O Tempora! O Mores!
by Kayarde
After the siege of Ryloth was over Jedi Master and General of the Clone Army Obi-Wan Kenobi was glad to finally return home. The battle had been messy, bloody and in general quite unpleasant but luckily it counted as a victory for the republic. Never mind that in this civil war between Republic and Separatists there could never be victors, only survivors. The Jedi did their duty as protectors of the Republic and served as Generals in the army and as a result the numbers of Jedi dwindled to an all-time low of barely more than after the last Sith war. It was tragic.
Obi-Wan looked out of his cockpit at the desert world that shrank behind him. A large orange orb that glowed in the surrounding darkness. On the night side of the planet he could still see the fires burning from the recent fighting. He thought to the village where he fought and to the little Twi'lek girl that had taken a shine to Waxer and Boil. She was far to young to have experienced war. It was always the innocent and the young that got caught up between the fronts who suffered the most in war.
Ahsoka, too, was far to young to be fighting in the war. But with the Jedi in high demand they were no longer able to make differences based on a Padawan's age. So Anakin and Ahsoka were more often than not deployed to the frontlines. Now Anakin would stay behind on Ryloth to deal with the aftermath of the battle and help the clones with the repairs and to boost the morale of the troops.
He would make a greater mess of the situation, of that was Obi-Wan sure but with any luck the two of them would be able to get some downtime without fighting. Obi-Wan would have loved to stay with them but he had to report back to the council on his own and it was a sign of trust that they let Anakin handle this situation on his own. Hopefully the young man would understand it as such.
Anakin had been slightly grumpy when Obi-Wan had climbed into his fighter but never the less the goodbye had been warm. Now entering hyperspace Obi-Wan allowed himself a small proud smile. Anakin had grown up into a great man and an exceptional Jedi. He still had a temper and it flared at the slightest provocation but he had his heart at the right place.
Preparing for the hour long journey Obi-Wan settled into a meditation in an attempt to center himself properly in the Force. Only to be hustled back into awareness by an anomaly in space. His ship's electronics flared to live and blared in an aggrivating cacophony. He was hurtled back into real space and with great effort he managed to crash land on the dustball nearest to him. That planet just happened to be Tatooine. Obi-Wan desperately wanted to kick something but council masters should not act on their anger.
He understood his Padawan's dislike of that place. It was full of sand and it was unbearably hot and worst of all it was under the control of the Hutts. These creatures had their slimy thick fingers in every criminal activity in the entire galaxy. Never the less he had little choice considering that his fighters engines were about to blow up if he hadn't landed.
Obi-Wan thought of himself as lucky that he had had a mechanical inclined Padawan. So over their decade together the master did learn quite a lot about machines from his student. Because of his Padawan's obsession he was now able to fix most of his fighter's problems alone in the middle of a desert somewhere in the outer rim.
But the problem he was facing here was far beyond his capabilities. Obi-Wan doubted that even Anakin would have been able to get the star fighter of the ground anytime soon. Obi-Wan needed a new ship or at least a passage into the core regions and that meant he would have to go into a town. On a planet full of bounty hunters and questionable businessmen that didn't seem like the best idea especially since a certain Separatist leader had put an obscenely high bounty on one's head. Somewhere in his cargo hold he had some necessary supplies and since hiding one's face was considered good manners on Tatooine the Jedi Master should be able to avoid attention.
"Arfour show me a map of the area." Obi-Wan commanded his astromech droid and a hologram appeared. The nearest city was Mos Eisley not even one hour walk from his current position. It probably wasn't any different than Mos Espa and so money matters couldn't be solved with Republican Credits. But after that messy business during the Blockade of Naboo Obi-Wan had made it a habit of always carrying intergalactic accepted currency on his person.
By the time he was in the city Obi-Wan could really sympathise with Anakin's dislike of sand. It really got everywhere and by now it felt as if he was carrying the entire Tatooine desert in his boots. Even Arfour whistled in annoyance. The droid got sand in her circuits. Obi-Wan tried not to dwell on the fact that by now he could understand what that droid said. It was a side effect that came with spending to much time around Anakin Skywalker and his connection to everything mechanical. He even thought that Artoo had a personality.
After trying to buy a ship off this dust ball Obi-Wan found out that he didn't have enough money to buy one. The prices seemed to have exploded since the beginning of the war. There weren't any decent ships for sale under ten thousand and even with haggling he doubted the price would go down to his meagre budget. For five thousand one could get a bucket of bolts like the scrap-heap Anakin named Twilight. But since he hadn't Anakin's mechanical genius he doubted he could get the ship even of the ground. So searching for a lift was his only option.
One of the scrap-dealers pointed him to a cantina where freighter pilots drank their way through their payment. Even the Force nudged him in that direction. The place was built from the same sand coloured stone as everything else on this frying pan of a planet and looked quite run down. A red coloured speeder was parked in front. Ordering Arfour to wait outside and electroshock anybody who might want to steel a droid he pulled his hood deeper into his face. Being recognized would bring a whole lot of complications he absolutely didn't need.
Obi-Wan stepped into the shadowed hallway and promptly ran into a kid who stood there and goggled into the cantina. Making it look like he shoved the boy out of the way he walked up to the bar keeper and ordered a drink. Asking around it soon became clear that none of these pilots would travel anywhere near the core regions. He sighed taking a sip from his glass.
His focus returned to the kid who just sent his protocol droid and a little Artoo unit out of the door. The force nudged in the back of his mind to keep an eye on the boy like he somehow attracted trouble. True to his instincts he watched the boy as he picked a fight with two nasty looking aliens. An old man tried to prevent the situation from becoming ugly and it ended with a severed arm and a blue lightsaber glowing in the twilight of the bar.
Obi-Wan grinned behind his drink. One could always trust in the Force; it led him right to another Jedi. The old man was probably a Jedi Master and the kid his Padawan. He couldn't get a reading on the master's presence that meant he possessed strong shields, the kind of which were rarely thought outside of the council. So he could probably trust the old man. Although the boy had no shielding whatsoever he shone brightly in the Force, nearly as strong as Anakin. Therefore he could rule out the possibility that they were Darksiders. He got up and followed the pair to a table were a Wookie and another human were seated. Obi-Wan took up a position near the niche so he could follow the conversation if he enhanced his hearing with the Force.
"Chewwie tells me you want to the Alderaan system." The man who introduced himself as Han Solo raised his eyebrow inquisitively.
"That's right." The old Jedi answered. "If you have a fast ship"
"A fast ship?" Solo sounded indignant. "Have you never heard of the Millennium Falcon? That ship made the Kessel-Run in less than twelve parsec, if that means something to you. I even shook off the imperial star ships and I'm not talking about the local traffic cruisers. I mean the over dimensional Correllian ones. Fast enough for you old man." Obi-Wan frowned; Imperial star ships? Last time he checked there was no Empire anywhere near Tatooine not even in the entire Sector.
After a pause Solo inquired: "What freight?"
"Myself, the boy, two droids and no questions asked." The Spacer chuckled at the answer from the Jedi.
At that point Obi-Wan decided to join in on the conversation. "Make those three passengers and three droids." He took a seat next to the old master. "And no questions either."
At that the old Jedi pressed his deactivated lightsaber into Obi-Wan's side. There was no malice or evil intent coming from the old Master but a sense of caution permeated the Force around the table. Slowly he pulled his hood back and revealed the hilt of his own lightsaber to the other Jedi. The old master's face lit up in recognition and confusion then he nodded. "Three passengers and three droids" The young student stared at his master in bewilderment.
Even the captain looked quite surprised at this new development until the wheels in his mind turned back to business. "Ok. That's ten thousand for all of you together, in advance."
"Ten thousand?" the kid exclaimed shocked. "We could by the ship for that." The boy was in the motion of getting up but his master dragged him back down. Obi-Wan could sympathize with the master's exasperated look. It was the kind of behavior typical for boys in their late teens. Anakin had exhibited it quite frequently.
"Five thousand now and another ten when we reach our destination" Obi-Wan offered.
Raising an eyebrow Solo accepted. "Fifteen? Fine, you got your ship. Landing platform ninety-four; come as soon as you are ready."
They quickly and quietly left the Cantina to collect their droids. On their way out they nearly ran into soldiers clad in the uniform of Clone troopers and only the old Master's weird behaviour kept him from approaching them and asking for a ride back to Coruscant. The old man practically dragged him into the opposite direction.
"What was that about?" Obi-Wan questioned the Jedi. The old man looked around to observe their surroundings making sure no one could eardrop.
"Yes." The boy exclaimed. "What the hell is going on? And who is this suspicious guy?" He pointed at Obi-Wan. The master turned towards his apprentice.
"Luke, go ahead and start searching for a merchant who could be willing to buy your speeder." The boy frowned in confusion but nodded and followed his Master's instructions. The older Jedi pulled Obi-Wan into a dark alley. If he hadn't felt the benevolent intentions from the other man he would have drawn his lightsaber. Nevertheless the instincts honed by the war kept him on alert.
The man looked over his shoulder. "Those soldiers aren't the clones you know, Master Obi-Wan. These men are storm troopers, soldiers of the Empire."
"Empire? That's the second time I've heard about it. But last time I checked there wasn't an Empire around Tatooine anywhere." Slowly Obi-Wan began to wonder if it had been the right decision to join the old man on their journey to Alderaan. Perhaps that was the reason he hadn't seen him in the temple before. Perhaps he was an exiled Jedi who had become mentally instable and thus lived as a hermit somewhere in the desert.
"Well that's because the last time you checked was over twenty years ago." A dry smile blossomed on the old Jedi's face.
"Sorry? Well that-" Now it was official he had come across a senile Jedi.
"-sounds like complete and utter nonsense and you believe that I'm crazy." The other man finished Obi-Wan's sentence with a wry smile.
"Something along the line." he answered.
"I can prove it to you." The Jedi smiled reassuringly. "Close your eyes and open your right hand."
How would the old man prove such an unbelievable thesis like he had travelled twenty years into the future? So Obi-Wan decided to humour the other Jedi and held up his opened hand. "Feel" He was instructed as a cylindrical object was placed in his hand. He reached out with the Force and the Force signature in the crystals was unmistakable. Shocked he opened his eyes. That was his lightsaber lying in his hand. He reached with his left hand for the hilt on his belt and brought that up to compare them. The same design, identical down to the last screw, the only difference was that the blade in his right hand looked more worn than his own. How was this possible? He looked at the man across from him. He looked smaller than Obi-Wan but not because of growth but because it seemed as if the weight of the entire galaxy lay on his shoulders. The hair had grown white prematurely because of stress and another reason Obi-Wan could easily name as Anakin. But the steel blue eyes still held the intelligence and hope for a better universe Obi-Wan saw when looking into a mirror; hope that had been there as a young Padawan and as it seemed would still be there when he had grown old.
"Great, Anakin is right. I'm old." A dry half smile appeared on his face mirrored by a sad one on his older self's face. "What happened?"
"Not here. I'll explain when we are in hyperspace. Now our priority is to get off this sandy excuse for a planet."
"I couldn't agree more" postponing the discussion was the most sensible thing to do in their situation especially because the stormtroopers seemed to be after Kenobi and his student. Stepping out into the busier streets both Jedi Masters pulled their hoods deeper into their face.
After Luke had sold his landspeeder they made it to the ship relatively unscathed considering that they had been shot at.
Disclaimer: The Star Wars Universe belongs to George Lucas. No wait he sold it to Disney. Anyway it isn't mine.
AN: This is work in progress and I write when I have time which isn't often. I try to update once a month but I can't promise anything. Have fun reading.