End of the Assignment

Chapter 2

Coruscant – Several Months Earlier

Siri entered the Jedi Council Chambers only five minutes late, which she was almost certain was not late enough to receive a lecture beginning "Punctuality, a virtue is, Padawan Tachi," from Master Yoda.

Looking at the Masters' faces, she was certain she was not going to hear that. Everyone looked so intense she knew she would not be going on an ordinary mission.

"Siri," Master Adi began, "I've told the Council that I believe you are ready for the Trials and they agree."

"Thank you, Masters," she replied. So that was it. The Trials. Siri had been expecting this to happen soon. She was in her early twenties now and Master Adi had not taught her anything new in some time.

Still, it was a thrill and an honor to actually hear the words. The thrill was in anticipation of what she would soon face. One of the reasons for the Trials was to expose Padawans to their worst fears, to temptations to the Dark Side, and observe how they overcame them. The honor was that she would finally be considered a full adult in Jedi society and that the Council thought she was ready for it.

Master Windu took out a holocube and turned it on. "This is Krayn. We've had intelligence that he and his followers have been raiding towns in the Outer Rim, kidnapping slaves to sell. We think some of those he's kidnapped are Republic Citizens. The Republic government wants this stopped. We want this stopped."

"And believe me, I do too," said Siri. "But what does this have to do with my Trials?"

"Your Trial, if you accept, is to join Krayn's organization, allow him to get used to your presence, and find as much information as you can about him. For a raid, we need everything from alarm codes to lists of who he's got enslaved and how many employees he has and what their jobs are," said Master Adi.

"You mean, like espionage?" Siri asked.

I'm a Jedi Padawan, not a Republic Intelligence Officer!

Master Yoda raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," replied Master Windu.

Siri had never heard of any Trial quite like this.

"This will be an unusually long-term, undercover Trial. You'll have to create a new identity and pretend to leave the Order. Nobody outside this room is to know what you're doing," said Master Adi.

Pretend to leave the Jedi Order. Only twenty had ever actually left the Order, Dooku being the most recent. But everyone would believe that she'd left. Her mouth had given her a bit of a reputation as the "Rebellious Blondie" in the Temple. They'd think she'd had another fight with Master Adi or met a man or just had enough of following the strict Code and left.

For a moment, she wasn't sure she could handle leaving behind all her friends and everything she knew for so long. The part of her that wasn't too proud to admit not perfectly following the Code knew she had attachments here. And Obi-Wan would think she'd abandoned him so soon after Master Qui-Gon was killed by a Sith.

When Siri and Obi-Wan were new Padawans, she and Master Adi had gone on a mission with him and Qui-Gon. Shortly after returning to the Temple, she'd dared the serious, by-the-book boy to break one of the rules, she couldn't even remember exactly which one now, and he'd done it and been caught. He'd told the Masters why he'd broken the rules, and the two were ordered to wash all the dishes in the Temple by hand. They'd made a game of seeing how much soap they could get on each other's clothes and hair, and they'd been friends ever since.

Or at least they both spent a lot of energy pretending they were just friends.

If it weren't for the Code prohibiting attachment…

But part of her was excited about the idea of proving herself by being a special agent. And she didn't want to let the Masters down.

"I'll take this Trial," she heard herself say. "If I don't take the first one offered, even if it is difficult, I don't deserve to be a Jedi Knight."

"Excellent," said Master Windu. "Here's everything we know about Krayn…."