Chapter 3: Surprises and Partnerships

"Obi-Wan?"

"Obi-Wan, can you hear me? Are you awake?" A rush of air entered Obi-Wan Kenobi's ears, along with the call that sounded like it was coming from miles away, and his eyes fluttered open.

"Siri?" He asked a weary tone to his voice as he tried to sit upright, but found that he was bound to a chair that was leaning back at a slight angle, as to presumably make it easier for any person to see what was going on behind his back. "Where are we?"

She did not reply, and in a little panic and curiosity, he raised his head to a more obtuse angle, and looked around for any sight of his companion. Instead, he found himself staring into the eyes...or he should say visor slit in the helmet of a Mandalorian warrior, who was seated on a chair before him. The warrior's metal armour was dented and scratched, and the red paint that outlined the sloping, angular edges of the helmet was chipped and starting to flake away.

From the warrior's stocky build and bulging muscles that were visible in between the joints in the man's armour, he could only presume that the being before him was most definitely male, and was probably a man that was not be disobeyed. Still, he was no match for a Jedi Master who was in adequate knowledge of using the Force. He gave the warrior a small smile, and fell into the Force, with only one mission in mind, trying to find out the identity of the man before him.

"Where is my companion? The female that I was with?" He asked the man, wishing to distract him, so that the Mandalorian would not know what he was doing in the Force. "I hope she is unharmed."

"You have nothing to worry about, Jedi." The warrior's voice - most definitely male due to its low pitch and gruff tone - rang lightly in the Jedi Master's ears as an unusual pressure started to build at the back of his mind. "She is safe, and has already under gone questioning."

The pressure started to grow and increase in depth, and after a few seconds, caused a dull ache that was more irritating than actually painful in the whole of his head. Reluctantly, he released any intentions that he had to try and find out the identity of the Mandlaorian before him. "That's good news, to say the least."

The Mandalorian remained quiet, presumably waiting for the Jedi Master to quiz him about where he was, or in fact, what was happening to him in the Force. He sighed, and decided to play along with this thought, unless the conversation started to take a more personal turn.

He smiled, and would have crossed his legs, if they too were not bound together at his ankles. "Ok...let's get this started. Who are you? What do you want with me and my companion? And where the blazes is the woman we were following earlier?"

Although it was impossible to tell, he expected that the Mandalorian was smirking at him through the visor slit in his helmet, "Isn't it I who should be asking the questions?"

How predictable. The Jedi Master raised an eyebrow at his captor. "Depends on the questions."

The Mandalorian leant back in his chair, and folded his arms across his broad, battered, metal armour. "Ok, Jedi, if that is how you want to handle things, let's talk blankly."

"Go on."

The warrior's helmet drifted slightly to the left, and all of a sudden, a slender, female form appeared out of the wall from behind him. Her red hair hang down over her shoulder, and her arms were folded across her grubby flightsuit. When she saw Obi-Wan gawping at her in shock, she dug her hands into the pockets of it.

The Jedi nodded his head slightly, shaking off his surprise. "Well, that would certainly start to explain things."

The informant blushed, and turned a nervous eye to the Mandalorian. "The...the female Jedi has been secured, sir."

Secured? The warrior nodded. "Thanks, Keisha. Please, take a seat, and join us in this discussion."

In slight embarrassment and more than a little confusion, the young woman took a seat, folding her legs over one another and crossed her arms, forming a barrier across her torso. The Jedi Master took a note of this, and leant back further into his chair, feeling a pain shoot up through his buttocks. He just about resisted the urge to shuffle around in his chair, feeling nothing from his left leg. It was entirely numb from sitting down for too long.

Pushing away his discomfort, Obi-Wan looked directly at the Mandalorian, and made his tone even, but left a hint that there may be a little ice thawing away beneath its calm over-tone. "Look, I can see now that you two are working together. So, let's stop all of this fooling around. We both have information that we need from one another."

For the first time since she had entered the room, the woman named Keisha smiled, and looked eagerly over at her employer, who in return merely nodded. He sat forward, resting the chin point of his helmet onto a metallically gloved hand. "Fine, Jedi. We want to know what other information you have on the Boba Fett."

Now we're getting somewhere, the Jedi Master thought, once again falling into the Force, trying to sense the identity of the Mandalorian that had yet revealed his name. But, once again, the fog of aggravating pain started to cloud his mind. He sighed, and dropped the effort once more. "My Council does not know much, except a few minor details."

The warrior's helmet tilted slightly in interest. "Tell m..." The man changed his request. "...us."

He gave his captor a small, comfortable smile. "According to some of our contacts in the Outer Rim territories, the young boy has been seen conducting business with a bounty hunter named Aurra Sing."

"Aurra Sing?" Keisha's brow raised slightly in alarm. "Isn't that the bounty hunter who -"

"Yes." The Mandalorian cut her off, obviously not wishing to engage upon the subject any further than necessary. He turned his attention back to the Jedi. "Any ideas about where?"

The Jedi Master would have spread his hands, but was unable to, of course. He blew out a short breath, and rolled his eyes. "I think that your guesses are as good as ours."

The warrior folded his arms across his chest once again, and started to tilt back slightly on his chair. "Okay, then tell me what does your Council want with the kid?"

Obi-Wan Kenobi smiled even more. "I do not know whether I should share that information."

He saw his captor's body tense in aggravation within his metallic armour, but after a warning glance from his employee, Keisha, the unease slid out of his muscles reluctantly. The Jedi Master knew that he could not keep pushing the Mandalorian like this, but he wanted to get more information out of the gruff man before he had to divulge some of his own.

Keisha waved a gentle hand at her employer, and then looked directly into her captive's eyes, and the Jedi felt the same Force-smog he had felt earlier start to creep back into his mind. "Are there no details you could tell us?"

He closed his eyes, and with an over-whelming sense of strength, he drew on his own Force power...and pushed back against the smog in his mind...drawing deeper and deeper on his Force-well of power. Across the room, he heard the Mandalorian shuffle, then a loud thud emitted from over where the girl had been sitting.

He opened his eyes, and stared in shock at what he had done. In Force-shoving back at the Force-smog in his mind, he had caused its source, in this case the girl Keisha, to be knocked back as well. And now, she was lying on the floor, her red hair covering her face, so her features were unreadable. The Mandalorian was crouched down next to her, checking for any indication that she was awake. But, the young woman remained laying on her side, unmoving and perhaps in immense pain.

The captor whirled on him, the red paint of his armour seeming to flare even more in anger above his contracted and tensed muscles. "What did you do to her Jedi?"

It was in that instance that Obi-Wan became aware of the closeness between the employer and employee, and despite his own shock, managed to pull a calm and serene mask down over his face. "Nothing, she is merely unconscious." His voice echoed in the small room with an aura of Force-enhanced stillness. "She will wake up soon. Just don't have her pull any more Force mind tricks on me."

The Mandalorian growled something in a language that may have been Selonian, due to its gruff sounding words, but he could not be sure. The man rose from his employee's unconscious body, and sat back down on his chair. "You've proved your point now, Jedi. Just tell me, what do you and your Council want with Boba Fett?"

But I have not yet proved my point, the Jedi Master thought in a little bitterness. He pushed this thought down to the pit of his subconscious thoughts, and shook his head. "Set me free, and I will tell you what you need to know."

His captor snorted and laughed resentfully. "As if, Jedi. After the stunt you just pulled, I think that you are better off where you are right now."

Behind the warrior, his young employee stirred, and both of the men turned towards her. She sat up, holding a hand to her noticeably aching head, and emitted a low groan. "Argh..."

She gave her employer a small smile, and picked herself up from off of the ground, the up righted the chair that had over-turned with her once she had collapsed. Sitting down upon it once more, she glared at their captive with an obvious disgust.

"Look..." Obi-Wan shrugged. "I am not going to attack you. Wouldn't you think that it is safer to trust each other now, rather than later?

Keisha and the Mandalorian looked at one another, silently admitting that this may be the only way to try and get information out of the Jedi. The warrior turned to him, and gave him a twisted smile that was visible through his helmet visor. "So be it, Jedi."

The captor reached up and released two catches from the sides of his angular helmet. He pulled it off, and all of a sudden, an atmosphere of shock and disbelief descended upon the room. For the first time in what felt like hours, the jedi master found himself gasping. "J...Jango Fett!"

Fett smiled crookedly back at him, and turned to Keisha. "I think we have interrogated Master Kenobi long enough for today. Escort him back to the cargo hold until the morning. We'll continue this later on."

Keisha nodded, and went back to the jedi, unbinding his hands, legs and the band that restrained him across his chest. She hauled him to his feet with a force that overwhelmed him. "Ok, Jango." She pulled him along, and had to support him somewhat due to the Jedi's sudden lack of muscles. "I'll see you in a minute."

With that, Obi-Wan was dragged out of the room, and brought to the cargo hold...