The Path Not Walked... Part 01
Obi-Wan slowly walked down the wooded path. With datapad and portable scanner in hand, he studied the forest around him. Everything was lush and very healthy; he was a bit confused by that. The Naboo had contacted AgriCorps for help. It seemed that the planet's agricultural industry was failing fast. The planet was a veritable paradise, but the farming community could not keep the population feed.
How could a planet so rich in vegetation and growth have such a poor basis in agriculture? One would think that the government would have addressed the problem long ago. He had found that the Naboo were a proud people, especially those few that had been empowered to lead. Their former ruler was a tyrant, and the newly elected queen was very dramatic, as was the custom. Things on Naboo seemed overly reliant on customs and protocol.
The young queen was trying to address the problem, but the Naboo had hid their shortcomings by importing a large portion of their foodstuffs for decades. Rather than ask for help and admit to weakness, the King had ignored the problem. Though peaceful, the people were very suspicious of others. Showing weakness was unacceptable; to show weakness was to make oneself vulnerable to others. The planet did not want to appear either weak or vulnerable to outsiders.
Obi-Wan had already discovered the true reasons behind the agricultural deficiencies. Pride and poor judgment had allowed a few bad growing seasons to create a disaster. The whole industry was now suffering for it. Antiquated technology, exhausted soil, and inexperienced workers were the only problems he could find.
Obi-Wan sighed and shut down his scanner. He could not find anything else, no other causes. //At least I can work with this// he thought. There were no toxic pollutants to remove, no harsh environmental conditions to overcome, and no deadly bacteria plaguing the area. All AgriCorps needed to do was set up some starter farming colonies and begin retraining the workers. Once that was underway, the Naboo would be well on their way to a self sufficient agricultural industry.
Unfortunately, it might already be too late. The Naboo had attracted the attention of the Trade Commission months ago, and it was not long before they had discovered the planet's plight. Soon after that, large tariffs had been instituted on the busy shipping lanes in and around the system. The Trade Commission was not above profiting off a small planet's resource problems.
Obi-Wan had been following the situation closely since his arrival. He had learned long ago that commercial politics could be dangerous. His very first assignment with AgriCorps had nearly proven fatal. He smiled at that. Farming was not a dangerous occupation, but the world around it often was. He had barely made it to Bandomeer. So technically, it was not his first assignment, but the transport to it, that was so perilous.
He thought back on those days with mixed feelings. It had been the end of his childhood and youthful fantasies; it had been the beginning of his life. Being released from the Jedi temple had been rough. It has hurt so very deep at the time. But over the years, he had come to accept his fate. The force did not choose him to be one of it's defenders. He was not to become a Jedi Knight as he had hoped, but he helped to protect it in his own small way. He had brought life to near barren worlds, and in doing so, he helped spread the force around the galaxy. It was a humble, yet fulfilling task.
There were days when he regretted the foolish choices he had made during his final days at the Temple. Four weeks before his thirteenth birthday, he had made his last mistake. He had been goaded into a fight with a bully and had walked into his deceitful little plan. He had been shipped off for beating the other student, though the bully had been no more injured than himself. But the bully had run to the healers with his exaggerated wounds and false words. In turn, the healers went to the Counsel, and his fate had been sealed within hours.
Master Yoda had convinced the Counsel to let him fight before one last Master, hoping to find him a teacher. However, the effort had been in vain. Master Jinn had lost a Padawan not long before and was not yet ready to take another. Regardless, he had not fought well, not shown his skill, but desperation and anger. Master Jinn had seen this and was not impressed. With his birthday so close and no other Masters scheduled to come looking for Padawans, he was sent off to AgriCorps to use his gift with the Force for farming.
He sighed, wondering whatever had happened to Master Jinn. They had parted ways shortly after arriving on the Bandomer mining planet. He had heard that there were more troubles with the mining company war; the war that had almost claimed his life in transit. He had no doubt that Jedi intervention quickly diffused the situation, though he was not completely certain. He was entrenched in AgriCorps affairs almost as soon as he arrived at the outpost.
His training prepared him so well for the task, that within five years, he had risen to his current position as Project Coordinator. At eighteen, he had been the youngest Coordinator to ever operate out in the field. That was one of the few accomplishments made outside of the Temple that he was proud of. So much so, that he turned down the promotion to Sector Chief two years ago and had maintained his current position for the past seven years. At twenty-five, he was content with his life, and did not want to give up the field work for a managerial assignment back at the Central Operations Center on Corusant.
The chirp of his comlink interrupted the rest of his thoughts. Looking at his chronometer, he realized he was overdue to check in and answered it quickly.
"Obi-Wan here."
"If you checked in on time, my life would be so much simpler," a rough male voice answered him.
"But I live to keep you on your toes, DeaMak."
"Yeah. With the Trade Commission looming overhead and the rising unease over the embargo, I wish you'd lay off it for once and check in as scheduled!"
"I'm sorry. I lost track of time. I'm on my way back now. There's nothing new to report. We can go ahead as planed and file our petition to the Queen's advisors for approval."
"The forms are compiled and waiting for you back here. Remember, the next check in is in two hours," DeaMak teased.
"I'll be back by then and you know it!"
"But with you, one never knows!"
"Point taken. Obi-Wan out."
He was smiling again after his conversation with BaseOps. The thoughts about the past had made him pensive until DeaMak stepped in. There were days when he was certain that his friend was also Force sensitive. Or maybe he was just highly empathic. Whatever the cause, he could search out and end an introspection attack without fail. Obi-Wan was grateful for this; he had more important things to do at the moment.
If AgriCorps could get things set up soon enough, Naboo's agricultural industry would recover. A quick recovery would severely limit the blockade's effectiveness by eliminating the critical need for galactic imports. The Trade Federation would not be pleased with this, but AgriCorps's philanthropic nature shielded it from the Federation. Any and all supplies that AgriCorps needed were authorized and permitted past the blockade per Senate order.