Just Routine, Right?

[GABA]

Freshly knighted Kyrene Amyntas was always open for an adventure, as long as it didn't involve blasters, or beasts larger than herself, or anyone who could make her jump with their growl. Though this adventure she was assigned involved something that made her stomach tie itself in knots as she would hold the responsibility of making sure a padawan returns in one piece. In fact, she was certain that was what the Master had told her 'make sure she returns in one piece'. Kyrene recalled quickly how she sweated the biggest bullets after leaving the meeting and even now, it took a lot of will power to show off to this padawan that she was chill, calm and collected.

It didn't help the padawan was now sitting next to her on the transport that was taking them to Arkania. Labor disputes were rising among many miners on the system and Arkania's Senator believed it was best to send a neutral party due to his own investments within the mines. Kyrene was bundled up for the icy world, she wished they were going to a warmer climate, then her nervousness could be disguised as the uncomfortable heat and humidity. She let out a small sigh as the comm announced their approach out of hyperdrive.

She glanced over to the padawan and the Knight suddenly realized, she had forgotten the poor girl's name already...Kibra? Biyor? Kyrene felt herself scream on the inside.

"You ready for this? Hopefully we can help them as quick as possible!" Kyrene gave a little laugh.

 

[Sreeya]

Kiya looked at Kyrene, raising an eyebrow. She was clearly nervous and uncomfortable and doing a terrible job at masking it. This, in turn, made Kiya panic slightly. If her superior were already fidgety, what horrors awaited them? She grimaced, her palms sweaty as the transport declared its approach. As Kyrene addressed her, Kiya almost jumped.

“Mm? Oh, yeah. Um.. so I only have a vibrosword so far. They told you this, right?”

She sincerely hoped she wasn’t expected to have a saber already and that this was well communicated to Kyrene. Of course, if the woman didn’t remember her name it was highly unlikely she knew anything else about Kiya. The padawan shifted uncomfortably as they finally landed with a jerk. Simply looking at the planet she felt cold, pulling up the hood of her outerwear.

“Why couldn’t they send us to a tropical island?”

She then looked terrified.

“Oops..I said that out loud..”

 

[GABA]

“…so I only have a vibrosword so far…”

Kyrene blinked, was she implying they were going to have to use their weapons and no one told her? Inner Kyrene screamed, though as the ship landed and the padawan’s comment brought a little ease to the Knight as they were both thinking the same time about their destination. Kyrene glanced over with a small smile, clearly not in disagreement with the girl. The Knight stood and stretched her calves before heading towards the hatch with the padawan following. She adjusted her gloves and hood, the cold still stung her face as though a thousand pins were injected into her skin. Kyrene couldn’t understand how anyone could inhabit such worlds.

However, as they exited two male Arkanians waited for them, not phased by the cold, or at least they were good at hiding it. Dressed in elaborate colorful robes, they were clearly representatives for the Senator. Their white, pupil-less eyes watched the Jedi approached, giving them a small respectful bow as they approached and Kyrene returned the bow.

“Welcome to Arkania, ladies.” The tallest of the two spoke, though to Kyrene they seemed to tower over the two Jedi, “I am Yahan,” He introduced in his thick accent, “And this is my aide, Bahutan, we are glad you were able to come, the Senator is thankful for your time.”

“Thank you, Yahan” Kyrene responded, “We hope we can come to the best possible compromise that will benefit for everyone. I am Kyrene Amyntas and this is Kibra Biyor…” Kyrene paused, her thoughts quickly circling to how that name didn’t sound correct at all, but really really hoped the padawan would go along with it. She glanced over to the padawan with a look of apology and regret, “When do you expect to get started?” she asked.

Yahan nodded, “The union representative should be arriving shortly, come, we’ll get out of the cold, not many off-worlders are comfortable as we are in such temperatures.”

Yahan and Bahutan lead the Jedi inside, though not as warm as Kyrene preferred, it was a significant difference from what they had felt outside and it was welcomed nonetheless. He lead them to a meeting room where they were offered refreshments, but the Knight politely declined. “Please make yourselves comfortable, we will return when the union representative arrives.”

Kyrene thanked Yahan and waited for the door to shut before letting out a long sigh while she took off her winter gear. “So…I didn’t think Kibra sounded correct…”

 

[Sreeya]

The Arkanians gave her the heebie jeebies. The pupils were eerie, and she couldn’t tell if they were looking at her or through her. Kiya kept her gaze down, deciding her shoes were infinitely more exciting to look at than those haunting, lifeless eyes.

She quietly followed Kyrene, ignoring that she managed to butcher her name. The action made her bite her lip from trying not to laugh. She always had this pristine image of Jedi Knights as warriors and classy people that could do no wrong. They were heroes and godly beings. And here was Kyrene, unceremoniously producing a strange combination of her names as her name. Though she must have known it was wrong, she was very convincing as she let the name roll off her tongue. Perhaps lying or bullshitting was a learned Jedi trick?

As they walked inside, Kiya waited till the Arkanians left. They left her mystified, as she had never seen them before. As Kyrene spoke, Kiya could only laugh.

“It’s Kiya.”

She offered the woman a warm smile.

“So what exactly are we doing here? And um..does it involve being out there more?”

 

[GABA]

Kyrene's eyes light up as Kiya reminded her of her name and it all clicked for the Knight. She patted herself internally for being semi-close to the padawan's name. Kyrene glanced at the icy landscape beyond the windows and shivered. She really didn't want to go back out there and didn't understand why they couldn't have a port that was protected from the elements.

"We're here to mediate," Kyrene paused hoping that she just didn't jinx herself, "There's a lot of money being made here, and the Workers want better benefits, fairly simple and a fair argument." Kyrene stated as she recalled the briefing she read before traveling to Arkania, "Where there's money to be made, there certainly is corruption of ideals." The blonde Knight sat back down, making herself comfortable.

"However," Kyrene smiled, "As soon as we're done here, I am finding myself a nice beach to warm up on, I'd rather be pinched by a crab rather than have my breath sucked away by that cold out there. Yuck...its like Ilum." Kyrene closed her eyes and imagined the warm sun, "You are more than welcome to join me for that, Kiya."

The Jedi were left to wait for the meeting to start; Kyrene remained optimistic, but it quickly diminished as the minutes ticked away. Her feelings were on alert and doubts of an actual meeting taking place was just a rouse behind possibly something bigger. A part of her fussed of the idea of confrontation, but the other was blessed with an unfounded curiosity to know what exactly was going on and why they would go through and waste the time of the Jedi. "I'm not liking this." Kyrene stated as she got up and stood behind the chair, resting her on the seat's back, her gaze narrowing. Of course nothing could be simple, though as her thoughts drifted into explanations of their wait, the Knight felt a single presence approach the room and Kyrene stood straight.

Yahan entered, relaxed, but acted surprised as if it were the first time seeing the Jedi women in the room. "Lady Jedi," He addressed, "I'm afraid we will need to postpone the meeting, there has been no word from the Union directors of who and when their representative will arrive." Kyrene sighed internally, sensing his lie, "I will send someone to escort you two to a room, I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused." Yahan bowed and exited the room, not waiting for the Jedi to respond with their questions.

Kyrene blinked and sighed, an underlying hint of irritation beat through her fingers as she closed her hands into fists and then relaxed, releasing her anger and thinking forward of a plan. "I think its safe to assume there is no meeting." Kyrene whispered to Kiya.