With a soft hiss, the turbolift doors parted, allowing the Slayer, the Jedi, and the Sith to walk out into an enormous maintenance hangar. Buffy stopped and looked around her. All around them mechanics and droids worked busily on docked spacecraft, the huge hangar echoing with the sound of rattling, drilling, and the high pitched whine of machinery.
"It's not far now," Palpatine shouted above the noise, waving them to follow him. He marched along between the bays, dark cloak swirling, occasionally muttering to himself if someone got in his way. As he sidestepped a short lifting droid, he called again, "Don't worry, we'll soon be well away from all the riffraff."
Feeling embarrassed by the comment, Buffy took a sidelong glance around to see if anyone had overheard. Two Nabooan pilots were standing nearby. The younger one looked over at her, and seeing her embarrassment, gave her a sympathetic smile and a casual wink. Buffy replied with a dazzling smile.
In front of Buffy, the Sith Lord stopped dead in his tracks, his furious eyes on the pilot. The young man smiled back uncertainly. Palpatine's glare hardened, body tense as anger poured off him.
Buffy and Obi-Wan stopped, watching anxiously, unsure how to diffuse the situation, but prepared to step in if need be. Uncomfortable at the extreme reaction of the cloaked man, the pilots exchanged an uneasy look before dropping their gaze to the floor. The Supreme Chancellor focused on the pilots for a few beats longer.
"Some people need to learn respect to their betters," he growled. His anger dying away to a simmer with the show of subservience. "Come, Lord Vader, there's nothing of importance here to interest us." His upper lip curling into a snarl, he spun on his heel and marched his companions off to a raised gantry. They followed the walkway for a distance before turning right and taking a second walkway that led away from the busy hangar.
When he was satisfied they'd reached their destination, the Supreme Chancellor halted. With a theatrical fling of his arm, he gestured to the level below. "On behalf of the Republic I would like to present a special gift to the Siii-" he stopped and gave a little conspiratorial smile at Buffy, "the Slayer Queen."
Stepping forward, to stand against the railing, Buffy looked down to the level below her. There was a spaceship docked directly below her. Buffy didn't know much about spacecraft, not like Andrew, but this one felt strangely familiar to her and she'd no idea why. It definitely looked different from the spaceships she'd seen in the past. The first thing she noticed was the unusually long prow, suggesting a fast turn of speed and behind that a taller, domed section. Buffy guessed that part would hold the cockpit.
Buffy pressed herself against the railing, leaning out, trying to take in more of the ship below her. A large fin projected from either side of the rear section. Were they engines? Buffy tried to remember everything she knew about engines in the Star Wars dimension. It wasn't much. Obi-Wan had been giving her lessons but they hadn't gotten as far as spaceships yet. Didn't they use Worf Drive or was that in Star Trek? Buffy supposed her lack of knowledge would be no big deal. After all, she didn't know how a combustion engine worked, but she still knew how to drive a car.
She'd been given a spaceship!
Inside, she felt the Slayer aspect of her recognizing the ship as a weapon. Did that explain why the ship felt familiar? Was it because of the Slayer's affinity with weapons? Her eyes swept across the clean unbroken lines of the ship, trying to spot the weapons. There were no obvious ones, which meant they were sneaky, hidden ones. Buffy's fingers twitched. She needed to go into the ship, touch the controls and see for herself where the weapons were hidden.
It called to her.
Buffy took a deep breath, trying to calm her giddiness. This was weird. The vibes she was getting from it made her wonder if it had been designed with a Slayer in mind. She couldn't wait to fly it.
She found her voice, "I've been given an honest to God, spaceship?!" She didn't care if Sid had given it to her. This was a spaceship. Wait until she told Andrew!
Sid grinned, genuinely pleased at her enthusiasm. "The Republic thought it fitting that you have your own vessel. It's no use being Lord Vader and having to rely on public transport all the time."
Standing behind Buffy and Palpatine, Obi-Wan was dealing with a different set of emotions. He knew all about this ship from the report and images sent to the Temple. The Temple had ordered its destruction and believed that their recommendation had been carried out. Incredulous that it was here and still intact, he said to Palpatine, "Isn't that Darth Maul's ship?"
Palpatine nodded his eyes on the slim figure of the Slayer. "Indeed it is. As you may remember, the Nabooan authorities found it after the Battle of Naboo. The Jedi searched it for clues, hoping to find the assassin's origin and the identity of his fellow conspirators." He looked across to Obi-Wan, his expression oily. "Sadly, despiteall their best efforts, they were unable to find anything to help them. The assassin's friends and master still remains a mystery."
The Supreme Chancellor's sarcastic grin made Obi-Wan wonder how the Jedi, himself included, had never noticed the way the man mocked the Jedi Order. It must be a case of once you knew it existed, you become intensely aware of it.
"It was supposed to have been destroyed," Obi-Wan replied.
Palpatine continued, "Yes, the Jedi took a dislike to it. However, it's too fine to be consigned to the breakers yard and thankfully the Republic agreed with me. I've been looking around for a while now trying to find a suitable owner and I believe Vader fits the bill perfectly." Palpatine's thoughtful gaze remained on the unusually silent figure of the Slayer. Buffy wore a huge grin and her eyes sparkled as she gazed at the ship.
"A Sith Infiltrator," Obi-Wan said with heavy finality. He gave the Sith Lord a shrewd look. "You're giving Buffy a known Sith's ship?"
Palpatine didn't reply, instead, he smiled with dark satisfaction
Obi-Wan had read the report on this vessel. Although its history was shrouded in mystery, whoever ordered its construction had money and power. It had most likely been given to Maul by his master Darth Sidious, to carry out his dirty work more easily. And now, the Sith Lord was passing it on to Buffy. Would the man stop at nothing to gain her as his apprentice?
Inside him, a nub of growing anger sprouted and took hold. Anger led to hate and hate demanded action. Obi-Wan's hand twitched, itching to take up his lightsaber and destroy the evil while it stood with its back to him.
The Jedi took a deep breath and took a step away from the Sith. That path led to the Dark Side. It was far too easy to lose control over his emotions when the Sith Lord was around and he never intended to go down that route again. Look what had happened with Buffy. No, he'd never risk the dark path for fear of hurting her if nothing else. The Sith Lord needed to be brought down, but it wouldn't be done with a lightsaber through his back. Obi-Wan slowed his breathing, allowing the negative emotions to disperse while drawing on the Force to restore his inner balance.
Through their bond, he sent Buffy a warning, ~Refuse the ship, Buffy. It belonged to Maul.~
From the excited buzzing coming back, she didn't hear him.
Buffy turned to the two men. Her face alive with excitement, she squealed, "This is amazing! They gave me a speeder and now a ship? I'm the first Slayer in the entire history of Slayerdom to get a UFO!" She bounced up and down with excitement. "Okay, I know it's not a UFO, and we've not had to break in Area 51 to steal it, cos only that would make it cooler but wow!" She winced. "Ugh, and I'm sounding like Andrew, aren't I?" The hint of a frown, quickly dissolved into a wide smile. "Hey, its still a spaceship and it's all mine. If Xander was here he'd go crazy and you wait until I tell Andrew! He's so gonna pee his pants!"
~Refuse it, please~ Obi-Wan asked again down their link. ~We'll find you another ship~
All he got in return was the static-buzz of high-pitched excitement.
She looked... starstruck. Obi-Wan rubbed a hand through his hair. Knowing part of him expected this. It made sense, first, she'd bonded with Darth Maul's crimson lightsaber and now she was bonding with his ship. She'd probably want to shop for chair throws, fluffy cushions, and some of those sparkly crystals that you hung up at the windows.
And that wasn't going to be the worst of it. Obi-Wan knew exactly where else this was going to lead. She'd be looking for a pilot and since he was her go-to person that would be him. The Jedi stopped rubbing at his scalp and gave the ship a sour look. He decided he disliked flying.
"Andrew peeing his pants?" Palpatine repeated Buffy's words, distaste evident in his voice. "Vader, you have a strange ability to bring unfortunate imagery to mind." He gave his head a shake, in an attempt to cleanse his brain of Andrew's loss of bladder control. "That reminds me... although I've no idea why. Can you pilot a ship?"
"Huh?" Buffy bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, itching to get a closer look at her spaceship. "Oh, yeah. No problem. Platoon gave me lessons."
"She means Master Plo Koon and he took her up twice," Obi-Wan clarified, inwardly groaning. He knew exactly what she was going to say next.
"Obi-Wan is great at flying. He can make ships do things with his mind."
"A neural-transmitter headset," Obi-Wan explained again.
"Yeah, so he can fly this one for me. I can sit next to him and tell him where I want to go."
The Jedi closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He'd been waiting for that. She actually wanted to link his brain up to a Sith ship and fly her around the galaxy.
"We'll get a droid in," he hedged, seeing as there was no stopping her. "Several astromech droids, in fact. They can do all the work for us."
Buffy grinned at him in reply.~Thanks, Ubi! ~
"Come, Vader," said Palpatine, let me show you around your new ship. "The thing is chock full of the most delightful and useful gadgets. From laser canons on the prow to vats of acids strong enough to decompose bodies within minutes, poisons, torture droids, not to mention stygium crystals to cloak the ship from enemy scanners..."
"Those cloaking crystals are illegal to use," replied Obi-Wan primly, as he followed them down the steps. Buffy had taken the lead, her eyes starry as she gazed at her spaceship.
"They are perfectly legal if used on an official Republic craft," answered Palpatine. "She won't be doing anything wrong if she needs to cloak her the ship from enemy craft."
"Buffy doesn't need torture droids either." Obi-Wan shuddered as he thought of the poor victims those devices had been used on in the past. Force only knew what atrocities this ship had seen since it had been built. The Jedi Master Tiin had sent a report to the Temple regarding this ship and declared it to be heavily linked to the Dark Side. He'd said it gave him the urge to go off and have non-Jedi like adventures in the unknown sectors.
"Lord Vader might need those interrogation droids in future," snapped the Supreme Chancellor over his shoulder. He scampered after Buffy, desperately trying to keep up with the excited Slayer without revealing his enhanced Force speed."There's no point in getting your hands dirty if you don't need to. Torturing prisoners can become quite... messy."
"And you know this, how?" asked Obi-Wan, running down the steps behind them.
Palpatine glowered at the Jedi as he came reached the lower level."You're very disapproving of this gift, Kenobi. Why is that? Are you jealous? Jealous you'd never be able to provide life's basics, never mind an expensive spacecraft, to keep the interest of a woman like Buffy? It must be a relief that the Jedi Order has a strict rule against emotional attachments. Otherwise, you'd find yourself unwanted again."
At one time, the barb would have dug deep. Now Obi-Wan had the sudden urge to throw in the Sith's face that he and Buffy were lovers in every sense of the word. He swallowed back the angry retort, knowing it would do far more harm than good. Instead, he used Jedi training to maintain a calm expression on his face and drove his hands into the deep pockets of his outer robe.
While thinking of a suitable reply, his fingers made contact with a cold object. What was that? He often kept tools and small items inside his pockets yet he couldn't remember putting anything in there recently. Whatever it was, it had worked its way into the deepest corner. Obi-Wan's fingertips trailed across the flat etched glass. Engraved and triangular. Working it loose with his fingers, Obi-Wan eased it into the palm of his hand and held it there, the small item warming in his hands. Suddenly he knew exactly what to say.
"Jealous? Indeed not," Obi-Wan replied. "The Council might have assigned me to Buffy, but she still went on to chose me above all the other knights and masters in the Temple, despite my lack of wealth. She constantly tells me I'm the best in there. I'm far from being unwanted..." he smiled, letting his voice trail off. Aware he had the Sith's full attention.
"I am, however, expressing doubt over the usefulness of certain features you continually mention. Features in my opinion that are far more useful to a Sith assassin than a Slayer. As for the ship itself, I've no doubt of its usefulness in pursuing enemies."
Obi-Wan smiled darkly, knowing his next comment would goad the Sith Lord. "All her enemies, including Maul's master. It doesn't surprise me he is in hiding. Everything I've heard about the Sith tells me they are like roaches. Scuttling around in the shadows, too ugly and cowardly to come out into the light. Like vermin, they are better off being eradicated as soon as they are detected."
Palpatine made a small noise, an odd rasping in the back of his throat. Obi-Wan ignored him. His eyes were on Buffy, while the hand inside his pocket clasped the object. It was the pyramid-shaped holocron he'd discovered at Jar Jar's. He should have remembered to hand over to the investigators but he'd forgotten all about it. It was such a small thing, easily overlooked, and most likely of no consequence.
Still keeping the holocron hidden inside his pocket, he used his free hand to point at Maul's ship. A dark smile twisting his mouth. "Don't you find it an interesting coincidence, Supreme Chancellor, that I cut down Maul, threw him down an energy drain, and now I'll be flying his ship alongside Buffy? I wonder, do you think I shall serve Maul's fate upon his even more cowardly master? After all, disposing of Sith Lords and their Sithspawn is my specialty."
Inwardly seething, Palpatine didn't reply. He'd dropped his head, allowing his hood to cover the glowing yellow that had in his eyes. Clenched hands dangled by his sides. His lightsaber felt heavy in his sleeve. He took a deep breath. He must be careful and not allow his anger to draw on the Dark Side of the Force. Buffy's presence always seemed to charge him up and give him the urge to show off. Now was not the time. He reminded himself that ships could be lethal places for crew members. Electrical faults happen. Accidents occur. It would be nothing to do with him if a certain Jedi died during a power leakage. The Jedi, and not just Kenobi, were all walking dead anyway. They just didn't know it yet.
Since she was a good distance in front of the men and her focus was solely on the ship, Buffy missed the Sith-Jedi interaction. She'd circled around the spacecraft and finally come to a halt at the rear after spotting a door in the lowest part of the domed section.
"Did anyone remember to bring a key?" she called over, still vibrating with excitement. Unlike Cordelia and some other girls back at high school, she'd never been given a car. Her parents hadn't the money, or at least her mom hadn't. As for her Dad, he preferred spending on his secretary. But now... now she'd her own spaceship! How cool was that? This was going to be so useful. There wouldn't be a sale in the entire galaxy she couldn't visit. Nor did she need to worry about finding her way. All she needed to do was flip a few switches, sit back in the captain's chair, and rely on Obi-Wan, the nav-com and the droids to get her there.
"I have the key," rasped Palpatine, hurrying towards her in a flurry of black robes. "It's a new one. Kenobi lost the old one when he threw Maul down the drain."
His hoarse rasping voice caused Buffy to do a double-take. She caught a glimpse of a deathly pale face and bright yellow eyes looking out from under the hood. They were sure signs that Sid had either accessed the Dark Side or was about to.
Her eyes drifted over to Obi-Wan. He was stood with his hands in his pockets looking very pleased with himself. Buffy had no idea what had just happened between the two of them, but he must have provoked the Sith. Goading Palpatine was a chancy game. Putting the threat of personal injury to one side, the Jedi High Council had ordered them both not to do anything to alarm or forewarn Palpatine they were onto him. That meant keeping him believing that she wasn't totally averse to his Dark Side ways and not annoy him too much with her driving. As for Obi-Wan, he needed to start behaving like a gullible Jedi again.
Following Sid up the ramp to the ship's entrance, Buffy moved alongside the Jedi. She bumped her shoulder against Obi-Wan's arm and shot him a soft smile.
"I can't wait to show Andrew my spaceship. He's so gonna freak."
"Freak?" repeated Obi-Wan thoughtfully, his eyes on the ramp beneath his feet. " Yes, I can understand that sentiment. It's rather like how I'm feeling at the moment."
"Is the Dark Side of the ship beckoning to you?" Buffy asked. Worried for the first time. She'd been so excited about having her own ship that she'd forgotten how the Dark Side might affect Obi-Wan. If it was bothering him she'd need to perform a cleansing ceremony before they started flying it. Mother Ta'la, being a magic-using Nightsister, might know of a good ritual. Preferably, something that didn't involve draping it in dismembered Troglodyte's body parts.
As they'd reached the top of the ramp Obi-Wan didn't immediately answer. They both looked curiously around the inside of the ship, taking in the circular space and elevator to the next level.
"Oddly enough no," said Obi-Wan, walking across to one of several doors that led off from the central entrance space. "The Dark Side isn't bothering me as much as I thought it would."
Activating the door control button, he leaned against the door jamb studying the room in front of him. He put his hand back into his pocket.
"That's good," Buffy replied, relieved. "There's no lure in here then."
"On the contrary, Buffy," the Jedi replied, still studying the room, his voice had become low and husky. "There's a very powerful lure in here. A terrible temptation that I'm not sure I'll ever be strong enough to resist..."
Confused, Buffy stepped closer to him.
Eyes darkened with desire locked onto hers, making her melt in places where she shouldn't be melting when a dangerous Sith was in the vicinity.
"It's you, Buffy," he said. The words were softly spoken but frighteningly loud in the enclosed space. "You're my temptation. I find I'm being lured by you and this room," Obi-Wan's nodded to the room. "Or to be more exact, the idea of making love to you in this bedroom."
The Jedi's words stole her breath. Palpatine was only feet away. She swallowed, catching her bottom lip between her teeth. Obi-Wan continued to watch her, his darkened eyes glinting, the look in them almost challenging.
Buffy shot a glance over to where Sid stood. He had his back facing them as he peered into the darkened cargo section of the prow, tapping the wall with his hand as he tried to find the light switch. She turned once more to the red-haired Jedi, her nose wrinkling. This was a dangerous game.
~What's gotten into you?~ she asked. Obi-Wan had always been careful to keep their relationship a secret. He didn't go around making sexual proposals in a public place. He wasn't Anya. The guy was a Jedi and much too straight-laced. He'd even started blushing more often, as the sexual innuendos no longer went over his head.
The Jedi gave a small shrug of his shoulders.~It's the truth.~
Buffy frowned. It might be the truth but there was a time and place to say it. What had caused this? Was the Dark Side affecting him or was it the Jedi's natural dislike of being in a Sith's company? Whatever he and Palpatine had spoken about had turned Sid into a yellow-eyed monster and caused a devil-may-care attitude in Obi-Wan.
~What if he'd heard you? Are you trying to provoke a fight with him?~
Obi-Wan had seen how angry Sid became when the pilot winked at her. If Palpatine had overheard what the Jedi had said to her Star Wars would break out. Buffy let her anxiety flow through their bond. She'd enough to worry about without Sid discovering their relationship.
"Buffy, do come and look at all the exciting extras this ship has," called Palpatine, distracting the Slayer from her thoughts.
Obi-Wan looked away, his face closing off.
"The Jedi took all the ship's astromech droids for wiping, but there's a fantastic speeder bike in here that you might like," continued the Supreme Chancellor. "It might be a little large for you, but we can always adjust the pedals."
...
A/N:
Unbeta'd so any horrific mistakes please let me know.
I had to put this up on the board early as I keep altering it, and altering it, and altering it. It feels I can't move on to the next section through changing this up.
Two big story arcs coming up and leads into, what either is a sequel or an add on to this. I need to get this 'finished' before I can think about what comes next.
fave, follow and review!