Author's Note: I know this is starting rather slow, but I'd still appreciate a note to see what you think of this piece, even in its early days. Thank you!
Part II: Pain From an Old Wound
Ahsoka considered the Death Watch commander's plea before responding, "I'm your only hope? How did you get my contact information, the last time we saw each other I wanted to decapitate you. And you were sacking a village." Ahsoka's temper had not exactly been tamed in her time away from the Jedi.
Bo-Katan Kryze slowly nodded her head, she waited a moment before ultimately deciding to give Ahsoka the hook, "You are not being overheard I hope?"
Ahsoka rolled her eyes at the question. "I'm not an amateur."
Bo-Katan nodded again before changing everything, "I'm also the only reason General Obi-Wan Kenobi left Mandalore alive following the death of my sister, the mother of his child."
What.
No, that wasn't possible, how could–no. He was a Jedi! Like, the most Jedi of the Jedi other than Luminara, Barriss before her fall, and Yoda.
Ahsoka's response was perfectly predictable, "No, that's impossible. Not true. He is a Jedi, they are forbidden from having attachments of any kind, never mind fathering children." Although, Anakin is also a Jedi, and he's been with Padme for years now. But he's always been…different, not like Obi-Wan or the others.
Bo-Katan brought both her hands up and removed her helmet, slowly. Ahsoka gasped, the Mandalorian commando was beautiful, though in a haunting kind of way; her irises were yellow, not unlike Sith degradation, though a few shades lighter. Her button nose was slightly pink, contrasting her pale complexion. Bo-Katan's scarlet hair was slickly tied back, so it didn't interfere with her sight.
Bo-Katan smirked at Ahsoka's reaction, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I think I would remember when my sister came home from a year on the run with her belly large with her child. She was exclusively in the company of Obi-Wan Kenobi, a how do you Jedi say? He was a Padawan at the time. He was no older than you actually." She didn't wait for Ahsoka's look of shock before continuing, "This is in the past. Right now, I am asking for the aide of somebody who can stand toe to toe with this monster who killed my sister and my commander. Darth Maul must fall, and I need your help."
She's not lying to me. Obi-Wan has a son! This was immediately followed by he doesn't know. He can't, he would've left the order if he did. "I will help you." After all, how can I let a chance to do some legitimate peacekeeping go to waste? Barriss would never forgive me if I did. And neither would I. "But in return for my help, Death Watch cannot assume control. If you rule, it will be by consent of the governed of Mandalore, and no more massacres. Promise me." Ahsoka's tone broke no argument, and Bo-Katan didn't offer any.
"Thank you Jedi." Bo-Katan offered, noticeably less tense.
"Bo-Katan," Ahsoka began seriously, "Never call me a Jedi again." she finished, taking the Mandalorian aback with her vehemence with which Ahsoka pronounced Jedi.
"Duly noted, Lady Tano," Bo-Katan said with a slight lilt to her voice, highlighting her new nickname. Ahsoka rolled her eyes.
"I'm no Lady. Aren't you though, being the sister of Mandalore's rightful Duchess?" Ahsoka shot back.
"I kill people, Lady Tano, my sister would have broken her code of non-violence to deny a monster like me the title of nobility," Bo-Katan replied with forced casualty.
"Ok, so where would you like to meet to discuss this coup in greater detail" Ahsoka asked kindly enough. Her implication was clear, she was already sold, and judging by the tilt of Bo-Katan's eyebrows, she knew it too.
"Concord Dawn." Bo-Katan replied immediately. "Our base is on the moon. It's the only fortress of ours that we've been able to keep from Darth Maul's reach successfully. We've also accumulated non-Death Watch allies; you'll be pleased to know. If there's anything Mandalorians understand, it's that the greater enemy unites internal squabbles." The Mandalorian finished proudly, though Ahsoka couldn't help but feel the moral sacrifice of working with war criminals was going to take its inevitable toll on her, and all those who rallied to Bo-Katan's aide.
"Very well, Concord Dawn it is." Ahsoka agreed despite her minor misgivings.
Galactic Republic Prison: Rogue Division
Commander Fox was having a normal day, as well as could be expected with his requested post: guarding the traitor Barriss Offee. After she was quickly convicted of all of Ahsoka Tano's supposed crimes, the Miralian ex-Jedi was disavowed as a Jedi Knight of the Grand Republic, disavowed as a General in the Army of the Grand Republic, and thrown to rot in solitary confinement for the rest of her life.
Fox did not enjoy his post here, every time he walked the halls. The clone commander saw the ghosts of his friends: Jumper, Tarry, and Fel. It was his duty, his men died because he wasn't there to defend them, or at the very least die by their side, standing against the impossible odds of the Rogue Jedi.
There was another reason he chose to serve in near solitude; ARC Trooper Five's last words still replayed in his head every day. I only wanted to do my duty. Though he knew that he wasn't the only one haunted by what he had come to see after almost a year of reflection as a reactionary act of violence.
The Prisoner was allowed to watch the hologram of her trial, the only piece of media that Admiral Tarkin had seen fit to allow. It was actually part of a larger piece of legislation he helped through the senate that only happened to apply to the Prisoner under his watch; prisoners in the Republic should be allowed to see the moments their lives were sealed within the walls they now lived, their trials.
He watched her every day, and every day without fail, she watched the court proceedings of Ahsoka Tano. The Prisoner was allowed to see Ahsoka Tano's trial because Fox asked for it. He reasoned with Admiral Tarkin that the crimes for which the former Commander Tano was prosecuted were really Barriss' all along, and she was sentenced that week, the jury didn't need to hear anymore, they were eager to convict the rogue Jedi.
But today was different. The sun was rising, and it was the first year anniversary of the trial. And the monitors showed that Prisoner didn't play the full holo-recording; just the end of it, on loop, from when she herself was brought into the courtroom by General Skywalker. The Prisoner had grown out her silky hair, which now extended to the small of her back, no longer held together in the hair tie she used upon entry. Her hair also fell lightly around her eyes, slightly obscuring them, but in the absence of her mournful sapphire orbs, Fox could tell they were shut at the moment. She sat ramrod straight in contemplation, meditation. Fox strained to see her as the image on his monitor frizzled a little, but what he saw brought a sickly small grin of grim satisfaction to his face; which he hid from the world by his omnipresent red tinted helmet.
Commander Fox's Prisoner, Barriss Offee, was indeed weeping.