Sorel Crieff
Ready are you? What know you of ready?
Sorel stood perfectly still. She sensed no movement in the darkened room, yet her muscles were tensed, ready for attack. The only light came from the glowing golden blade of her lightsaber. The only discernible sounds were the hum of the blade and her almost undetectable breathing. She had been standing in the same position, balanced on a thin rail, for nearly an hour. Still, she waited.
Suddenly a voice penetrated the silence, breaking her concentration. A message from the Council over her comlink was not what she had expected. Momentarily distracted, she almost missed the stealth-training probe moving rapidly toward her head. That was what she had been waiting for.
She turned neatly on the slim rail and sliced the probe out of the air. Leaping high to another unseen rail, she knocked out two more probes. A moment later the lights in the room came on and the Jedi deactivated her lightsaber.
Sorel shook her head. The exercise was complete, but she was not pleased with her performance. She’d allowed the incoming transmission to affect her concentration. That was sloppy.
She changed and headed for the briefing room. Given the timing of the message, it was most likely a mission. But where, why and with whom had been omitted.
Being a Jedi was constant work. And somehow the dedication, energy, and patience it required seemed to intensify when she was at a Temple, when she wasn't working toward a mission's specific objective. She may be a Master but she understood that a Jedi never stopped learning. But lately she’d felt her focus begin to slip. She should not have been distracted. She should have been prepared for anything. She was growing bored, and that was dangerous.
She reached the brieing room and activated the door before entering the chamber.
A fellow Master was waiting. “We've received a message ," he said plainly. “From an otherwise unremarkable planet suggesting they are being subject to sabotage and have requested our intervention. The system has never been engaged in war of any kind. But tensions have been brewing between the second and fourth planets. All of the planets are interdependent and a dispute between two could trigger a chain reaction, disrupting the whole cluster. Clearly this is something we would wish to avoid.”
“So the situation is critical yet delicate,” Sorel confirmed she'd picked up on the subtlety of the mission.
“Indeed. And to make matters more complicated, the transgressor denies any action, let alone wrongdoing. Assess the matter carefully before acting. There may be more at play than is revealed on the surface.”
Sorel had heard of the cluster before, but only in passing. And any research would have to be done as she travelled. “Are any other Jedi assigned?”
The Master shook his head. “A delicate mission therefore only one Jedi. Less chance to show our hand.”
Sorel nodded and then bowed. She left the room and headed for the hangar. She always travelled light and could download any data required once she took off.
--- --- ---
Once the hyperspace coordinates were punched into the computer, she left the flying to Kaytoo, her astrodroid, and examined what the archives could tell her about the task ahead.
The small planet in question was best known for its amazing production and sale of goods. Alone, it produced almost all of the food and hard goods used by the five planets in its system.
Then she checked the alleged aggressor. It produced less than half of its planetary needs and depends largely on trade with the smaller planet for its subsistence. In the past they have struggled and were often in debt, though relations between the two have remained peaceful and friendly. But now things have changed.
Discovery of a rare ore has allowed them to pay off all of their debts and they are no longer beholden to their fellow planet. Rumours suggested they want to become the major player in the cluster now and that they are sabotaging just to demonstrate their superiority within the planets. An accusation they deny of course.
And no sooner had she finished the data review than she was exiting hyperspace and soon was landing at the main port in the capital of the alleged saboteur.
[member="Lucia Nox"]
