Sheev Palpatine loved power. He loved the feeling of having the galaxy at his fingertips, pulling the strings and manipulating it to his design. Most of all, he loved having everything go according to plan. The best feeling in the galaxy was when one of his plans went off without a hitch, propelling him even closer to the seat of galactic power. It had taken deliberate thinking and planning to get to where he was, and it would take even more thought to get him where he wanted to go.
He would be the most powerful being in the Galaxy, and the Jedi would never see it coming. The Sith would rise again, stronger than ever, and the Jedi would fall, cursed with their own misfortune.
The Sith would get their long-awaited revenge. Soon.
Ah! He could sense the Jedi fools heading towards his office now, at the Chancellor's desperate summons. They had agreed to meet with him in private to hear his request, as planned. The Chancellor didn't really need to meet with them in private, he just wanted to be able to feel the cogs turn oh so slowly in the Jedi's minds. He always got a kick out of that.
Time to go back to being the kindly, naive Chancellor the Jedi knew.
Chancellor Palpatine smiled at the window, and then turned around, ready to accommodate his visitors.
The door slid open, revealing Yoda and Mace Windu. The Jedi masters looked calm and serene, but the force betrayed their emotions. Sidious could sense their contempt and distrust of him, and their arrogance. They didn't believe that anyone would be able to see through their facades, or that anyone would be able to topple them from their seat of power. Corruption at its finest.
Fools. Weren't they the ones who alerted the Chancellor to the threat of the Sith after the blockade of Naboo?
Yoda spoke first, interrupting the Chancellor's ruminations. "Greetings, Chancellor. Here to hear your request, we are."
Sidious smiled a kindly smile at his visitors, masking his irritation.
"Greetings, masters. Yesterday, I received an urgent message from Jabba the Hutt, asking for our help on an urgent mission. A few days ago, his son Rotta was kidnapped from Jabba's stronghold on Tatooine. Jabba, being the suspicious creature he is, does not trust any of his bounty hunters to find his son. Instead, he asked for the best of the best, and I promised him that. Will you be able to send some Jedi to find Jabba's dear, kidnapped son?"
Sidious could sense Windu's annoyance at his suggestion almost immediately. He frowned internally. Windu always was a pain. He'd have to tell Vader to leave Windu to him once the deed was done. He would enjoy killing him. Preferably slowly.
Windu then decided that it was a good time to voice his irritation. "Your pardon, Chancellor, but why should we lend our services to the outer rim? The Jedi are busy enough dealing with the Separatists in civilized space. We have no one left to send."
Sidious almost groaned, but maintained his politician's facade. He rolled his eyes internally. The Sith master was going to enjoy the day when he could hack Mace Windu into pieces.
Time to play his trump card.
"Well, Master Windu, Jabba also did hint that if the Jedi didn't go, he would send the Separatists. If they got the favor of the Hutts, they would be able to glean the coordinates to the Hutt's hyperspace routes without any difficulty, expanding their reach. And we wouldn't want that, would we?"
Master Windu glared and looked at his feet. The Chancellor smiled at him, triumphant. He had won this round.
Windu looked at his boots, cowed by Palpatine's superior logic. Yoda looked at Windu, having decided that arguing against the Chancellor was no use.
"Send two Jedi, we will," responded the small, green Jedi. "Returned soon, Jabba's son will be."
Palpatine smiled, pleased. Everything was going to plan.
"Follow me gentlemen," he said, beckoning the Jedi towards the door with his hand, "I will show you the way out."
The shuttle's comm rang loudly, startling Ahsoka out of her nap.
Ugh, she thought, why now? I don't land for another 2 hours! Isn't only 1000 or something?
Ahsoka looked at the ship's clock. The bright display read 1200, which meant her alarm didn't wake her up on time. As usual.
Sithspit! I'm already there, and I didn't even notice!
The comm's insistent beeping continued. Ahsoka shot out of the chair she had napped in with speed only a Jedi possessed, and answered.
The comm lit up, projecting the image of a regal-looking officer. His rank pin signified that he was an admiral. At least, that was what Ahsoka thought. She had always paid more attention in her combat classes than her general ones.
"Incoming Republic Shuttle, this is the Negotiator. Please state your business and cargo."
Ahsoka took a deep breath. The Negotiator was Master Kenobi's ship, so she would probably be working with this admiral quite often. Now was not the time to make a bad first impression.
She cleared her throat nervously.
"Hello! I'm Ahsoka Tano… I was sent by Master Yoda."
Nice job sounding official, Ahsoka. Nice.
The Admiral nodded, and then continued speaking.
"Very well. You are clear to land."
Ahsoka thanked the admiral, and then shut off the comm.
Gee, way to make a good first impression, Ahsoka. Well, I hope that Master Kenobi doesn't get too mad at me!
A clone trooper named Boil led Ahsoka to the Negotiator's bridge. He didn't introduce himself, but Ahsoka had asked his name out of friendliness. If she was going to stay here, she should at least make some friends, right?
Plus, chatting with Boil kept her from thinking about the upcoming meeting with Master Kenobi. Even if the chatting was mostly one-sided.
And then there was Master Kenobi.
Ahsoka had gone over what she knew about Master Kenobi before her nap. She had heard that he had never taken a padawan before her, which was surprising, given that he had been a Jedi knight for over a decade. He must have decided to wait a while before he took a student, instead of jumping right in like most young Jedi Knights.
She had also heard rumors that Kenobi was the first Jedi in over one thousand years to take down a Sith lord. Ahsoka was definitely going to have to ask him for the story behind that one at some point. That must have been epic.
The soft sound of the lift door opening interrupted her thoughts.
And then Ahsoka saw the bridge.
Clone troopers and the occasional republic officer scurried around, carrying datapads across the bridge or doing other business for their superiors. The dimly-lit space almost seemed alive with the amount of people hustling and bustling about.
Ahsoka looked around in wonder, soaking in the sights and sounds of the bridge. It was nothing at all like the Jedi Temple in which she had grown up in, which was demure and silent, not bustling and busy.
This. Is. So. COOL!
As she walked to the front of the bridge, she wondered what it would be like to work on the bridge.
She heard a soft chuckle from in front of her.
Master Kenobi walked up to her. As a Jedi master, he must have been able to sense her emotions from across the bridge.
The Jedi master stopped chuckling, and smiled. Then he turned to Ahsoka.
"So, you are the messenger Master Yoda sent us?"
Ahsoka snapped to attention. She really had to get better at not spacing out. After all, spacing out in the middle of a battle could mean a nasty death from the end of a Battle Droid's blaster, and that wouldn't be very good.
"Yes, sir! Padawan Ahsoka Tano, at your service!"
Master Kenobi's eyebrows shot up slightly, and then his face settled into a look of realization. He bowed in respect, and then straightened up.
"Ah, you must be the Padawan I requested quite a while ago! Well, as I'm sure you already know, I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi, your new master. I look forward to working with you."
Ahsoka bowed back to her master.
"As do I," she replied, trying to sound as professional as possible. She straightened up, smiling.
Master Kenobi smiled at her, and then cut to the chase.
"So, young one, what did Master Yoda tell you?"
Ahsoka looked away. "Master Yoda only told me to tell you that he'd send you a message when I arrived here…"
Kenobi nodded. "I see, so the message should be coming in any minute now."
Ahsoka nodded, looking away. Master Kenobi wasn't anywhere near as bad as she thought he would be. She hoped that they would be able to work well together, especially after he discovered some of her... undesirable quirks.
The ships comm beeped with an incoming call. A few seconds later, Admiral Yularen ushered Obi-Wan to the briefing room, with Ahsoka following along. The glowing hologram of Yoda awaited them.
"Greetings, Master Kenobi, Padawan Tano. Urgent business, this is."
Obi-Wan nodded. "What is your message for us, master?"
"Sending you on a new mission, I am. Called out for a different mission, you were, but kidnapped, Jabba the Hutt's son has been. Unknown, the culprit is. Find him, you must."
"Apologies, Master, but shouldn't Bounty Hunters be finding Jabba's son, not us?"
Ahsoka looked at her new master, wondering why he had asked that question. After all, Yoda had just said that this mission was important. If Yoda had said so, then it must be.
"Distrusts his court after the kidnapping, Jabba does."
"Ah, I understand." Kenobi replied.
Yoda coughed, annoyed at being interrupted. "Continuing on, I will be."
The wizened Jedi master cleared his throat, and then continued.
"Also, Hyperspace routes we may gain if we recover the huttlet. Very good for escape and transport in the future, these will be. Crucial these will be for winning the war."
Kenobi stroked his beard, deep in thought, before turning back to Yoda.
"Do you have any other orders for us?"
"Retreat from Christophsis, you should. Send Master Fisto and his troops in your stead, I will."
"Very well. Thank you, Master. I will make the preparations to retreat as soon as possible."
Yoda nodded. "May the force be with you," he said.
"And you, Master."
The hologram of Yoda faded, leaving only Obi-Wan and Ahsoka in the briefing room.
Kenobi broke the silence.
"Well then, shall we get started?"
Ahsoka nodded, eager to start her first mission.
Hey! Sorry for taking so long to update! I don't really have a schedule, but I've decided that I'm going to update every 2-3 weeks. Hopefully sooner, but writer's block is getting to be a real pain.
Anyway, please favorite, follow, and review!
