Ready Enough

[Kaytren Li]

Uvena Prime, Jedi Praxeum.
201 ABY.
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“Padawan Li. Go ahead.”

The nineteen year old thanked the guard and walked past him into the fortified council room. Kaytren was still dressed in the plain clothes she’d arrived in, though she wore her lightsaber hilt visibly on her hip as a clear "Jedi" sign, and she was freshly clean and presentable. Her chestnut hair was twisted back into the four-stranded braid she favored, and her senior padawan braid pushed neatly behind her shoulder. Wearing the thin student's braid so openly left her feeling uncomfortably vulnerable, if she was being honest. She'd technically worn it most of the time, but on most worlds with Tomais, she’d grown up twisting the padawan braid back into the rest of her hair to blend in. Things were different here.

It had been five years since she'd set foot on Uvena I, but the Praxeum council room hadn’t changed. The hexagonal chamber was built in the heart of the Jedi complex. There were no windows on this particular level, but there was plenty of lighting from the ceiling. Large map screens displayed across all but one of the walls, with ten foot wide door that opened off into a training room and she assumed a side office or two.

There were two rows of seats near the walls for observers, and seven more prominent chairs in a half-circle at the center of the hexagon room. A large metallic circle was built into the floor in the center. Kaytren never seen it extended, but Master Tomais had confirmed she was right once when she’d asked him if it was large holo table.

Three of the seats were occupied with physically present Jedi Councilors; two humans, and a third whom she assumed was Kiffar based on his features and tattoos. The Kiffar’s right arm was bandaged and supported against his chest in a sling, but he seemed whole otherwise. One more council member was present only in blue holographic form. The only one of the four men she could easily match a name and face to was Master Kae Quel, a calm-spoken human in his later forties who had often presided as far back as she could remember. Master Ming’s chair and the other two seats were empty.

Master Kae and the two others stood when she entered.

Directly in front of Kaytren was the same tiled space where she’d stood four times before in her life with Tomais. She stepped onto the tile alone this time.

Kaytren bowed. “Hello, Masters.”

Master Kae motioned his hand in a small welcoming gesture. “Miss Kaytren Li. Welcome back to Uvena. Your Master Tomais was a brave Knight, and a respected asset to the Jedi. We regretted very much to be informed of his loss. There was a memorial?”

She swallowed. “A small one on Wayland, yes. Thank you. I do, too. I.. do not know if there is anything else to be done, or that… you wish reported… or done? Our ship was taken, but the tampers should have scrubbed the logs. Even if they didn’t there’s not that much locally on it… I.. changed his codes already… I did put that in the report.”

“Which class was the ship again?” That was the younger of the two human men. He hadn’t been here last time and she'd never seen him. Kaytren hadn’t kept up with the shorter term appointees that seemed to change all the time. Had Tomais? She didn’t have the answer to that, but realized that she needed to make a point of paying attention from here on.

Master Kae answered him before Kaytren could. “D9 Runner. She has the specs in the notes, but we don’t need it. Padawan Li, it’s been some time since we saw you last. Please remind us your age?”

Kaytren felt her mood rise and crash at their ship being disregarded, but it didn’t scratch the surface of everything she’d been grieving about. And it was already gone anyway. It was just a ship. She kept her eyes up and her bearing polite.

“Just Kaytren is fine. I’m nineteen.” As of eight days ago, but that wasn’t important enough to matter.

Kae nodded in acknowledgement. “Jedi Daern was very proud of you. He was particularly insistent that he train you, as I recall, and you were with him for quite some time. What specifically were you trained in?”

Her expression warmed. “Well; I practiced with Plant Surge, botany, mission logistics, empathy, negotiation… persuasion, mental work. Sense abilities… and.. common sense. And, you know… telekinetics, agileness… blade combat, other weaponry. The usual Jedi things.”

“‘Plant Surge?’” The Kiffar, looked perplexed. “That doesn’t sound like Daern’s skillset.”

“It isn’t!” Kaytren brightened at the memories with pride in her voice. “Wasn’t. He.. Master Tomais felt strongly that his own areas of talent were no reflection or limitation on where I should focus. He helped constantly, but that was mine. He did send me to Wayland enclave for a while to keep honing it.”

“What are your fighting forms?”

Kaytren smoothed the braid behind her ear. “Ataru or Soresu… with vines. And whatever else in the moment.”

Apparently it was Master Azren’s turn to look skeptical. “That sounds almost Consular.”

A bit of heat flickered through Kaytren’s expression, and she raised her chin with a flare of Sentinel pride. “It’s very functional.”

Master Kae glanced at the younger council member. “Test her if you’d rather, Azren.”

Azren eyed the chrono and shook his head. “Prex can score her tomorrow before she’s assigned anything.”

“Very well.” Kae’s lightsaber hilt pulled from his belt to his palm. “Azren, Corbec,” He glanced at the holographic Jedi. “Torrent? This student’s teacher died on mission. She’s of age. Is she to be knighted or do you have further questions?”

“No, no questions.”

"Go ahead."

“Agreed.”

Kae nodded. “Also agreed. Padawn Li, you may step to the center and kneel if you will.”

Her heart pounded. Of course she’d figured that knighting was possible; even likely. She’d already told them in her message that she was coming for instructions. So… Here she was.

The slim nineteen year old pushed her braid to the front of her shoulder instinctively and moved as directed. The floor was colder than she expected.

Snap—snap-hiss-sn-hiss-hi-snap-hiss.

Three lightsaber blades extended from the present masters’ weapons—two blue, one yellow. Master Torrent was only in flickering holo-form, so whatever color his blade was, it also glowed blue.

Kaytren wasn’t sure whether she was meant to be looking down or at Master Kae when he shifted a step forward. Her brown eyes darted across the four Jedi and then back down to the plain metal floor panel.

“I'll do it, Kae.”

The Kiffar with the wounded arm—Master Corbec, she was sure now—set a datapad on his chair after he’d briefly referenced something, and stepped forward to stand a pace away from her with his weapon held in his non-dominant hand. His blade’s warm yellow reflected up from the floor.

“Tomais was an honorable Jedi, Kaytren Alia. He trained you through years of service as his lasting legacy to you and the Order. We recognize his spirit remains present in you. Is it your intention to continue serving as a Knight?”

She swallowed. Her brown eyes met the man's with a quiet calm like two candles set in a window. “Yes.”

Corbec nodded. Kaytren knew what he must have said after that, but she could never remember hearing any of it. The humming yellow beam dipped over the center of her head, her left shoulder, then her right before the blade swept upwards at a sharp angle and her braid fell to the floor. The four lightsabers deactivated and went silent. Her vision wasn’t quite clear either, but she dimly saw her thin Padawan braid speed to Master Kae’s hand.

Master Corbec bowed and returned to stand by his chair. Kaytren stood up. Master Kae moved to her and handed her the braid. He had knotted the end for her, but she had no teacher to turn to in thanks and gift the symbol to. She pushed the twist of hair numbly into one of her pockets.

Azren spoke up again. “Jedi Li, thank you for your service. If there is nothing else, take the remainder of the evening to rest and refamiliarize yourself with the facility. Master Arun Prex will meet with you at 0630 to gauge your combative skills and discuss your other capabilities, as there is constant work to be done. Take a few days then. We’ll add you to rotation for end of the week.”

She touched the severed lock of hair behind her ear, the tiny braid end unraveling into singed strands between her fingertips as she smoothed it out.

“Anything is okay. Sooner is fine if you need it.”

“Your updates are recorded.” That one was Torrent on holovid. “Prex will direct you to the supply coordinators after your meeting to collect what you need. The Force be with you.”

The Jedi’s holo image flickered off.

Kae turned back to her. “May we do anything else for you now, Kaytren?”

Kaytren shook her head. “No; I don’t think so.”

“Very well. The Force be with you, Kaytren.Get some rest for yourself.”

“Thank you.” The Jedi's newest Knight felt that she should say more, but she couldn't think of what. She murmured something like a farewell, bowed, and left the council room.