They just about made it. While retrieving Eeth and Raven, Lakhri had kept the ship in the streets between the city's high-rise buildings in order to avoid detection. That ended the moment the hatch had closed behind Eeth and Raven and they took off towards the higher strata of the atmosphere, though.
"You navigate, I defend us against pursuers," Eeth told Lakhri curtly. "Padawans, find out how far this ship will take us before we run out of fuel and find a destination for us, preferably one that is outside this system and has a breathable atmosphere. Lakhri will be waiting for your coordinates."
Both apprentices got to the task. Flynt was still in the co-pilot's seat so Raven had taken up the navigator's spot behind them. She raised a brow at the silent presence of three bound Ashpan pilots behind them, one unconscious, one looking sick and the third bracing themself against the wall with bound feet. It was a bumpy ride.
"Kemure Prime," Raven announced, quickly sharing the details with Lakhri and Flynt who agreed. Flynt was fast with numbers and was calling them aloud as he input. It wasn't necessary for him to do that, but any mistakes here could be fatal.
Despite having large sections of volcanic activity, Kemure Prime was well populated and, more importantly, compatible with all of them. Their technology was more advanced than Asphah's. There were large cities both on the ground and in the skies, and where there were not cities, there was fertile land for farming. It was also along the Rime Trade Route in the Mathurin Nebula Territory which would not make it difficult for their hijacked crew to return.
Their pursuers gave up when they reached the stratosphere. They had more pressing concerns than to go after fleeing spaceships, especially one that was well-armed and able to score hit after hit. Lakhri switched to autopilot for the coordinates Flynt had set and checked the board computer's calculations.
"The good news is, we have more than enough fuel to take us there and for the crew to return to Ashpah II," said Flynt. "The bad news is, given the absence of a hyperspace drive, it will take us twenty-four hours, and those will be very cramped."
This was a warship, made for charging, attacking and retreating only, and it had little more than the cockpit, a combat station at the rear, and a small engine room. If they wanted to stretch out to sleep, they would have to take turns lying down in the engine room.
"That cannot be helped," said Eeth. "We will have to look after the crew now. Raven, tend to the unconscious one, please."
He himself untied the one who was looking sick, helped them lie back and checked their condition through the Force. They were unharmed; it had simply been a bumpy ride and they had been upside down for some of it because none of the Jedi had had any time to spare. Lakhri, in the meanwhile, untied the third person.
"Sorry for that," he said quite amiably. "But we were guests of Ashpah III when you decided to attack, and we had no desire to become part of this war, so we had to make a getaway."
"That's understandable," the Ashpan said, rubbing their head and his wrists where Lakhri had tied them. "And very sensible, given that the command of Ashpah I had given orders to capture you."
They gave Lakhri an appraising look and then looked Eeth over. "I wouldn't have minded capturing him, to be honest," they said.
"Yeah, well, you won't be capturing anyone for a while," Lakhri said. "Including him, I'd wager."
"True," Eeth said curtly.
Raven had to adopt her best poker face at Eeth's curt tone. Of all the ships out there, the first one they had found had to be from Ashpah II! Oh well, she hoped for Eeth's sake that they wouldn't try too hard to convince him to change his mind.
The being Raven was tending to had a nasty gash on their head. It wasn't going to be fatal but, as she told the others, "This one has a closed head injury and a concussion. They are going to need a few stitches and will have a monstrous headache. We can help with that." She had untied the Ashpan and propped them up with some help from Flynt who was now grabbing their medical kit. By now Raven was quite a talented healer; she had a keen interest in any and all things medical and had pursued it whenever Eeth allowed. Still, she paused, razor in hand, ready to shave the area and begin stitching. "Master?" she questioned. Her meaning was clear: she wanted to know if he was going to let her go ahead or if he was still treating her like a cowering civilian, or … a disobedient padawan. Raven wasn't sure which was worse for her, although the latter was sure to be more painful.
At that moment, the thus far unconscious Ashpan regained consciousness and groaned. They frowned, wondering where they were and, more importantly, why there was a human child sitting in front of them, holding a razor and smiling brightly. The wounded Ashpan's gaze quickly flicked around the room and the memories began to come back. The little person and the giant, yes, and. Oh. Their gaze settled on Eeth, and despite considerable pain, the injured Ashpan smiled. "If it wasn't for the pain, I would say I had died and transcended into the hereafter," they said, staring at Eeth.
Lakhri had to stuff his fist into his mouth in order not to burst out laughing, Raven bit her bottom lip and Flynt was taking this all in stride, thinking it fantastic. Eeth looked as if he had bitten into a lemon.
"I am Jedi master Eeth Koth, and this is my padawan, Raven Trebeck," he said coolly as if he had not heard the other being's words. "She is going to tend to your wounds. Forgive the inconvenience. It was imperative for us to leave Ashpah, and our own ship was unfortunately destroyed by your fleet." He nodded at Raven, silently signalling his agreement for her to go ahead and treat the Ashpan.
"Why the sudden attack, though, just when we had arrived?" asked Lakhri, leaning back in his chair. The Ashpan crew had no weapons and were physically no match for them; there was no point in restraining or isolating them. They might as well talk to them and try to get some information to report to the Council.
"Well, we're not privy to the reasons behind the decisions of our leadership," the uninjured Ashpan pointed out, throwing a surreptitious admiring glance at Eeth. "But we think Ashpah III only announced your coming at the last moment. Invasion plans had been made for a long time, but when it was clear there would be peace negotiations led by Jedi representatives of the Republic, public sentiment became very agitated. People feared any agreement would be to our disadvantage, given that Ashpah III is a member of the Republic and we're not. Orders came very suddenly, so I guess your arrival triggered this."
Lakhri sighed. "And to think we spent ten days memorising economic data on your planets and discussing negotiation schedules," he said to no one in particular, although Flynt did nod in agreement. "Alright. I'll send a message to the Council to notify them of our status. We've plotted a course for Kemure and will leave the ship there. That will leave you with enough fuel to return to Ashpah II."
None of the crew members looked overly enthusiastic about this announcement. Lakhri thought that he would not be surprised if they decided to desert their troops and stay on Kemure. Living conditions on Ashpah II were deplorable, after all, and the people of three planets fighting over space on a half-destroyed Ashpah III was not something to look forward to either. Well, that was their call to make. As soon as they had reached Kemure, the crew would be free to make their own decisions.
"Do we have food and water on this ship?" asked Eeth, practical as ever.
The crew member who had been sick pointed at a cupboard. "Enough," he said. "In case of crash landings."
"That's good to know," said Lakhri. "Could you tell us your names? I'm Lakhri, and this is my padawan, Flynt."
The Ashpans were Tiya, Miyos and Jaya; Jaya was the one to whose head wound Raven was currently tending to. They were quite pleasant and remarkably unperturbed by their fate.
"Since Jedi Master Eeth Koth seems disinclined," Tiya said cheerfully to Miyos, "which is a pity, really; d'you wanna have some fun with me? I haven't had any decent sex for two days."
"Yeah, me neither," Miyos said eagerly. "Let's!"
Lakhri groaned.
"Could you do it anywhere but in this cockpit, please?" Eeth asked in a strained voice.
Tiya and Miyos lost no time in heading for the engine room. The sounds of people shuffling around behind her, then the distinct 'ZIIPP!' and crunch of velcro as clothing was being impatiently yanked down had Raven scrunching her nose. "What I wouldn't give for an escape pod right now," she mumbled quietly to Flynt, who was holding Jaya's head still so she could pull the stitches through his comparatively thick skin.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of or hidden away," said Jaya. "It is natural. We are all sexual beings. But…" They gave Raven a serious look. "Not for you to know of, yet. We only consider those of age."
Raven's indignation at being considered a child when Flynt was obviously not piqued her ire, yet she let it go; if it meant she was spared the sight and hassle of being propositioned, all the better.
Flynt chuckled. Jaya was trying to be polite about this here, but the Ashpan's gaze kept finding Eeth and lingered longer and longer, as if mentally undressing the man was helping them endure the procedure.
When Raven was finished, Jaya sat up, seemingly unperturbed about sporting a sizable bulge where Ashpans, like humans, had their primary sexual organs. Not that Raven noticed; she had been entirely focused on her job and was now busy disposing of the medical supplies and going through their med kit. They had most of the basic things, but it was all very rudimentary. It would do to keep Jaya comfortable until they landed.
Flynt turned around, leaving Jaya to sit quietly as Raven had advised, and was met with an amused look from his master. He couldn't help it, he laughed; his grandmaster was sitting there managing to look dignified, just! while the sounds of two (thankfully for them all) mostly concealed beings going for it at the rear of their ship filled the silence. He was a sixteen-year-old boy, and pansexual it would appear, as he was having a hard time keeping himself from becoming aroused by this. He was, of course, still a virgin but he was also a hormone-ravaged teenager in a small ship with three sex-crazed Ashpans. He coughed, sat and looked to Lakhri because, Force help him, if he looked at his grandmaster, he was going to start laughing. Again.
"I can see this is going to be an entertaining ride," Lakhri said, making a straight face.
Eeth just raised his eyebrows at him, but did not deign to respond.
"It would be so much more entertaining if you joined the fun," Jaya remarked conversationally. "What's the matter with you? Don't any of you like having sex?"
"We are Jedi," said Eeth calmly. "We are forbidden from forming intimate attachments."
Jaya frowned. "I wasn't talking about intimate attachments," he said. "I was talking about sex. It's simply a bodily need."
"Yes, but in our culture, it's usually connected to intimate relationships, unless it's done by exploiting others," Lakhri explained.
Jaya sighed and closed his eyes, leaning back his head. "Off-worlders are so weird," he said. "Let me guess. Your culture considers eating and drinking social activities?"
"Yes, we do," said Lakhri.
"Well, in our culture they aren't," said Jaya, "but sex is. You have sex to satisfy your needs. Or to get to know a new colleague. Or to socialise with a stranger you meet in a bedding place."
"Yeah, that's your version of cafes," Lakhri said. "I read about them. It's just not how our society works. Please do us a favour and leave Eeth alone." He jerked his head towards his former master who was currently starting to compose a more extensive message for the Council than they had previously sent and, Lakhri suspected, pretending to take much longer about it than he needed to. "I get that you all find him incredibly hot, but it's making him very uncomfortable."
Eeth gave Lakhri a grateful look. He was fully aware that the other Jedi found the Ashpans' reaction to him hilarious, and he had not expected anyone to speak up on his behalf.
Jaya kept both eyes closed while speaking. "There is no pleasure in forcing another against their will, that would defeat the purpose." The being opened their eyes and gave Lakhri what would pass as a suggestive look; while they did not consider Lakhri as stunning-looking as Eeth, the man's appearance was also appealing to them. "Then again, sometimes a bit of coercing and even a little playful force can be exciting, especially so in those who are exquisite. Eeth, Lakhri and Flynt would be well sought after and worth the effort." Jaya looked at Eeth briefly, then back at Lakhri. However, the lack of response was starting to confirm their suspicions; none of the Jedi were interested in sex with them.
"What do you mean by coercing and playful force?" Flynt asked. He had an idea, or at least he thought he had an idea.
Jaya squinted at Flynt. The sedative Raven had given was starting to wear off and the Ashpan's head was beginning to ache. The giant of a Jedi was also hot, they thought, but his age wasn't clear, which made the Ashpan wary.
Raven saved Jaya from answering, and Flynt from hearing whatever the hell Jaya was going to come up with next, by returning to crouch over on the being's thighs. Raven had no qualms about being this close to the wounded Ashpan as it had been made clear that she was neither attractive nor of age by their customs. "I'll give you some more pain medication. It will make you tired but will help with the pain," she said. She did so without waiting for permission and then summoned a bottle of water that was sitting on her pack, offering it to them. "Just sips," she instructed and rose to sit by Eeth.
"We should take it in turns to sleep," said Eeth. "Once the engine room is free, that is."
"How long does this usually take you people?" Lakhri asked Jaya who was currently sipping water, eyes closed. They had heard wild screams five minutes ago and silently prayed that this was all, but apparently, it was not because they now heard loud moans both from Tiya and Miyos.
"Depends," Jaya murmured. "Why, is there any hurry?"
Lakhri sighed. "Probably not," he said. "This is going to be one hell of a long ride…"
Raven didn't comment at Lakhri's statement, but she did drag her hand down her face and sigh in agreement.
It took another hour wherein the Jedi were subjected to intermittent bouts of screaming and moaning that varied in pitch and urgency and culminated in a solid twenty minutes of soggy thrusting noises and guttural groaning.
When finally, a satisfied-looking Tiya and Miyos made their way back into the cockpit, they appeared to feel neither shame nor embarrassment. In fact, they looked positively proud of themselves. "I hope it was as good for you all as it was for us," Tiya said, but their tone made it clear that this had been rhetorical.
"It's never as good as the real thing, but we are a sharing culture," Miyos added, almost radiating a sense of guilt for having left them out of their pleasure; what fun they could have had all together! "I can go again in another hour or so, I'm young enough." It was an offer aimed at Eeth and Lakhri because, like Jaya, they weren't certain of the giant's age and Raven was both unattractive and clearly not yet of age. They looked to Jaya who was unconscious and put a comforting arm around the being's form. "Is Jaya alright?"
"They are," said Eeth in a strained voice. "Just resting and sleeping off the analgesic."
"Listen, none of us are interested in having sex with any of you," Lakhri said firmly. "Really not. And I'd appreciate it if we could take turns sleeping in the engine room, rather than making out there all the time. Besides, listening to other people having sex might be considered a pleasurable activity on Ashpah II, but it isn't where we come from. Sorry."
"Pity," was all Lakhri got in response. The two pilots were now well sated, after all, and had only been offering out of politeness. They lay back into the wall on either side of Jaya, each with a hand around their injured comrade's neck in support.
"Raven, take the first turn sleeping," Eeth said. "You have done a lot of Force-enhanced running and Force-aided healing. You need some rest."
Raven looked up, her expression surprised. Flynt was younger than she was, yet Eeth ordered her to sleep first! She sat there for a long moment before a slight widening of Lakhri's eyes had her up off her feet and moving. She stowed her gear and raided the storage compartment for something that could be bunched up and act as a pillow. "Jaya will need pain medication in another four hours," she told Eeth and Lakhri before lying down and stretching out. Force, it really did feel good, and despite wanting to argue, she was asleep in seconds.
That had been a fun and interesting twenty-four hours if you asked Flynt. Although the crew from Ashpah II had a conceptual understanding of their captors' reluctance, they had all propositioned Eeth and Lakhri subtly but repeatedly. Upon receiving rejections from both, they'd asked Flynt's age. Lakhri had only to be honest in order to quell any interest there. For most of the remainder of the trip, they had talked about the increasing unrest between the trio of planets, at least from the Ashpans' point of view. It didn't appear that Ashpah III had any chance here. None of the planets did, for that matter.
"Docking in five," Raven announced, having identified themselves and received clearance from Kemure's main spaceport which was positioned well above the mainland. They also had more advanced landing platforms than Ashpah I's moon, which meant that she had no problem with the coupling system.
It was clear that the crew from Ashpah II held no ill will towards their Jedi 'hijackers'. In fact, they thought this might just be the opportunity of a lifetime. They'd need to conform to the local customs, of course, and that was if Kemure allowed refugees at all. The Ashpans pulled each Jedi into a hug, kissing both cheeks as was their custom, and made their way to the security desk to plead their case.
"It would be nice if they let them stay. Their system is destined to destroy itself, if it hasn't already. I doubt there will be anything left to extradite them to," Raven commented honestly.
"Which is why I suspect that Kemure will see many more refugees from Ashpah in the near future," said Eeth. "The people from Ashpah II might have to rein in their sexual impulses, though. I doubt that Kemure has bedding houses. But from what little I know about Kemure, they will not send people into a war zone against their will." He took a last look back at the three Ashpans who were now being escorted towards a different section of the spaceport.
"These three didn't seem so bad," said Flynt. "I'm sure they'll fit in. – Unless you consider the fact that they thought Eeth hot." He whispered the latter and made gagging noises, only to straighten up as Eeth and Lakhri stopped abruptly, but it was only to check for directions to the Republican Embassy. They would need accommodation, to stock up on their luggage and come up with a plausible form of transport home, given that it would take the Temple eleven days to send a ship here to collect them.
It turned out that the Republican Embassy on Kemure Prime had a guest house and was able to offer the four Jedi a spacious flight of rooms with a separate bedroom and adjacent refresher for each of them, as well as a large dining area. There was also a food delivery service. The terminal offered a wide selection of meals which would be delivered by droids within forty-five minutes.
"Ah, luxury," Lakhri said, pointing a cheeky grin at Eeth. "How about we order meals and all take a shower while we wait for them to arrive? It's around midday here so I vote for lunch. A lot of it."
"Yes, good idea," Eeth agreed. While luxury was abhorrent to him, he was looking forward to having a proper meal, and as for the shower: they were all sweaty. Even a toilet that would be large enough for Eeth and Flynt would be an improvement when compared to the Ashpan spaceship.
"I think we should go clothes shopping after our meal," Eeth said while they were taking turns entering their choices into the terminal. "Another good idea," said Lakhri. "I sure hope nobody had anything of personal significance in their luggage since we're never getting that back."
The food was good, and appreciated by all. Even Raven was hungry. Sure, the food pills they'd been given had been filling enough, but wholly unsatisfying. She ate an entire bowl of steamed grain with some fungi mush that Flynt commented looked as if it belonged back on the Ashpan system. He tasted it on a dare, though; the boy had yet to back down in that regard.
Flynt matched Lakhri portion by portion well after Eeth and Raven had finished eating until finally, everyone's appetite was sated.
After showering off most of the 'Ashpah stink' as Flynt coined it, they went to find something to wear. Raven picked the first pair of pants she could find in her size that did not have cartoon characters on them, although they did have a mushroom stencil on the back pocket. She'd take that on the chin. The pants had several pockets down the legs, belt loops wide enough to accommodate her saber belt and were made from a sturdy material that would keep her warm and not tear easily. A long-sleeved shirt was next, followed by a black hoodie. The darker the colour, the less dirt would show through, she knew.
Meanwhile Flynt was having problems finding pants long enough that weren't four sizes too big in the waist. He was about to complain about this when he looked at his master who was having the exact opposite problem.
A salesperson noticed Flynt's and Lakhri's difficulties and pointed them to a shop around the corner that catered to various non-local species and offered clothes in all sizes.
"Get at least three outfits each, and don't forget the underwear," Eeth told them. "The same goes for you, padawan."
"Yes, daddy," Lakhri said with a grin and took off, Flynt in tow.
Eeth could concede he had probably deserved that.
He himself had little trouble selecting a few sets of black pants, dark grey T-shirts and a long-sleeved light grey shirt.
An hour later, they returned to their guest quarters, laden with bags, to find their comm unit flashing. Eeth went to check.
"It is a message from the Temple about our return trip," he said. "Apparently, there will be a diplomatic flight to Malastare the day after tomorrow. That is midway between here and the Core. From there, we will either board another diplomatic vessel or, if there is none, take one of the public flights that leave on a daily basis. We are supposed to report to the Ambassador tomorrow morning about the details of our flight to Malastare."
"Let's just hope that a 'diplomatic flight' doesn't mean we'll have to escort a bunch of royals," Lakhri remarked, and Raven's gaze shot up from stuffing personal hygiene items into the pack she had bought. "Don't even say it, you'll jinx us," she said. "Nereem, what a horror!" Their very first joint mission to Larivan had seen Raven taking revenge on the planet's former princess who had taken an immediate dislike to her and goaded her at every opportunity. Raven had paid for that dearly, too. Eeth had been entirely unamused and she had no desire to repeat that.
"How bad can it possibly be?" Flynt stated sagely, his naivety amusing Raven.
"Very bad, although I'd wager you'd have an easier time dealing with them than Raven and I used to have," Lakhri said. He knew that it was fairly hard to get a rise out of Flynt; his placid nature made it much easier for him to shrug off taunts or arrogant, demanding behaviour in others.
"Speaking of 'very bad'," Eeth said, rising from his seat at the terminal. "I need to have a serious discussion about obedience with you, padawan."
"Ouch," said Lakhri. "What did you manage to do in a clothes store that would get you into trouble with Eeth?"
"This is not about the clothes store, this is about Ashpah III," Eeth said. "Once I realised we were about to be bombed, I gave Raven the order to leave the building and run after you. She disobeyed. There has been no opportunity to have that discussion in private so far, but we are having it now."
He nodded towards his room with his chin, ignoring the frown she was giving him.
Lakhri grimaced. If Raven had indeed done such a thing, she was in serious trouble and she deserved to be. He was certainly not going to intervene on her behalf, but neither did he want to be privy to this.
"Alright, I'm out," he said. "Flynt, we'll go and look around the city some more. We'll be back in time for dinner."
"Yes, go ahead," Eeth said, his gaze not leaving Raven whom he was pointing towards his room.
Typically, Lakhri would offer some sort of comradely support, a sign that he'd been there and she'd survive, but Raven noticed that this time he didn't. Maybe, she mused, that was because disobeying a direct order during a mission at her age, even with a good reason, was really frowned upon. When Eeth found out why she'd disobeyed him, he was going to hit the roof!
Raven tossed her newly-packed bag on their couch and did as told. She sat on Eeth's bed, head down, and tried to will herself to be calm. The sound of the front door closing behind Lakhri and Flynt left the place in complete silence – well, if you didn't count the sound of Eeth's footsteps, that was.
Eeth entered his room and closed the door. There was no real reason for that since Lakhri and Flynt had left, but it felt more private this way.
"Alright, padawan," he said, coming to stand in front of Raven and folding his arms across his chest. "I gave you a direct order, you disobeyed me. At eighteen years of age, you certainly know that this is unacceptable. What possessed you to do it?"
Raven sighed. She honestly felt bad at having disobeyed him, and she was going to accept responsibility for her mistake, but her reason this time left her practically squirming. After a very long silence, about as long as she could get away with, Raven looked up. "I didn't think it was a good idea," she told him and swallowed, her mouth having suddenly gone dry. Then she elaborated. "Sending all three of us to fetch the ship left you with no backup and a handful of delegates, one uncooperative. It felt like an unnecessary risk. I wanted to back you up, to help rescue the others who would not have made it out if it weren't for me. You can only do so much. We're supposed to be a team, you can trust me not to fail." Raven knew that at the very least that last bit was going to get flung back at her, but she was trying to make this sound as benign as possible here. Yeah. She had all but told him that his order had been stupid.
Eeth gave her a very long, penetrating look, pondering her explanation. It was uncannily similar to his own reasoning at a slightly younger age and he did not like that one bit.
"When you say I should trust you not to fail," he finally said, "do you mean to imply that I should stop giving you orders and just let you do whatever you think is best, relying on your absolute certainty that nothing bad will ever happen to you?"
"No, but in this instance it was not beyond my means to help, and I succeeded," Raven argued.
"So in this instance, you disagreed with my decision," said Eeth. "You thought I should have given different orders. Let us assume your assessment was correct. Did that give you the right to disobey?"
"No, master. But," she added, throwing up her hands, "it worked out!" Which was true; she had not come to harm and nor had anyone else, thanks to her.
"Barely," said Eeth coolly. "It was too narrow a miss. Which is one of the reasons I gave you the order to run."
Needless to say, he was quite unhappy with his apprentice, but more than that, he was worried. Raven had always had a tendency to put her judgement above that of her superiors. He had consistently punished her for it and the frequency of such occurrences had lessened significantly as a result. In former years, his efforts had been helped by the fact that her disobedience had typically caused problems. The more skilled and experienced she became, the more this was starting to change, and what had happened on Ashpah III was a case in point. She had managed to save a delegate and escape unscathed. Eeth was seriously concerned that, whatever punishment he meted out, she would continue to ignore his orders in situations she felt equipped to handle. This was the same kind of issue that he had struggled with as a padawan, and his master, too, had found that punishment alone was not enough to remedy it. He decided to put some serious thought into how to resolve this when they were back at the Temple. For now, all he could do was to give Raven a very good reason to think twice the next time disobedience seemed like a good option.
"Let me be clear about one thing," he said grimly. "Whatever your reasoning is, whether you like my orders or not, even when you are certain that they are wrong, you obey me because I am your master as well as the head of this mission team and I have to be able to rely on you to do as you were told. And just as importantly, I need to know where you are and what you are doing. For a significant amount of time during which a lot of things happened, I was not aware that you were still in the building, and that, in itself, was a problem. Had Leader Marc been less recalcitrant, I might have wanted to order you to procure a speeder and you wouldn't have been able to. Had the building collapsed a moment sooner, I would not even have known where to look for your body. If I cannot rely on you to do as I tell you, we cannot work together as a team. Whether I should have given different orders, and whether your decision to disobey me worked out the way you wanted it to, is entirely beside the point. The point is that you had an obligation to obey my orders and you failed to meet that obligation. And you know that that will earn you some serious punishment."
It was always unpleasant to have her reasoning for disobeying dissected, yet Raven bore it stoically. The fact that she had not considered failure an option meant that she had not been concerned about Eeth not knowing her location; she had been right behind him!
Raven drew in a long breath, closed her eyes for a second and looked up. "I know. I'm sorry, master." It was all she could say to that because she didn't entirely agree with him. Raven considered herself a skilled Jedi. Then again, she could concede he had made some valid points.
Eeth could tell that she was not entirely convinced, and knew he would have to find a way to get through to her. He was under no illusion that the punishment he was going to deal out now would be sufficient to accomplish that. But it was going to be sufficiently dire to show her how seriously he was taking this, that much was for sure.