Ask Farming Problems

[Zessel]

Zessel didn’t know much about Kinyen beyond it being the homeworld of the Gran and a very peaceful planet. He was completely astonished with the fact that this world didn’t see any conflict for thousands of years. The locals needed to share the secret of their everlasting peace to the rest of the Galaxy, maybe this way everyone would finally stop fighting against each other.

However, the planet still had some problems, even if they weren’t wars. Apparently, some farmers were having trouble in their properties. Local authorities weren’t able to help them, so they decided to come together and ask the Jedi for aid. And they were answered, with help arriving shortly after the message was received.

The help in question was Zessel and Prani.

Apparently, the farmers’ problem was very simple and the two Padawans could deal with it.

They arrived in the spaceport in the city of Capra, where the farmers had been waiting for them. Honestly, the Grans didn’t seem too excited with their presence anymore. They expected a Knight, and not two Padawans. Zessel didn’t like their mood either, and was already thinking about adding to his review video about Kinyen how some of its inhabitants were impolite.

These farmers were so impolite that they were gathered in a circle talking in hushed tones as if the Padawans weren’t right next to them. “I think that they’ll try to throw us back in the first transport to Takodana.” Zessel whispered to Prani. He was standing next to the girl, with a distance between them that was enough to respect his vision of personal space. “And use some half-made excuse to justify it.”

@Sreeya

 

[Prani Shalrazi]

For all the ways he looked peaceful, Zessel was easily one of the most hot-headed padawans at the academy. Prani remained silent as he spoke, not telling him that he was likely to be the reason they got kicked out. Tensions were already high and she could already picture Zessel poking out some Gran’s third eye because they mouthed off to the teen.

“Well we’re just gonna have to show ‘em it’s better to keep us around, won’t we?” Prani said cheerfully, keeping her internal thoughts in check. She gave a polite nod to the Gran huddled together complaining as if the teens couldn’t hear anything.

“Good afternoon!” She said loudly to break up the salt session, “I’m Padawan Prani Shalrazi and this is Padawan Zessel. We’re here to assist in any way we can and are gracious for your hospitality.”

One of the Gran blinked suspiciously at her before speaking, “The hell do you kids know about farming?”

Prani’s smile brightened, “Well, as a matter o’fact-” And she spent the next five minutes rambling about agriculture and crops. She didn’t look over at Zessel - knowing she would lose it if she saw him sleeping with his eyes open. By the end of it, the Gran were nodding and pacified.

“We have had a strange affliction impact our crops..” One of them said, “They turn black and wither away. It’s like a disease and no one can explain what it is or where it came from. It’s disrupting our industries and spreading like wildfire!”

@LouJoVi

 

[Zessel]

”I suppose that you are right.” Zessel said, wondering how Prani could remain so excited with this mission. He could hear the Gran saying that the Padawans were too young and incapable of doing the job, that an adult Jedi would be better. Really, did these guys think that they were deaf?

In a way, Zessel couldn’t blame Prani for being excited. It was a mission on a different planet. The half-Arkanian had felt exactly like her, excited with what they were going to experience in Kinyen and happy that they were going to help the Gran.

His excitement died some moments ago. More precisely when they were greeted by the crowd of farmers staring at them with disappointed faces, like when you buy something in the Holonet and receive it wrong. If they wanted Knights, they should have specified that detail in their message in an observation like: 'only adults are accepted' or 'we are grumpy old mammalians, no children allowed in our yard'.

Thankfully, Prani had taken the lead to talk with the Gran. Then, they engaged in a boring conversation about agriculture, how to work in farms and a lot of other things that seemed to come out of a show from the AgroChannel from the Holonet. Zessel tried to pay attention at first, but his mind started to drift away, until he was with his EZPhone in his hand checking his e-mails.

Suddenly, a large smile appeared on his lips. The organization of the Teens Baking All’ Stars had confirmed him as one of the participants. “YES!” he screamed, right on the moment that one of the farmers was asking if they had experience in dealing with plagues of plantations. Everyone stared at him, and all these three eyes creeped him out.

“Yes, we are going to help! We’ll do everything to end your problem.” he said, having no idea about what he was reassuring the Gran. He would need to ask Prani for a resume of the situation.

@Sreeya

 

[Prani Shalrazi]

Prani winced at Zessel’s abrupt cry, the Gran all turning to glare at him, “Ahaha, he’s just very excited to help. We both are!” She reassured them cheerfully, casting a glance at him to give him a look. On top of that, it didn’t help that Zessel kept looking between the three eyes because he couldn’t figure out which pair to look at. Resisting the urge to bury her face in her hands, she politely excused herself from the group, snatching Zessel by the arm to tug him away.

“Okay there’s some sort of farm blight happening,” Prani explained, “It’s killin’ all the crops and the locals think it’s some weird curse or something,” She rubbed her chin in thought, “I wonder if it’s someone purposely doin’ it,” Prani said, “Maybe to wipe out the competition suppl- goodness, Zessel, quit starin’ at your phone!” Prani exclaimed. It was so tough to get this dude to pay attention!

“Where do you think we should start?” She quizzed him, crossing her arms over her chest. If he was going to be a distracted cabbage, she would put him to work.

@LouJoVi

 

[Zessel]

”Yeah! Very excited!” Zessel said, a forced smile appearing on his lips. He retributed Prani's look with a simple shrug, not being his fault that the Gran's conversation was so boring that he felt as if tempted on entering an hibernation and only waking up in the next spring.

Besides, it was difficult for him to even look at the Gran. He had no idea which eye he should look at. Zessel was constantly moving his attention from one eye to another. The half-Arkanian wondered to which one Prani was looking or if she was struggling also with this situation.

Really, it was impossible that she could stay calm while these people blinked one eye after the other. When one started, the other Gran would follow suit in a chain reaction. It was like a stadium wave, but with eyelids! ‘Ugh, they are doing that again.’ Zessel thought, immediately turning his attention to his cellphone, before he could see the rest of the Gran could blinking in the rhythm.

Zessel was so distracted by his EZPhone that he barely registered when Prani grabbed his arm and dragged him away. “Uhum.” the half-Arkanian muttered, barely paying attention to what she was saying. Her sudden exclamation made him jump with surprise. “Fine. I already saw my acceptance e-mail.” he said, before putting the phone in his pocket. "I'm officialy a competitor of the Teens Baking All Stars!" he was so excited for it!

To answer her question, Zessel had to put in some effort since he didn’t pay attention to everything that she and the Gran had said. ‘There were plantations, something about sickness. Then things are dying.’ he thought, formulating what he should say to her. “I think that we should start looking at the first farm where the plantations started to die. It would be like a patient zero, so we have more chances to find stuff here.” he basically replicated the plot of a holomovie that he watched last week. However, it suited the situation since they were dealing with a sickness, like it was in the movie. But in their case, they were dealing with plants not zombies.

Although, in Zessel’s opinion, dealing with an army of zombie plants would be more interesting. Perhaps the Gran's blinking could scare them away.

@Sreeya

 

[Prani Shalrazi]

Prani was instantly distracted by his announcement, “Teens Baking All Stars!?” She gasped, “When is it? I’ll go and support ya,” She said while smiling wide. Zessel prided himself in his baking and Prani loved his food. The fact that he was actually getting into competitions for it was huge, “Ooh are they gonna have categories and different rounds? Is it all gonna be timed?” She gasped, “Will it all be a surprise and you have to come up with something with no warning?”

It was clear Prani watched cooking shows and competitions a lot. Realizing that was rambling, Prani cleared her throat, “Really, congrats, Zes, that’s so cool,” She said cheerfully.

Patient Zero? Was he treating this like an infected outbreak? Prani didn’t bother fussing over it - it wasn’t the worst idea ever. Soon enough they were on their way in a rented speeder driven by Zessel since Prani didn’t know how.

Even as they approached the first field, Prani could already see the blackened swaths of dead crops. It was an unsettling sight and it was clear nothing could grow here. Oddly, it appeared as if the fields were dead for years even though it had been a few weeks.

“I ain’t ever seen anythin’ like that..” She mused as they arrived near a modest farmhouse, “You think them people still live there?”

@LouJoVi

 

[Zessel]

Prani’s recognition of the show was enough to make Zessel smile. It wasn’t common to find people that knew what the Teens Baking All Stars was, even less those that recognize how it was important for the career of a young baker. ”It'll be next month!” he said, with his voice being full of excitement. “It'll be nice to have you there! Roanoke, Shaw and Caul will be there too.” he was grateful for having friends that, even if they don't understand the show very well, would still be there to support him.

“It'll be four rounds. Two will be surprise tasks to be made with surprise ingredients. The first round is free for you to make whatever dessert you want and the last one is to make a cake, the ingredients and theme of the decoration will be announced before the round starts. Yeah, everything will be timed.” he had been practicing for months now, by making different desserts in the shortest time possible.

The great number of sweets in the Temple’s cantina in the past weeks was all his fault. Since he wasn’t going to throw away the results of his training, Zessel gave them to be served after lunch and dinner. Someone discovered that it was him doing all the desserts and spread the information to the others. Then, they found his video channel and other social media and started to follow him.

He was happy that more people were recognizing his talents.

“Thanks! I really want to see you there to support me!” Zessel said, with equal cheerfulness. Not so cheerful were the Gran. They were staring at them with their triple eyes and doing faces of pure disappointment for needing to deal with two teenagers rather than a competent Knight. If he wasn’t so excited with the conversation with Prani, the half-Arkanian would have poked their three eyes because of their blatant rudeness.

After that conversation, the two Padawan rented a speeder and Zessel drove it toward the first farm. Even from some distance, the half-Arkanian noticed that the fields were getting completely black. It really seemed like some type of plague that was affecting only the plantation, because all the vegetation around remained completely green.

“I would say me neither, but I never visited a farm before.” Zessel said, slowing down the speeder so they could have a better sight of the black plants. They seemed to be completely covered by this odd color, from leaves to stalks. “It’s really weird.” while they approached the farm house, the half-Arkanian could see that the place seemed completely deserted. It looked like the set of a horror holomovie.

He stopped the speeder in front of the house and walked toward the door. There was a sign hanging on the door and Zessel leaned to read it. “Property of the Mo'zanto Inc. Did you ever heard about them?”

@Sreeya

 

[Prani Shalrazi]

It was eerie arriving on the farm. Even beyond the black crops, the house looked abandoned. She couldn’t entirely blame the family - farmlands meant everything to farmers. This kind of devastation could bankrupt people and terribly impact their lives. Prani was studying the dead crops when Zessel remarked on a sign. She didn't find anything particularly useful other than the crops being brittle and like ash.

“Yeah..” She muttered, “It’s a big manufacturing company that a lot of farmers send their produce to,” Prani explained, “But why…why are they takin’ over properties of farmers?”

She knew about the corporation as a massive galactic organization. Prani was too much of a good girl to snoop around inside the house so she started to walk back to the speeder.

“Well this is a dead end, so let’s go!”

@LouJoVi

 

[Zessel]

Zessel hummed when Prani explained what Mo’zanto Inc. was. The half-Arkanian wondered why she knew that stuff, since knowing about companies involved in agriculture wasn’t common knowledge among the Padawan. Maybe her family had, but what did they cultivate?

Only now Zessel noticed that he didn’t know much about Prani. He should change that, since he was now open to make more friends and the girl seemed to be very nice.

“Maybe they are going to investigate the reasons behind that plague? If it spreads, their business will also be in trouble.” Zessel said, looking at the dead plants in the field and frowning. “It’s strange, though. They could have helped the farmers without needing to buy their lands, right? And the Gran would not have called us for help if they had the company’s help.”

The half-Arkanian agreed with Prani. Since there wasn’t anyone in that farm that could talk with them, the two would need to find another way of proceeding with that investigation. “Maybe we could visit the next farm? They could have the information that we need.” Zessel said, while they walked back toward the speeder.

The path that they walked through was a bit creepy in Zessel’s opinion, being surrounded by the dying crops on each side. He would not want to stay here until the night. Suddenly, the stalks on the right side started to shake as if something was running. If the two Padawan paid attention, they would hear the sound of footsteps.

“Did you hear that?” the half-Arkanian said, before something jumped from among the crops and tackled the teenager in the ground. He gave a very acute scream, while trying to fight against the animal that was now licking his face. When Zessel pushed it away, he saw that it was some type of canine. However, it wasn’t an akk dog or a Begamor two-headed dog. It had only one head, a wagging tail, fur and four legs. It was strange in his opinion.

“Do you know what that thing is?” Zessel said, while raising from the ground. His face was covered in saliva and his jacket was ruined by some black goo that covered the thing’s paws. The same substance was left in its footprints that went inside the crop’s fields.

He turned to look at it with annoyance and, as if recognizing it, the animal threw itself in the ground. With the head close to the ground and between its front legs, it stared at the Padawan with a face that could only be considered a sad one.

Zessel felt his heart melt a bit with the sight.

@Sreeya