3-18 !

“I’ll go east,” you finally decide.

Master Lasah simply nods in response, striking you as odd considering how little experience you have. Should she really trust your judgment?

You’ve made your decision, however, and you’ll stick with it. You do have one more question before you go, though.

“Master Lasah, can I try using Battle Meditation to help out?”

Master Lasah again surprises you, immediately nodding once again. “Yes. I believe that would be rather helpful. Go ahead.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I know you have a good grasp on its fundamentals, and now is as good a time as any to practice it. Of course, ensure that you pay attention to your surroundings as you do so. Do not let anyone sneak up on you.”

“You think I can pull it off?”

“Yes, Xena. I do. Now, hush, and get ready. We do not have much time. Trust in yourself. Trust in the Force. Inform the officers of your decision, and remember: stay back! Do not engage. Only support.”

“Yes, Master!”

With a smile hidden behind your mask, you jog over to officers Bendak and Eggl and soon enough the operation begins.

≡][≡ ⬦⬦⬦ ≡][≡

Master Lasah? you silently ask.

I hear you, Xena. Did you need something?

No. I just thought that getting my telepathy thing would be useful.

Hmm, good thinking. However, I can still see you, you know. I will know when you are in position.

Oh, right.

A tinge of amusement radiates from Master Lasah’s position back behind you. Thank you, though. This will still be helpful, but pay attention to what you’re doing. Limit your distractions lest you bump into something.

You step lightly around a pile of packing material you’d definitely been aware of this whole time.

More amusement from her. You’re glad she finds something so funny in such a serious situation, honestly. It does help to calm your own nerves.

It’s only now when you’re moving that you notice how shaky your limbs are — the adrenaline surging through your veins already. The cartel members are but one aisle away and it’s only how well packed the boxes are in the racks between that prevent them from easily spotting you under the luminent bulbs shining down from high above. It’s bright enough that when your headband shifts even a bit, you can see the light through the lid of your warp-eye. There is truly danger in this moment; you cannot mess this up, even if you aren’t the lynchpin of this fight.

I will alert you when officer Tressk and I are ready. You do the same.

Yes, Master.

The aisles are roughly fifty meters long from west-to-east. You follow the officers, balancing speed with noise, focusing so very hard on keeping your boot from scraping the ground or bumping into anything. Quietly… Quietly…

A loud crashing sound rips through the warehouse, startling you so much that you almost trip over your own feet. Bendak hisses a curse under his breath, looking backwards toward where Master Lasah and Tressk should be.

He cannot see through walls of boxes. You, however, have the misfortune to see Master Lasah glaring down at Tressk who lies still next to a toppled pile of small packages and buckets. Some sort of foul liquid pools on the floor, soaking into the poor officer’s uniform as he freezes in place, hoping that no one has heard.

It is not to be, however.

The cartel members no longer make merry, their chatting instantly silenced by the noise.

“Jovey?” one of them calls. “Izzat you?”

It is only the crowded passageway that prevents them from spying Master Lasah and Tressk immediately. Unlike your aisle, theirs has plenty of convenient cover — so very convenient until now.

All of the cartel members — minus the two indisposed ones — stare west down the aisle, waiting for a response.

“Psst. Hey! Kid, what’s going on there?”

You jump as officer Bendak whispers the question to you. Shaking yourself, you turn toward him and whisper back. “Officer Tressk tripped over something. The cartel members are gonna discover them soon!”

“Sithspit! Alright, quick. We’re going to continue the plan, except we’re moving faster now. Go, go, go!”

The three of you rush down the aisle, making far more noise than before, hoping that the dividing racks of material contain the sound, but again it is not to be. The cartel members clearly have heard your movements in your haste, and are now whispering to each other and shaking the two other members awake. They gather themselves, splitting into even teams and begin moving to as well.

It is then that Master Lasah shows her hand.

She steps forward, putting forth such an impeccable front of confidence that the cartel members have to stop, bewildered at the sight of a blindfolded and hooded character in their warehouse. You see her lips moving but cannot hear from here, still on the other side of the aisle and far to the east. You would very much like to know what she is saying, but since you’re now sprinting, it would be a rather bad idea to try reconnecting your telepathy — shattered by the surprise — until later.

Unfortunately, whatever she’s trying to have them do, they remain unconvinced. However, she’s certainly bought some time. It’s only when you, Bendak, and Eggl are racing down the south aisle that the blaster bolts start flying. Master Lasah’s saber weaves through the air, deflecting them into the floor and walls — an almost contemptuous display of her skill. Tressk has now stood back up and is ducked behind a pile of boxes, pulling his own blaster from his holster.

You pump your legs harder, racing to keep up with Bendak and Eggl. Your feet pound against the cement floor, but in the chaos of the fight, none of the cartel members seem to have noticed you. In fact, most of them begin to move forward toward Master Lasah and Tressk, fanning out as they close in.

Master Lasah slowly steps backward, letting Tressk retreat first while she continues deflecting bolts. Tressk dives behind another large crate, then peeks over it and begins returning fire. However, his shots go wide as he has to duck under another volley of incoming bolts.

As you continue to approach, you notice the two unarmed cartel members search around, looking for weaponry. Considering this is a warehouse in-use, it takes them no time at all to find something. Picking up a couple of half-meter pipes, they rush forward and duck behind cover as reflected bolts impact the wall next to them.

The other cartel members press forward with their gun-wielders still laying down fire. However, Master Lasah’s impenetrable defense holds true, not letting any deadly spike of plasma strike her or officer Tressk.

Again, the cartel members move up, though they seem to be far less eager to dive into melee combat with a Jedi than before. Several of them duck behind cover as the deflected bolts whizz by them, leaving only two in the lead. They’re all shouting at each other, but it’s all just background noise, fading in and out as your ears are filled with the sound of your heartbeat. Faster!

You must go faster!

But, what can a few untrained criminals do against a Jedi Master? She needs no help — not really.

Master Lasah punches her hand forward, pushing with the Force in a great wave. The two cartel members rushing up to her are blasted backwards — one of them colliding with the boxes two other members are hiding behind, the other one slamming directly into another man.

You wince at the sight of bone cracking, limbs bending in the wrong direction. Fortunately, no one seems to be mortally injured, but several of them are, for all practicality, nearly out of the fight. It is at this point that Tressk adds insult to injury, popping up and stunning the two leading criminals with precise shots. They won’t be getting up any time soon.

It is only now that Master Lasah has reminded you of the power of the Force that you remember yourself. Why are you running so far forward anyways? Didn’t you promise her you would stay back?

You slow down, ducking behind a crate as you reach out into the Force. Now is the time to play your part.

Bendak and Eggl keep running forward, but as they go a tendril of the Force reaches out and tags Bendak. You make connection.

You’ve never done this with anybody besides Cho’an and Master Lasah, but it’s really no different even though Bendak has such a weak connection to the Force. After all, he’s still a living being. He’s still embraced by the Force, much like your fellow Jedi.

You calm his breathing, evening it out and steadying him. Even with all his experience, he can still be foiled by simple things like a tired, swaying arm when tries to aim. You will help him.

You will help them both.

The connection was so easy. Why? You do not know.

It has always been difficult — your lack of real world experience choking your learning, stagnating it without Master Lasah’s explicit assistance. Somehow, today seems to be your lucky day, as the Force flows, reacting to your requests with alacrity. Despite the danger, you know that now is the time to push your boundaries. There is no time like the present!

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

And just like that, you also have Eggl under the influence of your Battle Meditation. The two of them move together with purpose, stopping at your urging and firing upon two of the gun-toting criminals before you.

Two more down. Only six more cartel members to go.

Except, no, there aren’t any left. As soon as the remaining members realize they are flanked by more CorSec officers, they throw down their weapons and surrender. Only one of them hesitates, whipping her head back and forth, searching for a way out. However, now that Master Lasah and the officers have closed in, all the exits are blocked and she too is forced to drop her knife and raise her hands to the sky.

It’s over.

Not even a minute has gone by since the shooting started. A short and sweet fight. You’re probably unlikely to have such an easy win ever again, but you’ll take it when you can get it.

You place your hands on the crate you’ve been hiding behind and use it to shove yourself upward. As you walk over, you see Eggl and Tressk securing the cartel members while Bendak waits for his comlink to connect.

Master Lasah walks over, a wide smile on her face, radiating pure satisfaction for the world to see. “Good work, Xena.”

“I didn’t really do anything though.”

“No,” she immediately denies. “You followed directions and also followed through on what you said you would do: provide support through Battle Meditation. And, you ensured your own safety. That is exactly what I wanted.”

“Oh, um… Thank you.”

“Good, good. Now, I believe our role here is complete. We will, however, stick around long enough for the rest of CorSec to arrive. No reason to let these folks get any unfortunate ideas.”

“What about the droids, Master? What if they heard something? What if they come back?”

“A good point. Another reason to stick around, however it does not seem as if there is any danger at the moment. We will keep watch just in case.”

“Yes, Master.”

As your conversation finishes, officer Bendak puts down his comlink, also seemingly finished with his own report to his superiors. He does seem to be sweating, though. They probably did not appreciate his decision to go forward with the mission without more support, even if the support he did have were Jedi.

Soon enough, CorSec speeders swoop in, disgorging a dozen more officers to assist. All the cartel members, including the three on the western side of the warehouse, are retrieved and ready for transport. The droids too are disabled and secured, and the all important crates of narcotics are loaded up.

For now, the warehouse will be put under CorSec jurisdiction and its owners and operators will be investigated. Your part is complete, and soon the cartel will be no more.

That’s what you hope at least.

You don’t stick around for that though. You and Master Lasah simply walk back to your borrowed speeder and drive it back to the CorSec outpost. From there, you catch a public shuttle to return to the Temple.

Mission accomplished. You can relax now.

But, you still don’t know why or how Ryker died!

You fidget in your seat, your legs hanging down uncomfortably such that your toes just barely touch the floor. Your tail is coiled behind you, much like it was on your first trip out here yesterday…

Yesterday? Wow. It’s really been a hectic couple of days, such that it feels like it’s been a week! But, no. It really has only been two days.

Three days since Ryker died.

What really happened?

“Think about it. Think through it.”

Master Lasah leans back, relaxing while someone else drives for once. You pull your tail in closer, careful not to stab yourself or Master Lasah by accident, and then you start thinking it through, speaking your mind as you do so.

Ryker was found dead by Ioaniis Tlin in the center of the intersection, facing back toward the loading docks. Hmm, maybe you should have visited it at least once. Too late now though. You’ll make do with the information you have.

Ryker was originally suspected to have died from an asthma attack, but it turned out to have been from a severe allergic reaction to something — likely citrus. However, the problem is that the only source of citrus you saw were oranges, several klicks away at the Coruscant Highline Bank.

She was most likely looking for the Dreammaker, some sort of mysterious thingy that got lost in transit and somehow made it to the bank. Strangely enough, the medical droid at Doctor Neen’s medical clinic accepted a rather similar code phrase in order to dispense drugs through an inconspicuous injection tool.

“Indeed, a rather suspicious coincidence, but these things do happen. Go on,” Master Lasah says in encouragement.

This might be the key, then.

Where did the drugs come from? The bank.

Where were the oranges you found? The bank.

The oranges were not consumed, so why were they dumped?

“What if they were not just oranges? What if there were more than meets the eye?”

You glance at Master Lasah, seeing the smirk on her lips. Well, Doctor Neen suspected that there were smugglers in the area. What if they were smuggling narcotics? And how would they smuggle narcotics?

Perhaps hidden inside the oranges. That would explain why they weren’t consumed.

“Did you get the test results back yet?” you ask Master Lasah.

She nods but stays silent. At your pout, she merely smiles wider but neglects to divulge any further information. Fine, then. You’ll just keep going on with this assumption.

If the drugs were smuggled in oranges, it stands to reason that they might have some citrus in them when processed at the bank. Master Lasah suggested that the bank might be a processing facility of the cartel’s. It does seem strange that they would bring the raw narcotics so far just to return the finished product back to where they came from. However, if they do have multiple entry points, that is, multiple docks from which smuggled material can come in from, the bank might be a secure place to store everything. They could then move the synthesized product to the warehouse, conveniently located next to shipping docks.

Hidden away in the mess of industry, it would have been difficult to find the warehouse and any outgoing shipments could be camouflaged by all the other outgoing products. A perfect method of distribution.

“Yes, very convenient. It is highly likely this ‘cartel’ is more than a dozen-odd men and women with little control or training. It is far more probable that they are a much larger organization that would be able to put all this territory to better use. Take, for example, the bank. We still do not know if the employees were in on anything, but considering nobody spoke out against two seemingly unconnected people using their shipping department, it stands to reason that they are not exactly innocent. Keeping so many people in a bank of all things quiet would necessitate much more power and funding than what could be mustered by a small operation.”

Master Lasah’s words make sense, but you’re still missing something. Why would the Dreammaker have been moved to the bank by accident? And how did Justinia Ryker get exposed to the drug and the citrus?

Perhaps they simply mixed up the boxes. The Dreammaker shipping crate could possibly have been mistaken as a crate of oranges. Unlikely, but possible.

Or, some idiot cartel member found the crate and opened it. When you went to the bank, the outer crate was opened. If they saw the shipping manifest, they might have thought it should go with everything else. When they discovered it wasn’t actually what they thought it was, they could have panicked and tried to pass it off as a lost and found item. Thankfully they didn’t keep it or events could have turned out much different.

“Indeed. We have them to thank for that, though it is terrible that we lost a Jedi Knight as a result.”

As for how Ryker died, she really could have unknowingly been injected by the medical droid. Master Lasah felt no danger from it until the very last second. Perhaps the same happened to Knight Ryker. And, by the time she realized something was wrong, she could have been affected by the narcotics. Doctor Neen had said that one of its negative effects could be a sense of confusion. That could be why she went out, heading back toward a place she’d already been.

“Convoluted, but a possible solution.”

But, how could the forensic pathologist not have realized she had drugs in her system? That, you do not know, other than the simple answer of incompetence or inexperience. Well, considering her cause of death was incorrectly identified, you wouldn’t put it past that morgue technician.

And so, Ryker might have been drugged, and in that drug were traces of citrus from the oranges the raw narcotics were smuggled in.

“I think It’s a stretch, but that’s my best guess,” you finally say.

“Well then, we will see.”

“We need the information from that droid, right?” you ask, scooching up and back in your seat. You pull your legs up and cross them, keeping your tail cradled close as you do.

“Yes,” Master Lasah says. “Once we have that, we may or may not see your theory proved.”

“What happens if I’m wrong?”

“Hmm. I do not know.”

That’s not very reassuring. You look down at your tail, tracing your fingers along the grooves and ridges in the hard carapace as you think.

You don’t have a much better guess, and Master Lasah practically walked you through this. Hopefully you’re right.

“That’s not very reassuring, Master.”

“Worried that you would not get my recommendation?”

“...yes.”

“Worry not. You have it already. You did well.”

And just like that, you feel like a huge weight has been lifted off your shoulders. You can finally complete your Trials! You can finally catch up to your friends!

And then, you’ll be able to find a master.

“So, what do I do now?”

“Whatever you want, Xena. Perhaps you can go back to helping Alba in the Halls of Healing. Perhaps you can continue your studies. Finding normalcy again would be… good.”

Both options are good. The former, rather worthwhile, and you do feel slightly guilty for skipping out on helping her. However, you’d also been doing some studying up on naval tactics not too long ago. Perhaps you should continue that?

You could also prepare for your Trials. Once the Council hears from Master Lasah, you’ll need to find a time to take your Trials and you’ll need to ace it. Preparation is always key.

“Master Lasah?”

“Yes?”

“You said I’d be able to use this as part of my Trials, right?”

“Yes. It is possible I could have the Council waive the third Trial. After all, you have successfully demonstrated your mastery of Force techniques to me, what with your use of the Push against that droid and Battle Meditation in the warehouse.”

“Thank you, Master.”

“You have earned it.”

Wonderful. Amazing! So many words to describe your joy at the moment. You’ve succeeded rather well, even if many things are still left untended.

What happened to Mister Tlin and that other patient? Who knows?

What’ll happen with the rest of the cartel? Perhaps CorSec will have to deal with that.

Maybe you should just have a nice rest. It has been a very tiring couple of days. You could take a nice break, then make your decision on what to do.

You lean back, matching Master Lasah in posture as best you can — rather difficult with the base of your tail in the way. After a minute, you give up. This is rather painful…

“Master Lasah?”

“Hmm?”

“Can I help you with anything else?”

“You want to do paperwork?”

“Uh—”

“Ha! Well, come find me if you do end up with some time on your hands. I will reward you if you do so.”

“Okay. Thanks, Master.”

“No. Thank you.”