A/N: alright, there are a few things here that might be ringing some bells with anyone who as finished Master and Apprentice, but I swear, I had this idea way before I read the book.

Ben dreamed of the twins that night. He awoke early and went to meditate on the balcony, not bothering to dress. The world was dark and Alderaan's air was frigid, but the Force kept him wrapped in a warmth he remembered from Tatooine.

Tatooine. It'd been so long since he'd thought of that place. Longer still since he'd thought of the life he'd had there; since he'd thought of his death, of Vader, Luke, Leia.

The emotions conjured by those memories were impossible to classify, and Ben wondered if he were the only person in the galaxy to know the experience. Regret, relief, dread, and hope all swirled together, but underscoring them all was an overwhelming sense of homesickness. It choked him, pricked at his eyes, made him draw inward. How could he be homesick for such a dystopian past? It was nearly eighteen years since the galaxy of his birth had died.

Eighteen years. He was not homesick for Tatooine. It wasn't natural for a soul to live twice, and his was homesick for rest – true rest.

"Just a little while longer," he spoke aloud to himself, words snatched away by the mountain winds. The sun was beginning to rise. "I've work to do yet."

He only realized how cold he was when he went back inside. Anakin had dressed himself in his nicest, freshly pressed robes, and had already managed to crumple them by sprawling out on the couch to study his datapad. The apprentice did a double take when he saw Ben, his pajamas, and his bare feet.

"You're never ready after me," he teased.

Ben did not feel up to banter. "Is that the programming for Senator Amidala?" he asked. Anakin glanced at his 'pad.

"Oh, yeah." He sounded uncharacteristically reserved about his work. "I think I've almost got it."

"And what is it that she needs this for?" asked the master, going to their room's small kitchenette to make tea. "I thought you were the only person who goes about carrying ion generators in spare pockets."

"Not pockets," Anakin told him, tapping away. "In the mountains."

"The mountains?" This was new information. "Why on earth are they there?"

Anakin was engrossed in his work, and when he answered, he sounded distracted.

"Hiding a big base, apparently. That's what Padme and Obi-Wan think, anyway. Lieutenant Rex said he came across a giant base in the mountains that disappeared - Padme thinks they're using a cloaking device."

Ben paused ponderously while pouring water into the teapot. "I wasn't aware that Obi-Wan had invited you to collaborate on his mission," he said. He glanced over his shoulder at his apprentice.

Anakin's eyes were glued aggressively to his work. The sound of his silence was deafening. Ben sighed.

"He doesn't know you've onboarded yourself, does he?" Ben asked him. "Last he spoke to me, he told me you ought not get involved."

"Why not?" Anakin burst. "I know more about this stuff than he ever will, he just doesn't want me poking around because he thinks I'm-" Anakin realized Ben was watching him, not unlike a man watching a youngling throwing a fit. He blushed. "I just want to help," he moped.

It was easy for Ben to forget what it was like to be seventeen. The very same admiration that made Anakin look up to Obi-Wan as a brother also motivated him to prove that he, too, could be as capable and heroic as his friend. But Anakin was still young, and Ben doubted he fully grasped the steep price Obi-Wan had paid for his maturity. He wasn't ready for Anakin to pay that same price.

"Under better circumstances, I have I have no doubt Obi-Wan would have asked you to help from the start," the master said, and saw Anakin's shoulders relax somewhat. "But he's already said that he thinks this could be very dangerous. He didn't invite me to help, either. Come have some tea."

Anakin went to the table, still miffed but not saying anything about it. He didn't invite you, but you don't know anything about dismantling armies of ion generators. The image of Padme's face surfaced in his mind. Her smile was eternally confident, even more so when they'd concocted a plan of attack. "Senator Amidala sought out my help, though," he said. "Shouldn't I at least mention that to Obi-Wan?" Surely Padme's good opinion would mean something to Obi-Wan.

Ben sipped at his tea. "What the senator does is her own prerogative. Leave it to her to tell him."

"But-"

"Padawan," Ben forestalled with a look, "you're allowing your pride to cloud your judgement. Drop it."

Anakin snapped his mouth shut. He began to drink his tea so that his mouth couldn't spit out any of the snide remarks that boiled on the back of his tongue.

He's learned that much, at least. Ben admired the boy's restraint. Anakin wouldn't have had the sense even a few months ago. He is growing. He also, unfortunately, had a point. Obi-Wan didn't have the expertise that Anakin did with mechanics. Hopefully, the knight would have the sense to know when he needed help. Valorum ought to have taught him that.

He shared none of these thoughts with his apprentice. Instead, he said, "You must keep your focus in the present. I know your mother is looking forward to having you at the ceremony."

It had taken all night to get the man sober. By the time the sun's first light had warmed the horizon, they had yet to get any useful information out of him. He'd been stewing and fidgeting in their makeshift interrogation room at the navy hangers for nearly seven hours, but had only seemed to grasp the severity of his situation in the last few minutes.

In the harsh light of the halo-lamps, the man was thin, weaselish, and grungy. His black hair was poorly cut and sticking up at all angles, giving him the look of someone who'd just rolled out of bed, but his red eyes were the eyes of an insomniac. He had an eternally worried crease between his eyebrows, below which dark eyes stared big and scared, fixated on the huge rock that his interrogator held between forefinger and thumb.

"This," Obi-Wan said, holding up the large crystal. The bands of the bracelet danced wildly as he shook the crystal for emphasis. "Where did you get this?" he demanded.

"Give - give it back!" The man grabbed at the bracelet, but Obi-Wan had already snatched it away.

"Not until you tell me where you got it," Obi-Wan told him. "You said you had more, a lot more. Where did you get it?"

The man's eyes hadn't strayed from the huge, clouded gem. He began to chew on a fingernail.

A few rooms away, Aola Tarkona and two clones watched the security holo of the interrogation with half interest. They too had been at this work for hours.

"Stars, this man doesn't give up, I'll give him that," Cody said. He rubbed at his right leg. Aola saw it and sighed.

"When are you going to see a mechanic?" she asked, exasperated.

"My leg is fine."

"It's not." They'd had this argument countless times. "You know, Anakin Skywalker is a pretty decent mechanic-"

"Kenobi's told me before," Cody cut her off, and shook his head. "Wish our man talked as easily as you two talk about my damn leg."

"You have a prosthetic?" Rex turned to his brother, aghast. "What the hell'd you do to get that?"

"Fought a dragon and lost quite badly, but that's hardly relevant to-"

"He never takes care of it, it's always shorted out," Aola confided in Rex, as if Cody weren't sitting between them.

"Why not?" Rex asked Cody indignantly.

"He hasn't been allowed out onto the field in years because of it," Aola ranted.

"What?"

"He has to use a cane."

"What?"

"I wish our man talked as much as you two idiots," Cody said loudly, staring at the security holos. "Maybe then we'd learn something useful."

Aola dropped the topic of his prosthetic and glowered at the grainy holofeed. "Wish he talked about anything at all besides that bracelet. What's he want with it anyway?" If he's a force-sensitive, I'll eat my belt. He wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that and a kohlen crystal if he had them side-by-side."

"He could be a black market trader," Rex suggested. Cody thought of the still-holo he'd seen on Geonosis, eons ago. It wasn't impossible.

"This guy? Look at him," Aola guestured piteously. "He's a mess."

"I don't know, I don't know," the man whined in the other room, fingernail snapping against his teeth. He reached out a mousy hand toward the gem again. "Just please, please give it back-"

"I'll give it back when you tell me where you got it," Obi-Wan said, perpetually calm. "You will tell me where you got this." Still in his bar-hopping costume, Obi-Wan cut an intimidating figure as he loomed over the table. His scar was plain across his entire body, inviting anyone to imagine what he'd been through before and what he'd be willing to go through again to get what he wanted.

"Come on, man," their mark sounded like an addict trying to reclaim his stash of spice. "I didn't do anything wrong, I'm just a scavenger, trying to make a living. Can you please just-"

"A scavenger who finds and sells kyber crystal," Obi-Wan corrected. The man only stared at his bracelet. Obi-Wan saw that he was getting nowhere. He sat back, pocketed the bracelet and crossed his arms.

"Do you realize who I am?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Oh, here we go," Aola wished she had a snack to eat while she watched (she still hadn't eaten since their pub fare and was still karking hungry).

The man hadn't reacted, so Obi-Wan elaborated: "I'm a Jedi. You know who regulates the sale of kyber crystal?"

"J-Jedi?" he was a bit slow on the uptake, wasn't he? Maybe he really was a spice addict.

"That's right," Obi-Wan's calm, prim Core accent made his jagged appearance bizarrely terrifying. "Now, I'll ask you again. Where did you get this kyber crystal, and where do you plan to get more of it?" Barely visible to anyone who didn't know what to look for, the Jedi waved his first two fingers persuasively in the air. "Tell me."

Something invisible seemed to crack, and the truth came tumbling out. "We weren't even looking for kyber," the man said, sounding close to tears as he began to rock back and forth in his seat. Cody sat up straighter to watch. "All we wanted was the dirt, I swear, I swear that's all we wanted, we were gonna sell it to Trassidan."

"Who is 'we'?"

"My sister and I."

"They wanted dirt?" Aola whispered aloud. Rex didn't seem surprised.

"Good dirt is expensive," he said. "Trassidan is pretty desolate, it needs imported topsoil to grow anything edible."

Cody rubbed his chin. "Yeah, I've heard about these guys. The SBI has a shiny new outpost on Trassidan, but the place is crawling with dumb, hungry settlers. They probably didn't even realize these guys weren't legit." He shook his head. "I'll have to let HQ know about it later."

In the other room, Obi-Wan did not care about dirt. "And the kyber?" he asked.

"We found it by accident, I swear. We were digging and we found these… these rocks, so we run 'em through the masspec, and it turns out they're valuable, so we thought…" he shrugged, shoulders shivering violently - whether from the cold air of the hanger, fear, or withdrawal, Aola couldn't tell. "I didn't know kyber was regulated, I really didn't."

It was a bald-faced lie, but Obi-Wan let it slide.

"Where did you find it?"

"The second moon of Jakku."

"Force, they get around," Aola scoffed. "That's practically Wild Space - there's nothing out there."

"Except kyber, apparently," Cody reminded. Aola wondered what else they didn't know about the galaxy.

"Apparently."

"Who did you sell it to?"

"We didn't – it was stolen."

Aola and Cody raised their eyebrows and looked at each other in unison. Rex leaned forward to watch.

"By whom?"

The man's chin wavered. He ran both hands over his face, creating new spikes in his unwashed hair. When he spoke, he sounded close to tears. "I don't know his name, I don't know any of their names, they just… they got on my ship and shot me and my sister and took all our cargo, and... and they had lightswords and they were gonna kill me, they said they would, but..."

The mention of lightsabers made Aola's heart race. Obi-Wan pressed on: "Where's your sister, then?"

Now, the man did start crying. He bowed his back and held his head, looking as though he were trying to melt through the table and the floor itself.

"I don't know," he confessed. "They hurt her… they said they would give her back, if I could bring them enough kyber. Said if I didn't get them more, they report me to the Jedi. Said if I didn't get enough, I'd never see her again."

"Oh, Force," Cody sighed. He rubbed his face, equal parts pitying and exhausted. "That's what they always say, mate. She's probably already dead, you know."

"I don't doubt it," Rex agreed.

Aola stared at the broken man on the holo. "Try telling him that."

In the other room, Obi-Wan waited in silence while the man cried. Only slightly kinder than before, he asked, "and did you get them more?"

The man nodded.

"How much more?"

Amid the shaking, the man shook a shaggy head no. "Not enough," he managed.

"Do you have more now?"

The man froze.

"You said you did."

The man stayed silent. Obi-Wan sighed and took a seat. He waited for the man to calm somewhat. "What's your sister's name?" He asked gently.

"Kare," he said. It was the first time he'd said the name in months. "Kare Mooringer."

"Kare," Obi-Wan nodded. He wanted to promise they'd find her, but he knew better. "And your name, mister Mooringer?"

He sniffed loudly and wiped his nose on his sleeve. He had the look of a man who'd given up all hope - and all self-interest. Maybe he had, in his desperate quest to pay an impossible ransom. "I'm called Panche," he said.

"And where did they tell you to deliver all that kyber, Panche?"

"Here. On Alderaan." He had a moment of panic, bloodshot eyes going wide as he looked around the windowless room in sudden fear. "We are on Alderaan, aren't we?"

Obi-Wan wondered if he'd picked up his substance habits because of all this. "Yes, we're on Alderaan," he assured. "And I think I might know the place you're headed." That made Panche look Obi-Wan dead in the eyes. "And if you can get me inside, I'd like to come with you."

It was perfect weather for a wedding, if a bit windy. It didn't deter Shmi Skywalker – soon to be Corteé – and could not have unmoored her smile if it she were getting married in a cyclone.

Backdropped by the ever-present snow capped mountains, the palace of Aldera shimmered like a silver monolith behind the wedding dias, reflecting sunlight in morphing dapples as the clouds raced in front of the sun. The massive courtyard dwarfed the one-hundred person party and couched the ceremony in the intimacy afforded by beautiful, wide space.

Tam Corteé waited at the dias in crisp navy whites, cap and all, the bronze and orange insignia of senior engineer shining on his sleeve. He was flanked by a row of fellow navymen, some of them clones, all dressed in matching white. The groomsmen looked far more composed than Tam, who fidgeted and tried not to smile too goofily before the ceremony was begun.

Their Jedi guests sat together in their nicest robes, which in Anakin's case merely meant he hadn't gotten motor oil on his yet. He glanced across the aisle at Padme, who was done up in typically impeccable fashion. Her hair was held in a gravity-defying halo, the style accentuated by a high metal collar that suspended a pastel dress made of fabric so light and fluid it could have been water. Her beauty gave no indication that she was currently masterminding a plot to infiltrate a criminal organization hidden in the mountains, but Anakin knew better. He'd given her the program that morning, and it'd all seemed settled and done. He still felt uneasy, wondering if he should volunteer to go along, ask if Obi-Wan knew of their plan. He glanced at her again.

Padme knows what she's doing, he tried to tell himself. Do as Ben says and leave it. It was easier said than done. He tapped the datapad in his pocket to quiet his thoughts. Breathe in, breath out. He felt his worries dim. He glanced once more at Padme, this time just because.

The band in the back began to play a tune, and Ben tapped Anakin's arm.

"Stand up."

"What?"

"It's traditional to stand when the bride arrives, stand up," the master stood.

How does he even know so much about weddings, anyway? Anakin wondered. He glanced around and eventually spotted his mother, glittering sky-blue dress distinctive from a distance.

Bail Organa himself walked Shmi to the dias. The prince had agonized for a long time if he should give Anakin the honor, and had prepared a whole speech to breach to topic. But when it came time to deliver the speech, he quickly discovered that Anakin had no idea that a bride ought to be escorted down the aisle. After all, Shmi was a grown person, wasn't she? And Anakin was her kid, anyway. She decided to marry the guy, so what the hell would she need his help for?

In Bail's experience, most Jedi were sensitive to the nuances of tradition and culture across the galaxy. He got the feeling that Anakin was not most Jedi. It was unexpectedly refreshing. When he passed by their Jedi guests, he gave Anakin a wink. The apprentice smiled in return.

They remained standing for some time. When they turned toward the dias to watch, Anakin thought for sure that they would sit down, but Ben gave him a reprimanding glance. He remained standing, as did everyone else, and watched.

Vows were spoken, though the wind snatched them away before he could hear them. They were quite long. The clouds parted and the sun shone directly down on Anakin, making him squint his eyes. The back of his neck began to sweat. He really wanted to sit down, so he could at least wipe sweat out of his eyes without anyone seeing him.

It's like those meditation exercises Master Yoda made us do in crèche, he told himself. Just ignore it. It was difficult, no matter what Master Ben said.

Out of nowhere, something slammed into his senses like a starship into the ocean, pushing him back so he almost fell into his chair. Anakin swayed and steady himself on the chair in front of him. Winded, he looked up toward the source. The sounds of the ceremony faded until he could hardly hear them. The sweat seemed to evaporate from his eyes, the sun seemed to dim. As clear as day, he could see - no, sense - a mountaintop, far in the distance, peel open to reveal a fully stocked and fully armed ship yard, disguised by… not by ion generators. Not by ray shields. Not by anything like that.

"Oh, Force," he breathed. Around him, the audience was clapping. His mother was kissing her new husband.

Ben's clap slowed when he saw his apprentice's face. "Anakin?" He frowned.

"It's not ion generators," the apprentice said.

"What?"

Anakin wasn't looked at Ben, or anyone else. "It's not - if they try to get in there using code against ion generators, they'll…" he looked around wildly, trying to find Padme's face in the applauding crowd. "I need to talk to Padme."

Tam and Shmi walked down the aisle, hand in hand, beaming. Ben smiled at them as they passed, but when he turned to his apprentice, his face wore a deep frown.

"Anakin, what are you talking about?"

"Did you not feel that?" Anakin felt breathless from the sheer power of the feeling - how was Ben so calm? "That… that thing just now?"

Ben Kenobi looked lost. It was the look that Ben always had when Anakin felt something that he had not. Most times it made Anakin feel that he'd misjudged something, that he'd been wrong. But not this time. He knew his senses. He knew what he'd felt. Ben's bewilderment did not make him doubt, but it did make him feel very… singular. Alone.

"No," Ben said. "What did you sense?"

Anakin's adrenaline jumbled his words, but he knew exactly what he'd sensed. "That- that fort in the mountains, it's not ion generators. I told you about it earlier –I think someone just landed there. I could sense the energy of their cloak going down for just a moment. It's not guarded by ion generators," he told his master in a worried whisper, "they're powering that place with kyber."

Ben's face was taut with incredulity, but not because he didn't believe Anakin. But who in the worlds would use kyber as an energy source?

Who could?

He had a few guesses.

"I have to warn Padme," Anakin said. "The code I gave her won't work; it could get them all killed."

Ben nodded. The happy couple had retreated to the dance floor, none the wiser, followed by a train of guests who joined in the lively waltz with enthusiasm. Padme was among them.

"Patience," Ben told him. "They're not going anywhere just yet."

It didn't keep Anakin from panicking in carefully-tailored silence. He watched Padme like a hawk, waiting for her to step out of a conversation or a dance, just long enough that he could intercept her, but she was a master diplomat, and floated from one exchange to the next, obviously enjoying herself. It wasn't like he was going to tell her not toenjoy herself, but he really wished she could stop enjoying herself for five minutes so he could tell her how if she listened to him she'd end up dead.

Come to think of it, he didn't really want to tell her that, either. But what choice did he have?

"Ani, there you are," he turned to see his mother approaching him with a broad smile.

"Mom," He smiled back, feeling inexplicably old. Only as as a nearly-grown man did Anakin realize how young she really was, how young she must've been when she'd had him. Radiant in her wedding gown, she didn't look like a woman who should have a grown son. But she had a look in her eyes that told him she wouldn't have it any other way. "You look amazing, mom," Anakin told her earnestly. She smiled in thanks, and looped her arm through his.

"What are you doing hiding over here?" she asked. Anakin bit his lip. She saw through him like no one else did - not even Ben.

"It's hard to explain," he admitted.

"I find that's true with many things, until you start to talk about them." She looked up at him, gentle and mercilessly patient. Shmi and Ben really were cut from the same cloth, weren't they? Maybe that's why she entrusted her son to the man years ago.

He heaved a huge sigh. He knew he wouldn't win the battle of holding out, so he jumped in. "Obi-Wan's only here because he's investigating something, you know."

"Something bad, I think," his mother agreed. Anakin gave her a look, so she explained: "Bail's been working too hard not to tell me, so I've been assuming it's something nasty."

"Well, it is," Anakin said, relieved that he didn't have to explain. "Padme- I mean, Senator Amidala has been helping him, and I was helping her, but I've made a mistake, and-" he looked up to the dance floor, but Padme had disappeared. He swivelled around, searching desperately for a glimpse of her. She'd disappeared entirely, not on the dance floor, not by the drinks table, not in any of the groups of conversation, not by the bridesmaids and certainly not by the bride, or Bail, or-

"It's important, isn't it?" Shmi asked calmly. Anakin looked down at her.

"Yeah."

"Someone's life depends on it," she said. It wasn't a question. Anakin was unused to his mother's uncanny perception. Before that exact moment, he'd never wondered where he'd actually inherited his Force sensitivity from. She had the look of someone who saw surprises coming miles before they appeared.

"A few lives, actually," Anakin confirmed.

"Go on, then," Shmi said, looking toward the distantly visible navy base. How did she know that's where Obi-Wan was? "You ought to help make it right."

"But I-" Anakin glanced at Ben, who was speaking jovially with Tam and some of the groomsmen. "My master told me that-"

"I'll look after Ben," she assured, putting a gentle hand on her son's arm. "Go on," she said.

Anakin almost bolted off then and there, but was held in place by an inexorable feeling that he wouldn't see his mother for a while. Not forever, but a long enough that it rooted him to the spot so he could re-memorize her face. He wondered if she sensed it, too.

"Go," She repeated, more firmly. She kissed him on the cheek. "They need your help."

He snuck away while Ben wasn't looking and ran all the way to the hanger.

"On Alderaan?" Mace Windu's disembodied voice spoke with the same incredulity that Obi-Wan felt. "I'm not sure anything like that ever happened, before."

Obi-Wan paced up and down Rex's empty office, bare arms fidgeting over his chest, an open comm in one hand. "It didn't happen before. Alderaan was always a haven before… well, before." It was difficult sometimes, living with the memories Ben had given him, knowing how bad things could be. "But it's not just Alderaan. This Panche person tells me he's made deliveries to locations all around the galaxy - mid-rim, outer-rim - they even made a shipment to Naboo, a while back, which would explain how Padme came to learn about Thorn Moon."

"Does the prince know all of this?"

"The reception is still winding down. We haven't had the chance to speak."

On the comm, Mace was quiet. Eventually, he asked, "Exactly how much kyber are we talking about?"

"This shipment is around two thousand kilos' worth, apparently. There have been others."

"Kriffing hell," Mace burst. Despite the gravity of the situation, Obi-Wan wished he could have seen the look on the master's face. "Where the hell did he find all that?"

"I think he's found an untapped mine, on the second moon of Jakku."

"Jakku? That's what, outer rim?"

"Wild space, galactic west. About a day's travel from Ilum, in fact, though I have it that their climates are rather different."

"I'll send a team."

"I don't know what you'll find. It sounds like this man has stripped the place in an attempt to make ransom for his sister."

"How'd he even find it, if we didn't know it was there? Is he force sensitive?"

Obi-Wan sighed. "I don't think so. He has to keep a kyber on his wrist just to remember what they look like up close. Maybe his sister was."

"Well whatever the case, I want it accounted for. Any kyber that isn't in a cave is dangerous – especially if this operation is tied to Pal... to the Sith."

It was the omnipresent threat that had been looming in Obi-Wan's mind for days.

"I may need backup," Obi-Wan advised.

"Take Aola with you,"

"I was planning on it, but you may need to send in-."

"And Ben and Anakin as well."

Obi-Wan clenched his jaw. "Master, with respect, Anakin is still an apprentice. I don't think-"

"He's nearly grown, and very powerful. Don't underestimate him." The Master of the Order did not offer praise lightly. "And even if he weren't, we don't have the time. If I had a team anywhere near you, I'd send them right now, but I don't. If your mark is expected to ship his cargo today, and he's your only way in, neither of us has the luxury of waiting. Rely on the Force, and the allies it's given you in the moment."

It sounded like something Qui-Gon would say. "Yes, master."

"Document everything. I'll let you know if I can send anyone your way, but don't count on it. We need to intercept that kyber, now."

"I'll do my best."

Mace did not bother with his master's sayings on "try". "Good," he sufficed. Obi-Wan ended the call and replaced the comm on his belt. He stared at the wall, reluctantly aware of a bad feeling that'd begun to creep up his spine.

When Obi-Wan emerged from the office, a group was waiting for him.

"Master Kenobi," Padme smiled at him, eyes young and dangerous like they'd been on Naboo years ago. "Master Tarkona tells me you've found a ticket inside. I think I've found a ticket back out again."

"If the Council lets us go, anyway," Aola said. "What's it to be?"

"We're going," Obi-Wan announced. "Although, it might be a bit crowded."

"Crowded?" Cody echoed.

Down the hall, a door banged shut with a resounding clank. Footsteps ran rapidly toward them.

"Who the hell…" Rex stood and craned his neck. "No one on duty has clearance down here," he grumbled. He drew a blaster and stepped out into the hallway.

"Senator," the voice sounded winded, and also rather young. "Senator Amidala, wait up,"

"Is that Anakin?" Padme said.

"Who, the kid?" Rex asked.

Anakin burst onto the scene and very nearly knocked Rex clear over. The lieutenant grabbed the boy by the robe to slow him down and heave him to a stop.

"Slow down, kid, no need to run."

"Senator, I have to tell you-" the apprentice continued, and spotted Padme. Rex glanced at her and let the boy go. All eyes turned to the apprentice.

Heaving for breath, Anakin looked around the group, surprised to see so many people where he expected only one.

"Anakin," Padme wondered why on earth he'd been running, "is something wrong?" She glanced at the others. "I was just telling everyone about your code, the plan to break the cloaking shield."

"You can't use it," Anakin exploded, still breathing heavily, "That's what I came to tell you, I got it all wrong, it won't work, it won't work at all."

"What?" Padme deflated.

"What won't work?" Obi-Wan echoed.

"It's not ion generators," he panted. As a Jedi, he should've been able to run miles without being so winded, but in his panic, he'd forgotten to check his breathing. "Their cloaking device, the defense systems, none of it will be on ion generators," he said, panicked. "It's all powered by kyber."

"What cloaking device and defense systems?" Obi-Wan asked, louder this time.

"The mountains, Blood Moon," Anakin said, face sweaty and pleading.

The group heard him in silence, and look around at each other. Obi-Wan wanted to know how the hell Anakin knew about Blood Moon, the mountain, the cloaking device and the defense systems, and wanted to know how Padme had roped him into it, but he didn't ask. Instead, he asked:

"Kyber. How sure are you?"

Anakin knew what doubt felt like, but not today. "Positive," he said.

Obi-Wan set his jaw. It would make sense, knowing what he knew. If they even had a fraction of the kyber that Obi-Wan knew they had, it would make sense. The knowledge did not make their job easier. He he turned and gave Anakin a look he liked to think he would've given him as a warning, in another life. He hoped Anakin was as ready as Mace believed he was.

"How many times have you been to Ilum, Anakin?" he asked.

Anakin was taken off guard. "Twice," he answered. Once as a youngling and once as a padawan. Both times had been harrowing. "Why?"

Obi-Wan crossed his arms, frowning deeply. Not hidden by any sleeves or robes, Anakin could see Obi-Wan's biceps clenching and unclenching as he spoke; tense and worried. He'd never really seen Obi-Wan stressed. It gave him a very bad feeling.

"Because there's a mountain fortress on this planet, and whether it is or isn't powered by kyber crystals, it's filled to the brim with them, and people who have the power to take them and use them. We have one chance, today, to get inside and figure out who the hell they are."

"And... you think it's going to be like Ilum?" Anakin asked, befuddled.

"Nothing like it," Obi-Wan replied, still staring him down. "But kyber answers to the Force alone, and there are only four Jedi on this planet today." Anakin wondered if Obi-Wan knew how scary he could look. The knight looked up and around at their team: two clones, a senator, and four – no, three – Jedi. He looked again at Anakin.

"Find your master."