I'm adding a new tiny character to my story. I created it, she's not in the canon universe. She's mine. She's only nominated here but the next chapter is almost all hers. Have fun!
Chapter 8 – The Start Of It
The rest of the week went by fast. Too fast for my tastes.
I had just settled with a plan for the next weeks and we already had to pack our things because we had to return to Dantooine. And I have to admit that I wasn't that happy.
On Naboo it was mid summer, it was warm, the place was hauntingly beautiful and peaceful, on Dantooine it was indeed summertime but heck, the base was just plain and boring. We had even been forbidden to repeat our limmie tournament since there had been many sightings of Imperial people not too far from the base.
Too bad. It was fun. I mean, it was something different from the routine of a "military" base, like Antilles called it. It reminded me of my childhood, and not only me! Every kid that grew up in the Outer Rim knew how to kick a ball and score a goal, we were no match for those coming from other parts of the galaxy. Somehow, it was too easy to win for us, maybe someone had whined about it and they stopped us! I don't know, it was fun in the end, even if I was one of those players always harassed by the referee because it was common knowledge that I was a Jedi and they feared I would cheat.
Anyway, I was checking if any of us had left something in wardrobes or closets when I found myself looking out of the window of the kids' bedroom. I had the strange feeling that the next time I would have set foot there, everything would have changed completely, like a total different situation or occasion. I don't know, it felt like we were leaving that place as different people ourselves, it felt really strange.
I had a lot of time to think about what I wanted to do. I had come to a decision and Padmè had helped me throughout the whole process supporting me and, in the end, giving me the best advice I could ever receive in that situation. It was time well spent indeed. Not only because I had all the space necessary to think clearly and not rushing things and decisions, but most of all because I had some quality time with my family, breaking the bad habit or seeing my kids only in official environments (I hated when they called me Master. being called Master Rosh by anyone, actually. I really hated it) or briefly after dinner. Those three weeks had given us the chance to bond even more. It felt good, really.
And now that our "affair" was public, maybe we could loose the leash a bit and act a bit more like a family. Well, of course we had to face the fact that Antilles would be still try to thwart us any way he could but, at least I had the feeling Darrick had been quite convincing while talking to him that day, three weeks before, when in the end he decided to reduce my punishment from suspension until further notice to two months.
I hoped he was more inclined to listen to our reasons, because we still had to wait five months before we could actually get married. Five months with Antilles watching every move we made might turn out to be very stressful. Very stressful, most of all because he in charge of the base and everyone in it, therefore, he could decide to do whatever he wanted with me. Well, except that he couldn't kill me...
We all left a piece of our hearts there. We had three wonderful weeks in that place and I doubt we will ever forget about those magnificent days, even though right in the middle of our stay we had been forced to cut down our activities because of the relentless rain.
While I packed the suitcases back on the ship, most of all after I packed the last one in the compartment, I reached out to find another one, even if I knew there were only four suitcases on the floor beside me. It felt strange, really. That day I had a lot of strange ideas and feelings, not all of them were good actually.
The flight back to Dantooine was strangely silent and calm.
Even the kids had decided it wasn't the right moment to be noisy and stuff like that. They remained in the crew compartment and stayed there most of the time, while Padmè and I remained in the cockpit.
Six hours later, when we arrived at the base, we were greeted by a very happy and all smiling Obi-Wan.
"Welcome back!" he shouted above the noise of the hangar while we got off the entrance ramp. "I hope you had a good time!"
"Of course we had!" replied Padmè as I handed her one of the smaller packs. "How's life here?"
"As always. Just three weeks have passed since you left, we didn't have the time to do much." he replied cheerfully. He was really happy to see us. All of us. I'm sure he was really worried I would decide to do something really stupid, and the fact that we were all there reassured him a bit. After all, before we left for Naboo, I had told him about the dream about Jax and he was really worried I would embark in some kind of senseless quest.
Well, he was almost right.
"How are the younglings?" I asked.
"Not bad. They are working hard as usual. They missed you though. And Luke and Leia of course."
"Alright, I'll be back tomorrow for their training, I hope they won't miss me anymore! By the way, can we talk for a moment, after we're settled?"
He frowned a bit, but nodded. "Sure. I have to speak to Antilles now, he wanted to know when you arrived, so I'm going to tell him, but after that, I'm free as a bird. I should have helped Ahsoka with the new training class but I think I can get there a little later."
"Perfect. Where?"
"Training grounds in an hour?" he proposed.
"Deal. I'll be there."
An hour later, we were in the training facility. We borrowed a pair of sparring lightsaber, those the kids used for training without maiming the opponent, and believe me we were fighting like there was no tomorrow. Even the best fighters needed to take their skills out of the closet and take some dust off.
We were in the middle of a fast exchange of attacks when Obi-Wan jumped back and returned to the defensive position. "What did you want to tell me?"
"Remember about a month ago when I told you I had a dream about Jax?" I asked stepping forward and attacking him.
"Sure I do! That's why I feared you would do something foolish while on Naboo! I thought you would go looking for him!" he said deflecting my blow and trying to pierce my defense a couple of times before retreating.
"Nah, the most idiotic thing I did was launching in the lake at dawn. Anyway..." I parried his blow and tried to hit his right leg. "I decided I want to go looking for him. Wanna come with me?"
Instantly, he turned his lightsaber off. "What?"
"You heard me Master!"
"No actually no. I just heard – wanna come with me – but you spoke the same time our blades clashed, I actually didn't hear the rest."
I sighed. "I said I want to go look for him. Then I asked if you wanted to come with me!"
He shook his head and chuckled. "I had the bad feeling you would ask something like this, once you returned!"
"So? Are you coming?" I asked as I ignited my sparring lightsaber and attacking him again.
"Of course I'm coming! I wouldn't leave all the fun to you even if you tied me in here!" he replied deflecting my blow and attacking himself.
"Great!" I barely managed to dodge his strikes. "We will need some help though!"
"Of course we will! I'm calling a collective assembly for tonight!"
I turned off my weapon again. "No, not a collective. Don't call Aleha, I don't want to give her false hopes. Call the others though, we will need all the help we can find."
"It seems strange, hearing that we need help from you, you know that?" he asked folding his arms across his chest.
I nodded. "Yep, it sounds strange even for me but, you know, there's not much we can do alone! We really need some back up, if only from here."
"Good. So, I'm calling Ahsoka and Darrick. Where can we meet?"
"As usual, the pub in town would be absolutely perfect. What do you think?"
He nodded. "I agree. Alright, after dinner ok?" I nodded. "And bring Padmè. I have the feeling she has something to do with you asking me to go with you."
I chuckled a bit. "Perhaps..."
Later that night, right after dinner, we asked Aleha if we could leave the kids with the others that night so we could go out for some time. Of course she couldn't refuse and all the younglings were absolutely ecstatic to have Luke and Leia with them for one night and the twins were happy too to stay with their friends some more time. After years of being isolated and rarely meet someone of their own age, they finally had the chance to confront with other kids and they loved it.
They were the future of the Order after all, if they all grew up together, they would form very tight bonds of friendship and respect that they would rarely discuss or being in contrast.
Anyway, once the kids were safe and probably ready for bed, we met with Ahsoka upstairs. Darrick and Obi-Wan had already left so they could find a suitable table while she had waited for us. The ride was calm and uneventful, my former Padawan tried to tear out the reason of that unexpected meeting but we both remained silent until we got to the pub.
It was almost empty except for some usual customers that we always found there each time we went there for a drink. Well, it was to be expected in the end, it was the middle of the week and people preferred to go out during the weekend, not when they have to wake up at six the morning after.
We found Darrick and Obi-Wan chatting in front of what looked the first round of drinks, when they saw us they stood up and gestured to come over.
We had barely sat down in the booth when the bartender showed up for our orders. Padmè and I ordered our standard Corellian Ale, while Ahsoka went for something a little stronger. When our drinks arrived, Obi-Wan and I exchanged a glance and decided it was time to spill it.
"So, I guess you're wondering why we're here!" he started.
"And why you asked me to keep my sister in the dark!" added Darrick.
"I'm sure there's a good reason for that Master Kohr." said Ahsoka then, sensing the distress in his voice. He hated hiding things from his sister.
"Darrick, don't worry." stated Padmè. "There's a good motive if we didn't want her to be here. Just listen to Anakin, then you'll understand."
"Alright. Let's make it simple. All of you know that I have a certain predisposition for mindfuck dreams. I've always have since I was a kid but as I grew up, they got worse. They were the cause of my almost turn to the Dark Side and everything. Now, about a month ago I had a dream. It was nothing special but it was creepy. And it was about Jax!" as I mentioned his name, Darrick's expression changed completely, going from slightly annoyed to deeply concerned. I guess he understood why we had left his sister out of that meeting. "It wasn't such a great situation for him, considering he was facing Vader but I'm sure he survived that encounter. It shocked me, I admit it, but it didn't become a recurring dream like the other times. It was an one-shot. Too bad that two weeks ago, I had another dream about him, but this time I saw three Imperial Inquisitors discussing ways and new methods to drag him out of hiding and find him. That's it."
Silence fell between us, for a moment.
"Wow..." snapped Darrick. "Wow, I mean...what the...I need something stronger!"
"Go for the ...Twister, it should do fine." joked Ahsoka.
"I'm a whiskey guy, I think I'm going for it." he replied. "But why didn't you tell us earlier?" he asked me then.
I shrugged my shoulders. "I didn't know it was important and most of all it wasn't a recurring dream until two weeks ago, when I was on Naboo. And even after that, it didn't show up again. That's why I'm telling you only now!"
"But why here?" asked Ahsoka. "Why the secrecy? I mean, I understand you didn't want Aleha to hear this but, why?"
I took a deep breath and sighed. "Because I want to go look for him."
Darrick had just received his glass of liquor and when I finished my sentence he just grasped it and shoved it down his throat. He was shocked to say the least. "Tell me this is just a joke!" he snapped.
I shook my head. "No, it is not. Obi-Wan and I will leave as soon as we have a plan and some information."
"Are you sure you want to spend your life looking for a ghost, Anakin?" he asked me, suddenly serious. "I mean, I spent six years trying to find him, from the moment Aleha told me she was pregnant and that Jax was the father. I've collected all the information I could about his sightings and everything. And I haven't found him yet. How do you think you can succeed where I and the Empire have failed?"
I sighed. He was right. In the end, I had only five weeks in front of me before my suspension expired. And now I discovered he had tried to track him down and find him. Even he had failed.
"Darrick, I don't know if I'm going to find him. I don't pretend to find him tomorrow, and since I have only five weeks before I must return to active duty here, I don't really think I will find him. But I'll try."
"Why are you doing this?" asked Ahsoka. "I mean, I know he was one of your best friends but...why now?"
I took a sip from my pint. "Remorse, most of all. Last year both Aleha and Hilean helped me a lot when I was depressed. Well, each time I see them I can't stop thinking that I must help them! Look at your sister! She's lonely and miserable every freaking day more because she loves Jax more than her life and he's not here! Ask Padmè how it feels! It feels like someone is chocking you slowly, so slowly you can't even notice it! And I can't stand seeing her so sad every day! I owe her! That's why I am at least trying to find him!" I told him. "And secondly, because Jax is a very good friend and I miss him, and I fear something bad will happen if I just stay here and do nothing. I have five weeks of suspension and I want to do something with that time!"
"And..." interjected Obi-Wan "You know how sensitive Anakin is about dreams. Maybe this time he's right and go looking for him is the best decision."
"That's the point. This time is different from the others. What I see is not death. I see danger, yes. I see plans to kill him, but I don't see his death! It's not like years ago. I think I can use these dreams to my advantage, in case more will come." I added. "For now, I'm sure of two things: Jax is alive and Vader wants him. But we can find him, I can feel it!"
Darrick shook his head and sighed. "Anakin, you're embarking on a very dangerous quest, you know that? Have you thought about it?"
"Two days and one sleepless night straight." said Padmè. "He thought about it, don't worry. He even asked for my advise in the end. It wasn't an easy decision, but he did think about it for once."
"Do you have a plan?" asked Ahsoka, finally convinced that I hadn't gone crazy and that I was serious.
"Sort of. I wanted to ask you if you wanted to back us up, in case we would need some help!"
"Then what were you thinking?"
"Easy. First of all we need to know exactly what the Empire knows. Even the tiniest detail. And we will probably need a very good hacker because we need a continuous flood of information." I said.
"I have your man then. Better, woman. Lysveet Selader, she's the best!" said Ahsoka. "I found her some years ago and discovered she's one of the best slicers of the Galaxy. Maybe you know her by her nickname: Asphyxia."
Silence fell in the room. Asphyxia? She was the scourge of any security system! Apparently, the only computer system that blocked her was the Jedi Mainframe! She was incredibly famous during the war because she apparently found funny to hack into the Separatists computers and change the droid orders. Nothing too bad, she didn't change their programming completely, but she added some very funny behavioral strings to their codes and made them act a little crazy from time to time.
Probably, if only she had decided to do more damage to their computers we could have won the war in the end!
"How did you find her?" asked Obi-Wan. We had witnessed her work in person, seeing some droids suddenly drop their weapons and run away from the battlefield with their mechanical arms up in the air as if they had seen a ghost.
"Actually, she found me. Remember when the Imperial Revenue System was broke into, four years ago? Well, she did it. She stole a huge amount of money and went looking for someone who actually deserved it. And she found me! I don't know how but she found me, she asked for a meeting on Corellia and she handed me a datapad with all the data necessary to transfer the money from a bank account to any account I wanted. When I asked her why she was doing this she said that she couldn't be an active party in the Rebel Alliance but she would participate on the digital side if we needed. I made some researches and discovered the Empire had murdered her mother and sister about six months earlier and I thought she wanted revenge somehow."
We couldn't believe it. Asphyxia had always kept a low profile, any Republican, and probably Separatist law enforcement had tried to find her during the years but she had always fled from them! She was an artist, not a simple slicer!
"Alright. When can you contact her?" I asked, instantly enthusiast about the news.
"Well, when we return to the base. Her accommodations are not too far from mine!" she said candidly, as if it wasn't important.
Darrick looked at her as if he had really seen a ghost. "Now that's the joke of the day! Come on! We've had Asphyxia in the base for how long?"
"About three years." replied Ahsoka.
"There, three years and no one knew?" we were completely caught off guard by the news but most of all Darrick. He was the recruiter after all!
"I did!" interjected Padmè. "Prestor informed me when she actually asked for shelter and they granted it. She stayed for a while on Alderaan and then they moved her here. She's part of the very first core of people who moved here. She's in charge of the computer security in the Alliance. She created the six firewalls that protect our mainframe and all our data, not to mention that she's developing a new cryptography system for our communications."
That evening was becoming more interesting and rewarding by the moment.
"Alright, we have the slicer we needed." I snapped, moving the subject of the conversation back to my so-called plan. "Once we have enough information I guess we'll go looking for the last place he has lived in for quite some time."
Darrick nodded. "I can help you with that. From my researches I discovered he owned a private investigation agency and that his one-room apartment served as his office too. He lived in the lower part of Coruscant and his apartment is still there, sealed."
"Did you go there?" asked Obi-Wan.
He shook his head. "Never. Last time I saw Coruscant was while leaving for the Outer Rim, right after Order 66. I haven't been there ever since."
"Then I dare to say we can start from there!" stated Obi-Wan.
I agreed totally. "Sure. Jax isn't stupid, he might be very good at hiding, but you know, when you hide, you must leave some tracks behind in case someone close to you needs to find you. He knows that and I'm sure he left something behind. Even if he didn't want to. He must have left a trace or something like that."
"Good luck finding them!" said Darrick bitterly. "I've tried but...damn he's really good at hiding!"
"And we're good at finding people." added Obi-Wan. "At least I am! He's good at protecting people though. I mean, he did a great job in the end!"
I sighed before finishing my beer. "Let's say that I do my best to protect those I really love! That's better!"
"Still you're a good bodyguard. Not as good as Aleha but really a good one." insisted my former Master.
"Come on now! Let's go back to our business!" I didn't like when people praised me. I mean, there wasn't much to be praised about. I didn't like it much. Not anymore at least.
"Yeah, you're right. What do you need after the hacker and all the information about Jax?" asked Darrick.
"Well, of course Aleha must not know about the real reason of our departure. I don't want to give her false hopes. It would destroy her."
"We can arrange that." replied Darrick. "I can find a very good reason for your leave, I just need a day to figure something out."
"Great. Make it easy though!" said Obi-Wan. "People will go and ask why two Jedi are gone from the base at the same time, I'd prefer if the reason for our departure will be easy to explain, like we're going to pick up some new Force sensitive children..."
"It will be done. Do I have to inform Organa?"
Padmè shook her head. "No need. I'll do it myself. I'll deal with the high ranks, don't worry."
"Ok. This is settled. There are a couple of dark spots to your plan though." said Ahsoka then. "First of all, Aleha isn't stupid. In the end she'll figure it out, you know how insightful she is! Second: what the hell are you going to tell to Luke and Leia? That their dad and their Master are just going away for a while without a reason?"
Padmè and I exchanged a worried look. "That's our main problem actually." she said softly. "They grew so fond of him they barely let him go for his job in the workshop. I don't know how they'll take it."
"They'll take it bad, that's sure." replied Ahsoka. "And it won't matter the fact that they'll be gone for five weeks only. Or what you will tell them about the reason of their leave. They'll be angry as hell!"
I nodded. "Yep. We have to come up with a great idea or otherwise they'll get really angry. And I don't want to upset them."
"Well, your plan upset him." said Padmè pointing at Darrick. "It will upset the kids too. They can't understand this kind of things!"
"Don't be too sure about that!" snapped Ahsoka. "They are smart kids. Smarter than the average. Probably if you talk to them quietly and explain the situation, they will understand. They will be upset, I can give you that, but don't underestimate your children. For what I've seen during this year, they are smarter than anyone in their class."
Obi-Wan nodded. "I agree. Don't give it for granted. You just need to talk to them! Do you remember when you first told them about Anakin and why he wasn't with you?"
She promptly nodded. "Of course. They were barely three years old and they understood perfectly well! Do you think they'll understand even this time?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. It depends on how you explain the situation. I would suggest to be completely honest with them, it should work good."
"Let's hope they can keep the secret though." said Darrick then. "Hilean is one of their best friends, I doubt they will hide it from her."
I shook my head. "I trust them. If we tell them to keep the secret, they will, I'm sure of it."
Darrick seemed unsure of my statement. "I don't know. I mean, I really appreciate your efforts but what if you don't find him?"
"At least I tried." I told him. "Remember when we started discussing why the Order had failed to notice the Sith's influences all around us? We all came to the same conclusion: we were too passive. We waited for the last minute to act and look where we are now? Here, probably half of what still exists of the Orders is sitting at this table. If I don't do something I will never know if I could have found him. If I do, well, I may be jumping straight into an ocean of troubles, but who cares! At least I can say I tried to save a friend."
He took a deep breath and nodded. "You're right. Sometimes, it's better asking for forgiveness than asking for the permission."
Obi-Wan chuckled loudly. "Well, at least this time you found a compromise between your reckless attitude and the Council's tendency to be passive to what happened in the Galaxy. I'm proud of you!"
"Thank you Master. So, what do you think?"
Everyone, including Padmè, were silent for a moment, thinking about the revelations and the news of the evening. The first who broke the silence was Ahsoka.
"I think that it might work. I mean, it's not one of those missions you can predict in every single aspect. You can design a plan but any moment something can happen and things can get nasty."
"That was our daily fix back when Anakin was my Padawan. We always found a way to get into huge troubles"! Joked Obi-Wan.
I couldn't agree more. "Yep. But this time we have a strong back up and we're not bound to any rule except not being caught. It should be easier."
Darrick was still unsure of it. "Yeah, it should but...we cannot support you in any moment. Once you're out there, except for information and logistic help we can't do much."
"That's more than enough Darrick." replied Obi-Wan. "This might not be the safest plan of the Galaxy, but it's a plan, and it well organized too, it's more than what I was expecting from him!" he said pointing at me. "We still need to define some details, but I guess that if Asphyxia can find what we need, that's a very good start!"
"Than it's sealed. Give us a couple of days and we'll go looking for Jax. We have five weeks from now to track him down and bring him here before the Inquisitors kill him. That's the start of it!" I snapped, gesturing to the bartender to bring another round of liquor to seal the deal.
By the time we left, about two hours later, we had come out with other stuff, most of all logistic matters, to allow us a safer and quicker trip around the Galaxy. Of course Artoo would have come with us, just in case. Ahsoka was in charge of contacting Asphyxia as soon as we got back to the base and Darrick would start working on our fake assignment the next morning.
It wasn't much, but it was something in the end.
It was a good place to start.
Tiny little not so short linking chapter. I don't like writing them much because there's no challenge in them, but you know, I needed to find a way to tell Darrick and Ahsoka about the plan. After all, they're going to fly around the galaxy and leave them dealing with the kids! Not an easy job in the end! It's not my best chapter but I needed it.
Hope you liked it and see ya soon!
PS: Asphyxia...well, it's a sort of remake of a character from a book I read not too long ago. They made a movie out of it in Sweden and David Fincher is going to remake it Holliwood Style (and I fear it's going to be a crappy remake, full of dialogues and without the necessary moments of silence that a movie of that kind needs to be complete). It will be a minor character here, she will appear only a couple of times but the actual character I "abused" to create this one is the main protagonist of the book. I changed the name but if you read the book maybe you can recognize her, most of all from the nickname (that's completely different but it's still bound to her).
