The Force Wills - Chapter 129

“Can I speak to you?”

I paused the cranking of the hydrospanner and looked down at Maul’s robed form standing next to the Omen’s wing-nacelle.

The robed zabrak was a tight bundle of determination and focus, whilst his anger was buried beneath it and below that, the ever present fear it stemmed from. Yet, the walk and being outside had done him a world of good.

I gave the spanner one last turn, chucked it to land perfectly in the tool case on the hangar floor before descending the mobile maintenance ladder.

“Let’s go inside.”

Only Skell and two other mechanics were working nearby on the Omen, whilst the others were hard at work in the fabrication bay.

I led Maul through the ship and into the cockpit, where a quick use of technometry had it powered up. A gesture and a few taps later, we were surrounded by a holographic rendering of Dathomir’s surface, as if the Omen had just landed outside the Nightsister’s mountain fortress.

Maul removed the cowl of his robe and looked around with only faint curiosity, more interested in the clear improvement in holography than what it was showing him.

I sat down in the pilot’s seat and stared directly into those bloodshot yellow eyes, seeing not just the spirit behind them but also the body in which it resided.

His health was as good as it could be, especially with proper food digesting for the first time in a decade. He could really use at least one full bacta immersion, but I doubted the lingering paranoia I sensed would tolerate the loss of control it represented.

“Ask your questions, Maul.” I gestured to the co-pilot seat.

His lips thinned in annoyance and sat down awkwardly, only to twitch as the seat smartly adjusted itself to his non-standard body structure as a result of the prosthetic. A feature I had pushed hard for at MandalMotors, since I wanted to open our market share to more than just human or adjacent species in the galaxy.  

“I want to know my fate.”

“You’re going to have to be more specific than that. Otherwise, I’ll say that your current fate is to die at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi.” His teeth ground together in anger, his eyes flaring, “It doesn’t even take prescience to know that. No matter what happens in the galaxy, whether your old master dies or when, what convictions you have or even if you choose to renounce the Dark Side completely. All that matters, to the very core of your being, which is that of a warrior, is that Obi-Wan defeated you. Eventually, by whatever winding road you take, you will once again find yourself opposite Obi-Wan with blade in hand.”

I sighed wearily, “Yet, no future is written in stone, no matter what I or any other may say. It could be that it happens twenty years from now or fifty. It all depends on you, Maul.”

“Very well,” he grumbled, visibly pulling in his own anger. “What will happen if I go to Dathomir?”

“Firstly, you will be protected from Sidious’s sight in the Force, as well as others, for long enough to learn how to evade it yourself. In addition, the time it will take will also help you to actually become a marginally well-adjusted zabrak again.”

The Force coiled and rumbled within him as the temptation to reach out and choke me bubbled up from within.

My wry expression was enough for him to realize that he would only prove my point if he tried to use the Force Choke on me.

“You will learn from Asajj Ventress to master and conquer the Dark Side within you. She has mostly done so, though she never went as deep to the point of attaining physical symptoms of the corruption.”

“Me? Learn from her?” Maul sneered.

“Don’t dismiss her so quickly. You’ve sensed her strength and she too was forcibly torn from Dathomir as a mere infant. She will tell you her story, as it is not my place. In time, should you prove yourself, you will also learn from another.”

He stared at me for a while afterward, “That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say?”

“Maul, you know your old master. Do you think anything you can personally achieve or do in the next two years would make any difference in the fight against him? Do you think that you could train in seclusion, march out with lightsaber in hand and fight him in his Chancellor’s office on Coruscant? Even if you manage to strike him down, his mind and spirit will just retreat to a waiting clone and all you’ve done is driven him into the shadows from where he’ll retaliate in a manner you can’t prepare for or even conceive.”

Maul’s eyes widened as I casually revealed one of his master’s trump cards. One which even he didn’t know about. He wanted to deny it as utter nonsense at first, but his own education under Sidious in the ancient Sith and their capabilities told of their spirits lingering beyond death at their ancient shrines of power. If there was one Sith who could finally harness that beyond becoming a mere dangerous specter to haunt one part of creation for all eternity, then it would be his master.

“He- he can do that?”

“Yes, and enact a number of contingencies that would see disaster unfold in the galaxy. Naturally, you don’t care about that, but you will when the first targeted plagues begin appearing.” Those were nasty probability lines to explore and it showed what Sidious was fully capable of in the arts of Sith Alchemy. He’d sow misery and death, whilst in the same breath distributing the cure to any planet that yielded to the yoke of the CIS. “There will be no hiding and the uncertainty of whether to risk exposure to a planet or not, will keep you in space, isolated, on the run, until you’re hunted down by either the Jedi or the Inquisitorius. The former will want you simply because of your knowledge of Sidious and the latter because your master doesn't want that knowledge to fall into their hands.”

Maul’s hands clenched hard and he dearly wanted to vent that anger somewhere. “It is pointless then.”

“Hardly,” I disagreed. “I’ve said to you before and I’ll reiterate it. There is a counter-conspiracy growing against Sidious in the shadows. Some know of him, others don’t, it’s merely enough that they know they fight against corruption in either the Republic or the CIS. The best way you can fight your master now, is to live and become a zabrak again. Learn, read, find a hobby, heck, perhaps a Nightsister might even claim you to continue your lineage. Don’t look at me like that, Talzin fixed that. In other words, do everything that Sidious had denied you growing up. Oh and spread your knowledge to either me, Talzin or Ventress.”

Maul sneered, looking actually astonished at my words and shook his head, “Don’t be ridiculous, Jedi. You want me… to become… normal?”

“What is normal?” I countered pointedly. “No, I doubt you could ever be a normal sentient. It’s impossible for most Force Sensitives. The Force meddles into our lives too much and we perceive too much beyond what the average sentient does. As for your knowledge, well, why would you keep it? Loyalty to Sidious?”

“Of course not, but if-”

“You don’t have to tell us everything,” I interrupted him with an exasperated roll of the eyes. “Your learned paranoia wants you to keep that as bargaining chips, to keep your value to us. You fear that if we learn it all from you, that you’ll be discarded or at least marginalized in the fight.”

“And is that fear irrelevant?”

“Maul, you are an assassin and warrior. The fight against your master will definitely need those talents of yours.”

He blinked and I inwardly laughed at the expression that I managed to elicit with those words.

“You… a Jedi, want me to kill and assassinate those who work for Sidious?”

I nodded, “At a certain time and place, yes. I already have a loyal assassin droid working in the conspiracy, but it would certainly help to have an extra hand in that department.”

Maul just continued looking at me, trying to sense the lie and to judge how ‘dark’ I was.

“How are you still a Jedi?”

“The idea that Jedi do not kill is polite propaganda that the Order encourages. Yes, we do it extremely reluctantly and I speak only for myself when I say that I will kill when I determine a sentient remaining alive will cause a great future calamity, or result in extreme danger to the greater cause. To me, giving that order is no different than when I swing my lightsaber against that Inquisitor with lethal intent.”

I tented my fingers near my chin and lanced Maul with my gaze, bringing the full weight of my intent, spirit and the Force to bear. “Now, I ask again. Will you share your knowledge?”

His eyes twitched and try as he might, he couldn’t bear it for long. “You… you are different. You should be young and beneath me, but you carry a spirit that is too old…”

“Answer the question, Maul,” I said, flaring myself to his spirit, with the ancillary benefits of Battle Meditation.

He eventually looked away and closed his eyes. “Promise me one thing in return, Jedi.”

“Name your promise.”

“No matter what happens, that I will be there when Palpatine breathes his last.”

I raised a brow, “Not even the final blow?”

“As much as I would desire that, I know that I’m not strong enough. If what you say is true, then it will fall to another.”

I pursued the future probability lines… No, too much in the shifting kaleidoscope was uncertain at this point in time.

“I can only promise that when the time comes, I will send for you.”

Maul scrutinized me for a while, before nodding. “Very well, Jedi. We have an accord. Ask.”

“For a start, the precise coordinates of his facility in The Works on Coruscant.”

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The Nu-class military shuttle folded its wings and came to a smooth landing in the giant port hangar bay of the Resolute.

Obi-Wan picked up his small duffle bag and stretched the stiffness out of his limbs from the long period of inactivity. He definitely needed to pick up some exercise again, especially after his latest bout of convalescence in a bacta tank on Naboo. All this business of commanding starships and the Open Circle fleet was really cutting into the time available for that, but it should be no excuse.

Thankfully Anakin is here to potentially help with that, he thought with a slight cheer.

His former padawan was waiting outside, idly looking at a datapad with an air of irritation and almost stabbing it with his index finger as he reviewed some or other military report.

“Anakin,” he greeted warmly.

“Master, good to see you on your feet,” Anakin said with a slight air of trouble and distraction, though he kept his face studiously neutral.

“Good to be on them,” Obi-Wan smiled and they both began the walk to the turbolift. “Congratulations are in order. Nice work in Eriadu.”

Anakin had his nose buried again in the datapad and stabbed the lift control panel with a finger. Oh dear, something’s wrong.

“Yes, it was rather like threading the Kessel Run for a while there, but we managed.”

“Earning galactic praise and recognition. Why is it that always happens when I’m not there?” Obi-Wan teased.

Anakin returned a barely veiled expression of grumpiness in reply. “I don’t know, master. Perhaps the Force is just trying to accommodate your dislike for the spotlight.” His eyes now glinted in humor as the familiar banter occurred.

Obi-Wan was about to parry the verbal thrust, when his personal secure comlink chirped.

A tap on his vambrace brought up a tiny holo of Grand Master Yoda.

“Master Kenobi.”

“Master Yoda, back to the grind, is it?”

“Indeed. Meeting the full council is. Thirty minutes. Knight Skywalker, attend you should.”

“I’ll be there, Master.”

“Anything I should be aware of beforehand, Master?” Obi-Wan asked.

“No, with a clear and unprejudiced mind, you both must join.”

“We’ll be there.”

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They actually made the connection to Coruscant through the holographic systems of Briefing One.

Obi-Wan marvelled slightly at the sheer fidelity as his eyes were perfectly fooled into believing they were standing in the Jedi High Council chamber. The disjointed smell of recycled starship air, the temperature discrepancy and that his feet were slightly going through the projected floor to the modified floor surface of Briefing One, optimized for traction, dispelled the attempted illusion.

He pushed one of the physical chairs in the room to his projected customary seat next to Ki Adi Mundi’s spot, then sat down.

“Ready for the final connection, master?” Anakin chuckled.

“Yes, Anakin.”

His former padawan tapped a control on his vambrace and the room became alive, the holographic forms of the Council flickering into existence in their seats.

Obi-Wan noted that it was an almost full session, with Rancisis and Piell not attending in either physical or holographic form. Not much of a surprise, given the former’s role in the war. There was a joke going round that Master Rancisis had started to actually live in the Temple’s strategic war centre. Piell on the other hand, was one of the Council masters that preferred the front lines and covert operations, so his absence was understandable.

“To you all, welcome,” began Yoda. “Gathered we have, for an opportunity. Yes. One which might have consequences for the war and beyond. For good or ill, we must determine.”

“We’ve been contacted by a group of rebels from Onderon,” Mace Windu continued. “They wish to petition for support from the Republic.”

He tapped a control on his chair and two new holograms appeared in the center.

Obi-Wan frowned as he studied them. On the left, a tall dark skinned human, wearing mismatching parts of armor, colored specifically for the jungles of Onderon. His features and general weight showed he had been subjected to a period of starvation recently, but was clearly on the mend.

The figure next to him couldn’t be more of a contrast. A young man, pale skin and wearing Onderonian soldier’s armor and combat harness with all the symbology torn off. He looked ill at ease in the outfit, but his eyes were one of determination as he looked at the assembled Jedi Council with not a hint of being intimidated or uncertain.

Obi-Wan couldn’t help but feel the young lad looked familiar, the shape of that face, the nose…

“Greetings Masters,” the young man bowed. “I thank you for your time to listen to my petition.”

“Lux Bonteri,” Mace Windu nodded. “You can imagine it was a surprise when you used your mother’s old senatorial credentials to directly contact the Temple’s communication center. Even though they had been disabled.”

“I make no apologies, master. Arranging for this communication has been an ordeal in itself. It was the only way to… attract the necessary attention.”

“It certainly did. Now please present your case.”

“The people of Onderon, ever since the beginning of the Clone Wars, have been under the occupation of the Separatists and their installed puppet king Sanjay Rash. With the droid armies and usurpers loyal to him, Rash has turned every organ of state into only enriching himself and using large sections of the population as slave labor to fuel mineral and weapon exports that go directly into the Separatist’s war machine. Anyone who objects or protests quietly vanishes in the night, joining the ranks of slaves who are worked to death. There is no more legal recourse and the courts have been cowed into doing Rash’s will with the droid army at his command.

“It’s clear that the only recourse left is armed resistance, but we lack sufficient hardware and supplies to properly fight back.”

“I take it, Senator Bonteri, is aware of this as well?” Obi-Wan asked carefully.

“I am uncertain as to what my mother knows or doesn’t,” Lux revealed with a troubled look. “She’s been assigned to Raxus for a year now and Rash has ordered her to remain there to represent our people in the Separatist parliament. Her holocalls to me are routine but I can tell she’s being kept there against her will.”

Obi-Wan hated to do this. “Whilst we know otherwise, Rash’s ascension to the throne has not been sufficiently proven to be illegitimate. In the eyes of the Senate, he was your king and he took your people into the Separatist fold. All word from Onderon since then has been that there is no widespread discontent.”

“All lies and propaganda,” interrupted the man next to Lux with a distinct glint of fanatical zeal in his eyes. “The illegitimate king controls every word of information official or otherwise that leaves Onderon. Our true king has been silenced and is confined in the dungeon of the palace by the usurper. Rash is a Separatist minion and we need your help to survive this.”

“Find a way, we shall, Saw Gerrera,” declared Yoda thoughtfully, stroking his chin.       

“We await your answer. For our own safety, we must cut the connection. We’ll reopen the channel in twenty standard hours,” Lux bowed and the two holos flickered and vanished.

“This opens a new strategy,” Anakin stepped into the center of the room. “Not just on Onderon, but on every occupied world. There are pockets of rebels on many of these planets that just need guidance. With training and resources they could attack targets of opportunity and thinly fortified positions on the enemy rear and home fronts. This frees the Republic to concentrate only on the hardest targets in the battlespaces and fields. ”

“Careful, Anakin, that strays dangerously close to terrorism,” Obi-Wan warned. “What you might consider a target of opportunity will differ in comparison to someone untrained in military affairs.” He couldn’t help but think of the look in Gerrera’s eyes.

“True, but that’s where the training comes in. We need to begin making inroads in the rear of the enemy. Not just in a military sense, but also to help realign these planets back to the Republic.”

“Creating problems, dividing their forces and pressing them on two fronts,” Mace Windu agreed.

“Dangerous tactic. A means to an end, fear cannot be. Stop those who spread terror, the Jedi must. Not encourage or enable them,” Yoda warned.

“We are not in the business of training terrorists, even if they are aimed against the enemies of the Republic,” rumbled Plo Koon from behind his mask.

“They won’t be terrorists, they’ll be rebels against the enemy,” Anakin argued.

“How we conduct war is what distinguishes us from others,” Obi-Wan looked sternly at his former padawan. “As much as I wish it were otherwise, we operate on perception and politics. Funding rebels to overthrow a legitimate government puts innocent lives at risk, no matter what our intentions are.”

“Well, we can minimize collateral damage by only providing arms that work against droids,” Anakin countered.

“We can at least equip the Onderonian rebels to defend themselves, then test the tactic in the process,” Mace pointed out. “If it proves successful then perhaps we can expand the effort on a broader scale across Separatist space.”

“This would also force the enemy to turn their gaze inward, withdraw droids from the frontlines to police and garrison duty, which in turn will make our battles on the frontlines easier. A new tactic to add to our arsenal,” Anakin argued reasonably.

Everyone turned to Yoda and awaited his final word on the matter.

“Hmmm, train and observe, send advisors we will.”

“I’ll assemble a team for covert insertion to Onderon then,” Anakin volunteered.

“Which I will be joining,” Obi-Wan said immediately.

“What? Don’t you trust me, Master?” The mock offense in his tone was clear.

“I trust you too much, and that’s what worries me,” he smirked.

“Fine, welcome aboard,” Anakin rolled his eyes.

Yoda took a silent roll call among the council. “Provisionally, this council approves your mission, Skywalker. May the Force be with you.” He tapped a key on his chair.

The entire holo collapsed and Briefing One reset to a default view of the Darkknell system.

“Besides, I really need to get into the field,” Obi-Wan stood and patted his old former padawan’s armored shoulder. “Now, how about we go to the training arena and have a little spar. Perhaps your padawan can join us?”

Obi-Wan immediately saw Anakin make a brief subtle hand signal.

“She’s got her hands full with ship logistics.”

“Pity.”

‘Anakin, what’s happened?’ he thought

‘I’ll explain as we spar, I have a feeling you’ll need the outlet.’

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He had been prepared for any number of outlandish tales and situations, but he had to admit this scenario would not have occurred to him in a thousand years.

Obi-Wan somersaulted off a floating composite platform and landed right in front of Anakin, slicing his blade straight towards his opponent’s shoulder.

Anakin riposted smoothly, immediately flowing into the overhead slice towards Obi-Wan’s head.

They fell into the rhythm of slice and deflect, varying angles at speeds so quick that their blue blades became long streaks of colour to any observer. The composite platform also began moving through the Resolute’s training deck, introducing the variable of an uncertain footing.

Maul was alive?

It was an almost ridiculous assertion. He had been cut in half at the waist, then fell down a shaft so deep into the bowels of Theed’s plasma works that his remains should’ve been pulped on impact when they inevitably encountered the ground. Even then, those remains would’ve been incinerated eventually from a plasma discharge in the system.

Yet, seemingly, despite all the odds…

Obi-Wan’s traitorous mind began laying out how this could be possible.

The Zabrak’s natural physiological resilience to systemic shock. The strength of a sufficiently powerful user of the Dark Side, which Maul definitely was. Maul reaching out to the Force to bleed off his fall momentum, grabbing hold of the same shield emitters that Obi-Wan had used to save his own life. Using the Force to hold in and support his internal organs. The lightsaber would have also done the main job of cauterizing and sealing things off.

Obi-Wan pulled his blade into a combination of high and low slashes, gently guiding Anakin into leaving the most minor of gaps in his guard.

His former padawan’s eyebrow twitched, betraying the fact that he had spotted what Obi-Wan was trying to do.

Obi-Wan abruptly shifted his attacks, going for the legs with such speed that Anakin had no choice but to give ground in a retreat.

Why would Ahsoka have done this? 

That was a stupid question really. The answer was readily evident to anyone who truly knew her. Barely acknowledging the past, eyes solely on the present and future. Oh, he could well imagine the intelligence auridium mine Maul represented in the fight against Sidious. Yet that didn’t help the part of him that wanted nothing more than to grab the nearest shuttle and begin hunting down Maul, to truly finish what he started so long ago, to bring the killer of Qui-Gon Jinn to justi-

No, it wouldn’t be justice, would it?

It would be revenge.

Simple, short-sighted revenge that didn’t care about the greater consequences.

That only cared about itself and the demand for short-lived satisfaction, the demand for blood, the demand that Maul be made to further pay for the loss of Master Jinn.

It was his own Dark Side that was rearing its ugly head. The Dark Side that he had all but put behind him after the duel with Maul. How easy and quick it resurfaced. It was as if the last decade of discipline and adherence to the principles of the Jedi Code hadn’t mattered at all.

Anakin abruptly backflipped off the platform, landing on another that was passing by.

Obi-Wan sprinted in pursuit, Force Jumping off as the new platform abruptly gained height.

He had barely landed and already had to fend off one of Anakin’s punishing Avalanche attacks, which had an interesting new twist on it, as he varied the angle of the descending blade, only committing at the very last moment.

Obi-Wan was forced to dodge in a blur and bat the blade away, but kept contact and flowed the attack into standard blade lock.

“Do be careful, Anakin. The quartermaster will not thank us for wrecking the place.”

“He’s been grumbling about lacking work anyway.”

In silent mutual agreement, they pushed away from the blade lock and took a step back into guard positions, evaluating each other.

“So how long are we going to wait in Darkknell?”

“There’s a number of items that fell through the cracks when we resupplied in Eriadu, 45 hours at most for the supply ship to reach us, then we can set off for the journey north.”

Translation: It would take that long for Ahsoka to smuggle herself back onto the Resolute.

In the meantime, a restored Maul would be making his way north, back to Dathomir in the company of the Nightsisters, one of which Asajj Ventress.

There were moments when Obi-Wan wondered just how many more compromises they would make in the fight against Sidious. When would they reach the point where a line had to be drawn?

Anakin abruptly lunged into an attack on his right shoulder.

Obi-Wan easily tilted his blade to intercept, revealing the feinted opening for what it was.

“Nice try.”

They settled back into the battle of the mind, the platform moving below their feet began a series of rapid shifts, forcing them to adapt and counteract the shifting momentum, yet stay perfectly focused on each other.

‘Did you at least try to convince her otherwise?’ he thought to Anakin.

‘Yes, she would not be dissuaded. However, bringing Maul in has already yielded the first intel we need. We have a location on Sidious’ hidden base in The Works.’

‘Sidious may have moved it since Maul was last there.’

The Works was a vast zone of abandoned factories, with only scattered active surface factories that managed to survive the changing economic conditions centuries ago that had driven such large-scale manufacturing off Coruscant. The situation in the lower floors there was even worse, to the point that civilization practically ceased at anything beyond level 200. Going deeper was a complete unknown to modern databases and no one was insane enough to even try plumbing those depths further.

Most areas of Coruscant could reach up to 2000 levels deep, with varying degrees of general safety and police droid presence. The Works was an entirely different proposition.

It was generally accepted that the deep abandoned factories had long since shut down, but the neglected machinery, chemicals and other elements had combined to make it uninhabitable and deadly to even try. Rumors had abounded of lost technologies from the ancient Republic that could be rediscovered, but for centuries those who tried exploring those depths for lost treasure simply never came back.

It was now considered suicide to venture into those depths and Obi-Wan could entirely see how that would make it ideal for Sidious to conduct his more nefarious activities there.

It was entirely possible that the Banite Sith Order had intentionally cultivated the zone’s reputation, making sure anyone venturing there would die.

‘Possibly, but the facility Maul describes is too large, with infrastructure and assets not easily moved. He also has no reason to move, as Sidious doesn’t know of Maul’s survival.’

Obi-Wan slashed towards Anakin’s left knee at the exact moment the platform made another abrupt shift in direction.

The deflection moving into the riposte was adequate, but the shifting balance was slightly off as he put too much weight onto his right leg.

The abrupt Force Push from Obi-Wan to capitalize was enough to put Anakin on the backfoot and they quickly fell into another contest of slashes and lunging attacks this time.

They continued in this vein for nearly half an hour, turning it smoothly into a contest of endurance, focus and concentration.

Annoyingly, Anakin managed to score the final blow of their spar session, worming his blade through for a numbing strike on Obi-Wan’s left knee.

He still won the overall bout at eight disabling strikes to Anakin’s six.

They shut down the arena’s systems and rehydrated from water bottles on a bench, toweling off sweat in silence and using the Force internally, addressing the consequences of the two hours of exertion.

‘What will Ahsoka do?’

‘Send in HK for recon only.’

That blasted droid, Obi-Wan thought privately. ‘Naturally, it would be too dangerous to relieve Sidious of any of his possessions there or place any surveillance devices.’

‘Master, HK has infiltrated much more secure places in his time, in an era when there were Sith Lords aplenty. I’d think he knows a thing or two about how to spy on them without detection.’

‘I hope you’re right, Anakin. This advantage we have is very fragile. I’d hate to see us lose it.’

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The rhythmic tapping of beskar plated fingers on radiation resistant plasteel reverberated around me.

It brought me out of my inner world of the mind and Force. The infinite black stone and radiant white landscape was replaced with the darkened interior of my little smuggling hideaway in the large ordnance pallet, which had been legitimately transferred onto the Resolute.

The tapping in distinct Morse code was very simply my name and was the prearranged signal from M8 that the coast was clear in the cavernous cargo bay.

A flex of telekinesis opened the hidden interior latches and the small side door popped open.

I made one final check that everything in the smuggling compartment was sanitized before emerging into the darkness of the bay.

M8 had already opened herself up for me, and I quickly climbed in and the beskar’gam was fully sealed around me.

“Good to see you, M8.”

“And you, mistress.”

“Give me a full report on your activities.”

For the next forty minutes, I reviewed every conversation M8 had on my behalf, making mental notes and what to follow up on. It was mostly routine as she was instructed to always appear ‘busy’ to avoid complex situations, but it was inevitable that she couldn’t avoid everything. M8 had a fairly accurate decision matrix to reference for how I would respond to any given situation or how I would give orders, but it wasn’t perfect.

I could already see that I would have to put out some fires in the quartermaster’s office, not to mention smooth over Chewie’s ruffled mane, after M8 had been a bit short with him on some new hyperdrive modulations that he wanted to try in simulation.

Chewie knew that I had been secretly off the ship, but he had the shield of an inhuman wookiee face that hardly anyone would be able to read. It was annoying to keep him in the dark on most of my activities, but he thankfully understood the safety and necessity behind it.

The Resolute was now well beyond the Pax system and powering its way up the Hydian.

It would be four days to Exodeen in the Core worlds, where we would leave the ship in a cloaked scout to begin the journey eastward to Onderon.

I made a final check of every aspect of my armor and lightsabers, feeling only relief to be holding my own blades and to openly wear the Darksaber again.

A quick check to secure the smuggler compartment and I was walking amongst the giant rows of stacked pallets and emerged into the ship’s corridors.

I grabbed the first turbolift I could and wasn’t surprised at who was already waiting for me.

“Skyguy, Master Kenobi,” I greeted casually, as if I had just seen them a few hours ago. I turned to check the control panel and found the main bridge level already selected. The doors closed and the lift car sped off.

I was quite impressed - but not surprised - with how Obi-Wan, to every sense I had, was ever the unflappable Jedi Master he always was in my presence. You wouldn’t think I was chiefly responsible for saving the zabrak that had defeated and killed his old master.

‘Welcome back, Ahsoka,’ Obi-Wan’s active Force probe reached my mind. ‘While I’ve tacitly approved bringing the Nightsisters into an alliance and yes, I was still in recovery when this Maul business happened. I’d appreciate some consultation in the future when such a significant decision or event is taking place.’

‘Yes, master.’ I replied, though he certainly appreciated that such communication could be impossible or too risky, but he was the most senior Jedi truly within Fulcrum and was my effective eyes and ears in the High Council. As much as I didn’t want to alienate Talzin, that also applied to Obi-Wan.

‘Ahsoka, tell me directly, please. Tell me that Maul will not cause more problems for us all in the future.’ That he let me feel his self-recrimination at his own perceived failure to properly deal with Maul more than a decade ago, spoke volumes.

‘I can give no such guarantee, Master. You know how this works. Maul is contained on Dathomir for the moment. His mother will ensure it further and Asajj will work to make him useful. Kina Ha will also pitch in eventually and then I have… hope that he’ll walk the path he needs to.’

Then with an entirely innocent tone, I continued, ‘Besides, his probability line was originally on  a path that would see him kill my sovereign.’ I could almost hear the record screech in his mind as he comprehended that. ‘Which would naturally be quite catastrophic for the Mandalorian people.’

Anakin and I met each other’s eyes with amusement as we sensed Obi-Wan being thoroughly discombobulated at the mere thought of his beloved Satine’s future death being averted thanks to me altering Maul’s original destiny.

The master recovered a few moments later and I could feel both his mild irritation and profound gratitude. His old romance and now unrequited love for Satine was something Anakin and I had enjoyed teasing Obi-Wan about for months during our exile to Mortis.

‘Well, if that was the original path… then you have my thanks, Ahsoka.’

The turbolift came to a stop and opened.

Anakin led the way to Briefing One and I was pleasantly surprised to see both Chewie and Rex patiently waiting there. The big wookiee had an equally big datapad and was making thoughtful grunts while tapping on it, whilst Rex was also using a holo screen, reviewing trooper assignments. Both snapped to attention when the door parted at our entry.

“Rex, Chewie, thanks for agreeing to join the mission.”

“It’s an honor, general,” Rex nodded. Anakin could’ve asked for a commando team or even CT99, but that would’ve been violating the spirit of Master Yoda’s approval for it. We were not going to liberate Onderon single handedly, merely equipping and training the people to throw off the yoke of the CIS.

“R2, bring it up,” he ordered the astromech, already plugged into the room’s systems.

Everything grew briefly dark until a scaled version of Onderon hovered in the air above us.

“This is our target planet. Onderon is mostly human, but there are bivali, ithorian, togruta and twi’lek citizens. So it’s cosmopolitan enough that we won’t have to worry about blending in with disguises if we have to. It’s mostly classified as a jungle world and all the major cities are built in those temperate zones, so hot and humid is the order of the day. Make sure to pack appropriately.”

A few gestures manipulated the holo to zoom inward and highlighted an area 130 kilometers south-east of the capital city, Iziz.

“That is the rendezvous point given to us by the rebel group. They’re seemingly either led or at least sponsored by Lux Bonteri, the only son of Senator Mina Bonteri.”

The image of a mildly handsome young human with short dark brown hair in a soldier’s attire appeared and I inwardly sighed in annoyance, as I was reminded of the old axiom regarding the future - it’s shaped by the character of those who lived it. The Ahsoka of another time and place, would through other events become attracted to Lux and it would be reciprocated for a while, until the Onderonian civil war and their disparate duties would destroy any possibility for things to develop further.

In the here and now, I felt nothing but a mild appreciation for his looks. If he just grew up a little more and got more meat on his bones…

“The only other intel we have on the rebels is also this man, Saw Gerrera.”

It was almost startling to see him as a younger man, without all the cybernetic medical assistance and the wounds he would endure through decades of struggle, which would turn him into the battered near-cyborg man who would die to the first test firing of the Death Star on Jedha.  

“There is little of note in the databases on him until now, besides that he was a relatively model citizen of the planet who paid his taxes and worked on a ruping farm with his family. With the advent of the Clone Wars and Onderon’s secession, we can only assume that he obviously objects to his planet being under the CIS banner and is only loyal to the deposed king.”

“What’s the enemy forces' disposition?” Rex asked. 

Anakin swiped his hand to bring up a general sector map. “While the system is technically on our side of the line, that changes the moment you reach high orbit. Onderon is one of the few worlds to come into the Clone War with a decent defense grid, something built out of the wealth their rhydonium exports created and the necessity to protect the mines and shipments from criminal and pirate exploitation. The rhydonium refinement and products are now being smuggled at great expense using cloaked ships back to Separatist space. A substantial droid army was dropped onto the planet at the beginning of the war, which only stopped once the current battlespaces solidified. Intelligence scans indicate we’re dealing with at least three army groups, most centered around the capital, with detachments spread across the planet to secure other cities with the most significant mining and industry facilities.”

“We’d need a full invasion task group to retake that,” Rex grumbled, which he knew the Republic couldn’t afford to do at the moment.

“Which is why enabling resistance movements across the occupied worlds in our current territory is being considered as a strategy,” Obi-Wan explained. “We can’t be everywhere and so it must fall to the local people to liberate their worlds, until the GAR has the capacity and resources to reach them.”

“If this mission succeeds, it will be the first of a greater initiative to destabilize Separatist control of planets in their space,” Anakin continued. “It will force the enemy to pull resources from the front lines and thereby strain their defenses.”

“Reasonable plan, in theory,” I commented.

He raised both eyebrows at me, “Do you have something to add, Snips?”

“As I said, a nice plan, but the practical is always the problem. What might work on Onderon, will not work on another world. If the local leadership remains relatively popular despite changing allegiance to the CIS, then any insurgency is doomed to fail. In any post-war analysis, the Republic will have been seen as ‘being the bad guy’ on a local level. Let’s not forget that many worlds seceded because of the Republic’s failures.”

Obi-Wan stroked his beard thoughtfully, “You touch on my primary concern with this strategy, Ahsoka.”

“Battles such as these must be waged knowing that you fight for the hearts and minds of the people, as much as you’re pursuing any material objective to a greater cause. I’ve reviewed what Republic Intel has gathered on Sanjay Rash’s rule thus far and he’s a typical despotic leader, who is only concerned for his own self-interest and maintaining his grip on the throne. There isn’t a week that goes by without a public execution happening outside the palace. We can well assume that he’s not just beheading ordinary criminals with the spectacle he’s making.”

“Such a madclaw king would be torn limb from limb on Kashyyyk, the remains thrown into the Shadowlands,” Chewie roared.

“Which should make the battle for hearts and minds much easier,” Anakin agreed.

“The worrying thing is that he’s been entrenched for more than nineteen months at this point. In such a time frame, people will begin to adapt, lay low. A new equilibrium has been established, even if that equilibrium is horrible. They will by nature resist disturbing it for fear of their own lives and their families. The challenge will be to overcome that fear and hesitancy.”

“Good point, Snips. We’ll just have to see what happens on the ground and what we have to work with in terms of the local rebels.”

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The Resolute passed through the Zeltros system on the Trellen Trade Route a few days later, seemingly going on its newly established official mission to provide a resupply for the Umbaran garrison.

In hyperspace though, it went through the delicate process of launching a ship, another of the new Omicron-class cloak capable scout ships.

It was so new, it didn’t even have a proper name registered in the transponder besides its military code, so Chewie took the liberty to call it the ‘Skyfang’.

It was another eight hours in hyper, turning onto the Lesser Lantillian route heading galactic northward before we dropped into the Onderon system itself.

Under Anakin’s expert touch, we merged relative velocities with the planet, taking the extra time to not generate any atmospheric entry plasma - which would’ve been painting a huge target for the orbital defense grid to lock onto.

We slowed to a practical crawl of 40 kph, a kilometer from the rendezvous point, staying just above the jungle canopy.

“All right, R2, she’s all yours. Keep her safe and stay in touch,” Anakin patted the astromech, who chirped a firm positive.

We quickly airdropped out of the Skyfang, using the Force or jump pack respectively to slow our falls.

My knees bent slightly on the loamy jungle floor as I bled the last of my momentum into the Force.

I breathed deeply of the humid air and inwardly basked at the strength of life in the Force I was surrounded with. It was radiant and much more in balance, an extreme contrast to Lotho Minor. In the night around me, the jungle was alive with a multitude of fantastic insects and creatures, emitting their respective sounds into the air. The temperature was a comfortable 24 C, but that would change come morning.

“Rex, Chewie, with me on point. Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, tree tops,” Anakin ordered subvocally on coms.

We pulled the Force tight around our bodies, dampening any sound we made and I surged into a Jump and began doing what was effectively tree parkour, taking a flanking route towards the south alongside Anakin’s straight route towards the rendezvous.

Obi-Wan did the same from the north, as we couldn’t be sure that this meeting hadn’t been leaked to the enemy.

We were four hundred meters away when I managed to distinguish proper sentience amongst the dense life that surrounded us. Eight humans in fairly good concealment and cover, waiting and surrounding the rendezvous point. Farsight revealed they were definitely the Onderonian rebels. I wouldn’t put it past Rash to have a spy or even pull a false flag, but the low level desperation permanently clouding their spirits would indicate that we were dealing with the real thing.

‘Mistress, low power encrypted transmission detected,’ M8 informed me.

I felt the rebels instantly grow alert as Anakin, Chewie and Rex walked into their little ambush.

One of the rebels was riding a domesticated dalgo, a carnivorous beast that looked like someone had taken the body plan of a horse and given it the scaled skin of an exotically colored reptile, with a huge fanged mouth.  

She burst out of concealment, letting the dalgo jump and land right in front of Anakin.

The dalgo growled in warning and the other rebels popped out with blaster pistols and rifles leveled.

It was a good, if fairly conventional ambush, but it made no provision for a counter-ambush and showed the level of inexperience the rebels in general had.

“Stay where you are,” ordered the rebel sternly. “Identify yourselves.”

Anakin pulled away the hood of the cloak around his armor and removed the helmet.

“It’s all right. I’m Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, to my left is Tech Sergeant Chewbacca and Captain Rex of the 501st.”

The rebel woman dug her heels into the sides of the dalgo, guiding it to walk calmly closer. In the overhead moonlight, her weather-beaten features came into view; stained sleeveless shirt, pants with many pockets, high leather riding boots and a sweat cloth tied around her head to absorb the sweat from a generous mane of dreadlocked hair. She held her blaster pistol at her hip with a casual proficient air. Her eyes took in every detail of Anakin before the tightly coiled tension in her bearing faded.

“So it seems, Master Jedi.”

Obi-Wan prompted me silently through the Force, and we both, in an obvious bit of supernatural showmanship, hurled ourselves through the air into a double somersault, dropping our auditory stealth.

He landed next to Anakin, whilst I landed a seemingly impossible jump on a narrow tree stump behind one of the rebels, staying casually balanced on my left foot only.

The rebel in question was badly startled, almost reflexively turning around and aiming at me with his blaster.

“I’m Jedi Commander Tano and my colleague in our little demonstration is Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. We’ve been sent by the Jedi Council to aid you.”

“Well met,” she looked at me with some confusion. “I’m Steela. You’re Mandalorian as well?”

“Correct.”

“I didn’t know that was possible, but given the last few years, nothing will surprise me anymore. I apologize for the hostile reception, but we have to be cautious. Rash has tried to send spies into our ranks, posing as new rebels that want to join the fight. We learned that lesson at a high cost.” Her eyes grew both hard and sad in clear memory. “I shall take you to one of our hidden encampments. Everyone, move out!”

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A/N: Bridging chapter into the new arc. Happy Friday everyone and enjoy the weekend :-) Stay awesome folks.