By the time our boat arrived at its destination, I was ready to cry over the tragedy of the Seekers missing Jabitha. According to my wrist chronometer, it had taken less than ninety minutes for her to a) Grasp the concept of becoming a channel for the Force, b) Find the most rudimentary success in touching the Force, and finally, c) Getting a pebble to wobble a couple of centimeters across the boat-deck.
Less than an hour and a half to grasp Fundamentals of Telekinesis. It was like watching a newborn demonstrate a grasp of calculus with an innocently sunny smile for their stunned parent. I was beyond gobsmacked, I was beginning to wonder if Jabitha wasn't another inadvertent result of Plagueis's meddling. No one picked up the basics of TK in a single sitting. Not Yoda, not even a Chosen One of legend and prophecy. If ever in my entire life I needed a reason to criticize the Jedi Order for only training infants and toddlers, then Jabitha was that reason. I was eye to eye with someone possessing the kind of gift that made a Jedi Master, yet that was never going to be.
"Hmm, I wonder if Vinrae is in the market for a new acolyte? It's going to be impossible to find Jabitha a teacher all the way out here, otherwise. Damnit, this is so damned unfair to her!" I hated there was nothing productive I could come up with in the face of her mind-boggling success. Despising the idea of not getting this girl into training with someone tomorrow, both because of her obvious gift, and due to my being rightly concerned someone might corrupt her.
"That was absolutely incredible, Wind! You have a great talent for this application of the Force. I wish I could keep working with you, but since I can't, I want you to keep working on what I've shown you. You'll be surprised just how much you can accomplish with meditation and determination. Try considering how touching the Force and meditating might apply to what you do with the birds. I think you'll be surprised where that can take you" I told the excited teen. It wasn't anything like what she deserved, but it was all I had to offer her. I tried to console myself that many Force-sensitives didn't get this much training, but that felt just like the excuse it was. I knew I was failing someone with an incredible gift, and knew there wasn't a damned thing I could do about that.
I sensed what she was about to do as she resolved to do it, but I didn't do anything to stop her as the pretty young girl impulsively threw her arms around me and squeezed. She released me with an attractive blue-green blush lighting her cheeks, but I only smiled and said my goodbyes as the boat hit the dock. Dark Woman had glided back over, so the party was being broken up in any event. Jabitha energetically bounced off down the dock with a wave and a smile. Promising to remember what I'd shown her and practice every day before she finally rejoined the rest of her small group and departed. Leaving me with my Master to face the music.
"Do you know why I encouraged that bit of the unorthodox?" The question was offered without preamble. In a tone which gave me no clue as to what the right answer might be, or what point the Jedi Master could be trying to make. Fortunately, I had more brains than a child, plus I'd already had time to consider the issue while Jabitha worked on finding the Force.
"You wanted to drive home the point the Jedi Code isn't perfect. In a way that would resonate with me emotionally, and so underscore your point for good and always. I strongly suspect you knew that Jabitha possessed an incredible gift, so you seized the opportunity to illustrate the fact I would not have been considered an acceptable initiate even at five and a half. You disagree with the Order's decision to reject nearly all potential candidates over four years old, and you wanted me to see why you disagree. Is that all of it, Master, or have I missed something?" I stated with some confidence. Finishing with a question I didn't expect much of an answer to.
Dark Woman was quick to surprise me on that front, however. "There's also the ugly reality that every Force-sensitive the Order turns away is one more potential Dark Side Adept, at best. I'm a traditionalist in most respects, Anakin, but in this the High Council is gripped by folly. I want you to always remember the frustration you felt when you recognized the tragedy of there never being a Knight or Master Jabitha Hal. The day will come when you'll be the one in a position to see to it that other young Force-sensitives with gifts that could do an enormous amount of good are trained, or not. It's my responsibility as your Master to show you the truth. Not what others would have you believe is the truth. The Jedi trained older initiates for millennia. The Order only changed it's ways after Ruusan because of it's out of control need for centralized authority. Changes supposedly made to decrease the number of Jedi who fall to the Dark Side. Unfortunate then, that the statistics have never supported the notion that many of these changes accomplish a thing in that respect."
I didn't know what to say to all that. Fortunately, Dark Woman didn't seem to be looking for a response from me. I was still giving what she said a great deal of thought as I followed her off the boat, however.
Shortly thereafter, we met up with Vidge. He was an extremely tall, red skinned, black haired Langhesi man with solid black eyes and muscles a youthful Schwarzenegger would have envied. The craggy featured alien told us he was the chief of the Shapers. After seeing to it the much larger container with our newly expanded seeds was loaded onto the back of one of the enormous seven-legged red, green, and black insects being used as beasts of burden, he saw us up onto another of the beasts ourselves. Only then did we set off to the place where our ship's frame was being prepared.
It was a long ride to the valley that Vidge described as our destination, so I spent most of the time utilizing my recently expanded empathy to try and connect with the huge insects we rode upon. Considering the number of lethal predatory life-forms in this galaxy, I considered brushing up on my instant monster-taming technique a priority. It wasn't really difficult to connect with the Carapods. There just wasn't anything meaningful to them. It was like reaching out to sense nearby plant life while meditating. The beasts were so simple, they were basically moving foliage. I soon realized they weren't going to be useful in teaching me how to instantly tame deadly predators as Other-Anakin had in a Geonosian arena. Frustrated, I gave up and went back to meditating on the possible meaning of the fractal web patterns I kept seeing. Feeling like their meaning was something I long since should have grasped, and equally certain that meaning would eventually prove to be of immense importance to me.
The valley in question was strange as production facilities went. It was thick with tree-like organisms that seemed heavily involved in the construction process. Vidge moved us straight from the Carapods to the interior of a ship-frame easily twice the length of Dark Woman's courier-ship, and perhaps half again as wide. You could see the elongated teardrop shape we'd settled on similar to Delta-7 Aethersprite starfighter in the general outline, but we'd foregone a bubble cockpit for an inbuilt forward of the cabin design. Overall, our as yet unnamed vessel was going to be of similar dimensions, simply up-sized with the need for two spartan sleeping areas and a small occupancy compartment just forward of the gantry ramp. The now snow-white seed disks were being affixed to the frame in quick, highly professional movements by the strange cybernetic trees with octopus-like limbs. Our muscular crew-chief was directing the entire process like a maestro conducting an orchestra. All we were supposed to do is sit there and watch the ship take shape around us.
"I can see why they vet prospective clients so carefully. They need to be sure their customers will remain discreet concerning the visible details of their operation. Many conventional shipyards would likely take exception to competition which can not only surpass them in a qualitative sense, but also crush their timetables. Luxury ship-building can be just as cutthroat as any of the larger scale operations, Anakin" Dark Woman murmured beside me. I nodded an acknowledgement of her words, but I was completely enthralled by the process of our vision being realized at such breathtaking speed.
It was all over but some minor additions to bring the new ship up to Republic code within four hours. One of Vidge's crew, a heavyset blue-skinned Ferroan man named Fitch lowered the landing ramp to allow us to walk out. He mentioned he and a few of the others would finish up over the next hour or so, then Vidge and the remainder of the crew would connect the two banks of three lava cannons each by their nerve fibers. Arming the vessel as few ships they'd sold to off-world clients had been armed. At which point there would be nothing left but the naming of the craft, and the beginning of our tutorial in the piloting of a Sekotan bio-ship.
It had already been a rather interesting few days, but now we were getting to the most important part of things.
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"I'm telling you the money is irrelevant to these superstitious savages! These primitives locked me in a room, then buried me in a hundred pounds of hard-shelled seeds. Once I dug myself out from under all the produce, they had the nerve to claim the seeds decided I couldn't commission a vessel. I did exactly as you instructed in case of trouble. Upped the offered commission, until I was eventually offering the entire five million in aurodium to convince them the seeds dislike of me was a passing thing. You should have seen the disgusted looks of outrage the offer got me. It was like I'd tortured the big Ferroan's kath hound to death before his eyes. Took a great deal of fast talking to get out of there without things growing very hostile, after that. There's nothing else I can do, sir." Ke Daiv's golden nose flaps continually flaring as the Blood Carver assassin's rough, staccato voice reported failure to the dark, curly haired human whose holographic image was displayed by his communicator. It was clear from his tone he wasn't taking his failure well. Especially given how the man his employer had bid him serve on this mission was reacting.
Face increasingly tight with anger as his agent's account of failure continued, Raith Sienar visibly worked to master his temper as he replied "Return to the Admiral Korvin, so we can discuss a next move. There is more than one way to skin this cat." His image disappeared from the assassin's communicator before the Blood Carver could reply. Causing the killer to hiss beneath his breath, as he stalked for his shuttle.
Turning back to the tie-in to the Admiral Korvin's main comm array, Raith began to compose a message to his erstwhile partner. "Tarkin seems to have overestimated the alacrity of his friends in the Senate. Only having gotten approval to set up his anti-piracy base with or without the approval of the Sekotans three days ago. Forcing him to delay the setting out of his own task-force until the day before yesterday." The tall, whip-thin executive murmured to himself as he typed.
"This will bring the martinet running in short order. Hopefully, he won't have the ships he sent ahead scattered across the entire Gardaji Sector." He finished his entirely false series of cryptic enticements, sent the entire thing off with a satisfied flourish, then went to make sure he'd confounded the last of the little technical "surprises" Tarkin had shipped him out with.
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(Three days later)
"Damn all Senators and political equivocating in what should be a military matter" Tarkin growled so softly even someone opposite him couldn't have made out what he'd said. He'd intended for Sienar to be simply a first probing effort to gain control of Zonama Sekot, and a convenient scapegoat, if one proved to be necessary. Never for a moment imagining the Senate would actually require proof of substantial illegal activity occurring in and around the Sekotan System as a basis for establishing the base from which he'd seize control of the planet's shipping interests. Small and out of the way shipyards recognized as often becoming hubs of pirate and smuggler activity.
Studying the disposition of Sienar's meager force of ships as his own finally moved into position to enact his contingency plan, Tarkin input the code for the private holo-comm of Kett, Captain of the Admiral Korvin. Watching impatiently as the middle-aged spacer's blue image appeared. "Confine Mr. Sienar to his quarters, Captain. Please convey my displeasure concerning his unsolicited reprogramming of the Korvin's droid starfighters, then contact me when said starfighters have been reset to baseline parameters." He waited only long enough to receive the man's acknowledgement of his orders, then cut the signal.
It had been clever of Raith to predict his being put in the position of providing the necessary pretext for Tarkin's intervention due to his "negligence" allowing elements of his own fleet to be engaged in raiding the planet below without his knowledge, but foolish not to have considered the fact it had been Tarkin himself who provided the crews along with the vessels. All the executive had accomplished was delaying the inevitable, and for what? It wasn't as if he were going to actually be sacrificed here. Just a bit of his reputation. No one would have any problem believing a reputable businessman could easily have found himself in over his head in a fleet command situation. Someone might be inclined to inquire why he'd been deputized by Tarkin for such an operation to begin with, but that was what bribes and political influence were for.
If he'd known he himself was under close scrutiny by an agency he couldn't have imagined existing, perhaps the next several hours might have played out much differently.
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Piloting the Seraph was a dream. She, and Seraph was genuinely a she rather than some bit of naming convention nonsense, was the most responsive craft I could conceive of flying. Her gleaming blue-green needle teardrop carapace cutting through atmosphere or the cold vacuum of space with equal ease. It was a little strange flying a ship which began to anticipate me as we went along, but definitely a good sort of strange.
"You're Seraph's guardians now. She can think for herself, after a fashion, but she relies on you to keep her focused" Fitch had told us with a fond smile at the then newly completed craft. He'd accompanied us for her maiden flight, but after that it had just been me, Dark Woman, and Seraph.
Initially, Dark Woman had been equally involved in learning to fly our new creation. The entire first two days had been some of the most enjoyable time I'd spent with my Master, as we helped each other work through little eccentricities on Seraph's part, and exchanged observations on her capabilities. I'd been able to sense the often troubled Jedi Master really relax and set aside her omnipresent struggle with the great regret of her life. if only for a little while here and there.
All of that had changed when my Master had excused herself to take a message on her wrist-comm being relayed by the comm-array of her own vessel. Seraph had been racing in a wide ellipse outward from the yellow dwarf which shone on Zonama Sekot to give us an amazing view of the system's three stellar bodies at the time.
"Fast as a flickering flame, that's my Seraph. No one's built or grown anything that can run you down in eons!" I murmured with supreme satisfaction to the bio-ship. Whose inertial dampening was so good it was almost impossible to tell even with a Jedi's sensitivity when we were accelerating or braking. You nearly had to be looking at the instruments or out the window.
When my Master returned, her normal unruffled poise was nowhere in evidence. I checked the calendar on my wrist chronometer, did a couple of quick calculations, then somberly remarked "That would have been either Master Jinn or Master Antilles. Informing you that Weaponmaster Bulq not only left the Jedi Order, but refused to give a meaningful reason for his departure. There have been subsequent irregularities on first Sriluur, then Ruul. Irregularities which will result in Sora Bulq claiming sole control of the Bulq family's assets and holdings."
Before the Jedi Master could think to accuse me of eavesdropping, I silently pointed to the readout of the unmarked navigational console. We were now on final approach to bring Seraph in to land beside Dark Woman's own vessel the Songbird, but the navigational data clearly showed that at the time she'd been receiving her relayed message, I had been piloting the bio-ship at her maximum sub-light velocity between two dangerous gravity wells. Only a very suicidal pilot would have even looked away from the controls during such a maneuver. Let alone abandoned them to go listen at a closed door.
Apparently at a loss to explain my knowledge, because Far Sight couldn't explain what I knew for numerous reasons, Dark Woman simply asked where I came by such certainty. The intensity in her bright blue eyes could not be mistaken, so I simply sighed fatalistically, then answered as honestly as I dared.
"Normally, I see no reason to mention what I foresee, Master. First, the vast majority of it is beyond yours and my ability to do anything about. Second, I remember your lessons on the reasons to distrust precognition quite well. Finally, you in particular distrust all precognition outside a fight, and we both know why. I don't even know why I broke my silence to tell you about Sora Bulq, but there it is." Again, the words were all true. Just not all of the truth, because that no one would ever believe.
Opening her mouth to reply, the Jedi Master was saved from doing so by the hologram that had just appeared above the main console. An entire wing of Vulture droids had just entered the atmosphere, but they were being pursued at a much higher altitude by nearly a dozen light cruisers in formation about a larger vessel.
I don't know what I might have said or done about what we were seeing, but this wasn't apparently something for us to do anything about.
"You have less than ten minutes before I depart. I suggest you make good use of your time." Sekot's voice was nearly deafening within our minds. Causing both of us to clutch our heads in significant discomfort, so full of anger, disappointment, frustration and pain had been those two simple statements.
A moment of silent accord passed between us. Dark Woman's voice bordered on the incredulous, as she stated to no one in particular "I can't believe I'm doing this."
Turning to me, she asked in a voice more serious than I had ever heard from her "Tell me if you have the tiniest most infinitesimal doubt about piloting Seraph, Anakin. I will sacrifice the Songbird without a moment's thought, if you do."
"I can do this, Master. It's two little hyper-jumps which you'll be plotting. Don't write off a quarter million credit starship because you can't see past my age. Please!" I replied with all the seriousness I could muster.
Looking as if she couldn't believe what she was doing, she raced from the ship as I started raising the ramp begin her and beginning preparations to liftoff. I kept an eye on the madhouse that orbit was becoming, as what had been a nearly imperceptible vibration continued growing stronger beneath Seraph.
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"Isn't there something we should be doing about Trade Federation and Republic vessels attacking a sovereign world?" My question was asked over the comm as I followed Songbird's escape trajectory as closely as was feasible.
"Sometimes, the most effective intervention is the one which never takes place. I would not wish to be aboard any of those ships when Sekot departs" Dark Woman's holographic image replied.
I was silent as I considered the possibilities. Wondering about the physics of a planet making the jump to hyper-space. Versus a bunch of offending ships in low orbit.
Then I shrugged, watching as stars turned to streaks. Honestly, whoever the savages aboard those ships were, I'd see them all spaced to keep my Master and Seraph safe. Sekot seemed to have the safety of all the actual innocents well in hand. Raiders deserved whatever unpleasant fates they found.
Author's Note: I couldn't make this Chapter turn out as I liked, so I just turned it out. I'm unhappy with it in the extreme, but it's just not getting any better. My sincerest apologies, as I've learned my lesson about trying to follow verbatim in another novelist's footsteps using a tiny fraction of their word count.