Well there I was, the fourth player in what I had no doubt would be a farce and I was just praying wouldn't turn out to be a tragedy. The disguises that we were about to be provided with were not nearly as dreadful as I had pessimistically predicated to myself that they would be. After being given our mission by the council, Master Kenobi once again guided us through the Temple, finally bringing us at a small door, in a rather less imposing part of building.
Commander Tano frowned "I've never been here before, where are?"
Kenobi smiled "we like to be self sufficient here in the temple Ahsoka, as you know. It would be rather undignified for a Jedi Knight, if he or she required a disguise for just such a mission as yours, if they had nowhere to turn except a fancy dress shop. Therefore we have a department that specializes in disguises, false documents and so on, for members of our Order when they undertake secret missions and wish to remain incognito".
Kenobi knocked on the door and after some time it slid back to reveal a tiny shrivelled old woman. She came up to just above my elbow, had her snow white hair in a bun at the back of her head and wore a simple Jedi robe. She bore, although I didn't know it at the time, a striking resemblance to Jocasta Nu, the Jedi librarian; unsurprisingly, as she was her elder sister. The ancient Jedi smiled at us "ahh, I thought that you would be along presently, all four of your costumes have been prepared".
"But" asked Skywalker in amazement "how did you know there would be four of us? The Council only just decided to include Captain Hawk in the mission".
To this the old woman only smiled again and said "come along dearies, we haven't got much time I hear". She led us through the doorway into a room the like of which I'd never seen. As long and wide as a cathedral, the walls lined with rack upon rack of cloths, boxes and draws. The floor space was taken up by workbenches, wooden partitions, yet more boxes, and piles of loose clothing everywhere. The Jedi, whose name was Master Merope Nu, wound her way easily between the crates and desks, with Anakin, Ahsoka, Kenobi, Rex and I struggling along in her wake. At last we reached a row of four cubicles, outside of which stood what looked like a regiment of Master Merope's assistants.
We were each shepherded unceremoniously into the cubicles, with Master Kenobi remaining outside. I won't bore you with a full description of my dressing; the search for items that would fit me, the repeated changes of mind by my aides and so on. Needless to say the process would have been tedious in the extreme, if it hadn't been for the fact that one of Merope's underlings was an extremely attractive young lady, from Naboo to judge by her ascent. She was suitably impressed by my battle scars (thank the Force I didn't have many to show her) and by my war stories (thank my abilities as liar that I did).
Eventually when the last finishing touches had been made to my disguise I was permitted to view myself in the room's full length mirror. My costume was as follows; a dark brown jerkin, aged but well worn gauntlets, greaves and pauldrons, a thick cloak and a helmet. The helmet concealed the upper half of my face, thereby (hopefully) assuring that I would not be recognized as a clone. At my side and under my left arm I carried a brace of pistols, DT-12s, heavy duty blasters, with enough stopping power to bring down a charging bull wampa. I was supposed to be a bounty hunter, and I had to admit that they had made a pretty good job of it. However I was about to discover that not all the member of our party had fared so well at Master Merope's hands.
Upon exiting the dressing room I was confronted by a spectacle that truly had to be seen to be believed. Captain Rex sat on a bench, dressed ludicrously in a shabby green and red poncho, a large slouch hat and a bandana concealing his nose and mouth. Slung across his back Rex was carrying a DC-15x sniper rifle, which looked a little battered but no less dangerous than the day it was made. I've never seen a get up to match it; if you'd asked a four year old child to draw you a picture of a bandit you would be presented with something that probably looked rather more credible than Rex. Rex pulled down his bandana and grinned at me in a slightly embarrassed way "I'm a mercenary from Tatooine apparently, they err, said I looked the part".
He looked the part of a prize idiot as far as I was concerned but what I said out loud was "why Jango Fett wouldn't recognize you captain! A better disguise I'm yet to see". There was no point telling the poor bugger that if Coruscant's criminals didn't see through his disguise instantly the only possible reason would be because they were laughing too hard to think straight. A few minutes later Skywalker appeared, dressed in a red robe and hood, and carrying a black walking stick (inside which I had no doubt was concealed his lightsaber). He was playing the part of a smuggler captain or some such rot, and at least looked suitably threatening.
The last of our party to emerge from their cubical was Ahsoka; and when she did it was obvious why. If I hadn't know it was her I'd never have recognized it was my commander; her skin had been dyed light blue-green, her montrals bound up in a tight fitting purple silk turban, and down her back hung a pair of artificial thick blue head-tails, concealing her own, of the kind seen on Twi'leks. She wore a long sleeved dress, of the same colour as her turban, and, looking rather out of place, a small blaster pistol of a variety that I didn't recognize in a holster at her waist. All three of us were taken completely by surprise by the apparition, with Skywalker, Obi-Wan and I looking simply incredulous, and Rex starring as if in a daze.
Ahsoka smiled apologetically "sorry I was awhile, but they insisted on all this". She turned to Skywalker "I'm your secretary or something. I'm the one who makes notes of all the illegal stuff we're carting around". She looked at her much altered appearance in a nearby mirror and grimaced "I hope this skin dye is reversible".
Skywalker chuckled "well I don't think we need worry about anyone recognizing us, especially you Snips, don't you agree Rex, Hawk?"
I nodded "no sir, Master Merope's done a fine job" which by my standards was almost the truth. Rex, who temporarily seemed to have lost the power of speech, simply nodded.
Obi-Wan looked us all up and down, stroking his beard thoughtfully "you will all do very nicely I think" he said at last "Anakin and Ahsoka will be together, a smuggler and his young assistant. Captains Rex and Hawk, you will both act alone".
So there we were, poised to dive head first into Coruscant's criminal underworld, on a mad cap mission to find a nest of terrorists and stop them before they turned the Jedi temple into a smoking crater. Both Skywalker and Ahsoka were raring to go, looking on the whole thing as an exciting adventure. Dress up, sneak around a bit, find the bad guys, out with the lightsabers and save the day. Right up their streets. Rex of course was as stoic as usual, just another mission, glad to give my life for the republic, a soldiers duty and plenty more garbage along those lines. As far as I was concerned the mission stank like a cargo ship full of bantha dung. I just knew that the whole damn thing was going to be a complete unmitigated disaster; I hate being right.
