It's better than eleven percent!

[Sorel Crieff]

The market place was bustling as Sorel strode through it. She walked through countless similar places with her own Master and would have liked to stop to buy a piece of fruit. But as was the case then, she was now the one striding with steps that never flagged. She moved through the crowded streets with movements as fluid as a river. Without seeming to dodge or weave, she created a path with the least amount of energy.

It was to be their first mission. She’d been assigned the Padawan for the trip. She knew how the Council worked. They would hope their bond would develop to a point where Sorel would volunteer to make the arrangement permanent.

They were not wrong.

But there had been no chance to bond during the journey here. Sorel had spent the entire time in dialogue with the union leader of a mining company on a planet where she’d only recently brokered a peace deal. The peace was holding up – but only just.

Sorel skirted the last vendor, cut down an alleyway, and arrived at the landing platform. The mission called for arriving in a ship that was not Jedi – but local. The local Governor had arranged a transport for them. Sorel knew that once they got on the ship, the talk would centre on the mission ahead. If they were to chat, now was the time.

Ahead, a tall, gangly pilot loaded transport boxes onto the ship she’d been told was theirs.

Which was when the ship exploded.

[member="Apollyon"]

 

[Marcus]

Marcus was looking down at the activities in the marketplace as the tax was moving closer to an empty place. A small wave echoed as it landed on the ground. Shifting his attention to the driver, Marcus was asking the direction the coordination that he was supposed to meet the Master. He expressed his grateful when he received the answer and he tossed the credit to the driver.

Stepping off the tax, he wrapped his arms around himself into the robe as he wandered in the crowd. The Force was humming at him but he was pushing it deep in his mind. He did not need to listen to people around him so he could focus on his task. The coordination where he was suppose to meet his Master was just few yards away.

Suddenly, the explode rang all over the market. His hues were focusing at the direction where a combination of fire and smoke was rising up in the air. Opening himself to the Force like the Master who taught padwans to, he allowed the Force to guide him into a safety path toward his destination. Reaching there, he could see a fire upon the wreck of a ship. "Master Crieff!" He called out loud to try to see if the Master he was supposed to met was not in the ship.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel assessed the situation quickly. The ship was damaged beyond use – but not destroyed. She sensed a loss of life when the explosion occurred but her senses were not acute enough to identify how many. But she scanned the ship and noted there was one person in the wreckage who was injured and close to death.

As she took her first step towards the ship, she heard a voice. Spinning around she saw the Padawan she was supposed to have travelled with. “Marcus?” she called. Now was not the time to stop for bowing and amending the salutation to just Sorel. “Follow me,” she added and ran to the ship.

Quickly she reached the wreckage and found the injured man – a pilot. He was in a bad way and would die soon without treatment. She presumed the Padawan would be close behind, but she didn’t have time for pleasantries.

She placed her left hand on the man’s stomach. He was bleeding heavily and wouldn’t last for any length of time. With her free hand she removed her saber hilt from her belt and activated it. Then she grasped the blade itself and absorbed the energy. To the untrained, her actions would look foolhardy at least.

What they could not see was what she hand learned from the Holocron of Master Satele Shan. She was absorbing the energy and channelling it into a more useful form for the task in hand – namely a healing energy. Applying her knowledge of Force Heal, she was able to stop the bleeding and cauterise the wound.

She deactivated the saber with a hiss-snap and sat down in a cross-legged position. The activity had clearly taken its toll on her. “He’ll need a transfusion, but he’ll live,” she said, before looking at the Padawan beside her.

“Hello. I’m Sorel. You may call me Master if you wish, but I’m happiest with Sorel if that works for you. Now tell me, what did you observe before the explosion happened?”

[member="Marcus"]

 

[Marcus]

Marcus was surveying the action and the chaotic. He noticed a woman move forward the wreck but he had a doubt that she was the Master. The doubt was gone instantly when he heard his name from the lip of that woman. Focusing his eyes at the woman, he gave a nod to her question. Then he heard her command following after his visual answer. Wrapping himself in the robe, he fell behind the woman as he followed her to the wreck where the pilot was dying slowly.

Pushing himself deep in the Force, he watched the Master in the action. His green hues were examining the action when the Master ignited her lightsaber. He felt the strength from her in the Force and he noticed that she was doing something. He was able to feel the energy from her lightsaber flow inside her body. But he was not sure how she did it. Pushing the thought aside, he kept watching her preform healing on the pilot.

Then he felt the sharp decline of her strength in the Force. And he kept his mouth shut as the Master moved into a sitting position to recover her strength. But he stood upward as he was waiting for her to address him. Formal training was taught to him when he was youngster Padwan. His ear was picking each words that the Master uttered to him.

"Of course, Master." He replied softly as he addressed her by her title not her name. He did not know her enough yet to earn that right. And he thought it was better to be a Master and Padwan for now. "Nothing out of normalcy. And I could not detect anything around this spaceport before explosion. I arrive here after the explosion." He mumbled softly as he was wondering why the Master asked him that question. it should've be obvious that he was not around the ship before it exploded. But he dared to not voice it out loud to the Master.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel listened acutely to his recollection and then softly sighed. “As I suspected. I was not aware of anyone running from the ship and nor did I sense any strong emotions. And finally I did not sense danger until it was too late.”

She stood now. “Typically these are things a Jedi observes before such an incident. Not always, but often. The fact that there was no warning from the Force suggests a professional. And the fact that the ship exploded prior to our arrival suggests a botched assassination attempt. The two things conflict.”

She looked at the Padawan. “Being a Jedi is not all about using the Force. Tell me Marcus, what reasons might someone have to blow up this ship before we stepped onto it?”

[member="Marcus"]

 

[Marcus]

Marcus nodded his head as he was listening to the lecture from the Master. Some part of himself was tiring from the lecture. It seemed that the Masters enjoy to use their voice but he would not dare to speak it out loud.

His eyes were scanning the surround as the Master was droning on. Then when he heard her question, he took a minute or two to consider every angle. Pursing his lips, he reached in the Force to see if it would provide any insight to him.

With the insight from the Force, he focused his hues back at the Master. "If you say it was professional job but it was blown away before we got on it, then I believe that it was not a botched job. Perhaps we are not the target itself. But the ship is the target. And someone decided to send us a loud message without kill us, Master?" He replied softly as his voice went higher on the end of the word. To see if he was right or not.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel listened to the Padawan. She was unsure if he was paying full attention or simply focusing on the Force – but given he answered the question, she was assured it was the latter.

“Even if there is only one obvious answer, it does not mean it is the truth. Having said that, your observations are valid. So, given the perpetrator would have to be close and neither of detected anyone running from the scene, it stands to reason the culprit is nearby. So where shall we start looking?”

[member="Marcus"]

 

[Marcus]

Marcus was shifting his head around when he heard the Master's reasoning. It seemed to be valid to him but he was not sure if he can detect anybody with violent intention yet.

"Pardon me, Master. But I don't have enough experience to achieve a result that you expect." He admitted honestly while his eyes were moving from a person to next person.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel smiled as Marcus was entirely honest. “Do or do not, there is no try. Let’s reflect on that old saying. What it means is, if you believe you cannot do something, you can’t. It’s as simple as that."

“You seek a reason to fail and that is what hinders you. You have eyes, you can sense the Force. Tell me what you feel and what you see.”

[member="Marcus"]