AN: Ta-da! Alright, kids, few days, I know, but, you know...work, other stories to work on, blah, blah. And this one is actually taking a lot of work, since we're getting into some serious canon divergence, so, you know...lots more planning, rereading, rewriting involved.
"But you bitch!" you might be saying. "You used to update EVERY SINGLE DAY! And now it's only every other day!" Well, yeah, but if you haven't noticed, the chapters have gotten longer. Like, twice as long. Hence, every other day. Pfft, do the math, my beautiful lovelies! Expect new chapters of something every other day. If we're very, VERY lucky, you might get more than that but...uh, I don't want to turn out crap.
Speaking of crap! For those of you that don't know, I've started another story about the Mandalorian Clan Wars, entitled Blood of Mandalore. If you need a break from Sith!Obi and want some Teenage!Obi, head on over there and check it out. I've gotten a pretty good response on the first chapter, and people seem to like it, so maybe it'll be worth your time. Who knows! Regardless, this here is my main bitch, and Blood of Mandalore is my bit on the side for when I need some extra time to think and plan on this one. So fear not. I've got this.
That's all, my lovelies! I do hope you enjoy this one, it was SUPER fun to write. As always, suggestions are welcome. Buh-Bye!
Chapter 14: Automatize
"Come on, Kenobi!" Kanan pleaded over the encrypted comlink, the distance between them causing the device to crackle with static, muffling the Jedi's voice. "It's going to be a blast! Literally! We're going to blow up their new TIE Fighter! There's going to be fireworks and everything! All hail our glorious Empire!"
"Sounds like one of Sabine's plans," Obi-Wan said softly, a faint smile on his lips as he watched Luke and Leia running through the abandoned factory, the twins eagerly calling to each other when they found something of interest. It hadn't been long abandoned, only within the past twenty years, the factory belonging to the Czerks Arms abandoning their interests on Separatist Dantooine in a great hurry after the Clone Wars began, fleeing for safer, less contested territory in order to conduct their business. Obi-Wan was of the belief that technology and information found in the factory could lend aid to the nearby Rebel Base, and the twins were all too eager to join him in his search.
It was their birthday, so he really couldn't say no.
"Well, sort of," Kanan casually admitted. "I mean, all of us planned the attack. We had to. This new ship of theirs looks like bad news."
"So, what?" Obi-Wan softly asked as he ambled down the long halls and peered into the storage spaces. "You destroy one ship." He paused. "Tell me, how many of these TIE Advanced Fighters do you suppose they manufacture on Lothal?"
"It's a symbolic attack, Kenobi," Kana said after a moment's pause. "What do you expect us to do, blow up the entire production factory?"
"Well..."
"You know, for a man that makes a mess basically everywhere he goes, you sure seem reluctant to get in on the Empire Day celebrations." He paused for a moment. "Are you sick, Kenobi? Oh, kriff, are you dying?!"
"What?" Obi-Wan gasped softly, holding his comlink away from him and examining it as though it had somehow offended him. "No, I'm not dying, I'm fine. I told you, I'm busy on Empire Day. I've already celebrated, in any case, though I do wish you the best in your revelry. I'll keep an eye on the holonet for word of your success."
"You're a real bore, Kenobi. This whole thing could be much bigger if you were helping."
"What, and deny you your fun?" Obi-Wan drawled. "Wouldn't do that to you, Jarrus. Besides, there isn't much I would be able to do that you aren't already doing. Blowing up the TIE they are unveiling is good. Sends a strong message." He paused to bite his lip. "It ultimately does nothing, but the gesture will be taken as an insult, which is good. It's the best you can do, in any case. Even I wouldn't be able to do anything about the factories, they're too heavily guarded."
"Well, damn, what good are you then?" Kanan asked, laughter in his voice and clearly not expecting an answer. "I'll be in touch by the end of the day."
"May the Force be with you, Kanan," Kenobi said softly, smiling as Luke excitedly waved him over. "Give my regards to your lover, the kid, the cat, the tin can, and my favorite little Mandalorian."
"You're really not biased at all, are you?" Kanan asked, and with a swift, good natured laugh directed to someone else, the com cut, the static dying as Kenobi pocketed the device, and he lengthened his stride to quickly reach his children, the two standing in a room filled with boxes they had opened and overturned, leaving the ground scattered in droid limbs and spare parts. Propped on a crate they fashioned into a workstation was a droid, its frame showing signs of age, but its entire body intact and seemingly in working order. The unassuming, humanoid construct would have appeared to be some sort of protocol or service droid had it not been covered in red durasteel plating, a thing more typically seen in highly advanced military droids. Despite his disinterest in droids in general, Obi-Wan had been part of the initiative to cease production of the B1 series Battle Droids in favor of a smaller, more advanced force, and he recognized this particular model as something very close to one of the droids that came out of that investment.
This was an HK Series Assassin Droid.
"Well, father," Luke said, a pleased smile on his face as he watched the Sith Lord reach out and lightly touch the red plating. "You said you wanted a droid."
"I did say that..."
"I don't know, father," Leia said, her lips pursed and her arms crossed over her chest. "This thing looks ancient. One of the Fulcrum agents just returned from a mission with a disabled Imperial security droid. I think you should take a look at that one."
"Any droid can be fixed, Leia," Luke said firmly, lifting up the head of the droid and looking at the circuitry under its neck. "Even ancient ones." He patted the red metallic chest. "Its body integrity is solid, though the power cells need to be replaced. We can work on it together!" Luke smirked softly, something mischievous and vaguely manipulative in his eyes. Kenobi frowned. He'd been spending too much time with Leia. "For my birthday."
"Please, father!" the twins both said in perfect unison, their eyes wide and hopeful smiles on their faces, and through the Force, Obi-Wan could feel the two of them reaching out to touch his mind, a gentle insistence, a suggestion, the slightest attempt at using their powers to compel him to bend to him.
Those little shits...
Without even the slightest indication he was doing anything at all, Obi-Wan grabbed their presence in the Force and pulled hard, sending the two children pitching forwards and wincing as their ears began ringing, as if they had been clapped on the side of the head. "If you think that trick is going to work on me children, you have another thing coming," the Sith Lord growled, his golden eyes blazing as he looked at them just not as their father, but also their teacher. "Though, if you are so inclined, I will teach you about true mental domination, and one can only learn such through personal experience."
"No, no!" Luke quickly said, his head bowed and his hands raised in surrender. "I'm sorry, father, I am!"
"I want to learn," Leia said, standing tall, but her head lowered cautiously as she faced off against the Sith. "I'm not afraid." Obi-Wan carefully studied the girl, her brown eyes bold and daring, her presence in the Force self-assured, yet wary, but true to her word, she showed no fear. In time, she could grow to be a powerful wielder of the Dark Side. A true Lord of the Sith. But not today.
"You're too young for such a thing..." Obi-Wan muttered, turning from the children and sorting through the mess of components upon the ground and carefully selecting ones that may be of use. "In ten years, perhaps. Besides," he said, sighing heavily, "neither of you need to use mind tricks to get me to do as you wish. If you want to waste your day repairing a droid, then so be it." The twins gasped excitedly, and Obi-Wan reeled on them, his arms full of components he thought would be useful, and he dumped them into one of the empty crates. "But I am not dragging back to the ship! You want it, you take it yourselves."
"This is going to be the best birthday ever!" Luke said, raising his hand in the air, and the droid floated into the air, and he carefully set it down inside an insulated, cushioned crate that now sat empty in the room.
"You say that every year, Luke," Leia said absently, sifting through the components on the ground beside the Sith Lord and placing the ones she determined she needed within the crate that Kenobi began to fill.
"Well, yeah," Luke intoned as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Of course things continuously got better for them. "This year, we are all getting droids! And father said he's going to help us with our ship modifications!" he chirped, sealing the droid in the crate and lifting the heavy, metallic box with the Force. "We can go anywhere now that we have starships of our own!"
"Maybe you can..." Leia grumbled, lifting the crate of components with the Force and following the Sith Lord as he strode back out toward their ships. "I have responsibilities. Being a princess is literally the worst."
"I don't know..." Luke said slyly as he jogged to catch up, his crate floating effortlessly beside him as he leaned around his father to look at his twin. "You don't complain about being a princess when you get to see Raal Panteer..."
"Luke, shut up!" Leia said between clenched teeth, her face flushing with embarrassment when glowing, golden eyes looked furiously down at her. From his place on the other side of their father, Luke began very enthusiastically making kissing sounds. Leia looked up at her father, a worried expression on her face when she felt cold, contained rage pulse through the Force. "Father, you can't kill every boy that shows interest in me!"
"Oh? Can't I?"
"Well..." she pursed her lips, her hand to her chin as her swift mind thought, but she could already feel the presence of her father deep in her mind, his hands clutched tightly around her presence. Lying was out of the question now. "You could, but I don't want you to kill this one, father. Raal is nobility. He'll be missed. The others were scoundrels and drunks in cantinas. You saved me from them. You don't need to save me from Raal, I like him."
"But they kiss, father..." Luke said, elongating his words and making it seem far worse than it was. Leia was not amused.
"Are you trying to get him killed, Luke?!"
"And the ones father did kill were your fault!" Luke said indignantly. "You sense their attraction to you and you use it to get what you want!"
"They died, Luke," Kenobi softly growled, "because they looked at your sister in a way I didn't like. They were dead before she did anything." His eyes drifted from his son to his daughter, glowing with warning and brimming with threat. "Nobody touches my girl. Nobody."
"W-what about me, father?" Luke asked, daring to be hopeful. "Do I get to-"
"Nobody wants to touch you, Luke," Leia said, so swift and casual that Luke felt he had been punched in the gut. "Oh, what!" Leia asked when the brother shot her a wounded expression. "You're a farm boy in a desert and you're always covered in sand. No girl wants that! Do you even know how to talk to girls?"
"Of course not, how could I?" Luke asked, leaning in and smirking at his twin. "I've never seen a girl before..."
"Oh, you are mean!" Leia cried, but her voice was alight with laughter and she smiled with delight when the crate she had been so easily levitating dropped to the ground when she pushed Luke Back with the Force. His focus disturbed, Luke dropped his as well and pushed back, the two beginning a back and forth test of their Force might that lasted until their father stopped and quickly turned into a room. Together, they rushed in after him, smiling and laughing as they gazed about the room filled with terminals, some hopelessly broken, others simply waiting to be turned on. Obi-Wan laid his hand on one and activated the power grid, the table flickering with lights as the holographic display blinked rapidly for a moment before it stabilized, a low, electronic hum filling the air.
Obi-Wan stepped out of the way when the display prompted for a password and gestured to the controls, and as they had done many times before, Leia skipped over, flashing Luke a cocky grin, and laid her hand on the console, her eyes closed, her being centered as she touched the Force, and moments later, she was quickly imputing the password, the display flashing and giving them access to the database. Leia moved out of the way, and the Sith Lord bent over the console, the twins looking over his shoulder as he quickly scanned the contents.
"This is not a matter I need to address with Luke," Obi-Wan said softly, his fingers gently running along the keys on the console. "I don't know if Luke would know what to do with a woman if I put one right in front of him."
"S-sure I do!" Luke cried defensively when Leia snickered, a fierce blush on his cheeks. "You talk to her!" Kenobi smiled faintly.
"And this is why I don't have to murder anyone on Luke's behalf. He's oblivious, and he doesn't get off the farm much. You, princess," the Sith growled, looking up at his shoulder to Leia's sheepish face, "are a flirt, and I don't much like the rogues and scoundrels you seem so eager to attract."
"Father," Leia said smoothly, turning on the charm she always employed when she attempted to get what she wanted. The look in Kenobi's eyes said in no uncertain terms that it wasn't working. "You can't kill every man I find attractive."
"Bring one home that is worthy of you, and I'll see about letting him live," Obi-Wan grumbled, and Leia scoffed loudly.
"Father, according to you, nobody is worthy of me!"
"That's right." Obi-Wan stood as Leia groaned, her brother laughing at her expense, and with a gesture of his hand, he approached the main terminal and it began to spark as wires were snapped, metal groaned as it was pried open, and moments later, the rectangular datablock was torn out of the device, held suspended in midair by the Force. Obi-Wan grabbed it and tucked it under his arm. "We'll send a recovery team from base to collect anything else they may need. We're done here."
With a quick look at each other that issued a silent challenge, Luke and Leia went tearing out of the room at full speed, flying out into the open space of the abandoned factory and grabbing their crates with the Force as they rushed by. Keeping one hand raised to hold their cargo and the other extended toward the others as they attempted to use the Force to knock the other off-balance, the twins raced all the way toward where the Umbra sat flanked by two X-wings.
The X-wings had been a gift from their father for their birthday, the excited children having received them just that morning when they had arrived at the Rebel Base on Dantooine. They had been heavily modified by the Sith Lord himself, equipt with the finest hyperdrives and defensive systems he could acquire, in addition to state of the art in flight systems and a rudimentary stealth drive based on the Umbra's full cloaking abilities. Sleek in design, the X-wings were built with black titanium and accented with green on Luke's ship and blue on Leia's to reflect the colors of their lightsabers. Immediately, the twins had demanded their father take them flying, and the better part of their afternoon had been spent flying low and reckless over Dantooine's surface, which was no trouble for the twins, already boasting talents in flight that could only be called prodigious. Luke was better, but only because he had little else to do on Tatooine, much to Owen's dismay. He was good. Very good. Kenobi wondered what Hera would have thought of his boy. Flying was, after all, in his blood.
In addition to the starships from their father, Bail Organa had gifted the twins with the droids that had come into his possession after Padmé's death, the two droids once owned by their biological parents. Leia gained ownership of C-3PO, the fussy, worry-prone protocol droid that she had come to take a liking to, not just because of its many uses, but because 3PO's perfect memory was filled with stories about Padmé Amidala, Naboo Queen, Senator, wife to a Jedi Knight, lover to a Sith Lord, and mother of Luke and Leia. Built by her biological father for the young Queen, C-3PO was something of a perfect gift for the Princess, a thing of both her mother and her father, before he became the man that had burned so hot for vengeance, he was willing to kill his own children to cleanse his wife. Leia would sit and listen to the droid for hours recount the many tales of her mother's exploits, her heroics, her flaws, her strengths, everything, and 3PO seemed happy enough to be listened to.
Luke was given the astromech R2-D2, an adventurous, loyal and courageous little thing that had once belonged to his mother, only to have found its way into Anakin Skywalker's possession. He didn't understand the little droid's beeps and whistles unless someone was translating, but he knew he would come to understand. Already, he felt a connection to the assertive, pushy thing, and though the astromech and his father got along about as well as a bantha and a hungry rancor, Luke loved the little R2 unit. The droid had proved itself to be quick thinking and resourceful, and when Luke and R2 had piloted his new X-wing together, Luke had never felt more at home. Him, the ship, the droid were one, a singular unit that moved and thought together so perfectly that Luke could feel the Force itself freely flowing through him. His mind cleared of everything but his ship and his droid and the awareness of them both, he could feel everything, from Leia in the ship beside him, to the feel of the air as it was sliced by the starfighter's wings. If only he could bring this focus, this clarity out of the skies and into his training, Luke felt he could truly be great.
It wasn't the only gifts they had received. Owen's gift to them was far simpler, for he was a simple man, but it was no less precious. The farmer had fashioned twin leather bracelets for the siblings, each one adorned with a smooth, light blue disc harder and stronger than any metal, a thing that caught the light and reflected a prism of colors and emitted warmth even in freezing temperatures. A scale from the mighty Krayt Dragon that lived in the sands below the Lars homestead, a beast tamed by Obi-Wan and ordered to protect young Luke and his family. Its sharp, rough edges were painstakingly smoothed by the farmer, and both Luke and Leia had been nearly moved to tears by the gesture from a man they knew they had caused no small amount of grief.
All in all, it was easily their best Empire Day.
When they landed back at the Rebel Base, people were running about and shouting, the tension palpable in the air, but Obi-Wan could feel nothing amiss in the Force. There was no danger, no signs of warning, nothing but the ripples caused by humans in a state of anxiety. Obi-Wan whistled at a man that ran past, and he quickly stopped and turned to face in the direction of the one that had called him, and he quickly stood at attention.
"What's going on here?" Obi-Wan asked softly, and the man drew up even taller, his back straight as he saluted.
"Princess!"
"Princess?!" Obi-Wan hissed. "Who are you calling princess, fool?!"
"He's talking about me, father," Leia drawled, pushing past the Sith Lord and standing before the suddenly very excited rebel. "At ease, soldier," Leia said, her voice strong and commanding, every bit the leader she had been raised to be, and Luke stood close to his father, watching his sister with admiration. He wasn't nearly so charismatic as his twin, and he certainly couldn't imagine himself leading like she did. "Can you tell us what's happening here?"
"Y-yes, princess!" the soldier said swiftly, his voice tight with both excitement and tension. "Captain Andor returned to base the other day with an Imperial security droid he had disabled. He just finished reprogramming the droid, and...well..." He took a deep breath. "It isn't obeying orders, princess. Captain Andor isn't a technician, and its programming is rife with errors and glitches. We're trying to disable it again so we can remove its memory bank and gain access to the Imperial files, but it isn't letting us near it."
"Sounds like the droid we were discussing," Obi-Wan muttered. "If its causing a problem, destroy it. I see no need for this chaos." The soldier looked at Kenobi appalled.
"Sir, this droid was a nightmare to acquire, and the information in it might be valuable. If we destroy it-"
"The information it holds means nothing if the droid destroys the Rebellion in the process." He tapped the kids on the back. "Come on, let's go see what's going on with this droid." With a gesture of his hand, the room full of soldiers and pilots saluting toward Leia dropped to their knees, genuflecting low upon the ground, and the Sith Lord grinned viciously at an unamused Leia. "See?' the Sith drawled. "They may salute you, but they bow to me."
"Only because you made them."
"Yes, well, that is how you dominate a people, you make them bow." Leia rolled her eyes and glared at Luke when he chuckled quietly, and the twins followed the Sith Lord through the base, following the rushing of people like a river to their destination. They found it soon enough, and as they approached, the soldiers in the hallway parted to allow them to pass, and they found themselves standing in the base's central control room, the area lit by the glow of the holographic displays and the minimal lighting that hung overhead. Encircling the round room were soldiers, their blasters primed and pointed at a dark gray, humanoid droid that stood in the middle over the central console, its interface arm held above the data center as if threatening to plug in. Its white ocular sensors shifted to look at Obi-Wan as he entered the room, the Sith Lord standing cross armed behind the man that appeared to be standing off with the droid.
"Trouble?" Obi-Wan asked softly, his voice laced with amusement, and with a disgusted, impatient hiss, the man glared over his shoulder, and looked away.
"I don't need your help," he snarled, raising his weapon against the droid. "I'm warning you, you defective bucket of bolts, I-"
"I'm only defective because you messed up, Captain Andor," the droid said in a light, male voice that sounded almost bored, affected, and Obi-Wan couldn't help the broad grin that spread across his face.
"Oh, my heart can't take this," Obi-Wan said, his voice straining with repressed laughter. "I might actually like this droid!" He whistled, loud and piercing, and every soldier circling the room looked cautiously toward him. "Drop your weapons, children, opening fire in here is just going to get you lot killed in the crossfire."
"See?" the droid said, turning his head to face the man supposedly in charge. "He understand. Finally, an organic that understands reason." None of the rebels moved, and with a heavy sigh, Obi-Wan raised his hands and used the Force to tear every blaster away from the soldiers that held them, the weapons skidding to the ground before the Sith Lord. The droid drew up from its hunched position over the central console and began scrutinizing the new young male.
"When did everyone stop listening to me?" Obi-Wan asked nobody in particular as he slowly ambled in toward the droid, every eye in the room staring at him in absolute bewilderment.
Obi-Wan crossed his arms in front of his chest as he stood before the dark gray droid, the hulking frame standing over six feet tall, a thick, armored torso on legs that seemed too thin for such a powerfully built body, and arms that hung too low, the tips of its long fingers touching its knees. Atop its sloping, rounded shoulders sat a head that seemed too small, a humanoid thing that looked like it was wearing a breathing apparatus over its mouth. Its ocular sensors glowed white, two circles of light covered with a lense to resemble eyes. On its upper arms by the shoulders was stamped the Imperial insignia in white, and Obi-Wan's mind raced with the possibilities of owning such a droid.
He needed to keep it.
"They say you are disobeying orders," Obi-Wan said, a faint smile on his lips as the droid tilted its head, the lights of its eyes blinking and shifting as it processed his words.
"To be fair," the droid said, "the instructions were unclear at best."
"From this lot?" Obi-Wan asked, looking around the room. "I just bet they were. What were the instructions?"
The droid drew back, almost as though it was offended by something that had been said. "They said I am a rebel now." The droid made a noise that amounted to a scoff of disgust. "A rebel. And they try to shoot me for rebelling against their instructions!" The droid dropped its head slightly, giving the impression of it leaning forward with slumped shoulders. "You can understand my confusion."
"You're right, that was unclear," Kenobi said with a smile on his lips. "What are you?"
"I am..." The droid paused, the faint whir of its processor's churning heard through its massive chest. "I am a...reprogrammed KX-Series Imperial Security Droid, now in service of..." It looked up, swiveling its head upon its neck as it looked around the room. "...this. The Rebellion." It quickly looked back at the Sith Lord. "How is it that this Rebellion even manages to function? You have no order, no uniform, no rank. How can you tell who is in charge in this disorganized mess? A rebellion by its very nature is made of rebels. Those who reject rules and orders. How is it you manage unity at all?"
"I admit, it is a problem," Obi-Wan said softly.
"It makes your chances for success against the Empire rather low." It paused. "Very low." Another pause. "...the chance for success is less than one percent."
"Exactly the sort of odds I like," Obi-Wan said with a smirk. The droid stared blankly back at him.
"...you're all going to die."
"I love your enthusiasm..." Obi-Wan drawled. "Look around. Can you determine who is in charge?" Again, the droid looked up, looked at each person in turn, and returned its unblinking gaze to the Sith.
"You are the most likely candidate for command." Kenobi smirked.
"Do you know who I am? What does your databank have to say about me? As a security droid, you should have extensive files on me." Again, the droid stared at the Sith Lord, its processors whirring as its sensors scanned him, and after a moment, it drew its head back.
"Visual recognition scans indicate with one hundred percent accuracy that you are Obi-Wan Kenobi," it calmly recited, as if reading off the files themselves. "Leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems following the death of Count Dooku. Separatist Negotiator and former Jedi Knight." Obi-Wan didn't look behind him, but he could feel the eyes of Captain Andor burning through him, his gaze intense and disbelieving and hopeful. "Captured on the planet Algor in the Tion Cluster and executed on Coruscant in the thirteenth year of our Empire." The droid was silent for a moment, staring with its fixed gaze at Obi-Wan, before pointing its long arm in an accusing manner at Captain Andor. "You! You have tampered with my records, Captain Andor! This man was publically executed last year! He is supposed to be dead!"
"Sir," the Captain said, his blaster still raised and pointed at the droid. "This...droid is attempting to download information from our central computer." Obi-Wan looked back at the man, his gold eyes looking right through him, a defiant, proud, ruthless person who had the feel of a man that had been fighting his whole life. His eyes narrowed slightly as he dug deeper and felt bitter resentment for the Empire, but also a tight, immediate respect that shouldn't have been present in the defiant, rebellious man. A Separatist. Kenobi smiled slightly. The droid had been right. It was a wonder that this rebellion was being held together at all. He'd have to make time to commend Bail Organa for his stellar work.
"What's your name?" Obi-Wan asked the man, and dark brown eyes looked at him, widening slightly in surprise as he cautiously lowered his weapon.
"Uh...Cassian Jeron Andor." He swiftly saluted. "Sir."
"Did you not reprogram this droid for our use?" Kenobi calmly asked, and the Captain scoffed, pointing at the droid with the barrel of his blaster.
"I was reprogramming it," Andor said firmly. "But I haven't finished. There are still glitches in its programming. I left it alone for one minute while I went to get something to eat, and when I returned, it had gotten off the table and came here!"
"Well!" the droid happily chirped. "I have identified your problem, Captain Andor. If you hadn't the need to consume nutrients, we would not be in this situation." It pointed along finger at the flustered Captain. "You must see how this is your fault." The droid drew up to its full height. "I will now accept your apology."
"Seems to me that the errors and glitches in your incomplete programming of the droid had led to it developing self-awareness," Obi-Wan said patting the droid on its broad chest. "Well done, Cassian. I'll take the droid from here."
"...wait, you?" the man balked. "Sir, we haven't had the chance to run any diagnostic on the droid, we don't know if its even safe!"
"Well, I'm not the one waving that blaster around," the droid said, offended. It looked between the dark haired, threatening Captain and the calm, commanding ease of the blond. "Can I have a blaster?"
"No!" the Captain said swiftly.
"Oh, absolutely!" Obi-Wan chirped immediately after. "You and me, droid, we're going to go places! Come on!"
"Places?" the droid asked, slowly following the man as he turned and began leaving the command center. "Technically we are in a place now. What places? I find you just as vague and confusing as the others."
"Sir, this is extremely ill-advised," Andor said, his voice low as he stood before the Sith Lord, stopping his progress. "We haven't run any of the checks, we aren't finished with-"
"You wanted the droid out of the command center, and I am escorting it out," Obi-Wan said with a heavy sigh. "Don't worry. I'll take it from here."
"Sir, I insist-"
"Droid, remove this human from my path," Obi-Wan said firmly, and without a moment's hesitation, the lumbering security droid outstretched its long arms, grabbed Cassian under the dumbstruck man's arms, and gently set him down to the side. "Oh, look," Kenobi casually drawled. "It seems like it does follow orders." He patted the droid on the chest, smiling softly as the twins filed in next to him as he walked down the hallway back toward the hangar where they had set down the Umbra.
"I told you this droid would work for you, father," Leia said, a pleased smirk on her face.
"We can still build the other one, right?" Luke asked, worried for a moment before Obi-Wan nodded shortly.
"We're going right now, yes. Do you have a call sign, droid?" Obi-Wan asked softly. "It seems I'll be in possession of two droids rather shortly, and there might be some confusion if you are both just droid."
"KX-Series Security Droid K-2SO," the droid recited, and it leaned over and looked at Kenobi. "What am I supposed to call you? My programming doesn't have a rank designation for dead Jedi Separatist scum." Kenobi chuckled softly, trying and failing to get the twins to stifle their laughter.
"Sounds like a Master to me."
"Master..." the droid tested, its processors whirring for a moment before it shook its head.
"No, no, I don't think I like that, Master."
"Never asked you to like it, K2," Kenobi said with a smirk. "We're going to build a droid. Want to help?"
"Is this droid going to be a replacement?" K-2SO asked. "Am I already being replaced? Is this about that mess in the command center?" It leaned over to look at Obi-Wan. "I told you, that was Captain Andor's fault!"
Obi-Wan didn't respond. He simply folded his arms into the sleeves of his robes and listened to Luke and Leia trade shots with the quick thinking droid. By the time they reached the Umbra, the Sith Lord was resolved to keep the sassy, sarcastic mechanical.
"You know what I like best about mandatory celebrations?" Obi-Wan asked, his hands deep inside the open chest of the recovered HK droid as he fiddled with wires and connections, using the Force to help with the precise adjustments he was making. "It makes it so easy to ensure maximum chaos when the festivities are attacked." He looked up at the holographic projection opposite him, the channel tuned to the holonet's Galactic News Network where ashen news corespondents reported on a rebel attack on Lothal, terror and fear gripping the city as the Empire Day parade was destroyed when the newly unveiled TIE Advanced was blown up by insurgents who were still at large in the city.
"Looks like your friends managed to pull it off," Leia said, handing the Sith one of the power cells when he held out his hand for it.
"I don't know, they could have done better if you helped them, father," Luke said, his back toward the hologram as he held the delicate circuit board in his hand, his eyes narrowed in focus as he applied small shocks to different nodes with a precision instrument, his eyes drifting to the datapad at his side to check the readings on the tests he was preforming, and he made the necessary adjustments.
"I can't do everything for them, son," the Sith Lord said softly, focused on the task at hand. "And they are more than capable on their own. They will not grow if not exposed to adversity, you know that. It's the primary reason the Jedi became so weak."
"Y-yeah, I know..." Luke sighed heavily as he replaced the circuitry and picked up the datapad, his finger swiping over the surface as he tasked it to run a quick diagnostic. "I just want to go on a mission! With you, father!"
"What, your adventure on Florrum wasn't enough for you?" Obi-Wan asked dryly, a wry smirk on his lips as he looked up at his pouting son. "So far as I'm concerned, you two are still grounded."
"That was years ago!" Luke cried. "We were just kids then!" His chest puffed up in pride. "We're fifteen. I'm a man now! And Leia..." He looked over at his sister, an expression on her face that told Luke he needed to tread very carefully. "...well, she's Leia, father."
"You think yourself a man, boy?" Obi-Wan said pointedly, and amused look on his face as he installed the power cells and ran his own checks. Luke crossed his arms over his chest.
"Well, Mandalore considers me a man," Luke said stubbornly. "You said Mandalorians boys become men at fifteen!"
"I said," Kenobi sighed, "that Mandalorians become adults in the eyes of the clan when they first go to battle, which typically happens between fourteen and sixteen. You, my son, have been in a battle, but you haven't fought in a battle. There's a difference."
"How are we supposed to be in a battle if you don't take us!" Luke cried indignantly, and the Sith Lord sighed and returned to working on the droid, Luke following suit when Leia took the datapad from him to finish running the diagnostic. "...father, you were a Jedi!" Luke said insistently after a moment of silence. "At our age, you were running around and saving the galaxy from criminals and murders and keeping the peace and serving justice!"
"Oh, is that what it was like?" Obi-Wan asked. "I didn't know you were there, Luke." The boy flushed a deep shade of red and turned his gaze downward, his hands so deep in the tangle of wires and circuitry it was as if he were trying to crawl inside and hide.
"That's what the Jedi did, isn't it?" he mumbled, and his father nodded.
"That is what they did, yes, though not quite so young. It wasn't until I was sixteen that I was in a situation that required me to kill, and that same year, I was sent to war on Mandalore. I became a man there," the Sith said, a faint, nostalgic smile on his lips. "In more ways then one." Luke wrinkled his nose and flushed an even deeper shade of red while Leia leaned in with intense interest. Kenobi pointed his calibration tool at his son. "And if you can't talk about sex without blushing like a Naboo schoolgirl, then you aren't a man yet. And no," he said, pointing the tool at Leia, "just because you can doesn't mean you can go out and start having sex! I was older than both of you before I started doing the things you two want, and I had the makings of a Sith Lord. You two can wait."
The twins sighed heavily and quietly returned to their work on the droid. "I just don't think a Kenobi should be sitting still!" Luke tried again after a moment. "It just...doesn't feel like the Kenobi way."
"...you'll have your chance soon enough, Luke," Obi-Wan said softly. "You both will. Don't be in such a hurry to get to it." He took his hands from the droid's innards and sat back, smoothing back his hair and sighing heavily. "I have failed to protect everyone that has needed me. I'm in no rush to see you in danger." Luke bit his lip and looked at Leia, the girl seeming almost as guilty as he felt, and together, they tightly embraced their father, sighing happily when he pulled them close and they could feel his presence wrap protectively around them, not the cold, harsh feel he usually exhibited, but something warm and gentle and soothing that was reserved exclusively for them.
It was...familiar, a feeling they had known their entire lives, one they knew they had felt even before they were born when they lay huddled close together inside their mother, fearful and hidden to all but one. A Sith Lord, a murderer, a cruel, vicious creature warped and twisted, corrupted by the Dark Side and the weight of grief and insanity, but within him, there was only warmth and love for the twins, light and protection for the children of his enemy that he vowed to raise as his own.
"Are we ready to power the droid on?" Obi-Wan asked after a long moment, pressing a swift kiss to their temples, ruffling Luke's hair and gently running Leia's long braid through his hand. The twins swiftly nodded and together, they fixed the heavy chest piece back onto the droid, reached behind its neck, and switched on the power, and the two excitedly moved back to their father's side, looking at the red mechanical expectantly.
Nothing happened.
"Huh..." Kenobi said, sitting the droid up fro a moment and lookint it over, his finger pressing the power switch a few times to no effect. "We must have missed something. Open it up, kids." Quickly, the twins laid the droid back down and immediately removed the chest piece, both pairs of hands diving into the innards the moment they were exposed and removing the power couplings and circuitry and checking them for faults and errors. Kenobi looked over his shoulder at K-2SO, the droid's interface arm plugged into one of the Umbra's many access ports. "Hey, k2. Doing alright over there?" Despite his expressionless face, the droid managed to give Kenobi a look that screamed frustration.
"This ship is highly uncooperative!" K2 complained. "It is resisting all instruction, countermands every command, and three times has tried to slave my systems to its interface!" K2 turned away from the Sith Lord, it's arm hissing and clicking as it disconnected from its lock in the port, and pulled away, only to find its shoulder pulled uncomfortably, the arm remaining within the wall. The droid pilled again, but was met with similar results. The droid's interface arm was stuck. K2 made a sound between a sigh and a groan. "Oh, wonderful. Your ship will not release me."
"Aw..." Obi-Wan drawled, a lopsided smirk on his face. "Must be love."
"On the contrary, Master," K2 said in a deadpan, sarcastic tone. "I don't think I've ever experienced a ship that actively hates droids like this." K2 tugged its arm back once again and looked mournfully at the junction when it failed to free itself. "You'd think the ship of the Separatist commander would be more considerate of droids."
"You'd be surprised," Obi-Wan said softly. "Be gentle with her, K2, it's her first time."
"Gentle?!" the droid cried indignantly, yanking its arm back once again and making no progress in freeing itself. "Master, your ship isn't being gentle with me! This is a construct of impressive engines, fine durasteel, and sass."
"Just the way I like her."
"I almost didn't believe it when they said you were here, Kenobi," a clear, self-assured voice said from behind him, and Obi-Wan looked back to see Ahsoka Tano leaning in the now open doorway, a smile on her face as the twins immediately dropped what they were doing and rushed toward her, throwing their arms around the Togruta, a gesture that she happily returned. "Not one droid, but two?" she asked in disbelief when the twins let her go, and she chuckled softly and shook her head, her long lekku swaying across her shoulders. "You're going soft, Lord of the Sith."
"I find myself in need of assistance..." Kenobi muttered, standing and walking toward the Togruta, laying his hand upon the intercom button on the wall. "Since my help is useless!" he shouted into the speaker. The intercom burst with static as it was activated from another area of the ship.
"I told you, brother," came the slow, slurred voice of Cody on the other end. "You make me drink that much to your children on their birthday, and I'm taking the day off." There was a slight pause. "So I'm taking the day off."
"Oh, to do what exactly?" Kenobi said as he rolled his eyes.
"...to drink more, to be honest," the clone drawled. "And I can't drink like I used to. Not all of us can be children forever." Cody chuckled loudly. "It's a celebration, you Sith bastard! All hail our glorious Empire!"
"Yeah, yeah, sleep it off, you alcoholic," Obi-Wan said, removing his hand from the intercom and sighing. It was a yearly thing they did. Obi-Wan would spend the day with the twins and prepare to watch Empire day go up in flames, and Cody would retreat for the day, doing what he wanted, for the most part, but mostly, he drank, and he remembered Shaak Ti. It was the only time he ever truly allowed himself to grieve for her. Just once a year.
"You know," Ahsoka said, "the man that droid belongs to..." She pointed to K-2SO, who stared at her blankly, unmoving, and without taking his eyes from her, gave a quick tug of his arm. "Captain Cassian Andor? He's one of my Fulcrum agents, and he's not happy you stole his droid from him." Kenobi scoffed.
"Well he stole it from the Empire, but I don't see you lecturing him about it."
"And he pointed a blaster at me," K2 said, his tone offended. "Master Kenobi only enslaved me. I think I prefer slavery to death." Ahsoka looked pointedly at the Sith Lord.
"It took a lot of work to secure a droid like this. We need it back."
"Not going to happen, Fulcrum." Ahsoka did not look amused. With a roll of his eyes, Kenobi pointed to the trapped droid. "Just look at him! He and my ship are inseparable! How can you break up such a beautiful union, what they're doing is basically machine sex!" K2 looked at the Sith Lord, then back at the wall, and began pulling his arm in earnest, harder and more frantic than before. Ahsoka just shook her head and sighed. She learned in the Clone Wars that getting between Obi-Wan and the things he considered his was a bad idea. It was best to let this one go.
"Father, we're ready to try activating the HK unit again," Luke said quickly, and when the Sith Lord nodded, the excited boy reached around on its neck and touched the power. Nothing happened. "Son of a..."
"We'll try again," Leia said swiftly, taking off the chest piece again. "I have an idea." The twins bent to work, quietly talking to each other and passing tools back and forth, and as they worked, Obi-Wan nudged Ahsoka.
"Got a gift for you," he said softly, handing her a smooth, rectangular data drive. "From our reconnaissance of the Czerka warehouse on the other side of the planet. There's a lot of good information on there. Schematics, weapon and droid designs, you name it."
Ahsoka flashed him a wry smile. "Making up for stealing my security droid?" she asked smoothly, drawing closer to the Sith Lord. "Or am I next in your long string of lovers?"
"No..." he said softly, his tone amused as he watched her turn the datablock over in her hands. "And no. The string isn't that long, in any case, and I'm not looking to expand it. My lovers never end well." He shrugged. "I just thought I'd contribute. Call it an advanced gift for the information you're going to give me on Thrawn..."
"It's a very advanced gift, then," she said, smiling sheepishly when the gold eyes narrowed in irritation. "It can't be helped, Kenobi, the Chimera isn't an easy ship to find. And anyway, my focus is on finding Galen Erso. That weapon should be everyone's top priority."
"The weapon won't matter if Thrawn takes us all out first," Kenobi softly warned, keeping his voice down so the children didn't hear anything. "This rebellion can do without me, but it can't do without them. They're strong, Ahsoka. Stronger than any of us know, and so long as Thrawn is around, they aren't safe." The Togruta sighed heavily. "I'll see what I can do, Obi-Wan. I'll get my best agents on locating the ship."
"That would be much appreciated."
"Alright, ready, father!" Leia said excitedly, and the two of them looked expectantly at Obi-Wan.
"Third time's a charm, kids. Go for it." With an excited grin, the twins reached behind the droid's neck, and this time, there was a low hum, the body of the droid lurching as power was restored. The twins quickly backed off, rushing to stand beside their father and looking on with excitement in their eyes as the droid's components came to life, flexing and moving as its internal start-up diagnostic was run, the whirring and churning of the processors and mechanics filling the air. Slowly, its ocular sensors began to glow with an orange light, soft at first, than blazing, and the droid arduously sat up, its head slowly turning to take in the room, its sensors landing on the Sith Lord as he stepped forward.
"Droid, state your designation, identification, and primary function." It was silent for a moment, its movements jerky and uneven, and finally, it slid off the table and stood.
"Response: HK-Series Assassin Droid. I am identified as HK-45. My primary functions are..." It paused, its sensors sweeping over the room before it looked back at Kenobi. "The assassination and execution of any meatbag I am pointed at." It tilted its head at the Sith Lord. "Quarry: Have I come into your possession? Do you want me to kill something?"
"Oh, I'm going to like you..." Obi-Wan cooed, swiftly taking the datapad in Luke's hands and swiping his finger across the screen. "Good call, son, this is exactly what I needed..."
"And what about me?" K-2SO called from his spot on the wall, his shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Aw, sweetheart, you seem to be exactly what the Umbra needs." Kenobi smirked. "I always said she was a discerning little bitch." He handed the datapad to the assassin droid. "HK-45. I am Darth Lumis, Lord of the Sith, Master of all I see, including yourself. That's my file. Take some time to familiarize yourself with my work." The red droid tilted its head, its processors whiring as it interfaced with the datapad, and after a moment, it emitted a deep, mechanical grind, its orange sensors shooting up to look at Obi-Wan.
"Exclamation: you are a murderer! How magnificent! I predict a long and prosperous relationship between us, Master."
"Oooh..." Luke said, leaning in toward Leia. "Maybe this wasn't such a good choice..."
"To be fair, brother, it does look like a protocol droid."
The ship's comlink began to beep, and keeping an eye on his new droids, Obi-Wan checked the ident of the caller and rolled his eyes. The Ghost. Typical. He picked up the call, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall.
"Lover, if you keep calling me like this, people are going to get suspicious. I never took you for the needy type." On the other end, Kanan laughed softly, though his voice was high. Tense. Something was wrong. Obi-Wan held up his hand for silence, and everyone stood still, Leia muting the holonet to give him complete silence.
"Spectre Zero, I will let you bend me over the control deck and take me hard if it'll get you to come help us."
"If I wanted to do that, Spectre One, I'd have done it already. I don't need your permission to take what I want from you," he said softly, his smooth voice dark with concern. Code names weren't a good sign. The line was encrypted, and if anyone was listening, the transmission would come out scrambled, but still. Precautions. "What is it, what's wrong?"
"We...did something," Kanan said reluctantly. "We executed our plan at the-"
"Skip the details, Spectre One, I know your plan was a success." Nervous laughter came from over the com.
"R-right." Kanan cleared his throat. "We found a missing Imperial fugitive. A Rodian working for the Imperial Information Office. He's been implanted with an AJ^6 Cyborg Construct." Obi-Wan quickly muted his end of the com channel when Ahsoka's eyes narrowed, her presence in the Force shifting from curiosity to rapt interest.
"It's a cybernetic device attached to the back of the head," Ahsoka quietly explained. "It had nodes that implant through the skull and directly into the brain, and it works sort of like an external hard drive for the mind and memory. It turns the brain into a miniature computer, sacrificing personality for productivity." She took a deep breath to calm her excitement. "They're kept under heavy guard. If the Spectres managed to get hold of one, we need that Rodian." The Togruta smiled softly. "Maybe its time for them to join us after all."
Obi-Wan nodded and un-muted his end of the com. "Spectre One, I'm with Fulcrum right now. Is there anyway you can make a delivery of the Rodian?"
"I was hoping you'd say that," Kanan said, but he still sounded worried. Distracted. A long silence followed. "Spectre Zero," he said softly. "We took a look at the information he has stored in the implant. There's...some shit in this thing..." Ahsoka looked at Obi-Wan, her blue eyes wide as she quickly tapped her fingers on the comlink on her own wrist, issuing swift commands to her network. This pick-up just went from urgent to critical. "There are schematics in here for new TIE Fighters and Walkers. Schedules for stormtroopers, tactics and strategy, a five year plan for Lothal and every other world in the Outer Rim."
"Alright, when you said some shit, you lied, Jarrus, this is major shit. This sounds like plans from the desk of kriffing Grand Moff Tarkin, that indolent bastard. We're coming for you now, Spectre One, send us your coordinates."
"Uh...negative, Spectre Zero," Kanan said softly. "That's part of the problem. We're being tracked."
"...what."
"They got a tracking device on the Phantom!" the Jedi said, exasperated. "We're in hyperspace now, but they know where we are and where we're going."
"Well, dump the Phantom, you idiot!" Kenobi snarled, and the Jedi started laughing.
"Yeah, Spectre Two wanted to do the same thing."
"I always said she was the smart one."
"Spectre Six and I are going to take the Phantom to draw the Imperials away from their actual target so Spectre Two can have a chance to safely deliver the Rodian to Fulcrum," Kanan said somberly. Obi-Wan looked over at Ahsoka, the Togruta swiftly tapping her comlink and giving Kenobi a nod of ascent.
"That's a go on your plan, Spectre One," Kenobi said. "Forwarding rendezvous coordinates to you now." The Jedi's voice was muffled as he talked to the people on the ship, and with a few additional directions imputed into her comlink, Ahsoka turned to leave.
"There's a complication," Kanan said softly, and Ahsoka froze. "It's not just the Imperials chasing us. It's the Grand Inquisitor." There was silence for a long moment, the only sound in the room the muffled, panicked shouts and commands of the Specters on the Ghost. Ahsoka looked at Obi-Wan for a long while, her eyes filled with caution and concern. "We need help," Kanan said softly. "Please, we're going to be alone, and he's better than me. I don't know if I can hold out long enough for the Ghost to extract us."
"...I-I can't!" Obi-Wan stuttered, looking at the twins, their eyes wide and expectant.
"Please!" Kanan cried desperately, and Obi-Wan felt himself waver.
"Standby, Spectre One," Obi-Wan said as he muted the com and took a deep, shuddering breath. "Ahsoka..."
"We can't, Obi-Wan," the Togruta said firmly. "We can't bring them into the greater rebellion now, not with the Grand Inquisitor hounding them, not when you've confirmed he's connected to Thrawn." She exhaled sharply. "We can pick up the Rodian, that's it, but if we get involved now, we risk exposing the entire rebellion. They're too great a risk. If the Inquisitor is after them, that means he was on Lothal, he's hunting them."
"Which means he needs to be out of the way," Kenobi growled. "If I have him in my possession, I can open his mind, find Thrawn, turn him against the Empire, anything."
"If you go after him, Obi-Wan, you're exposing yourself as a member of the Lothal insurgency," Ahsoka said firmly. "You can't have any contact with us until the Inquisitor has been dealt with. It makes you a target."
"...understood," Obi-Wan muttered and un-muted the com. "Spectre One, transmit your destination. I'm on the way." Kenobi could hear Kanan nearly sob with relief before he quickly composed himself.
"Thank you...please hurry." The com cut, and Obi-Wan quickly turned to Ahsoka.
"Move quickly to secure the Rodian. I'll see you when I've shown this Grand Inquisitor what a Sith Lord really is." The Togruta swiftly nodded.
"May the Force be with you, Obi-Wan. Take care of that Jedi. I need him in the rebellion as soon as the cost is clear." She smirked. "Consider this the final test for the Ghost."
"I'll be sure to let them know." With a smile, Ahsoka rushed off the Umbra, and Obi-Wan sighed heavily, running a hand over his face. "Luke, Leia..."
"Father, please don't send us home!" Luke said quickly, stepping forward with a wide, frantic look in his eyes. "Please, we can help you on this mission!"
"You need to go quickly, don't you?" Leia added. "You don't have time to drop us off, and you can't just leave us here! Please! We'll stay in our armor, nobody will think we're anything other than Mandalorians!"
"We'll stay in our X-wings, nobody will even see us!"
Obi-Wan looked at the twins in silence for a long while. The mission was dangerous because Inquisitors were dangerous, and any being with the Force had the ability to turn the tide of battle. He wasn't about to underestimate the man just because he wasn't as powerful in the Force. After all, the Inquisitor was backed by Thrawn. And that Chiss bastard was a formidable opponent. However, this attack seemed to have the Empire off balance. Thrawn was absolutely watching, but it was a very real probability that this wasn't one of his traps. This was simply the Ghost taking an advantage and running with it, and the Ghost was a very fast ship.
And Luke and Leia...had grown so tall, their bearing noble and proud and strong, their presence in the Force safely concealed but so, so powerful. When had they grown up? It was like he had looked away for just a moment, only to find them again and see that they had become adults. Fifteen. It was so young, but not much younger than Obi-Wan had been when he had gone to war on Mandalore. They were even older than Ahsoka had been when she joined the front lines of the Clone Wars beside Quinlan Vos. They would join the fight someday. They would have to. He could feel in the Force their importance in this conflict. Luke and Leia would bring an end to this Empire. They...had to be ready at some point. It was better that they were made ready instead of forced to be ready.
He could feel his heart break slightly. This is not what Padmé wanted for her children. This isn't what he wanted for his children. But...they would have to grow up one day. It was best to ease into it.
"You will follow my orders exactly," Obi-Wan said firmly, and the twins tensed with excitement they tried so hard to repress. "I will have no argument, no debate. You will listen, Luke and Leia Kenobi, or so help me, I will make certain you never leave the ground again." The twins were nearly bubbling over with excitement, and Obi-Wan pinched the bridge of his nose. "Come on. Get your armor on and meet me in the cockpit. We have a mission to plan."
HK-45 followed the Sith Lord, its legs moving smooth and easy as if it were meant for swift, agile movement. "Quarry: are we going to get to murder someone, Master? Your record is extensively impressive. Shall I kill something for you?"
"That seems to be a distinctive possibility, yes..." Obi-Wan said as he left the room, the excited twins bounding off before him and the assassin droid walking respectfully behind.
"Don't worry about me," K-2SO cried after the departing group, his arm still held tightly in the ship's interface. "I'll just wait here."