable facial expressions during his lecture.
Varian fastened them all with an angry stare, then straightened, his hands behind his back. Trisana flinched in anticipation. "Well? I don't suppose you all are just going to stand there?"
There was a pause, then Eliatra cleared her throat. Orion watched her apprehensively. "Master Varian-"
"Yes?" He watched her expectantly, his brow still creased in a frown.
"There was something I wanted to tell you. I was going to, sooner than this, but I never got the chance. While we were down there—" She paused to take a breath, hoping her trembling hands, clenched behind her back, wouldn't give away her nervousness. Would the Masters believe her account of their venture? "We went down to rescue Tris," she continued, "and as we were trying to follow them—her captors, I mean—we ran into a man. He offered to take us to where she was. He said he knew who had taken her, and he wanted to go after them as well, though for different reasons. We were at our wit's end… we couldn't see a better route to Tris. So we trusted him. He took us down to the undercity of Coruscant, to a base past the sewers… I couldn't tell you where it was now, our path changed so much. When we eventually wound up in the building where she was, he left us, and said that we were on our own. Orion and I—" She glanced over at him, half-smiling, and he smiled back, instilling courage in her. "—worked together to find Trisana and take care of what guards there were so that we could rescue her. That was when the trouble started."
In spite of himself, Varian looked intrigued, as did Khvee and Austrina. "What do you mean by trouble?" Khvee asked when Eliatra paused.
Orion laid a light hand on Eliatra's shoulder and spoke up, surprising her. "She had just gotten to Tris's cell and freed her when someone—I guess a Dark Jedi, or a Sith, since he had a red lightsaber—" This raised a collective gasp from the three masters, but Orion continued. "—showed up at the cell door and threatened Eli and Tris. Fortunately, after cutting the power to the cell bloc, I went back to check on Eli, and managed to distract him long enough for Eli and Tris to help me cut him down. After that we just tried to escape as quickly as possible, and ended up running into several more Sith."
"Including the man who had led us to the base in the first place. He told us that his name was Visiron, but the Wookiee and the other Sith that were with him referred to him as Lord Erebin." Eliatra finished.
There was a stunned silence in the ship, as even Varian didn't seem to know what to say. "How did you escape Erebin?" Austrina finally asked, her silver eyes wide.
This time Tris took a step forward. "Since I, um, didn't know where my lightsaber was at the time, Eli and Orion told me to try to find a way out while they took care of the Sith, or whatever they were. Eli got knocked unconscious when Erebin hit her with lightning from behind while she tried to attack the Wookiee that grabbed me in the first place, back on the surface. By then I had figured out the elevator that was just around the corner, so I threw a grenade to keep Erebin from killing Eli so that Orion could grab her and we could get out. After that, we just had to find our way through the sewers and back to the surface… where you found us."
All three masters stared at the padawans a moment, then at each other. Even the normally unflappable Khvee seemed bewildered. "I think we need to discuss this further in private," Austrina said finally, motioning to the other two masters as she strode toward the doorway that led to the left side of the ship. Khvee paused before walking down the hall to fix Orion with a stern glare. "And no eavesdropping," he warned, then continued on, leaving the three padawans in solitude.
Eliatra crossed her arms and leaned back against the central projector console, an exhausted look on her face. "Well-"
Tris narrowed her eyes at her. "Don't even think about saying it," she interrupted angrily.
"Saying what?" Eliatra's voice, though calmer than Trisana's, was tight with annoyance.
"'I told you so,'" Orion interjected with a warning look at Trisana. "Come on, girls, we don't need to give them another reason to punish us. Let's at least wait until we get back to Dantooine and it's easier to catch a flight off-planet." He flashed a teasing grin at them.
Eli nodded with a relieved glance at Orion. "All I was going to say," she said, eyeing Tris warily, "was that they seemed to believe us. I don't know who that Lord Erebin was, but the name seemed to mean something to them."
"Mean something?" Orion smirked. "I thought Master Austrina's eyebrows were going to shoot through the ceiling, she had them raised so high."
"Even Master Varian seemed startled," Eliatra agreed thoughtfully.
Trisana looked dubious. "How are they to know we didn't just overhear Erebin's name on the street and made it all up? After running away like that, why would they trust our word at all? You heard my master. 'Our trust has been severely undercut by this drastic display of dishonesty.' They're going to think we're just trying to get out of trouble."
Eli rolled her eyes. "Tris, who would willingly inflict the kind of injuries that we had on themselves just to get out of a few weeks' punishment? I was unconscious. Remember? And I'm sure you and Orion weren't looking so good by the time you got back to the surface, either."
"Well," Orion amended, "Tris wasn't looking so good. I'm sure I was still my usual handsome self." He grinned impishly and tugged Tris's long braid when she opened her mouth in protest at his comment. "Kidding, Trissy."
She scowled at him and fingered her braid. "I still doubt they'll believe our story. I mean, really. Don't you think any other padawans would have gotten killed if they'd tried to go through what we did? Sith and lightsabers and Wookiees… I'm amazed we got through it."
"That's just it, though," Eliatra mused quietly. She looked up at them both, her dark eyes wide. "We're not just any padawans. We're… us."
Orion grinned and struck a valiant pose, his hand to his chest and his face upturned to an absent sun. "We are the illustrious Orion Rivalen, the beautiful yet deadly Eliatra Sabre, the fearless Trisana Kor-"
Eli smacked his arm and tried to hold back a laugh. "You know what I mean. At the risk of sounding pretentious, we are some of the best students at the Academy. We may not have been trained for something like what we went through, but we survived it—something that many of the other padawans may not have been able to do."
"Accurate as always, my lady," Orion said with a swooping bow to Eli.
Tris sighed. "Maybe you're right. I guess they did seem like they believed us, or else they wouldn't have left us like that."
"Atta girl," Orion beamed and winked at Eli. "I knew she'd come around eventually."
The sound of footsteps approaching them from the other side of the ship alerted them to their masters' presence and quickly silenced the three padawans. They hastily stood to attention as Varian, closely followed by Khvee and Austrina, entered the room. "Your masters and I have deliberated on the matter of your incident," Varian stated as he halted in front of them, his face unreadable. "and we have decided to leave the issue to the Dantooine Jedi Council for further discussion. You three will meet with them for further explanation of your experience, and they will decide on the retribution, if any, that you will serve. For the moment, you are excused of any punishment."
Eliatra could almost feel Trisana's relief at the statement, and even Orion seemed relieved. Realizing that Varian was waiting for a reply, she bowed to him, quickly followed by Tris and Orion. "Thank you, Master," she said quietly.
Varian gave them a curt nod and strode out of the cabin toward the cockpit, leaving them with Khvee and Austrina. Khvee waved his hands at them when they continued to stand uncertainly. "You heard the man. Go find something to do. We won't be reaching Dantooine for some time." Orion nodded and immediately made a break for the door, trailed closely by Tris and Eli.
The three collapsed in the bunkroom. "Now what?" Tris asked, delicately seating herself cross-legged on one narrow bunk.
"Now, we wait," Orion yawned. "Since that's over, I'm going to take advantage of the down time and take a nap." He stretched out on a cot, his lanky frame barely fitting the cramped space, and shut his eyes peacefully.
"In here? This is our bunkroom!" Eli grinned and threw the pillow on her bunk at his head.
His hand shot out and expertly snatched the pillow out of the air while his eyes were still closed. He lifted his head and grinned cheekily at her. "So? You're not sleeping here right now, are you?"
Eliatra started to reply but suddenly ducked as a pillow thrown from Tris's direction almost hit her head. "He carried you all the way up from the sewers, Eli, let him get his beauty rest!" Tris laughed.
Eli grabbed the pillow that had almost hit her and started to smile slowly. "Beauty rest? Now? Why not have a pillow fight!!" She hurled her pillow at Trisana while snatching two more with the Force and flinging them at Orion. It wasn't long before stuffing and laughter filled the air, completely erasing all thoughts of rest or troubles from their minds.