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The Mission
"Now, this will be your first mission on the field," Master Billaba told Caleb, who was listening intently and with no small amount of excitement. They were finally going on the field. After years of training as a youngling, he had been chosen by Master Depa Billaba to become her Padawan, but he had to wait two more months before she decided he was ready to see some 'true' action.
"I know you are quite capable," his Master continued, "but I must impressed on you the need to follow my orders or the captain's. This mission won't be on the front lines, but that doesn't mean it'll be without danger." With a nod from Caleb, she led the way toward the hangar.
"I don't care what they say," an angry voice caught Caleb's attention. "I know she needs help, I can feel it." It was Master Skywalker, he realized, Master Kenobi following him, far calmer, as he answered, "I'm worried about her too, Anakin, but she is beyond the Order's help. We can't interfere with her life anymore, she made her choice."
"And you would let her face whatever danger she found herself in without even trying to find out? We were the one turning our back on her!" Master Skywalker accused his Master. "I thought Jedi were supposed to help those in need."
"They are," Master Kenobi sighed, "but our first duty goes to the Republic. And honestly, Anakin, I always thought she possessed far more common sense than you. I'm sure whatever troubles she's in, she'll do fine. Now, please, can we concentrate on getting this mission over with?" Grumbling, Master Skywalker followed Master Kenobi on the ship.
Looking to his Master, Caleb noticed she had also stopped walking to watch the two Knight's argument.
"Master?" he hesitantly called, "Who were they talking about?" Who, indeed, could cause such a strong reaction in a Jedi Knight, and how did he even knew that person was in any kind of danger?
Master Billaba gazed at him seriously, before asking a question of her own, "Have you ever heard about one named Ahsoka Tano?"
"Ahsoka Tano? The traitor?" Depa's response was so swift, he couldn't have stopped it even if he knew it was coming. Her hand came down on him, backhanding him hard on the cheek.
"Never," she hissed, "never let me hear you call her that again." Stunned, he looked at her. His cheek was burning. Why would she hit him?
She passed a hand through her hair, clearly agitated, "Who told you such lies?"
"I… I heard the other Padawans speaking about her, and calling her that. I'm sorry, Master." He looked down.
"Ahsoka Tano is no traitor." His Master stated, "She was accused of a crime, yes, but she was proven innocent. She disappeared after that. But you will never call her a traitor again, is that clear? She was a great Jedi, entirely dedicated to the Republic."
"Yes, Master," he answered, properly chastised.
"Good, then let's get going."
They had entered the hyperspace when Caleb shyly asked again.
"Were Master Kenobi and Skywalker talking about her, then?"
Billaba turned to face him, "Yes, it would seem Master Skywalker thinks she is in some kind of danger and is trying to convince the Council to send someone looking for her. But as she no longer belongs to the Jedi Order, the Council refuses times and times again his request."
They stayed silent for a while, a question burning in Caleb's head, but after Master Billaba's unexpected reaction in the hangar, he was weary of asking them.
"She was Master Skywalker's Padawan," she suddenly spoke up, looking right at him, as if having read his mind.
Their mission was to bring some supplies to a couple of settlements on a far away planet. The Separatist hadn't yet turned their attention to the small system, which remained neutral. But bad weather in the last five years had left the inhabitants struggling to survive on their meagre resources. Master Billaba's and Caleb's mission was to bring supplies to several settlements, and keeping an eye out for any unusual activities.
By the fourth settlement, Caleb was already bored. He had hoped there would be at least some action, but the mission was just plainly dull. They would arrived, exchanged a few words with the person in charge, unloaded their supplies, been thanked by overjoyed people and move to the next village.
His attention diverted from his Master's conversation with the leader of this small community, to the forest surrounding them. Having spent his whole life, or nearly, on Coruscent, he had never seen so much green in one place, nor trees this big.
Intrigued, he walked out of the clearing and in the forest. No one saw him slipping away. He wasn't going far, anyway, just looking around a bit. Yet, without him knowing it, from one flower to a tree to a small butterfly-looking animal, he was straying farther and farther away from the clearing.
It wasn't until his stomach grumbled that he looked around him, suddenly finding himself a bit lost. Where did he come from? He tried to retrace his steps, but had to admit that he was, for one, not a good tracker at all and for two, utterly lost. 'Don't fret,' he thought, 'keep calm, Master Billaba will come to find you.' Well, he hoped so, anyway. Now, was it best to wait where he was, or to try and find the clearing?
"You're lost." Startled, Caleb whirled around, trying to find the source of the voice.
"Who's there?" he exclaimed, "Show yourself!"
His hand found his lightsaber, holding it in a protective stance. A small laugh preceded a figure hurling in the air from a high branch and landing smoothly in a crouch.
"You're lost," the figure repeated. "This isn't a good place for lost boys, there is danger around, especially when the night comes."
Caleb's grip on his saber tightened, "Who are you?" he asked again.
"A friend," the figure, Caleb deduced from its voice was a female, answered, "And right now, your guide, it would seems. Follow me."
Caleb tried to probe her as his Master had taught him, to get a feel from her emotions, but he was met with an unexpected strong shield. The woman didn't look as she had felt his probe and strode away under the trees. She was about to disappear when Caleb made up his mind and ran after her to catch up. At the very last, she knew the forest better than him.
They walked in silence, until Caleb's curiosity, or maybe the lengthening shadows, probed him to speak, "What's your name?"
Her steps faltered slightly, he must have surprise her. Well, it was only payback from earlier, he thought smugly.
"You can call me Snika." She paused before adding, "And you? From your lightsaber, I can deduce you're a Jedi."
"I'm Caleb Dum, Padawan learner under Master Depa Billaba." Caleb answered proudly.
"Padawan? How old are you?"
"I'm fifteen! I was made Padawan two months ago. This is my first real mission." Enthusiastically, he began describing their mission to her. She listened absentmindedly to his ranting.
He finally stopped talking and took his time to study her instead, falling a few steps behind her. She was wearing a cloak, hiding her features under a hood. The cloak fell short of her hips, and was opened on the front, allowing her great liberty in her movements. She wore a short skirt, and high boots. To her hip were strapped two long knives. Her hands were covered in gloves, which went up to her elbows. He couldn't guess her age, nor her specie with her head covered. A small breeze picked up, shifting her cloak enough for Caleb to glimpse an angry scar starting over her glove and vanishing under her cloak, over orange skin.
She interrupted his musings, "There you are, your Master is just ahead of us." She turned to face him, "Could you do me a favour?"
"It depends," he answered, guarded. Jedi weren't supposed to favour anyone, they were to remain neutral between the different worlds they were protecting. "What is it?"
She seemed to appraise him from behind her hood. "Warn the Jedi strange things are stirring here. Things that should not be…"
She was about to walk away when he called back, "Wait! What strange things?"
She didn't have time to answer as they both heard Master Billaba's voice "Caleb!" He faced in the direction of the call, only to see her appeared seconds later. "Caleb!" she cried in relief "Where have you been? I was worried, you should know better than to leave like this, on your own. I feared you were lost."
"I was," he interrupted her, "but then, Snika found me and led me back to you. Thanks, Snika…" His voice faltered as he looked around him.
She had disappeared back in the forest, leaving no sign of her presence behind.
Master Billaba looked at him before taking her comlink out and speaking to her captain "It's alright, Captain Cade, I found him. Please call your men back to the ship."
"Copy that, General."
"Let's go, Caleb," she addressed her young Padawan. "And please, tell me everything that happened since you left the clearing."
"So, she said nothing about what those things could be?" Master Billaba quickly resumed the situation.
"No, Master, she just gave me that warning, then disappeared."
The night had fallen by the time they reached the clearing and the ship, and Master Billaba had decided to stay there for the night.
"We'd better contact the Council," she declared, "I do not like the sound of it."
The Council didn't like it either, although they remained sceptic about the informant's reliance.
They discussed it for a long time, before Master Yoda finally decided, "In the forest, investigate you will. Handling the supplies, some of the clones will. Searching for the disturbance this Snika spoke of, you must."
"Very well, Masters," both Caleb and his Master bowed to the council before the projections blinked out of life.
"Well, it seems you'll get some action, after all." Depa smiled at him. "Go and rest, I'll arrange for the transport to go on its course while keeping some clones here. We'll have a busy day tomorrow."
On the next morning, Master Billaba, along with her Padawan and a dozen clones, entered the forest as the rest of their force went back to their deliveries. The morning passed quietly, nothing out of the ordinary happening.
After their midday break, they decided to split in two groups, in order to cover more ground. "Keep your comlink on the whole time," instructed Caleb's Master, "and call me if you find anything."
"Yes, Master."
They each took half the clones and wandered off again.
Caleb was truly starting to believe Snika had led them on a wild goose chase when he finally heard movements in the bushes. Holding up his hand, he indicated the clones to stay still as they all listened. They heard more rustling in the undergrowth, before an enormous beast barged in front of them. It was easily two meters high, the form vaguely catlike, though without the tail. Its sharp fangs were gleaming with what could only be poison and its underbelly, as well as its neck, was armoured with scales. It snarled at them and Caleb roused himself enough to call his Master while Captain Cade shouted orders to fight the beast off.
"I think we found something, Master," he told her, "and it's not very happy right now, we're engaging it."
"Very well, we're on our way."
Caleb ended the conversation and appraised the situation. The clones were firing at the beast, but it only managed to incense it, as the shots bounced harmlessly on the scales. A few shots had found their marks on the unprotected skin, and blood was starting to blossom on the beast otherwise dark fur.
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Caleb rushed to the clones' help. He had only taken one sweep, almost surprised it hit the beast true, when a blur flew over his head and landed on the beast's neck. He recognized Snika as she swung her two long knives into the beast's neck. The beast gave a roar, trying to dislodge her, but she held on, pushing the knives deeper.
"Take cover!" Caleb ordered as he saw the beast swaying. The clones scattered, just in time as the beast fell, Snika jumping clear of it before it could crush her.
"Snika!" he greeted, walking toward her.
"Strange things like this," she answered, as if their conversation from the last evening hadn't been interrupted.
Her hood had fallen during her battle, revealing a young Togruta woman, no more than twenty, whose brows were furrowed in pain. When she reached for her right tight, Caleb saw in horror that the flesh there seemed to be boiling, blood sputtering from her leg.
"Darn," she murmured, then louder, "Do not touch the blood, it's poisonous! You, kid," she added in Caleb's direction, "go to that tree and bring me some moss growing on the trunk, will you?" Unsure what else to do, Caleb nodded and hurried to the tree.
He came back quickly with the desired moss, and Snika took it from his hands with a thanks. She used it to clean her wound carefully, before asking, "You wouldn't happen to have some bandages, would you?" Nodding, he called to one of the clones, who swiftly handed him some.
He watched in concern as she threw the moss saturated in her blood away, before putting more on her wound and using the bandages to keep it in place.
"Don't worry," she reassured Caleb, "it hurts quite a bit, that's true, but the moss will draw the poison out and it will be fine in no time."
She smiled at him, before raising her hood back on her head, hiding her features once more. "That creature, which is called Rmir in these parts, has something in its blood that will burn and corrode all living thing it touched. A bit like acid, if you will." Caleb nodded mutely, not quite believing what he had seen.
The Togruta stood up and started to clean her blades on the grass, as if fighting monster beasts was an everyday occurrence.
She was wiping the last stain of blood when Master Billaba entered the small space where they fought the Rmir, clones following her. She took a look around her, taking in the beast's fallen form, the clones moving carefully around it and the sight of her Padawan, standing next to an unknown person.
"Caleb," she called out.
"Master! You'll never guess what happened!"
"I think I have some idea," she answered, motioning to the beast, "but I sure would like to know how you came about this thing so quickly."
"Snika did it," answered Caleb, before retelling the last events.
"This is worrisome," Master Windu spoke after their report. "Especially if the locals agree they've never seen this kind of species before."
"They know these beasts," corrected Master Billaba, "but someone, or something, has tampered with them. Snika told us they had 'evolved' in those monstrosities. The Rmirs they knew didn't have burning blood, nor scales on half their bodies. Normally, it's just a great predator, though smaller than this one, using its paralyzing venom on its preys, but not aggressive towards other living beings, unlike this one was."
"And you said the clones' weapons couldn't harm it?"
"The shots simply rebounded on the scales," Caleb answered, "but they did strike in their unprotected sides. Although it only made the beast's loss of blood more dangerous to fight it." Caleb believed that was how Snika got hurt. She couldn't avoid all the blood flying around her from the Rmir numerous wounds. "But my lightsaber stuck it, though I couldn't reach the scales, and Snika's knives were able to kill it."
After conferring with each other, the Masters addressed them again. "Could we speak to this Snika? She might have more answers."
"I'm sorry, Masters, but she refused to come inside the ship when asked." Her refusal had been nearly brutal, Caleb had thought. She had simply stopped at the fringe of the clearing and refused to take another step. No amount of coaxing from his Master had changed her mind. Although they did manage to secure her help in any forthcoming expedition, she had simply declined to board the ship with them and stayed in the forest.
"Kenobi, Skywalker," Master Windu called to the two Knights, "how is your mission progressing?"
"Slowly, I'm afraid," answered Master Kenobi, "but should you need it, I'm sure one of us could handle the situation here while the other heads out to lend a hand to Master Billaba."
"I'll do it," cut in Master Skywalker, "I can be there in three standard hours."
"Then it's settled," concluded Master Windu, "Skywalker will join you to help discover the reason behind all this. May the Force be with you." Depa and Caleb bowed as the holocrons fizzled out of life.