Chapter Two

~ Kya Ranor ~
"All fighters, check in," I said into the headset.

Immediately, voices came through in response to my command. They weren't in order, of course, but by formation. The leaders, who were generally Knights, always reported first. Wingmates were generally either freshly made Knights who were interested in the program or senior Padawans ready to being the Trials very soon who had been recommended to join the program.

"Red 4 standing by."

Garen Muln. He had been one of the pilots in the original program. He was a Knight now, of course; that was why he was one of the formation leaders.

"Red 7 standing by."

Siri Tachi. Another successful Knight, who had once been Obi-Wan's love interest many years ago. Of course, they had both moved on since then, and Siri and I got along rather well now that I was free to disclose my secrets.

"Red Leader standing by."

Obi-Wan. I smiled. The Council had given him the same designation as he had had in my memories – the same designation of the Master Kenobi who had been my Master, that is. Of course, they didn't know that. I still hadn't confided in them the truth about who my Master had been, and I was starting to doubt that I ever would. I confused the Council enough as I was. There was no need to shove more confusing information down their throats.

"Lock foils in attack positions," I ordered, swiveling to the main command screen.

There was no need for the rest of the squadrons to report in; the formation leaders didn't report in until they had checked left and right – or, sometimes up and down – for their wingmates. Besides, with my screens, I could see all nine yellow blips on the screen. Everyone was in position and ready to run the gauntlet.

The Force surged, and for a second my hands froze over the commands. Presences flashed into the Force, like brilliant stars bursting into life. Strength and power flowed into the Force – into me.

Kya!

And then I was back in my command chair, the echoes of Obi-Wan's voice bouncing around in my brain.

I swallowed hard. Despite my growing power and strenuous training, I still sometimes fell prey to the lure of the Force. For all my power, it was one of my greatest weaknesses. And a constant reminder of why it was so important for me to remain close to Obi-Wan.

Thanks, Obi-Wan.

The bond surged with affection before Obi-Wan returned his attention back to the situation at hand.

The surge in the Force had affected all of us, I knew. Some of the wingmates were a little unsteady at the moment; their courses weren't quite as smooth as the leaders. But then again, they were new to this.

"All fighters," I said, "what you just experienced is called a Force-meld. It is used to combine the powers of all the Jedi in the area, allowing them to fight as one. It also allows strength, power, and knowledge to be shared without boundaries. Therefore, they become a far more effective force than even all the Jedi alone – and almost impossible to defeat, no matter who or what they face. However . . . for it to work, everyone must be in agreement. Any fighting or disagreement, and the meld will break down. You'd be surprised how fast it will deteriorate."

There was silence after that. The leaders already knew about all of this. Now, I just had to wait for it to sink in for everyone else.

"Red 2 understands."

"Red 6 understands."

After that, when all the acknowledgements had rolled in, I said, "All right, enough with orientation. Time to get to work. I'm assuming everyone's ready, so here we go. Enemies will be outlined in blue."

And I flicked it on.

~ Obi-Wan Kenobi ~
"Well done," I said, startling Kya so much that she jumped.

"Obi-Wan, I . . . Don't scare me like that!" she scolded, shoving at me.

I laughed and slipped my arms around her waist. "Not my fault if you weren't paying attention," I replied.

Our battle had run its entire course already. We weren't using real fighters, of course; all of this was a simulation. A rather expensive one, though, as it had to be maintained in a special environment and required plenty of tech experts to help it run smoothly. And the system had had to be specially tweaked for us, as Jedi – thanks to the Force – were not prone to make the casual mistakes of regular people. We weren't fooled by false enemy maneuvers and had excellent, split-second reflexes. Therefore, special scenarios had been inserted and special problems dreamed up especially for the Jedi fighter corps. Otherwise, how else were we to learn and be challenged while learning?

Not that we were really being challenged yet. Kya was still relearning how to direct everything and we were all still getting used to everything. So it was a bit of trial-and-error all around before we actually graduated to using actual fighters.

However, it was all still in a test phase. The Council was still trying to determine if it was all worth it. I had been placed in charge of the entire program, with Anakin as the director of mechanics (and, unofficially, responsible for the recruitment) while Kya was in charge of the different scenarios, as out of all of us, she was the only one who really knew what a Force meld felt like and how battles ran.

"Well, stop distracting me now. I'm trying to figure out what went wrong."

I sighed, but I released her and stood by her side. "And hopefully, what went right," I put in, summoning a chair with a wave of my hand and the Force and sitting next to her and she plopped back into her own chair.

"Overall," Kya said slowly, her sapphire eyes pouring over the results simulation, "the simulation went rather well, but . . . I don't know. Something went wrong. Something just felt wrong. I'm not sure if it was the meld or something else that went wrong. . . I just know something went wrong."

"Could it just be the technology?" I suggested.

Her eyes snapped to me. Obi-Wan, she said warning, you shouldn't say that out loud. If the Senators hear about this. . . You're already getting enough pressure from them.

"I'll be fine," I said without thinking, my instinctive reflex to reassure her taking priority above all else. And then a suspicion rose within me at how she had said that. "Kya, what do you mean by that?"

She didn't say anything or move, but I could see how tension suddenly appeared in her. Very carefully was how she moved around the charts now. I could see that my words had hit something – and hit it right on too.

I reached over and took her hand. "Kya . . . What is it?"

She sighed, still not looking at me. "You have enough on your hands already. . ."

Kya, I said gently, reaching for the bond now and knowing my words would have a greater impact there. Don't hold back, my love. What is it? Just tell me. I can't help if I don't know the problem.

Finally, Kya turned and looked straight at me. "Obi-Wan. . . In truth, there is a problem. The simulations . . . I have issues with them. I can't really control the enemy fighters. That's why everyone's been finding the situations too easy. I can't direct them as they truly would fight; at best, I can only sit back and put them on autopilot."

I frowned. No wonder. . . I had never seen Kya in space combat, but I had dueled her and she was a fierce fighter. I had always thought that the simulations were a bit tame for her, but never had I suspected. . .

"The simulations are flawed, then?" When she nodded, I said, "I'll have to speak to the Senators and see – "

"See what?" bellowed a loud voice from behind us. "See what, General Kenobi?"

I stood up, turning with narrowed eyes to find Senator Bron behind us. He was a corpulent, sour-faced man with his own – and very large – entourage of aides and everything else he felt he needed to have. He was also one of the Senators I didn't really get along with no matter what the issue or occasion. Unfortunately, he was also one of the Senators who had helped put a lot of funding into the pilot program.

His eyes landed on Kya, halfway through rising in her chair, and immediately his whole demeanor turned smooth.

"Ah, Knight Ranor," he said, obviously in what he thought was a pleasant tone, bustling over to her. "You need not stand for me. Here, let me – "

Kya's eyes flickered once to me, and I immediately extended my hand, which she took.

"Senator Bron," she replied courteously as she moved to my side.

He stopped, his pleasant expression turning a little sour as he noted how close Kya moved to stand to me.

"Thank you for coming today," she continued. "My husband was just about to look for you. However, I am afraid that I have some pressing business with the Jedi High Council that I must attend to. I bid you good day."

I let her hand slide out of my own. Nice excuse, I told her. "Yes, and you are almost late," I scolded teasingly.

"Hush." But I saw how her lips quirked up in the small smile only I had ever seen from her.

At the door, she stopped and turned around as if she had forgotten something and only just remembered. "Oh, and Senator Bron. . ."

He turned to her, an eager, almost greedy expression on his face. "Yes, Knight Ranor? How can I be of service to you?"

Kya's expression didn't change, but I felt the shift into coolness in her aura. "Senator Bron, you need not be so intimate to me. May I remind the Senator that I am married. Which reminds me of something, Senator; my name is no longer Knight Ranor. I am Knight Kenobi now, as you should very well know. Good day."

I smiled at my love's declaration and turned my attention to Senator Bron. No doubt I would need all the happiness at her spunk to deal with this one.

~ Kya Ranor ~
"He's absolutely ridiculous!"

I was startled by the ferocity of Obi-Wan's statement. He was older now than when we had first met, and in that time he had learned to deal with politicians and wield diplomacy to its best effect. There weren't many Senators who could get past his cool mask and truly annoy him. Especially since in the worst of times I could always feel his emotions across the bond and calm him before things got out of hand and words came out of his mouth.

However, in terms of Senator Bron, I had thought it best to leave as quickly as possible. The Senator didn't seem to get my message that I was not going to leave Obi-Wan.

If anything, that was probably the only reason why the Senator was the only one to be able to truly annoy Obi-Wan. And that was also probably the reason why Obi-Wan so angry. It wasn't his Jedi persona coming out now; it was his instinct as my mate. He saw the man as a threat, not only to him but also to me, and he was acting against it to protect us.

Unfortunately, this wasn't a reason for Obi-Wan to get really angry.

I put my hand on his shoulder. "What happened?"

"He refuses to see that there is any problem. And he continually changes the subject to deal with you."

"He's always been like this. Why are you so upset this time?"

"I don't know! But he's being completely out of hand. He – He refuses to do anything. He won't even speak to the panel about examining the technology. He says that we Jedi are too inexperienced with these sort of things."

"Doesn't he know I am the one who stated there was a problem?"

"No."

I sighed and let my arms slide around his waist, resting my head on his shoulder blades and sensing the tension in his body. He really was angry; no wonder he was trying to hide it by facing away from me. He was trying, again, to protect me – this time, from getting angry as well over the slights the Senator had dealt him.

"Let me speak to him," I murmured.

"No, Kya."

"Obi-Wan, I can deal with him."

Obi-Wan turned around then, his blue-green eyes filled with wariness. "I don't like to think of you alone with him," he said, his arms pulling me close against him. "That man is cunning and underhanded."

"He won't hurt me."

"He'd better not," he growled.

I put my hand against his face. "Obi-Wan, please; think rationally. I will be fine. If anything goes wrong, you'll be the first to know – I promise."

He sighed. "I don't know. . ."

"Ben."

For the first time, I called him by the nickname I had used for my old Master in the years of our exile and hiding after Order 66. Obi-Wan, of course, didn't know its true significance to me as he still didn't know who my old Master had been, but he knew it meant a great deal to me. He also knew that I rarely used it, and only when we were alone together.

"Very well," he surrendered. "I will wait for you."

I leaned forward and kissed him. "I won't fail."

~ Obi-Wan Kenobi ~
It was almost midnight when Kya slipped into our bed and curled into my arms, exhausted and half-asleep, but I was still completely awake. Immediately, I let my arms slide around her protectively and draw her close. She didn't protest, simply pressing herself closer to me and settling beside me as she always did, seeking protection in sleep, when she was at her most vulnerable and I was most responsible for her safety.

"Are you all right?" I murmured into her hair.

"I'm fine. Just tired," she said, closing her eyes as her body relaxed against mine.

I sighed. "How bad was it?"

Even half-asleep, I could sense her annoyance. "He's bad," she sighed. "You were right." She pressed her face into my chest. "I wish you had been there."

"I told you."

But there wasn't any punch or even any teasing behind my words. I was far too relieved to have Kya back and safe within my embrace. And Kya was far too sleepy and annoyed to fight back at the moment. Besides, we understood each other completely.

I kissed her gently. "Get some sleep, my love. We can talk further in the morning. Hopefully, you will be more awake then."

"Be quiet, Kenobi."

And then I knew that she really was fine.