Note: How about another chapter of species with capital letters. One can hope.
-Returning to the fold! Time has not been easy for a specific someone. The change of environment has been proven to be far less one sided than hoped. Now inklings of a resubmission to a Grand Scheme seem far more likely. Elsewhere, Jedi Masters close in on a case, not one most members of the Order are expecting.-
Chapter 24. Crack, crack, crack
A bit later somewhere else in Coruscant. Drip, drip, drip. Weak rain had started. In one of the decent apartment buildings on Coruscant the small drops of rain hit the windows in a inharmonic frequency. New waves of sound appeared soon after. They were similar; quite possibly because of the fact that someone had turned on a shower head.
"Shhhhhhhh! Shhhhhhhh! Shhhhhhhh!"
A person within the apartment could hear several moans coming from the bathroom. This lasted for up to 5 minutes more before the water flow was cut off.
"Hah!"
The person, who lived in the apartment, dried off her skin. While in an encounter with said person, the face would be remembered by most Humans on Coruscant, since it was ruby red. A small detail, quite of an expressive one, was a black trident tattoo on the back of the neck.
"Hmmm! No. It is the way."
Shrugging off ideas of reconsideration, Hanza Colano dresses up some casual clothes and leaves the bathroom. The apartment was a small one, only had a kitchen, bathroom & living room. Measured it could be smaller than a senator's office. She walked over to the liquid spotted glass & staired at it in complete silence. For most ground floor transiters of Coruscant, the clothes were completely out of the ordinary. Even width denim blue-white striped, widening to the ground trousers conjected with a same striped, tropics resembling shirt. The shirt didn't contain a U-cut on the chest (which could be seen, treated as too provocative). Looking at the being as a whole, from the side, most would rather attribute the attire to a male than a female. Maybe there was some kind of meaning behind that.
"I hate to admit it. I hate that thought completely. Hhhhh!" – she thought in her head.
The last full 3 days have presented her a new perspective on the physical realm. What is valuable? Who is trustworthy? How one's path is forged? All of this was being reshaped even at this moment.
"I overestimated my abilities. I thought I could overcome the Council's betrayal all by myself. Not so fast,… Ahsoka."
The repressed air within her lungs was finally allowed to leave her lungs; how softly it brushed her lips.
"I have no regrets of leaving the Jedi Order. Correction, the 'leaving' part. I should have been more foresightful than that. Hah! Anyway, that is in the past. What is most important now, is to get my life back on a high."
She smiles, while putting her right elbow on the window's glass.
"Hmmm! A coincidence. I speak of the ability to predict the future, when the person, whose help I intend on asking today, is as great as anyone you could find in the entire Republic."
Her big blue eyes turn to the small spider black table. The object in peak interest was on it – a messaging device. It was a special one, given to Former Jedi Padawan Tano by her close friend Oswald at the bottom of the steps of the Jedi Temple.
"Hmmm. It appears to be have been a good decision back then."
She encouraged herself even more. So much so, that the surge of confidence created such a drive within the Togrutan female. It culminated in her grabbing the messaging device and leaving for higher ground.
"Remember, Ahsoka. Higher ground, better chance of success. I look forward to meeting you again, Oswald. I believe that you might be the person to set me back on a path of a life worth living."
The apartment's door closed.
Close to 11 o'clock on Coruscant. The Jedi Temple library – a place of knowledge. The main hallway was fairly wide, two Force sensitives could easily walk side by side without stopping, whether they were Youngling, Padawans, Knights or Masters. The floor was made up of rectangles, some being squares, the coloring was in aggregate two-noted: tortilla brown was used to color the rectangles, while cedar brown maintained more of a line form around the different shelves of the library. Speaking of the shelves, they were highlighted by different shades of blue. How did the members of the Order access any information? In a quite simple way. Grab a data recorder, read the information in your hand (if there's no password) or walk over to the built in computers above the tables within the Archives. The computer provided one major benefit: it could visually show an image, which may be important to the whole research. Anyway, Master Sinube had just finished reading something up on one of the computers & was striding towards the exit. With good reason – a class with Jedi Younglings was less than 10 minutes away.
"We'll see, how they perform today."
Sinube smiles to himself. To his unexpectedness, the walk was stopped by Jedi Council member Saesee Tiin.
"Greetings, Sinube."
The elder Jedi Master glances at the incoming fellow Master from a right small hallway.
"Good morning, Saesee."
"You have some business to attend to?"
"Quite right, old friend. I'm teaching Younglings in less than 10 minutes."
"Well than my topic… Strangely fits into the equation."
"How so?"
"I'd like to talk with one of the Younglings your responsible for."
"Which one would that be?"
The Ikotchi male's face tightens up, expresses graveness.
"Her name is Katooni."
Sinube doesn't even flinch with the mention of the Tholothian girl.
"Alas, my friend. She won't be in that class."
"Really? Well, when is her lesson?" – Tiin inquires.
"On postpone for quite some time."
The Jedi Master sensed the reason.
"I want to shoot in the dark, if you don't mind?"
"Have at it, friend."
"Katooni isn't even in the Temple, friend?"
"Correct, you are."
The anti-Mensons party member realizes the time interval that remains. It is crucially small now. Even though Tiin didn't know Sinube's intentions towards Katooni, he did make a fast conclusion about the way their conversation was going. He was buying time, so that, when it was already 11 o'clock he could excuse himself from him with an argument of a 'greater task'.
"We really don't have time to get into the semantics of that decision, my friend. I just need to know where & who has she gone with away from the Temple?"
"Hmmm. I don't think it would be wise to answer that."
The patience of both parties was draining at a faster rate.
"And why not?"
"Because I sense you want to criminalize someone of the Order. That person is… Well known to both of us."
"With all due respect, Order must be preserved, Sinube. Even if you have several reservations against my tactics of accomplishing it."
Now Sinube was in no mood to continue this conversation with the Council member. So he did, what was a logical maneuver.
"Sorry, Tiin. I'm already going to be late to my Youngling lesson as it is. So.."
He starts to walk slowly towards the exit again.
"…Excuse me, but I must be somewhere else right now."
Tiin stopped pursuing the truth; mainly – he had, in his opinion, a tight grasp on it heretofore. This clue or puzzle looked from the side of his face to be enough to accomplish the ultimate secret goal of recent days. Still, a talk with the other two was the wisest move at this moment.
Diner preparation time. A seldom talk between the owner of the diner & an employee was in motion.
"…Despite all that, it's still hard for me to believe that you want a week off break, Hanza." – the owner ends his train of thought.
"As I explained earlier, I am at a crucial point in my life. Wish to reevaluate, what kind of future I want?"
"A natural state, but you do realize that I have a business to run. What kind of assurances can you give me that, in case you don't come back, I will not be left naked on an island."
"I thought about that angle, sir."
A slight surge in joy.
"What did you come up with?"
"Well… I don't know the ins & outs of how everything is going to transpire. Yet I will present you an offer."
"The offer being what?"
"If I decide to quit my job, then in a week's time from this moment you will get compensation either from me or an intermediary."
"The amount being?"
"1200 gold coins. Do we have a deal?"
The owner got pushed into a tricky situation. On the one hand, the money offered by Miss Colano was double the sum he would pay for her in a month. On the other hand, she could deceive him and leave him with one less employee. They were not greatly easy to find. As seconds passed, before a minute was up, the prospect of an increase in finances overruled the potential loss.
"Deal. Your week off break start now."
"Thank you, sir. Have a good day."
The Former Padawan lowers her head, turns around and leaves the diner. A new speeder bike sound floods the pathway in a matter of seconds. The young female was proud of her stratagem (of course, she didn't term it that way in her head).
"Next stop – the closest Commercial Space Station."
The speeder bike dashed through the air, scattering the particles into every single direction.
12 o'clock, 3 days 6 hours till the Vote.
"Kind of strange." – said one.
"Why?" – asked the other.
"A silly question, Calder."
"Ey! It came to me like an instinct. You want me to install a filter on my mouth, Awkan."
"Don't go there, friend."
"Okay."
The blue haired male started flexing, stretching first his arms, then – his limbs, while the other male remained still. Both were alone in one of the training rooms of the Jedi Temple; positioned close to the furthest wall from the entrance. A rectangle shaped source of light came through windows that were not too big, installed close to the ceiling; it being nearly 15 meters (~48 feet) from the ground.
"It is strange that she called Him, when he is away from Coruscant."
Calder made a smile.
"Most likely they met right after her leave from the Order."
"Exchanged words."
"He presented her with the messaging device and implied that a strong urge has to be treated."
"Which is why she sent the message."
The Human male slides across the floor.
"For me, the only crazy part was the timing. Not even a weak has passed…"
The face shows growth in severity.
"…since the Order's diminishment."
"Something external, maybe even the Force…"
He breathes out.
"…pushed her to a crossroad. She chose to seek a companionship with Him."
Calder stops moving his limbs, stands still for a bit.
"Evaluating His decision to keep the relationship alive, I've got nothing bad to say about it. They truly valued each other's company. Also, she is, quite mutually agreed, to be the only Padawan to defeat him in an even fight."
The older Padawan, strangely, chooses to close the matter without a retort.
"So you're done?" – asks playfully.
"Oh yeah!"
Suddenly, the doors slide open, another Force sensitive enters the training room.
"Now it's time for the real thing."
"Sorry for being late, Awkan, Calder. Got a bit hold up with some Jedi Knights." – Tanlia explains.
"An unfortunate change, but nothing to get overly angry about."
Awkan's words propels the female's mood a bit higher.
"Alright. You ready for our sparring session, Calder?"
The 18 year old male just shows a flirty, diagonal smile.
"Come and find out for yourself, Tanlia."
She smiles and closes in on him.
The distance between them shrinks to an intriguing one. The Padawans stood in close proximity to each other, but not that close that a quickly activated lightsaber could reach either's body. The rain was dying out little by little outside the Temple. About a minute passes with Calder's & Tanlia's entrenched positions; then Awkan walks nearer to them and says:
"Ready?"
"Ready!" – both shout simultaneously.
"Good. Draw your weapons and let the countdown commence."
Again, both acted accordingly in an immeasurable time gulf.
"3…"
Eyes were locked at each other; green and purple lines rose up to their head levels.
"2…1…FIGHT!"
Suddenly, a clash of swords arrives. Awkan turns around, begins to walk back to his previous position.
"Are we going anywhere?" – Calder asked confidently.
"Oh yeah."
The female breaks the stalemate, takes a couple of swipes at the male. Both attacks are blocked with fair ease; only thing that was lost – some feet. Calder senses his opportunity, bets on the future. A green piercing move is thrusted upon Tanlia. She quickly rolls her purple lightsaber ¾ of a circle down and blocks the move with the weapons being in a horizontal-vertical lock.
"Nice change up. How about this one?"
The blonde uses her acrobatic capability to rapidly conduct a split, with her purple lightsaber coming another near circle in another direction to her waist and in a rocket resemblance attack to his waist, while her head goes down, back and diagonally forward. All of this takes her less than 5 seconds. The black haired Human male realizes he can't thwart the attack in time, so he Force pushes with his left hand a few steps back. Therefore, the attack seize the victory.
"She definitely wasn't playing there. I had to be forced back."
Tanlia simply shrugs off the miss & graciously stand back up from her forward split. The next stage – walks examining the other's movement, testing the murky waters from time to time.
15 minutes later.
"Have a good day, Miss Colano."
"You too, cashier."
Still dressed in her male affiliating, denim blue-white striped attire, Hanza turns around from the counter & walks to the right of the ticket purchasing registers of one of Coruscant's Commercial Space Station's. The 17 year old Togrutan female conducted herself in a conservative, normal manner. The recent past was one reason for this; another was more outstretched most people's imagination.
"24 hours on a transport ship. Crazy long." – she thought.
Ahsoka wasn't without any stuff; a vertically pronounced, tortilla brown backpack hanged, no surprise, on her shoulders. While approaching the Station, she did buy herself one thing before the upcoming departure away from the Republic's Capital. It was a pearl white cotton band, usually worn on either wrist. This was different, it embraced her neck, in doing so, hid the black trident tattoo.
"It makes me look… More… Normal."
The last word created a surge of uneasiness. It seemed to be more of a lie than a truth. Which, knowing her deeply, would be a confirmation. The Former Padawan's journey was long (compared to recent ones from work to the apartment), but she welcomed the challenge. The belief of a better day, life, atmosphere saturated soul with joy. Such a forgotten joy!
A little past 13:00 Coruscant Time. Two being are walking down a hallway, rhino grey walls swamps them from the sides. An Aegean blue ceiling had lamps installed in equal intervals. Said lighting objects were of coal black circles, illuminated the current hallway in a light green color.
"So repeat back to me again."
"Hsssss… Do not disturb you unless… One of two things happen. One – the Alfa spy calls you. Two – a security breach."
"Good. Good memory, Warden." – Count Dooku states.
He and Warden Garsh move past two more doors before stopping at the third one.
"I will see, when I'm finished."
The Trandosan male nods; the Separatist leader disappears inside the third room. First, Dooku turns his head to the right, takes off his enigmatic, cold inspiring cloak, hangs it on a well-maintained rack. Now, the body has higher flexibility. A few minutes pass, while the Sith Lord makes himself comfortable on a circular object, diagonally from the rack. Two spheres of jam red luminescence beautifully welcomed him in between the elevation.
"The change in the Force requires my attention. Something is growing within it. From it. Around it."
The Human male closed his eyes & delved deep into the Living Force. Said mentioned change was quite suspicious, ferocious even. It grew and subsided in quantity or quality at a tremendous high speed.
"I don't seem to remember such an event that creates so much… Potential. It possibly being of extreme damaging nature to my Master's plans. Whoever the Force is targeting now, is doing so out of… Great anticipation. If it is a being, he should be careful."
A malicious smile appears.
"It does exude dormancy of death. Strong dormancy."
A more serious approach to the meditation retakes the high ground.
Later, before 8 o'clock Naboo time. Remember the unnatural meditating position that Mundi's Padawan was settled in last evening? Well, the same one was in use this morning. Katooni hadn't woken up until this point; breakfast was not going to be in the preparation stage for at least 20 minutes into the future. Taking those two facts into account, Menson pondered possible activities in his mind. Meditation was in the Top 3 of the list. Normally, the blonde haired male would not harshly oppose such an activity. The previous time created some reservations on the matter this morning.
"I know. I will have to meditate in order for us to achieve our goal. There is not getting around that if my intention is to identify, who… Is… The being that has such an enormous dark side presence on Coruscant."
The shock of stating the last statement deteriorated every time; at this rate, it could cross into the realm of common sense. Such a spew of words in front of the Jedi Council in a casual way would be labelled as 'insanity' in a snap of the fingers.
"Maybe… Just maybe… This is the doing of said being. Could someone manage to enter a Force sensitive's meditation state from such a distance?"
Some thinking was conducted.
"After what I've experienced in the past week, that is not that deranged of a proposition."
Oswald's confidence started building.
"If it is his or her representation, I will confront them. With any luck, they might even expose themselves by making a mistake, derived from great overconfidence. Besides,… It is my place and I have to defend it from intruders."
Those are all the components leading up to the 19 year old Human male's descension back to meditating. A third appearance of the rug, the sea and the atmosphere was underway. The sea was different, though. The transparency had diluted somewhat, the water was not as serenely still as before.
"Well, already an accomplishment. The sea is directly tied to my emotional state. Where yesterday evening, me being calm 'created' a transparent, non-wavy sea; today, it is far harder to see through, stillness is absent. The proof is clear."
He looks around again, no sign of the celestial resembling gorgeous, unworldly Human female.
"Which then poses the question… To what is the atmosphere around me tied to?"
"Do you really want to know?" – a female voice asks softly, mysteriously.
Oswald immediately lowers his sight back to its normal, front facing position. It was her again, certainly. The Human male didn't second guess the view, not even a bit.
"Here you are… Again."
Menson tries to imitate her tone.
"And you… Again."
The voice was softer. To say that the encounter had mystique would be a huge understatement. It practically became it.
"Do you remember what you said to me yesterday?"
"By all means."
She smiles.
"I told you to be cautious towards the Future."
"Correct. That's what you said. Yet… I find it odd that you didn't specify, what future are you referring to. Mine? My friends? The Republic's? The Galaxy's?"
"It is up to you to investigate the meaning of my words."
"Only if I believe that their weight on the upcoming events is sufficient enough."
"You would be wise to head them."
The waves underneath were starting to disappear.
"I don't know, who or what you are exactly, but I'm not someone, who is an impulsive cannon."
"No. You are far from it,… Oswald."
A minute of silence entered the stage. Mundi's Padawan tried his hardest to not be surprised by a possible mention of his name. He anticipated this event; and yet,… He still didn't manage to hide his shock of this revelation completely. With the recent fact in mind, the last statement returned the sea under the being back to an unstill state.
"Your presuming that my name is Oswald?"
The farseeing one tries to pose a disconcerted stance.
"I don't have to presume anything, my dear Young One. I know that you're Oswald Menson, 19 year old Human Padawan of Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi."
He chooses to not retort. The allegedly celestial female continues:
"I also know of the object you have with you on this journey."
"I have many things with me."
"True, but none are more valuable than the one you need to find…"
She barely tilts her head to the right.
"…The Truth. The object that I'm referring to is precious to you."
Menson did not appreciate the direction, where the conversation was going. Who would? She still spoke in a soft tone, but, more than likely, added another emotion.
"The object that I'm referring to rests in a polished,… Steel,… Grey,… Box."
The female knew that the male would become more unraveled with this type of delivery; which… He did. The waves were growing in a substantially fast rate.
"The object is specially designed. And…"
Her head comes back to its normal position.
"…Last but not least, Oswald, I know, how it's been called by you."
The blonde male was so far away from a state of harmony in this moment that it didn't seem possible to find.
"The object's name is…"