Bab 21: A mission on Taris
I've been training hard the last week, and I've made great progress with my fighting forms. The one that's come the farthest is Niman since that's Sateles form. Since Niman is a combination of many forms its helped Ataru and Shien even with the individual practice. I exit my room and see Satele sitting at the table with Knight Jayla. I walk over and join them.
Jayla looks at me and then looks at Satele. "He has been training non-stop. I'd think you would teach him the basics before jumping right into saber combat." I look at Jayla with an amused look on my face. I doubt Aniz has gotten much training like me since she is learning what I already knew.
Satele releases a small chuckle. "Nathan already knows the basics of lightsaber combat. He knows zones, marks of contact, and everything else needed to start training seriously." Knight Jayla looks a little suspicious of my Master's claim.
She crosses her arms and contemplates what to say. "I understand, Master Satele." When I look at the staring between them, I see some sort of silent conversation. It sounded like she was agreeing, but her eyes say otherwise. "So padawan Nate. Do you think you are ready to face a sith?" I think for a second, and I shake my head no. I could probably handle an apprentice, but anything higher than that, I'd lose. "Hmm... An unexpected answer, padawan Nate." She looks back to Satele, and they keep staring.
I hear Satele's personal holo-communicator beeping. She takes it off her belt and answers the call. "Grandmaster Satele. Its time. They are moving on, Taris." She nods her head and turns off the holo-communicator. She stands up, and I follow her. Whatever her mission is, its mine too.
We exit the Jedi quarters and proceed to Commander Trevs office. Satele and I enter the office, and I see the scrutinizing look of the Commander. "I hate that you allowed it to progress this far. The Imperials have started moving on Taris. They are moving fast too. I've had your ship prepared and ready for launch. I even upgraded the hyperdrives for you." Satele looks a little mad at that, but she shakes it off.
She turns around in silence, and I follow her out of the room. "What's on Taris Master? From what I know, its an old world that was once full of life. Now it's mostly swamps and full of rakghouls. Supposedly a sith destroyed the world in an attack a long time ago." She doesn't answer my question, and we walk in silence to the ship.
We do the usual and take off from the station. "Taris is not a world that holds any strategic value in the war. It does have several unique properties that the republic is interested in. One of them being the recolonization of the world. It was like Coruscant and Nar shaddaa until Darth Malek bombarded it to nothing." So the Imperials are moving in for no reason? She sees the confused look on my face. "The reason the empire is interested in Taris is the new minerals found. The pollution created a new power source after it seeped into the mines." I understand now.
We do the same as always, and we enter hyperspace to Taris. "The majority of our forces should be keeping the world safe, right? Especially with a new power source." The republic wouldn't just abandoned a promising project like this.
Satele turns in her seat to look at me. "Technically, the new power source and our presence on Taris doesn't exist. The recolonization of Taris was granted to multiple moving colonies of Twi'leks. If the republic interferes in that directly, it will cause problems in the senate." So it's one of those missions. What are we even supposed to do when we reach Taris?
This is seeming more and more complicated, and of course, the Grandmaster would get such missions. By proxy, so do I, but this is a great chance to get some experience in the field. "How are we going to deal with the Imperial forces on Taris? It's not like we can drive off the occupying forces with the little help I assume we are getting." She looks at me, impressed by my observation.
She takes out a datapad and hands it to me. It has names and locations on it. "We aren't here to fight off the empire. We are coming so we can have the colonist's permission to openly fight for and defend Taris. The decision will ultimately be up to them." So a bunch of bitter colonists is our only way of fighting the empire in the open on Taris. This sounds like a poorly constructed plan.
I sigh as I put all the pieces together. This isn't Sateles plan, it's the senates. "So we are putting the fate of Taris in the hands of the people that let it go in the first place? I don't think the senate should have a say in where the fighting happens or when. Situations like this pop-up..." The republic is a better choice than the empire, but this is maddening.
She closes her eyes and rubs her temple. She sure has a lot of pressure on her. I wonder if she goes through this often. "We should arrive at Taris in about 2 hours. Until then, lets get you some training in. It's been a long time since I used the onboard training room." My mood is immediately improved. Satele has taken a lot of time to personally train me, and I can tell that frustrates people that demand her attention. I will always be grateful for finding enough time for me.
We walk into the training room and draw our lightsabers. I still haven't been able to get past her defense or land a strike, but she actually has to put in the effort and try now. We spend the next 2 hours just free training, and she helps point out any faults she sees. The reason Masters are important is because with all their experience they can point out mistakes you miss.
We hear the alert that we are approaching Taris and we leave the training room and head back to the cockpit. We do what's needed and we leave hyperspace. I see the green and brown world of Taris come into view. "They weren't kidding about pollution... The world feels twisted. Half alive and half dead, neither taking precedence over the other." Satele brings the ship down and we land in a republic base.
We exit the ship and see there is a lot of commotion around camp. We see the woman in charge and make our way to her. She greets us with a light bow. "Grandmaster. The Imperials are landing in different places and establishing bases already. The colonists wont let us do anything, we are hoping you can convince them." A diplomatic mission. I get to learn from one of the best in the jedi order.
While it isn't combat its still useful to me. The captain gives us the location of the settlement with the name of the person governing it. It matches one of the names I seen on the datapad. Dariba is the person. A female Twi'lek that has fought in many rebellions against the republic and empire. I hope she'll take the time to listen to us. "We are heading out now Nate. Follow me on one of the speeders. The empire hasn't moved into their camps yet." I follow her to the regular speeders and hop on and follow her lead. Dariba here we come.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone