Chapter 45 - Negotiations
"What's going on?" Anakin asked his distraught looking former mentor who was clutching his comm link like it was about to take a swing at him.
"It's Venham, the Pirate captain I negotiated this with. He commed me first to ask if I had received any other communiquays about the situation, then he expressed strongly that he was the ONLY one I was to communicate with on his team. Then he called and cancelled our meeting. Called back to reschedule an hour later. He's canceled and rescheduling our meeting three times already! We were originally supposed to meet this morning, but now he's pushed it to this evening. Something is definitely up, and I suspect he's getting ready to cancel for good on us."
"It's alright, we have plans for if this goes sideways." Anakin reminded him.
"I know, I just was really hoping it wouldn't. I wanted to use this as a lesson for Luke. Show him there's always a way for a peaceful resolution, you just have to look for it."
"Bzzt, Bzzt". Obi-Wan's commlink buzzed again as they were talking.
"There he is again, I wonder what it is this time?" Obi-Wan huffed and he held the device out and activated it while Anakin stepped back behind something. "Captain Benjamin, here."
"Captain, good Captain, we'd like to proceed with the meeting as planned, only…" The nervous man on the holo looked down in shame. "We've had a minor incident. It won't take us long to restore everything to its previous condition. If you are willing to wait, another day or two at most, i'm sure…"
"Restore? Captain Venham, was the property damaged?" Obi-Wan asked, worried for a moment that something happened to the droid professor who taught him to build his lightsaber.
Captain Venham didn't answer. Instead Obi-Wan heard stuttering on the other end of the line.
"Answer me, Venham. My patience is already running thin," Obi-Wan scolded, and Anakin flinched in sympathy for the man on the other end of the call.
"No, no. The droid you want has not been harmed, it's just… We've had an internal matter." Venham paused there as if that was his intended answer, but Kenobi answered with a prolonged silence. The type that got you to spill your guts no matter what, Anakin knew from experience. "It's one of my own men. He's very confused and he's sealed himself, along with your droid in a downed ship that's been in our hangar. We've been negotiating to get your property back, but haven't been successful yet."
"I understand, I do." Anakin smiled. There was his master's post confessional calm, right on cue. "If I could offer my own assistance in the matter, perhaps as a neutral third party, I might be able to help these negotiations," Obi-Wan offered.
"Really, Oh." Venham coughed. "Your services, in exchange for?"
"Our original deal still stands. I only offer as a means to speed up the process and acquire our property faster," Obi-Wan clarified.
"Ah," Venham sighed. "Then I shall accept your most gracious of offers."
Anakin listened with a touch of anxiety. The original plan was for Obi-Wan and Luke to meet them in the open and exchange the credits for Huyang. But this new plan involved Obi-Wan and Luke going into the Pirate's hangar to negotiate with another set of them who it seems are not in line with their leader's thinking. It could be very dangerous, Anakin knew. He quickly thought about exchanging his own place for his son's.
'What are you thinking,' Anakin chastised himself, 'You'll need to lead the back-up strike team. And incase of disaster, they'll need to be in the hangar as well. It's the best way you can help them, anyway. Master Yoda already said he'll be manning the ship, ready for our escape.' He silently sighed. 'If there's anyone you can trust with Luke's safety, It's Obi-Wan. His own disaster proneness aside, Master Obi-Wan won't let anything happen to Luke.'
'My disaster proneness?' Anakin heard his master project through their old bond, and he frowned. He wasn't aware that he'd been projecting his own thoughts and fears a second ago. 'May I remind you that you are the reckless one.'
Anakin replied with his own look of determination that said, 'Oh yeah! I've got a tally that says otherwise, Master.'
Obi-Wan chuckled. 'Risky decisions aside, I was not reckless with you, and I'll NEVER be reckless with the boy. You have my word.'
Anakin nodded, taking that unspoken promise to heart. If there was any master he'd trust with his son, it was Obi-Wan.
"Greetings Captain," Venham greeted Obi-Wan on the dais in front of their building.
Obi-Wan nodded, "Yes, sir. It's nice to meet you too. This is my young associate Luke. He will be assisting me today."
After nodding in greeting to Luke, the Pirate opened the doors and led them inside. "Aco-Ness is the one holding your droid right now. The old ship was in for repairs and it is not in flyable condition. When I announced the plans for our deal something set him off, and I don't know. He's behaving so strangely. I don't want to blow our way in there. We'd risk his life as well as the droid. But if we can't get him to open the doors, I may be forced to." Venham explained the situation while they walked through his facility.
"Is there a way I can talk to him alone. That would be the best way to begin, I think." Obi-Wan suggested.
"Yes, in here there is a comlink with the ship." Venham led them into an interior room with a computer and a comlink on a desk.
"Ah, this will work fine. I think it best you leave us now," Obi-Wan suggested.
"But, do you want me to introduce you to Aco-Ness? Explain who you…"
"No, I suspect that will not be so helpful. I sense he doesn't trust you as much as you'd like him to."
Venham looked nervous, then he laughed. "The way you're talking, you sound almost, Jedi." Venham spat on the floor.
"If he trusted you, you wouldn't have needed my help to begin with, no? I do have experience with these sorts of negotiations. The first course of action is to find out what he wants. What is motivating his actions? We find that out, the rest is child's play."
Venham nodded, though he still looked nervous. "Oh okay. If you say so. I'll just be right outside if you need anything."
Venham walked out the door. After a moment Luke spoke up, "Mmmm?" Obi-Wan silenced him by raising a finger.
After a moment Obi-Wan spoke, "There. He's still trying to listen in, but he's going to find it harder now. I've sealed the room with the Force."
"Cool," remarked Luke. "Master, why didn't you just assure him that we are Jedi?"
"Because, people from his background were never our biggest fans. Especially now that the Empire has so tarnished our name, he won't take it as an assurance. Would you trust someone who lied about who they were?"
"Oh. No, I guess not. What are we going to do now, then?"
"Exactly what I told Venham. We're going to try to talk to this Aco-Ness, and find out what is motivating his actions." Obi-Wan turned to the comlink device and sat down in front of it.
Luke leaned back against the wall and waited.
Obi-Wan tapped a button on the machine. "Hello, hello." He waited a few minutes, then tried again. "Hello, Aco-Ness, my name is Ben and I'd like to talk to you."
After another minute, Luke helpfully supplied, "I don't think he's answering."
"No, but maybe he'll talk to someone your age."
Luke's eyes opened in shock, and he could feel reassurance coming from the immature training bond with his master.
Obi-Wan nodded and smiled. At his beckoning Luke stepped up to the comm unit and took a deep breath. "Hello." He whispered into the device. "Hi, my name is Luke Skywalker. Is there anything you need, or- or want? We are here to help."
Luke looked up to see his Uncle Ben give him a thumbs up. The other end of the line remained quiet.
Luke leaned in closer to the mic. "Look, I know rules can suck, especially when they come from bogus ideas about what is best for you. But I really want to understand. Why are you in there?"
He waited another moment, but the line remained quiet. Luke sighed. His master, or even his sister, anyone but him would've had better words. Then a light above the display turned on. There was somebody on the other line.
"Luke?" said a scratchy voice.
With a wave of encouragement from Obi-Wan, Luke confirmed, "Yes, I'm here. Can you answer my questions?"
"Questions?" Aco-Ness calmly contemplated. Then his mood shifted and he screamed through the comms, "You can tell the boss he's going to die!"
Luke blinked. "Woah there, buddy. Those are strong words." Obi-Wan motioned for him to keep talking, so Luke added, "Can you tell me more?"
"No. No, no, no. Orders" Aco-Ness mumbled.
"No Orders, is that one of your complaints, or is it a demand?" Luke asked.
"Get away from here before," Aco-Ness yelled at them. Then he stuttered for a second, and his voice became peaceful. "Before cool rivers, running in the meadow."
Luke looked over to his Master in confusion.
Obi-Wan pushed a button to shut off the commlink and got up. "We're done here. It's time to move on to more direct, face to face negotiations." Luke followed him to the door.
They opened it to find Captain Venham pulling away quickly after having his ear pressed to the wall. "Oh, you're finished? Did you learn anything helpful?"
"No, but I do see what you mean by him being confused," Obi-Wan told him. "I'd like to go to your hangar now."
"Okay, he does have the partition closed, though. No one has been able to get him to open it." Venham told them.
Luke followed his master into the hangar. "Captain, I think these types of vents have openings for the droid to enter. As long as he hasn't manually closed them, or started preflight procedures," he noticed. Remembering that this was one of those times not to use the respectful term was easy for him. On Tatooine around certain company, mainly those from offworld, or those who used to be slaves, the term wasn't used either.
"Good. Luke, set up my kit." Obi-Wan ordered.
"Yes sir." Luke responded. They had the sense not to reveal themselves as Jedi, but they did not leave all respect at the door, Luke felt his Master would argue. He moved on to assembling a device with a holoscreen and a small droid with a camera that when placed into the ship's exterior vent, would maneuver its way inside.
As Luke was putting the droid in place, he looked over and noticed a single hydrospanner left on the floor. Luke picked this up and smiled. It was a signal his father, likely with Galen, Leia, and Juno as back-up, had made it into the hangar and were hiding somewhere close.
When Luke returned to his Master's side, he placed the found tool on the tabletop.
"Good news. Everything is in place." Obi-Wan said. Luke felt approval sparkle through their bond. Obi-Wan had gotten the message too. "Now to have a look around."
Obi-Wan pressed a few buttons on the panel Luke had set up earlier. A light came on the screen as the droid flew through the chambers and into the ship's interior. "Luke, run it's scans. Tell me if you detect any other lifeforms. That is strange. If Aco-Ness was trying to get this ship operational, I'd expect him to be in that hatch there. Captain Venham, do you have a list of what is operational and what is down on this ship?"
"Yes," The pirate waved and his underling brought him a datapad. "Let's see, the engines were down. Life support has a few issues too."
"What about communications?" Luke asked.
"Fully operational. That's how you communicated to him before," Venham confirmed.
Obi-Wan gave him an inquiring look, so Luke explained. "Well, if you're stuck, and you're not trying to get unstuck, it makes sense you're waiting for someone to get you unstuck."
Obi-Wan gazed worriedly between Venham and Luke.
"Waiting for whom?" The clueless pirate uttered.
Hello Everyone,
For your information Venham and Aco-Ness are both OC's. They are just names I made up in my head because I didn't think any of the canon characters made sense here.
It is my interpretation that the training Bonds mentioned in canon are something built over time. So, Anakin and Obi-Wan communicate fluently through theirs, but Luke only gets whiffs of feelings through his. This is normal, and their bond will likely grow as time progresses. On the other hand, Luke and Leia's bond actually formed in utero, so they are already at the fluent stage.
Gee, this little adventure is getting a lot longer than I expected it to be. Next chapter will begin with no time jumps. See you all again for that.
And Readers, I need your help here:
For the next chapter, I already started it, I will have another Huyang POV section. I wanted to research the episodes where Ahsoka leads the younglings on the Gathering. Season five, episodes six through nine. I tried to find a transcript for the episodes, but I can't find one online. I want to know, where exactly was Anakin during this adventure of his Padawan. I want to know if there was any reason given as to why he was not with Ahsoka then.
I'd expect someone like Yoda would know not to leave a padawan and a bunch of younglings alone without adult supervision. So I assume, even if it was typical to have a padawan like Ahsoka lead the gathering, I know kids will listen to another kid before they will an adult, I'd expect their master to be leading them.
I know Ahsoka technically had Obi-Wan for "Adult Supervision," but not all Padwans had a grandmaster on their team, so I'd think this was an unusual arrangement. I do have an answer for why this happened, but I want to make sure I'm not stepping on toes and covering already covered plot holes. Anyways, If any of you know this and can answer my question, please do leave a comment, a review, or send me a private message.