I don't own Ranma or Star Wars. If I did I'd certainly have not put out the movies in the wrong order LOL, or pair Ranma with Ms. Obvious.

First Warning! This chapter has many non-canon SW points, and a lot of philosophical discussion. I wanted to get the last bits of 'getting to know you' and debate out of the way now, before leading into the events of Phantom Menace. Not to say there isn't any action, but it takes backseat to the rest.

Second Warning! While ultimaflar0 has betaed this chapter, there still might be several small mistakes throughout - I speak specifically about gender confusion when it comes to Ranma. He spends most of this chapter female (for obvious reasons) and there might have been some confusion about that point when I wrote it/and he reviewed it.

Other than that, hope you all enjoy!


Chapter 5: Water Planets of Course Means Swimsuits

As their ship continued on its course Ranma could not pull his eyes away from the view through the ship's bridge. After all, this was only the third planet he had seen from space, and the other two had been disappointing in the extreme. Coruscant because Ranma didn't like cities and Malastare because of the nature of the people Ranma there, and the fact that Ranma hadn't been able to get out to explore.

Dac was not a disappointment. It hung there like a giant blue, green and white marble in space, sort of matching images Ranma had seen of Earth from various NASA videos in Furinkan. Except it didn't have any sign of any landmass, it was slightly greenish water from one pole to another, that water covered by white clouds here and there, with only a few small, widely scattered bits of land here and there. Ranma wondered what sailing on this planet would be like, the wind and waves, the feel of them, the joy of exploration.

Around the planet were a series of obviously constructed rings, thicker here or leaner there. These were the Mon Calamari dockyards. Though not very well known in the Republic, these dockyards had built the Mon Calamari trading fleets, the sector's defense fleet, and above all their exploration fleets. Living on a planet like that, no wonder they took to space and exploration so well!

"It's beautiful." Ranma murmured, smiling broadly as he turned to look at his companions.

"True." Kit said nodding his head. "The Mon Calamari has always treated their planet with respect, as have the other sentients who have evolved on the planet. Even the Quarren do, at least in the main these days. I have no idea if that was the case before their aborted war against the Mon Calamari centuries ago."

Ranma cocked an eyebrow. "I didn't know that there were other species on this planet, and war?"

"There are at least two other known intelligent species that have evolved in the seas of Dac." Kit said, while Shaak Ti piloted them towards the docking bay where they would be leaving their ship to take a shuttle down to the planet's capital. "The peaceful Whaldons are known to be sentient and intelligent, but have no real need for technology in any form."

"Then there are the Quarren, a bipedal species much like most sentients, with typically gray skin, facial tentacles and gills. They and the Mon Calamari both developed technology at roughly the same time, and began to build cities, the Mon Calamari having evolved near the surface of the ocean and the Quarren in the depths. From what we know, the Quarren started a war of expansion against the Mon Calamari, but the Mon Calamari beat them back eventually, destroying much of their civilization to halt the war."

Shaak Ti took up the tale, her hand still working the controls. "But instead of wiping out their competitors as many other species have done in similar circumstances, the Mon Calamari did something entirely different. They took the survivors of the war, primarily children, and began to educate them in Mon Calamari ways." She smiled slightly, as they all felt a slight reverberation through the ship as it came to rest in the docking bay. "I've enjoyed speaking to many of the Mon Calamari I've met; they are generally speaking a gentle species, kindhearted, hard-working, and pragmatic."

"Pragmatism would make them dangerous foes," Ranma murmured, smirking a little. "I remember watching them and the… Sluisi right? They ripped the Yinchorri defense fleet into pieces with relative ease."

"Yes, that is the other part of the tale of the war between them and the Quarren." Kit said with something between a smirk and a frown on his face. "Once certain war is necessary, they are willing to put forth any and all effort needed to win at the least cost to themselves. Now, are you two ready?"

Shaak Ti nodded, standing up from the controls and pulling her hood over her face. A moment later to Ranma senses she became, not invisible, but simply very hard to concentrate on. "Interesting, so that's Force Stealth hmm?" He murmured. Then with a sigh Ranma began to pull the Umi-Sen-Ken technique over himself.

To Shaak Ti and Kit it looked as if Ranma had simply somehow disappeared. Concentrating they could still sense him vaguely through their Force senses, but even that was hard. Whatever technique he used had extinguished his pillar of Living Force, leaving only a blankness in the Force. They could track that blankness, but it was hard, and if they hadn't been ready for it, might have been impossible.

However they had seen this trick before when they discussed how to go about trying to solve the mystery of the missing family of rangers. Both Jedi were surprised when Ranma had offered to help them out before seeing to his own business here but as he explained it his Code would let him do no less. The fact this would let him see more of their Force abilities outside of sparring was a mere bonus.

When they exited the ship, Kit found himself being greeted by a group of Mon Calamari. Two looked to be security guards with blasters belted at their sides. Another looked to be a policeman, dressed in the formal yellow and blue dress uniform of the police here on Mon Calamari, while the fourth was dressed almost as extravagantly as a senator, long flowing robes of multiple colors, with a high ruffle around his neck.

That worthy stepped forward, holding his hand up in formal greeting. "Jedi Knight Fisto? I am governor Prlass of the city of Mon Cal, with me is chief of police Ychrag." He looked beyond Kit for a moment before concentrating on the Nautolan Jedi again. "I'm sorry, but we were told that there would be two knights sent to investigate the mystery of the missing Degral family?"

"Unfortunately Minister given the unique nature of Dac it was decided that sending a Jedi Knight who was not as at home in the water as I am would be more of a liability than an aid. We've sent word to a few other Jedi Knights and one master, including master Trallin." All four of the Mon Calamari, even the security guards nodded at that. At the moment master Trallin was the only Mon Calamari Jedi, though there was a young learner named Nadhar, and a Quarren Jedi Knight who Kit had met once.

"Unfortunately all of them are currently on other assignments, so until one of them becomes free enough to back me up I'm afraid I'm all you're going to get." Kit shrugged modestly, causing the governor to chuckle, which sounded like a fish gargling to human ears.

"Well in that case, I'm supposed we'll have to make do. If you would follow me, I'll brief you on some of the details of the case as we head down to my city."

"That would be most appreciated. I realize my travels here have takenoverlong and I am eager to come to grips with this mystery."

"I'm afraid this mystery has already evolved beyond what little we were able to tell the Temple before you were sent to us. But come we will speak of this in the shuttle."

The five of them walked through the space station, heading towards a smaller landing pad several spaces down from the one where the Jedi's ship had docked, none of the Mon Calamari noticing the two unseen lurkers following behind them. While Ranma looked around the space station with interest, Shaak Ti and Kit both concentrated their Force senses on the two governmental representatives.

Both of them came away with the same surface feelings: concern, worry, rising confusion, and a dedication to what they thought was right. Not enough to give the Jedi any clues as to what had occurred since word of the disappearance had reached the Temple.

Soon enough they were entering a smaller docking bay. Inside it instead of the six ships that the Jedi's Consular was sharing berthing space with was a single far smaller ship, barely the length of a fighter plane, but much wider and far less aerodynamic looking. Inside it became obvious that this shuttle was the governor's personal ship: the inside was decked out with fine, comfortable looking seats, a painting of a scene of something from Dac, and what looked to Ranma like a refrigerator.

The two guards got into the front of the shuttle, one of them being the governor's personal pilot as well as bodyguard, while the two representatives sat in the back with, they thought, their sole visitor. Shaak Ti and Ranma took up position far enough away that they were out of sight before sitting down. Shaak's Force technique would still keep any attention from concentrating on her, but Ranma couldn't do the same with his weight, someone would notice his impact on the seat. Instead he squatted in the walkway between the two sofas near the back of the shuttle.

When the door closed behind them Kit began immediately. "What has changed since the Temple lost contact with the Dergals?"

"First, the police received two untraceable messages. The first was a message purportedly taking credit for the kidnapping along with listing various terrorist threats, signed by someone purporting to be from the Independence League. You have to understand at the present moment my planet is facing a very fierce debate, and the Independence League is one of the political parties involved." The Governor began slowly.

"The debate on becoming a full member of the Republic, or remaining as simply a signatory, independent and separate but aligned with the Republic." Kit said with a nod. He'd been briefed on that, and all of the political pros and cons from the Senate's perspective, as well as why the Mon Calamari were so ambivalent about the idea. Not that he could blame them at all, the Mon Calamari sector was technically speaking in the Outer Rim of the Republic, and their defense fleet while small was also concentrated within it and very well-equipped.

And led, Kit thought, remembering what Ranma had said earlier about the fleet actions against the lizards. But that would change if the Mon Calamari became Republic members, they would have to either add their fleets to the Republic's or decommission it, assuming the Republic could protect them. "I'm afraid I can't say I've been following that debate, but I am aware of it."

"Then you know that both Lotur and Ressa Dergal were very outspoken in their belief that Dac would be better served as a full Senate member rather than remain separate? In fact, they were almost the speakers for that stance because of how well respected they were due to their work as Alderaan Rangers." Whatever its stance towards the Republic and the senate, The Mon Calamari respected Jedi and had since first contact. It made sense they would equally respect individuals who had worked with Jedi in the past.

"I understand that, but I had not heard that the Independence League has turned to violence to support its views. In fact if anyone had mentioned it to me I would have said it was a near impossibility."

Here the police commissioner, Ychrag cut in smoothly. "Before this they were not. The most of what we've had to deal with on both sides of course were graffiti and other defamation of public property. Oh, we had a few clashes between groups of individuals on either side of the debate in some of the smaller cities but not anything like this."

At a wave from his nominal superior Ychrag went on. "But the investigation is made even stranger from there I'm afraid. You see about six days before the kidnapping, the leader of the Dac chapter of the Independence League, Governor Tovvan of Northpost, one of Dac's biggest cities, passed away."

Kit blinked in shock while Ranma frowned. All these Governors, so each governor comes from a city? Or is that just a translation of another word? It would prove to be the latter actually, in Mon Cal, 'Governor' could mean a lot of different things. Shrook'an, the Mon Calamari Dooku treated with for instance, should have had the title of Foreign Minister of Affairs, or Chief Speaker for the Mon Calamari Sector. But to outsiders the Mon Calamari and Quarren simply used the all-encompassing term governor for many such governmental positions, given the nature of the voting system that put them into the various offices.

Ychrag went on, his mouth parts moving into his species equivalent of a sneer. "But while that investigation is ongoing, I find it hard to believe that he would keel over dead from food poisoning while on sabbatical at his age. Since then the opposition has split, with several groups becoming more violent than others, while most simply stepped up their political pressure. No one group has more legitimacy than any of the others, their organization changes with the tides. Good reefs, even most of the names they go by change on a nearly daily basis!"

"And while that first message named the League as being behind the kidnapping I have personally questioned the so-called leaders of each group. None of whom admit to any involvement, and I'm afraid I believe most of them are innocent for various reasons. Certainly I don't think any of them had anything to do with the second note we were sent." Ychrag finished.

Here the governor took up the tale, nodding his head seriously. "This second note was delivered four days ago," he said handing it over to Kit. "It says that unless King Yos Kalina immediately suspends the ongoing vote to join the Republic as a full member that the family will be killed, and there will be blood in the streets and…"

"I can read it myself thank you," Kidd said, not curtly but seriously as he stared down at the message. The Mon Calamari sector was technically led by a king, who had certain powers of oversight, but for the most part these days his power was mainly ceremonial.

"Now I wish I'd brought Knight Vos with me," Kit muttered, knowing that with his Kiffar-given psychometryQuinlan would've been able to see who had written this note. Kit could sense something about it though. Holding the note up to his nose, Kit frowned thoughtfully at a faint hint of something there.

But what it was escaped him and he turned his attention back to the locals. "You say none of the leaders of these factions have admitted they were behind the kidnapping?"

"No, they're all pointing at one another and at us claiming that someone on our side of the debate decided to stir up opposition this way by creating a scapegoat." The governor's tone of voice told his listeners how little he liked that idea. Duplicity of such a stripe was well beyond the norm in Dac politics.

"I would like to interview these leaders, and I'm afraid just to be fair I'll have to interview anyone on your own side who has the resources or motive to pull off such a kidnapping. I also want to talk to friends of the family in as informal a setting as possible if you please, so no police presence commissioner. I'll also wish to examine the family's home. Unless you believe they were kidnapped elsewhere?"

"No the scene of the crime was certainly the Dergal home, we didn't find any specific clues, but we know that they were home when they disappeared. We also found a few clues by the family's personal diving area. It showed without a doubt that something had been dragged along the floor, along with some other clues. My investigators believe some sleeping gas was pumped into the house at night, then the family, mother, father and young son, was carted off into the water. And of course after they entered the water…" the police commissioner shrugged eloquently.

"So the kidnappers escape into the water," Kit said with a nod. "That's an important point, and I have some tricks to track people through water via the Force, if too much time hasn't passed at least. Which, I'm afraid it might have by this point blast it. Could they have initially come out of the water as well?"

"Not without overcoming the house's security. All houses that have personal entrances to the ocean have security on them." Despite their peaceable nature, the Mon Calamari did have crime just like every other species.

"Then I think we've got a plan going forward gentlemen," Kit said, nodding his head. "If you could set up those interviews with the League's new leaders, those I'd like to do formally. I'll head over to the scene of the crime now and interview the neighbors first."

The governor and commissioner both nodded. Moments later the shuttle began to slow, its descent leveling out slowly. Still hidden under the Umi-Sen-Ken Ranma took the opportunity to stare out of one of the shuttle's windows, smiling as the city of Mon Cal came into sight. It was large, even from the air that was pretty damn obvious, though not as large as Tokyo, or any of the other cities he'd seen from the air. But the buildings were even taller than those in Tokyo, large spires with lightly curved tops they were, metal and stone of some odd black and gray color, with striations of yellow of all things here and there.

It was only as they came closer that Ranma noticed that the city abruptly, ended far more abruptly than any human city would have. There were no suburbs here, or if there were they were part and parcel of the central city itself. And the entire thing wasn't an island like he had thought, but a ship floating on the water, the metal edge of it visible as the shuttle moved towards a landing pad stuck out one side of the city ship. Water also moved through much of the city, dominating most of the roads he could see, leaving only small walkways and dozens, hundreds, of scattered bridges crisscrossing the waterways.

It reminds me of that Italian city, what was it, Venice? Shaking his head Ranma chuckled internally. It's fantastic looking for damn sure, but how in the world is something that massive and top heavy floating?

Soon enough he exited the shuttle. Kit walked off with the locals, allowing Shaak and Ranma to duck away quickly, moving around dockworkers, functionaries, and machines of all sorts until they passed through a building designed to handle incoming arrivals and into the city proper. After that they soon found the local equivalent of an alleyway, where they came out of their differing stealth abilities.

Shaak Ti pulled at her robe, pointing over to a store nearby. "I'm going to head in there and change into my disguise, wait here."

"I should probably come and change too," Ranma replied. "With all this water around, it's only a matter of time before I get splashed anyhow. Best to already be in female form when that happens. And given what the Mon Calamari reps said I bet most of the buildings around here have some access to the water, though I wonder how the hell this place is even floating."

"I had forgotten you didn't know much about Mon Calamari architecture," Shaak Ti said. "Trust me; this is the equivalent of the tip of an iceberg poking out of the water. Most of the city is below us, Mon Calamari cities are mostly under the water line."

"Really?" Ranma blinked then smiled. "That sounds really rather awesome frankly. Do you want me to hold onto your lightsaber?"

Shaak Ti frowned, touching the silver cylinder at her side protectively. Entrusting another person with your lightsaber was a sign of friendship that had few equal among the Jedi, but it was a weapon that no ordinary civilian would be seen with. Nor was she good enough at Force Stealth to cover its presence alone. So she nodded reluctantly before handing it over then winced her hands clenching in reflex as Ranma promptly stuffed the lightsaber into his ki-space pocket. "I, nothing will happen to my lightsaber in there will it?"

"Heh, no worries Shaak. Inanimate things like that don't change in ki-space. Don't worry about it, I promise yer lightsaber will be right as rain when you see it again." Shaak pouted a little at his tone, but broke into a chuckle as Ranma leaned down to the water of the main street, splashing himself in the face, becoming the red-haired human woman she had first met. "Now come on, it's been ages since I went swimming."

The two of them made their way towards the clothing store, entering it quickly. While Shaak Ti headed towards the changing area cloaked in Force Shadow, Ranma began to browse the store for anything that would fit him-now-her. When they met up back outside, Ranma wore her normal pants atop a one piece swimsuit, covered by a large T-shirt both of which she bought from the store.

Shaak Ti had also changed, in her case into clothing that made her look like a worker off a starship here to explore the city. Underneath that she wore a swimsuit much like Ranma's, a simple white one piece that, according to the shopkeeper she had talked to, set off her red skin. After exiting the store she frowned, thinking. "We'll need to find a place to stay, and then I think we should head over to the scene of the crime as well."

"Won't Kit be following that up? Wouldn't it be better to try and follow up some other area of investigation?" Ranma asked using terms he'd seen on an anime show concerning police detectives.

"I predict that Kit will be side-tracked." Shaak Ti said with a faint smile. "You didn't notice, but there were several other dignitaries there at the port waiting for him. Being an official Jedi sometimes helps investigations along, but it can sometimes also bog you down in formality, hence why we came up with this plan in the first place."

"Ooh, could that be another reason for you all to break away from the Senate? No…" Ranma quipped, nudging her with a friendly elbow.

Shaak Ti rolled her eyes, but otherwise didn't respond, as she directed the two of them down the street towards a hotel that catered to offworlders, one of only a few in the city that did. Even here in the capital, offworlders were not a common sight on Dac, and both women got some odd looks from passersby because of it, though nothing that was aggressive or angry-feeling.

OOOOOOO

Kit had indeed been sidetracked, though not as much as he had feared. Two of the delegates, here to greet him formally came from the Independence League. They wanted to assure the Jedi that their misgivings about joining the Republic as a whole did not extend to the Jedi. With his Force senses, Kit probed the two men, coming up with nothing of importance to his current task.

The two of them however were happy to show Kit around and introduce him to their fellows elsewhere but there Kit ran into a wall. None of the leaders of the anti-Republic faction, Mon Calamari and Quarren both, knew anything about the kidnapping. They were not worried about it and many of them were happy to have the two Rangers out of the public eye but there was nothing sinister about that. There was nothing that hinted of any involvement on their part.

From there Kit made his way to the hospital where Ressa Dergal, the wife, was known to work. He found nothing of import there, a few friends who had theories, but nothing that seemed to hint at anything being behind the kidnapping other than politics. Though as he was leaving one of the doctors said, "I hope you find them, and I know both of their parents will be happy to see young Brigo taken away to be a Jedi."

"I'm sorry?" Kit turned, frowning lightly. "I didn't know anything about Brigo having been tested?"

"Yes, we have his Midi-Chlorian count here." the doctor said tapping button on a data pad for a moment." Kit looked at it, frowning thoughtfully. Brigo was certainly showing a high enough level to be taken on as a youngling, possibly even to make it through to learner status. Strange, we didn't hear anything about this. Could this be an anti-Jedi move rather than a political one? Someone not wanting another Mon Calamari Jedi? But that makes even less sense than the actual kidnapping!

With a sigh Kit moved on from there to interview other friends of the family, and then the neighbors. By which time, Ranma and Shaak Ti had already been and gone from the Dergal home.

OOOOOOO

Watching Shaak Ti over the course of the day Ranma learned that Jedi skills with the Force were well above anything he could do in this area. Not only were they able to discern the surface thoughts or emotions from others, making lying to them next to impossible, they could even feel a sense of a place, nothing explicit but enough to get an idea of what had happened there. Because of this Shaak had already cleared the neighbors without even talking to them.

Now they were actually entering the house, and Shaak Ti smiled as the two of them moved into the modest one-story home. "The family was happy here. Their happiness permeates the entire building."

The house was a simple dome shape, with no hint of straight lines anywhere, not even in the windows, something that looked bizarrely alien to Rama's eyes but pleasing nonetheless. On the roof there looked to be a small garden one stilts to even the ground, with an equally small solar panel nearby.

Inside, the house was neat, clean, but not austere by any means. There was a jumble of what looked like toys near the doorway into what was obviously a small child's room set, strangely to Ranma's eyes, off the first floor main hallway. The kitchen, equally oddly to a human, was on the second floor, as was the sitting room and a small dining room.

While Ranma looked for physical clues Shaak Ti closed her eyes, simply feeling out the Force in the place, trying to get a hint of what had happened. Ranma finished first and came to stand beside her quietly so as not to disturb her concentration. When she opened her eyes and Shaak Ti noticed this, she smiled, nodding at the redhead in thanks. "Did you sense anything?" Ranma asked, returning her smile.

"Nothing specific. I know where each of the family was last, but there's only a moment there, in the child for some reason, of fear. Just a split second before drowsiness overtakes it. I can't tell if that was a nightmare of some kind, or if he somehow spotted what was going on and was put to sleep with the gas agent the commissioner mentioned before he could react further."

Ranma frowned, moving around the house again until he found the entrance to the water. "This is what Ychrag was talking about right, the house's entrance to the ocean?"

Shaak Ti moved over, nodding. She knelt down, gesturing at the marks on the floor. "And these are the marks his investigators found. They were definitely caused by something metal."

Her frown still in place, Ranma stepped forward, looking into the water and noticing what looked like a faint web covering the entrance right below the water's surface. "That's the defense? Doesn't look like much to me." She pulled out a pair of goggles and a breath mask she'd bought with her swimsuit, slipping them on while handing over a second one to Shaak.

"It might be mildly electrocuted, or have some kind of paralytic smeared on it. And it's mono-wire that will be a lot stronger than you think." Shaak Ti replied, moving over to a nearby panel. Studying it for a moment she then entered a few numbers, and the webbing disappeared to one side. Before she could turn around she heard a faint splash and rolled her eyes. "Ahh I see someone's gotten bored."

The water was surprisingly warm, pleasant even. Ranma was mildly surprised by that, but she kept her wits about her, looking around quickly. Then he gasped in awe at what the city looked like underneath the ocean's surface.

The city really was like an iceberg, the portion of the city under the water dwarfed what was above. The city's central spires shot down into the water so far Ranma couldn't see their bottoms, with the central-most slowly merging into one. The others spread out well beyond his sight in every direction, either straight down or diagonally, adding further to the city's stability.

Most of the buildings from up top dove down several stories, with only a few like the Dergals not being built further into the water. Ranma would later learn that such houses were set up that way due to the construction of the city for ballast reasons, and they were all given as gifts from the city to those who had performed great deeds. The Dergals were given theirs because they had helped a few Jedi Knights shut down a pirate gang on the Mon Cal sector's borders.

The water, darker as you went down of course, was lit by hundreds, thousands of lights. Lights coming from small water lights set in the walls of the various structures, lights from windows, lights from various small submarines or Quarren and Mon Calamari moving about in the water all around them. It was an amazing sight.

Ranma was so engrossed in the view that she didn't move out of the way and when Shaak Ti jumped into the water she splashed down on top of Ranma, her wet, lithe body smacking into Ranma's back for a moment causing Ranma to blush and move away quickly through the water. The two of them looked at one another in the light of the underwater city, and Ranma held up her hand to Shaak Ti, indicating she should try to figure out where to go from here.

Shaak Ti frowned, wishing Ranma had some trick that could help them in this investigation, but his skills were geared toward battle for the most part, and this kind of thing was beyond him/her. Closing her eyes once more behind her goggles and treading water for a moment the Togrutan Jedi sent her thoughts out into the Force, smiling as she felt the life all around her. It wasn't like being in a forest, the Living Force wasn't that strong here, but still it was an amazing feeling after so long spent on Coruscant and its unnaturalness.

With her Force Sense moving around her she looked for anything out of the ordinary, anything that could hint at what had happened to the Dergal family. For a moment she couldn't get anything from her senses save a vague sense of unease. Then she felt something at the periphery of her senses, well below where they were currently treading water. It was a spike of interest and anger from a single mind, one that was suddenly watching her and Ranma.

Breaking out of her trance, Shaak Ti quickly wrapped herself in her Force Stealth technique and watched relieved as Ranma did the same without instruction. Then she pointed down and to the side, swimming swiftly and strongly in that direction.

Ranma quickly caught up with her, moving in front of her as if she was a bodyguard for a moment. Doing so however caused Shaak to notice that she could see the movement of the water as Ranma moved through it. Her Silent Thief (and what was with that name anyhow?) technique couldn't hide the effect her body had on the water around them.

They soon came to one of the stone and steel spires of the underwater city, one with many different entrances to it. Shaak Ti frowned, clinging to one such entrance for a moment as she once again stretched out her mind. But they had moved too late, or perhaps they had not disappeared from their watcher's sense's fast enough. The mind she had felt was gone now.

But she knew vaguely which direction it had been moving when it did. Deeper, far deeper, and the shape of the mind, a criminal of some sort, that's something at least, she thought, then shrugged her shoulders tapped Ranma on her shoulder and pointed back up towards the surface.

Instead of returning to the Dergal house, the two of them made their way towards a public entrance to the upper city. This area was mostly used for families with young children, the elderly, or offworlders who wanted to take part in the local pastime. Coming out of the water the two women got some leers from the various aliens, including the Quarren, but only a few of the Mon Calamari seemed to be 'cosmopolitan' enough to think aliens were of any interest.

Ranma too had issues, staring at Shaak Ti. Shaak Ti's suit was very modest, much like her own, a one-piece suit that covered everything from the privates up to her shoulders. Yet it was white standing out in stark contrast to the red skin it was clinging to, and the body underneath it was sooo good...

Shaking her head, Ranma sent her red hair flying, moving to take Shaak's arm in one of her own, leaning in to whisper, "What did you find?"

"Someone was watching the water entrance, and noticed us coming out of it." Shaak said grimly, despite a small smile making its way over her features. Clipping her mask in place at her side with her free hand, she pulled on her small headdress, smiling slightly as the azul fang settled into place on her brow.

She was silent for a time as the two of them walked through a crowd, but spoke up as they moved away from the crowd and the public entrance. "I felt his spike of surprise, anger and irritation. I hoped we could catch him but I should have known we wouldn't be able to catch a local in their own environment." She shrugged her shoulders and Ranma nodded.

She watched, one eyebrow rising as Ranma moved in front of her, her entire being changing. Suddenly the redhead was no longer simply walking along beside her taking in the sights of the city like a tourist. Now she was looking at various hiding places, shadows and vantage points, wary of danger. "Do you think they know you're a Jedi?"

"I don't think so, or at least they won't have proof of that. I'm not very well known, and very few people, even criminal sorts, know a single Jedi by sight. But they could think we were connected with the investigation somehow."

"Just great," Ranma muttered, relaxing only when Shaak took her arm pulling the redhead to walk beside her once more. "So should we wait here and see if they come out after us, make fools of ourselves somewhere and become targets, or simply assume they'll attack us anyway and move on back to our hotel?"

"If they attack us I'd rather not get civilians involved, so I think we should move back to the hotel. But if we come upon a place where we could possibly turn the ambush on them…" her voice trailed off, and she smiled, showing pointy teeth for just a moment.

"Sounds good to me, just remember though if they don't know you're a Jedi that means no lightsaber or Force tricks for you. Think you can handle that?" Ranma said, smirking a little and bumping one hip against hers.

"I think I can manage." Shaak smiled. "Now, if we do find such a place, here's what we do."

The two of them did find a spot, and slowed down, arguing loudly about heading out for food or back to the hotel. It was a normal scene, save for the fact that there were no other passerby on this small street at the moment.

They both caught the flicker at once. Ranma noticed them out of the corner of his eye, his sixth sense warning him, while Shaak Ti felt a few nearby minds suddenly concentrating on them through her Force senses, which she was stretching as far as possible. "Now," she said calmly.

With that she ducked aside as Ranma did the same. Several blue circles of stun light passed through where they had been standing and a few voices speaking the local dialect were raised in anger at the missed shots. "/Damn it Ruffo, you gave us away!/"

"/Scrag you Nerl, you missed them too!/" This sentence was followed by several other stun bolts zipping towards Ranma and Shaak. Shaak dove into the waterway they had been walking alongside, while Ranma leaped up to a low-hanging balcony, flipping himself up onto it.

"/Hah, I've got the Togrutan bitch, you take the human!/" This was followed by another splash as one of their attackers dove into the water after Shaak Ti

"/Wh, damn he's like an acrobat!/" Another voice shouted, while its owner tried to get a bead on Ranma. Ranma leaped over the circle of blue light, tapping his feet down onto another balcony for only a second before changing direction, landing on a nearby roof and rolling to avoid another shot.

Grabbing up a small piece of stone Ranma hurled it at the shooter, who was a Mon Calamari standing out in the open on top of another rooftop. The man didn't bother to dodge the tiny pebble, merely lining up his shot on Ranma now that he was standing still for a moment.

He was therefore surprised when the small pebble smashed into him like a bullet from a slug-shooter. With a cry of pain the man flew backwards, rolling as he hit the roof. He tried to get to his feet, only for a sharp pain in the neck to send him back down to sleep.

"There we go, and no Force tricks required." Ranma muttered, slinging the man onto one shoulder before making his way back down to street level.

There he found Shaak Ti already waiting for him, pulling another would-be attacker out of the water. He was a Quarren who was dressed as shabbily as Ranma's captive, but there was nothing else discernible about him in the light of the streetlights. Sitting his own prisoner down next to the Togrutan, Ranma whispered, "Can you sense anyone else watching us?"

"I did when the ambush began, but it's gone now. That doesn't mean we're not being watched, just not from within my range." Shaak whispered back, before going on more loudly. "This one must've been drunk, he tried to use his blaster underwater, and shocked himself unconscious!"

"Really?" Ranma asked, one eyebrow raised and she shook her head as Shaak nodded. "Damn, that's sad. So, are we going to wake one of these idiots up or what?"

In the distance however Shaak began to hear the sound of incoming sirens. "No, I don't think so, we'll leave them for the locals. It would do us no good to be brought in for questioning as witnesses or anything else. And I don't think these two would have any information anyway."

Dumping their two-would be attackers there, the duo quickly continued on their way through Mon Cal towards their hotel. The room they had gotten had two beds, a very small but well-accoutered bathroom, and several of what Shaak Ti called water bulbs, globes of glass which each held water and a local oceanic plant.

As Ranma moved around the room looking at the plants, Shaak Ti ordered them some food from the hotel. While that had been Ranma's idea originally, by the time they arrived at the hotel Shaak Ti had been feeling some hunger to. Putting the phone down, she turned to Ranma bringing up that very subject. "Ranma, I've noticed over the past few days that my appetite seems to have gone up. Is your training supposed to cause that?"

"Yeah," Ranma said turning away from the last plant, something that looked like a starfish but with flowers at the end of each of its points. "All martial artists eat a lot in comparison to normal people, and when you start building up your ki that becomes even more pronounced. You're seeing that happen faster than I expected, but given your Jedi training and how fit you were already I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."

"I see." Shaak Ti mused, then she laughed quietly both at the backhanded compliment she'd just been given and at an odd thought she'd just had. Ranma cocked an eyebrow at her and she shook her head still chuckling. "You remember my saying that I've run into Senator's wives and other VIPs who are… body conscious? I'm just imagining what their response would be if they saw me eat enough for any three of them, then offhandedly mention that I wouldn't gain a pound from doing so." She sighed theatrically. "Shame, it would be the perfect crime…"

"Careful!" Ranma laughed. "You might break that whole unemotional Jedi ideal you're supposed to be upholding."

Shaak Ti rolled her eyes at the redhead's gentle joke, though there was unfortunately more than enough Jedi who really believed that idiocy. For her part Shaak didn't believe in shutting herself off entirely from her emotions, but was very wary about the depth and power of them. However now was not the time to continue that debate. They had a job to do first. "Tell me, did anything about our attackers seem odd to you?"

"I thought they were thugs." Ranma said simply. "You know gangers, like those idiots I ran to back on, or should that be in, Coruscant? Y'know, the ones I left…"

"Thank you I don't need to be reminded of that particular sight." Shaak Ti said quickly, shuddering a little at the imagery it brought to mind. "Yes that's what I was thinking they were just normal ruffians, not very well armed, or intelligent. But there was someone else there, as I said."

"Was it the same person you sensed watching the water entrance to the Dergal place?"

"Certainly the same species." Shaak Ti replied then at Ranma's quizzical expression she elaborated. "While most Jedi cannot read deeply into people's minds, we can skim their surface thoughts." Ranma nodded having heard that before and she went on. "Each species however has a certain structure to their thoughts. This one wasn't one I'm familiar with, but then again I haven't had dealings with either the Quarren or the Mon Calamari before our arrival here."

"And I suppose that if it wasn't an individual from either of those species they'd have stuck out like a sore thumb, especially down in the water," Ranma muttered. "Would you've been able to tell if the other passersby had noticed a stranger?"

"I would have yes, and I didn't sense anything unusual from their reactions." Shaak Ti smiled slightly. Ranma might not be able to use Jedi Force tricks, but he was quickly beginning to understand how they could be used and plan accordingly.

"Speaking of that first watcher," she said quickly, snapping her fingers in a human gesture which, much like nodding, had crossed species. "When you tried to use your cloaking technique in the water, you were still somewhat visible thanks to ripples in the water caused by your body's movement. Just something to think about in the future."

Ranma shrugged. "No technique is perfect I suppose, I already knew any species with infrared or sonar could see through it. I'd like ta see if I can pick up your trick, that Force Stealth technique anyway, so we'll see."

Shaak Ti merely nodded at that, having come to understand how Ranma's ability to adapt was his strongest ability. She wouldn't put it past him to improve his current technique or find a way to use Force Stealth with his Internal Living Force.

The two of them continued to talk about the case before Shaak Ti began to describe other similar missions she had gone on an in the past, of which there had been for: two kidnappings, and two missing persons. The missing persons cases had ended with the individual turning up long dead, before the Jedi had been asked to search for them. On the other hand, she and her master had gotten the kidnap victims back in both cases.

"But the nature of this world and the fact that we don't have any local contacts to work with is going to make much harder." After all, the Dergal family was supposed to be their local contacts here outside of the government's representatives. "I hope that Kit has turned up something on his end."

"I just hope we get the Dergals all back alive." Ranma replied grimly. "I honestly don't care who's behind it, kidnapping a family like that, especially a family with a young kid? Sets my blood boiling."

"While I agree with you remind me not take you to a few of the Core-ward planets. Several of them believe kidnapping is simply another normal tool of politics." Shaak Ti replied dryly.

Ranma shrugged. "If they don't have any martial arts styles, I'm not interested in them anyway."

At that point food arrived, and Ranma got up to answer the door, opening it to a service droid who pushed in a tray. After paying the servitor Ranma moved over to the bathroom and splashed herself with hot water, changing forms. He figured he would spend so much time in female form, he might as well savor what time he could spend in his male form.

Coming back he frowned at the cuisine that Shaak Ti had picked out, visible now since she had removed the coverings from the various small dishes. The Mon Calamari believed in many small dishes per meal rather than one main portion and an appetizer like most human planets. "Fish, fish and more fish or something similar?"

Shaak Ti smiled at his dubious expression pointing to each dish in turn, giving their names and descriptions. They both dug in, before pausing, and looking at one another. "Unfortunately while this hotel caters to offworlders it doesn't actually have a nearby supplier for human, or Togrutan food." The food was somewhat bland, well-cooked from what they could tell, and somewhat filling, but not exactly tasty.

For his part Ranma simply grimaced and ate quickly to not actually taste anything, causing Shaak Ti to smile teasingly at him. "Food is a thing you will have to get used to in this universe I'm afraid. Very few planets are cosmopolitan enough to cater to all species taste-wise, you were rather spoiled on the trip here given that Coruscant could do just that. Most of the time while on missions we Jedi have little choice but to eat what is put in front of us."

"Is the Council really that tightfisted?"

"Not particularly, though as I've said before I think it's simply another way of making certain we abstain from all worldly things." Shaak Ti laughed. "Frankly after long enough in space you just eat what's in front of you. On the other hand, I can cook. My master was most insistent that I learned how to take care of myself, and I can cook both low-tech and with a kitchen."

"Low-tech I assume means camping out or something?" Ranma said with a laugh. "I'm going to have to cook for you sometime too. Beef bowls I think given how much you like steak, with the meat as rare as I can make it, or Kushiyaki."

"I like the name of that first dish for certain," Shaak laughed in turn. They kept on eating for a time, exchanging tales from their own cooking experiences. Ranma regaled Shaak with a few stories of Kasumi and her cooking, while Shaak replied by relating a time she'd gone undercover as a kitchen assistant.

After a while the meal was finished, not so much to their liking. The food had been only passable. The conversation however had more than made up for it.

Pushing the tray back to the doorway, Ranma turned and was not surprised to see Shaak Ti had already sat down on the hard floor of the room. The hotel didn't have any rugs anywhere, and Shaak Ti had explained that that was because the locals simply didn't use them. It was a small thing to Ranma, but rather jarring considering that every human culture had rugs or something similar, even primitive ones. "More meditation?"

"Indeed, I think we should take turns today however." She smiled faintly looking up and Ranma from where she sat. "You said at one point you wanted to experiment with reaching out the Force once we arrived on planet. Well, here we are."

Ranma's eyes narrowed as he looked into Shaak's faint smile. "You just want a chance to whack me when I don't do it right, don't you?"

"While turn-about is fair play, I am a Jedi and we are above such petty things." Shaak Ti replied, sententiously, though her smile twitched slightly giving her tone the lie. "But come, I think I'm actually interested in what will happen when you do."

"Should we get out the holocron?" Ranma asked reluctantly. She still didn't want to show Master Halcyon his female form. The way the Jedi talked about the holocrons it was obvious the things were expensive as hell and he really didn't want to be blamed for breaking, not when at least half the masters he'd already met had such a poor opinion of him.

"I don't think so, I know you're reluctant to show your female body to him. I think that it's rather silly, the holocron will the able to handle it. But I don't want you to be nervous or have any misgivings when you try to reach out to the Unifying Force."

"You're not the one those stuffy old codger's would blame for breaking it." Ranma muttered. With a sigh he fell into a lotus position across from her. "Do you want to go first or should I?"

"You first I think Ranma," Shaak Ti said with a faint smile, picking up a spoon from where she had said it on the ground. The utensils on this planet were generally speaking the same as most worlds, though neither of them had used the spoons in question. This gave Shaak a blunt object to smack Ranma with, and she was looking forward to the opportunity eagerly.

To her surprise however Ranma understood the difference between his normal meditation and her own. As he had told her, Ranma had experimented once already and had spent days watching her try to change from one style to another. Rather than reaching out to the unifying Force as a whole therefore Ranma concentrated on the living Force in one of the local plants before he allowed his senses to widen to the Unifying Force surrounding them.

The living Force of the plant was small, ephemeral, one strand among billions pressing in on Ranma's ki sense. But he kept hold of it, refusing to be washed away in the flood of...

There was no single word for what he was feeling. Emotions, feelings, the makeup of the bed next to him, the floor underneath him, the city beyond, the ebb and tide of the water of the entire planet. Everything that the Unifying Force was made of was there, interconnected. The emotions rattled, some darker, angry and red veined, or hateful and green. At least in the area around them however the lighter emotions abounded.

It was like a stream, or that was the first image Ranma's mind first grasped. A stream of billions upon billions of light streamers, with images floating to the surface here and there, the Force trying to get his attention, but his mind couldn't quite grasp of them. Ranma's self, whatever it was that made Ranma himself, stood, refusing to be pushed by the stream. After only a very brief moment he pulled his senses back to his body gasping, falling forward almost onto his side at the sheer mental exertion that he had just put forth. "Th, that was a hell of a lot different from the time in the temple! Gahh…."

Across from him Shaak Ti had dropped the spoon she had been playing with and simply stared for a moment. She had felt Ranma reach out to the Force, but it was an unformed attempt, not merely a mental one like what would happen during meditation, not sending his mind out into the Force like a Jedi would to use their mental disciplines, or even reaching out to the physical power of the Force. A Jedi who was using a power like Telekinesis would reach out for that power.

But Ranma hadn't reached out, instead he had sent out what almost like a gestalt of a sort into the Force. Everything he was he had pushed out into the Force, but then he had pulled it back, refusing to let the Force interact beyond the barest minimum with his own Living Force. "That was… a profoundly interesting experience Ranma. And it makes sense that it would be different here, the Force in the Jedi temple has been, call it softened over the millennia by so many Force users reaching out to it under controlled circumstances. What did it feel like?"

"I think that's enough experimenting," Ranma said with a gasp. "I did not like that feeling, not one bit."

You could be thinking about it too much." Shaak Ti stroked her lekku thoughtfully. "You mentioned more than once that you make up moves on the fly or in the midst of combat which you have trouble replicating later. Perhaps we are starting this from the wrong end. I think if you can interact with the Unifying Force successfully just once, you would be able to duplicate it later."

"I don't think so," Ranma said now somewhat recovered pushing himself back upright. "I think it's a matter of control. To me as a martial artist control is everything, that's why I dislike the Jedi Order's method of training, you don't control your emotions you just push them to the side or push them down." Shaak made a 'get on with it' gesture and Ranma smiled slightly before obeying. "But when you reach out to the Force like that, you are letting the Force guide you, guide your actions, your thoughts and senses. That's a very hard concept for me to get over."

Shaak Ti nodded and explained what it felt like from the outside and Ranma frowned, understanding that he did need to experiment more if he was going to try to figure out a way to use the Force. At the present time he didn't think he needed it, he already knew how to reach out to the Force to refill his own reservoir; though he hadn't liked the experience he knew he could replicate that at least again. But not reaching out to the physical energy of the Force but rather the ephemeral 'skein of the future and present' as Shaak Ti put it was a lot tougher.

"You have a strong sense of self Ranma. In the main that is a good thing, but we Jedi are told… not to have no sense of self, but to see ourselves as part of the greater picture, to become conduits for the Force." Shaak Ti replied, stroking her lekku as she struggled with the words. "You don't have that, I think if you did you'd be able to reach out as we do. What you're doing now isn't so much reaching out as, as… setting your soul up as a sort of flagpole, standing in the wind of the Force, but refusing to let it blow you where it will. Still, an interesting experiment at least. And you're certain you could reach out to the Force to, what's the word you used, to 'recharge' yourself?"

"Oh yeah I could do that before I met Master Dooku. But your Force Battle Precognition, and I think even your cloaking technique, I'm not going to be able to replicate those until I get over this."

"Thank the Force for small mercies." Shaak Ti said with a laugh. "Ranma, you're already abominably hard to fight close-range. I'd hate to think what you would be like if you could also predict your enemy's moves like that."

"Yeah, but even your telekinesis is going to be tough to reproduce without somehow using the Unifying Force. Not until I figure out a way to just reach out to the energy of the Force without the mental and emotional sides and use it outside my body. I won't say it's impossible, that isn't my style, but I refuse to give up my control like that."

"We're all learning here Ranma, though I would say you don't need Force Telekinesis as much given your own long-range attacks." Shaak Ti said with a faint smile, slightly enjoying being on this side of things for once as she reached forward to pat Ranma on the knee. "Now I believe it is my turn? But I will want to see if the Force can tell me anything about our mission before I continue to practice your method of meditation."

Ranma nodded, and scooted closer, until their knees were nearly touching, watching her closely. His eyes began to glow slightly with ki sight, and Shaak Ti nodded before closing her eyes. First Shaak reached out to the Force as if she was trying to probe the future, trying to get a sense of what they should do next in terms of their investigation.

But instead of showing her any hints of their quarry, the Force showed her one of her own memories. It was of the time when Shaak and her master had been on Shili and she had gone on a ritual hunt. Not the battle with the creature whose fang she now wore on her brow, but the actual hunt itself. Specifically Shaak stalking the akul, the beast whose teeth she wore on her headdress. She had first learned how it moved then prepared a trap which injured the beast slightly before following the blood trail back to its lair, where she had fought and killed it in single combat.

She began to come out of the trance for a moment, smiling now. Then she remembered what Ranma had just done, sending not his mind out, but a gestalt of himself. I wonder… Action followed thought quickly and she reached out with a portion of her old Living Force as Ranma did, as well as the thought, thank you. Shaak Ti didn't know why she did that, but she got a feeling, almost a positive response from the Force, as if it approved. It was very hard to put into words, but that was what it felt like.

She opened her eyes to see Ranma smirking at her. "That was different, it almost looked like you were trying to pull in some energy again for a ki technique, but not quite. You only sent out a brief flare of your own energy rather than pulling in any of the Unifying Force. Any reason why?"

"I don't know, it just felt right for some reason. But the Force did tell me something I can use for our investigation. What time is it?"

"2000 local time. We've got another hour before Kit is supposed to check in with us. We've got time for you to try to meditate and grow your ki reservoir."

Shaak Ti nodded, and closed her eyes once more. About 45 minutes later she came out of her trance at a pat on her knee. "It's almost time Shaak."

A few moments later the two of them were once again sitting at the desk as Kit called them on the secure com they had set up before leaving their ship that morning. His opening comment however was not exactly helpful. "I hope you two have had more luck than I have, or else this mission is going to become very irritating very quickly."

"I'd say we're feeling the undertow." Ranma said with a grin, causing both his listeners to groan aloud at the bad joke. After putting her hand over Ranma's mouth to stop him from continuing on a similar vein Shaak Ti continued describing their day from start to finish.

"And other than them being the same species you don't have any clue as to the nature of the watcher?" Kit said frowning thoughtfully.

Shaak nodded, but expanded slightly. "I'm hesitant to stereotype and say they were Quarren just because that is my first thought, but..."

Ranma removed Shaak hand from his mouth, holding it in both of her own for a moment as he looked between the two Jedi. "The way you phrase that, it sounds like you've got a political reason."

"Unfortunately I do." Shaak replied, gently regaining her hand from Ranma. "The Quarren are a minority on Dac. Their numbers have never grown to the level they were before their disastrous war with the Mon Calamari, and some of them resent that. They also resent their political and social domination by the Mon Calamari. They have a legitimate voice in the government, indeed some of the cities on Dac have elected Quarren representatives to the world Council and they have representation on the lower governmental levels as well. But that doesn't matter because it's still a Mon Calamari government, you understand?"

"Sort of?" Ranma said shrugging his shoulders. He didn't think offhand of any similar experience he'd heard of on Earth, though possibly the suffrage movement, or maybe the Equal Rights Movement in America? But then, women and African Americans never tried to go to war with whites, and the Quarren were never enslaved to those they had attacked. I wish I'd studied more world history than I did, I was always more interested in the wars than the politics behind them.

Kit nodded then described his own half of the investigation, ending with a faint sigh, his lekku moving in a chaotic pattern, a Nautolan sign of faint irritation. "It definitely looks like a frame job so far. I've talked to all of the higher up leaders of the splintered movement. Despite the amount of evidence pointing to them, none of them had any part in the kidnapping."

"And there's no hint as to where the evidence is coming from, and what is it?" Shaak asked. "And may I say that I'm happy you're the one handling that side of things, my knowledge of computers and programming is not the best."

"And you think mine is?" Kit laughed, but there was more than a bit of self-deprecation to the noise rather than actual humor. "As to the evidence, mostly strange payments, missing funds, videos of them meeting at odd times and places, strange shipments that have no physical evidence of said, and a copy of a public video of some of the low-level grunts of the League being seen staking out the Dergal place. The individuals in said video have rock-solid alibis of course, and I interviewed one of them already, he's a gofer to use the human parlance. I'm working with the government's computer specialists to backlog the various bits of evidence, but most of it's appeared in the last three days, backtracking them is going to take a lot of time."

"So while the top brass has been cleared you can't tell if someone further down the chain was involved or not?" Ranma groaned. "Ugh."

"Exactly my young friend. I've done these kind of missions before, we both have." Kit nodded toward Shaak who nodded back. "But unfortunately we are coming in so long after the actual crime that any Force traces have fled, leaving us to fall back on our ability to read the truth in people and normal investigative work. It's not the first time I've dealt with this issue, but it can get tedious."

"Tomorrow I'm going to start questioning some of their lieutenants, as well as anyone in the government that could possibly have the resources to spirit the Degrals away in order to frame the opposition or plant the evidence to said beyond the note sent to the police. But frankly at this point I think that the political side of things is a dead-end. But I feel there is a third group involved in this somewhere, we just need to identify who." Kit finished, looking at both his listeners.

While Shaak simply nodded Ranma asked, "Who could gain from that kind of thing?"

Both Jedi shook their heads, but Kit was the one who answered verbally, having studied the Mon Calamari sector's government in more depth than Shaak in preparation for this mission. "We don't know. While in some planets a corporation could be behind this kind of move, that's not the way the corporations or smaller companies on Mon Calamari act. If they were caught at it, the government would simply absorb the company, and the perpetrators themselves might well be executed. And aliens such as you and Ranma stick out like a Corellian in a monastery."

Shaak nodded thoughtfully while Ranma laughed at Kit's joke. "The criminal element?"

"By and large the Mon Calamari are a law-abiding people, but there of course is such an element. Yet the police have contacts among them, and none of them have hinted at anything from that direction. Besides, hitting such high-profile targets is not in keeping with the way Mon Calamari or Quarren criminals act. They tend to keep a very low profile, and keep to socially acceptable crimes for the most part: recreational drugs, some racketeering that sort of thing. The truly depraved, well the Mon Calamari are peaceful and pragmatic people, but they have very certain methods of dealing with murderers or rapists

"Good to know," Ranma replied dryly. "Okay, so it's possibly not locals at all. Maybe some old business from their Ranger years? I'd guess helping you Jedi out could have got them some enemies over the years."

"A definite possibility but I looked over their records." Shaak shook her head. "They never dealt with anyone with the reach to hit them here on Dac, certainly not without causing a much larger splash, no pun intended."

Kit and Ranma still smiled and laughed at her respectively, and Shaak Ti rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. One group of pirates might be able to pull off a raid to kill them, another group of criminals with Black Sun ties could possibly kidnap them, but get them off planet without leaving clues behind? No."

At Ranma's quizzical expression Shaak expanded slightly. "The Black Sun is the most powerful intergalactic crime syndicate at present. They have ties to a lot of smaller bands of criminals spread throughout the Republic, but as far as the Order knows they don't have enough penetration out here in the 'Rim' to get away with such activities. And they seem to have had a bit of a civil war recently as well."

Ranma nodded and Shaak turned her attention to Kit. "How certain are you of your belief that the opposition and the government aren't involved this?"

"Fairly certain. I'm almost positive that whoever does have involvement has some spies in both parties, but the organizers, the planners they certainly aren't involved at the high levels of the rate. I will be much more certain after I've talked to the mid-level functionaries. But the Force is telling me there's a third group involved in this that wanted open conflict between the two political parties, and it's only the Mon Calamari dislike of conflict that has kept that from occurring yet."

"Would you be willing to play bait?" Shaak Ti asked suddenly.

Kit's eyes widened at the sudden shift of the conversation but he nodded thoughtfully. "You intend to let me be a traplight, bait? While you wait nearby to try and tail anyone watching the action I presume?"

"Something similar, only a bit more high-tech." Shaak Ti smiled, and it was a very predatory smile showing all of her pointed teeth for a moment. Next to her Ranma smirked, the sight sending his pulse to racing. "I think we need to lure the azul out of the grass, and then trace it back into its lair."

OOOOOOO

Kit spent half of the next day, from a very early start to midafternoon in fact, interviewing people in both the government and the formerly United Anti-Republican party. He told all and sundry how his investigation was going as well, that in his opinion no one on either side of the debate was involved in the disappearance.

Many of the locals were reluctant to take his word, but the word of the Jedi was always trusted in matters like this, it was why they were so well thought of as investigators and lawgivers. In fact, Halcyon had told them that in his time the Jedi did far more investigative work with locals to solve crime then diplomatic missions.

By midday practically everyone who was anyone in the government local government knew that Kit was going to start looking for someone else who could be behind the Dergal family's disappearance, rather than the opposition as had been supposed. And as Shaak Ti had predicted, this elicited a sharp response.

Kit asked the local police commissioner to set up a news conference for that evening, but before that told the man, on an open comlink, that he wanted to investigate the Dergal household first. Sure enough, as he was about to enter the house his Jedi senses, which he was stretching to the max despite seemingly being at ease, warned him of danger.

He quickly turned, bringing up his lightsaber to deflect several blaster bolts aimed at his back from four different directions. Two of them came from street level, a pair of very seedy looking Mon Calamari, while up above a Quarren tried to range on him with a blaster rifle quipped with a sniper scope. The two charging towards him fell, their blaster bolts blasts returned to them knocking the legs out from under them, whilst Kit had deflected the bolts from the sniper to destroy their guns. The sniper cursed, and he turned to flee but with the help of a Force jump Kit was quickly onto the rooftops and chasing after him.

Behind them a watcher had remained in place, cursing quietly at yet another ambush gone awry. Damn Jedi and their senses, hopefully the second ambush will go better. And I have to wonder about those other two we tried to have ambushed last night, they didn't show any Jedi skills, but still…

Still thinking about what to report to his superiors the man moved through the city, never noticing that he had gained a shadow. After a few minutes aimless walking he moved towards an entrance to the ocean. Just as he was about to enter, Shaak Ti, who had been trailing him using her Force stealth, placed a small waterproof tracker on his belt buckle.

By this time around Ranma, again in female form, had moved in to help Kit with the second group of ambushers which the sniper had led him into. This ambush was far better thought out, but between them the ambushers were overcome with ease.

Moments later Shaak Ti joined them, handing the tracker over to Kit. "Your turn." She said simply. "The rabbit is well on its way back to its hideaway. I'll stay behind and get in touch with the locals."

She held out her hand expectantly to Ranma, who nodded, swiftly pulling her lightsaber from her ki space. Shaak Ti smiled as she took it, bowing her head slightly to him, while he simply waved her off. "You won't have it any trouble with the locals? After all they don't know you're here right?"

"I shouldn't have trouble, our reasoning for our piece of duplicity was sound. Regardless, I'll handle that aspect, you two need to get going." Shaak Ti ordered.

Ranma grinned, smacked her on the shoulder in passing as she raced after Kit, who had already moved off heading straight towards the same entrance to the ocean the tagged watcher had taken. He smirked back over his shoulder toward Ranma about to say something along the lines of trying to keep up, when he realized Ranma was already beside him. If she moves as fast through the water as she runs over the rooftops, this could be an interesting little race, he thought, getting excited at the idea. If there was one thing that Kit had an ego about, it was his skill in the water.

Being in the water was as phenomenal experience today as it was the day before to Ranma, even as she gulped in air and then put on one of the diving masks that the locals sold for alien visitors. He nodded to Kit who nodded back then without another word slipped down into the water, diving straight down, occasionally looking at the tracker which glowed green in the ocean. Like the bug the tracker itself waterproof borrowed from the local police without the police actually knowing about it.

The two of them kept swimming downwards through the city, traversing what Ranma felt was the equivalent of forty stories or so very quickly, before they began to move away from the more heavily populated areas. They continued down, their descent slowly becoming a diagonal. They were still going down, but now they were moving away from the center of the floating metropolis.

A few moments after that, Kit radioed through his waterproof wireless radio to Ranma, who picked it up in his diving helmet. Remarkable, she's able to keep up with me! "We're moving away from the city now. We're moving deeper into the water too, how are you holding up?"

In all honesty this was far, far deeper than Ranma had ever dived before, either before or after he/she had been to Jusenkyou. The pressure on her body was getting to be noticeable now, but Ranma was a hell of a lot tougher than a normal human, so she simply replied in the affirmative. "I can't say I like how little light there is down here, without the light of your tracker I don't think I'd be able to see in front of me, but I can deal with the pressure."

"Shaak Ti mentioned you can use something like our Force sight, use that to track me." Kit ordered. "The light of the tracker might give us a way if they have anyone on lookout, so I'm going to cover it from now on. In fact, they might be able to pick up or radio signals too, so from here on out we're swimming silent."

With that he placed a bag over the tracker, holding it up to his eyes for just a moment to take his bearings and then putting it away.

Ranma sighed but obeyed his eyes lighting up for a moment before dimming and the two of them continued down at a diagonal deeper into the water. Yet still Ranma kept up with the Nautolan Jedi, astonishing him further.

Indeed it wasn't Ranma's body that began to have performance issues, but his diving equipment. After another half hour he began to hear creaking from his mask. The depth pressure had begun to overcome the mask, which wasn't rated for this depth. Even so, Ranma soldiered on grimly.

A few moments later, Kit stopped, putting a hand back to stop Ranma in the dark of the water. He immediately winced as Ranma grabbed his hand where it had been touching her breast and moved it down to her stomach, then let it go with a semi-friendly pat on the back of the hand. Kit patted Ranma's stomach twice in apology, then three more times in rapid succession before holding three fingers out against Ranma's stomach to indicate that he felt three people out there. Not knowing how accurate Ranma's ki sight was in sensing movement Kit had opted to use another form of communication.

Ranma nodded then squeezed Kit's hand once in acknowledgment. Looking around she could see two of the watchers, moving through the water far faster than any normal swimmer could. They must be using some kind of transport, a small submarine, a skimmer or something?

Regardless, Kit moved down even further, using his own Force abilities to guide the two of them past the watchers. Like the Quarren his race had evolved in the depths of the ocean, and Kit was a past master at moving silently through the water. He was also good at turning people's attention away from him. Reaching out for the Force, he turned the minds of the watchers away, causing them to think a school of fish in the distance was an approaching Mon Calamari patrolman.

As Kit did so and while Ranma was becoming more worried about her mask, Kit realized something which made his mood plummet. Oh dear, they are all Quarren. And… I can sense the minds of a large group of them in the distance… what have we stumbled into here?

Ranma of course couldn't sense the watchers minds of those in the distance. What she could sense and see, was her mask giving out. As the two kept swimming a long crack appeared in the mask, directly over one eye. Even without any light down here Ranma could see it, and feel it too. If we don't find this place soon I'll have to turn back. And if that happens I'm going to be pissed off! And, though Ranma didn't want to admit it, she was getting worried that if her mask broke she wouldn't' be able to get back to the surface before his air ran out.

Luckily for Ranma, about five minutes later Kit began to see what looked like a large five or six stories tall structure in the distance. It was built into what looked like the side of the crevasse, leading down even deeper into the depths of the ocean. They reached the side of the construct quickly, and the two of them been began to move around it, looking for a way inside. Ranma found it and made her hand glow for a second to get Kit's attention. Kit quickly came towards her, and Ranma gestured to the hatch that she was holding onto at present.

Kit nodded, and began to look around for any controls that could let them inside, finding none. It must only be opened from the inside. We could wait for one of the patrolman to come in, but does Ranma have enough air to last? While Quarren could breathe air they had gills and could swim indefinitely as could Mon Calamari, though they found it somewhat uncomfortable which Quarren did not.

A second after that, Ranma took the choice away from him. He reached forward, digging his fingers into the metal of the hatchway, a sight that caused Kit to gasp inaudibly in the water for a moment. Then his eyes widened as far as they could when Ranma ripped the doors open to either side overcoming whatever lock was on them through brute force.

The two of them entered quickly, finding an interior door that was still locked in front of them. The water rushed in all around them and Ranma turned pulling the door closed while Kit activated his lightsaber, slamming it into the interior door and cutting his way in. The sight of the blade activating in the water caused Ranma's eyes to widen slightly, but then the redhead was too busy to care. The water pressure threatened to push Ranma away before she could close the doors, but she was finally able to do so, holding them closed despite the damage her initial opening of them had done, gritting his teeth as he stared at the giant crack in his mask, visible now thanks to a dim red light set into the side of the airlock.

Meanwhile Kit turned thrusting his lightsaber into the interior doorway, cutting a portion of it away. The water around them splashed out into the interior of the hideaway, and he turned. Lifting the lightsaber over Ranma's head Kit slowly melted the doorway closed permanently as Ranma began to sink to her knees, keeping the door closed until the job was done.

For a moment Ranma simply stayed on her knees in the still dissipating water before pulling off her mask and gasping in air. It smelled like mold and old sweat but at the moment it was the greatest thing she had ever smelled. "Sorry Kit," she said gasping a little. She held up her mask, showing Kit the damage it had taken. "I can hold my breath a lot longer than most, but even I need to breathe. I, I don't think I'd even be able to get back to the surface from here."

"It's fine Ranma, we'd have had to get in anyway. I couldn't find any exterior method of opening the door. But they know we're here now."

"Can you do you're force thing to find the missing family?" Ranma asked as she pushed to her feet, moving towards the door way and staring out of the cut Kit had made. The hatch led into a call small corridor, the end of which both turned away from the entrance in a circular pattern to either side. One side sloped upwards, the other one gently downward.

Kit chuckled at his erstwhile companion's way of talking about the Force but nodded, reaching out with the Force to find any group of three Mon Calamari minds. He frowned as he felt other minds: minds organized much like his own. What in the universe? After a moment however he came out of his trance and pointed towards one corridor just as security guards rounded around both ends of the hallway. "That way, through our new friends."

Ranma and Kit bolted out of the entrance way, as one moving in different directions. This action surprised the security teams which had responded to the ongoing blares of the alarm, though several of them were able to get their weapons up and fire at the two attackers. Ranma bounced off the walls randomly, closing with a speed that took those trying to fire at him by surprise. Her random bounces threw off the shots of even those defenders who were fast enough to aim at her, and soon she was in among the group to the left of the airlock.

Kit activated his lightsaber, blocking a few bolts that came his way, bouncing them back to hit the defenders, hitting them in the legs or shoulders. Once the last was done, he closed in and sent them all to sleep with blows to the back of the head from his powered down lightsaber. Two of them still tried to fight, only to lose arms before he knocked them out.

Over the weeks of discussion with Shaak and Ranma Kit had realized that the lightsaber made it all too easy to take lives, and had adjusted his Shi Cho form to injure rather than kill. The Quarren he dispatched might not thank him later given their lost limbs, but it made him feel somewhat better as he remembered a conversation that he'd had with Shaak and Master Halcyon.

"Every life you take weighs on you, large or small," Master Halcyon had said. "Never be so blasé about it that you do not remember that fact every time you swing your sword. The lightsaber in the hand of a Jedi is a tool to defend life and justice, not to take it save when doing so will protect others." Coming from a renowned lightsaber master whose teachings were still a part of the basis of Jedi training, that had stuck with Kit.

"Which way?" Ranma said, staring around the edge of his end of the corridor, almost absently delivering a kick to one of the defenders who looked as if he was still conscious from the tap she'd given to him earlier.

"Down." Kit replied. "But not yet. From what I'm sensing this will only take us down a single level, we need to go much deeper before we're on the same level as the Dergals, who thankfully seem to all be together. Head forward from your position, there has to be a way further down, and if we can keep our movements from becoming too predictable they might not be able to pin us down."

"Good luck with that one." Ranma laughed.

They quickly ran into two more security teams, both wielding blasters. One lucky shot impacted Ranma in the arm, and their astonished faces as Ranma didn't even seem to feel it was a sight to see. Thankfully they didn't seem to be having then in the way of the security guns, but their numbers were surprising, each group larger than the last. The fourth such team composed twenty defenders, their blasters nearly filling the corridor with bolts from one end to another. Yet despite that, Ranma and Kit were able to weather their assault and close.

They soon came to another spiral ramp, this one leading directly downwards and Kit nodded pointing down. Ranma nodded back, taking the lead position. "You have any idea who we're fighting?"

"They're mostly Quarren, which is giving me a bad idea about what this could all be about," Kit said, shaking his head at the martial artist's durability. There has to be some Force related ability there, perhaps cellular reinforcement on a macro scale? A skin sample or a blood sample could tell us something I think…

He paused for a moment right at top of the spiral, staring at a body Ranma had knocked unconscious, a Nautolan like himself dressed in black with a shoulder and knee guard marked out with a white and blue image of a beast from his homeworld. "As well as some of my own species. Going by their dress I think they are a troop from the Tole Dreitha. They're a group of very dangerous mercenaries who specialize in underwater activities of all sorts, up to and including terrorist bombing." He looked up and Ranma his eyes grim and his almost habitual smile gone. "I think for them we should probably waive your normal rules of engagement Ranma. They are the worst sort of mercenaries, the kind that only care what their pay is, regardless of the job."

Ranma shrugged while and the two of them continued to race downwards. "That's your choice, remember we want a lot of live prisoners to ask what the hell is going on here though."

"True," Kit replied with a nod, centering himself in the Force once again. His irritation at seeing members of his own species involved in something like this had shaken him. But I am a Jedi, I am above such things. I must control my shock, my guilt and shame. I must pursue justice, not attempt to wipe the dishonor of the Tole Dreitha from the universe because it would make me personally feel less shame for being of the same species.

The two of them pushed forward, overcoming the defenders in groups along the route everywhere the defenders attempted to halt their progress. Twice they were ambushed from separate floors which intersected the spiral, but at those points Ranma's durability and Kit's lightsaber skills saw them through. Ranma estimated they had gone downwards at least four or perhaps even six stories worth by the time that the corridor leveled out once again, and had dealt with something like a seventy defenders.

At the end of the spiral they ran into their first real test. Two gun turrets pushed out from the walls. Covered by small personal shields they began to blast away at the bottom of the ramp, forcing the two attackers back. Kit grimaced as his lightsaber flashed, deflecting the bolts with difficulty. These were quad lasers not infantry grade blasters and the impact of them on his lightsaber was far heavier than handheld weapons. He could compensate of course, but he couldn't block and charge forward along the narrow corridor at the same time.

The two of them ducked back into the spiral, using the doorway from the spiral into the corridor for cover looking at one another as the heavy bolts continued to flare between them. Ranma chuckled, gesturing out before pulling her hand back, watching a bolt pass through the air it had just occupied. "Think you can do one of those Force pulls of yours?"

Kit had proved a time or two to be surprisingly adept at telekinetic attacks like that, not very powerful in them, but subtle in their usage. However he shook his head. "They're too far away, I'd have to cross at least half the distance to be able to reach them."

"How strong are those shields?" Ranma asked.

"Good question," Kit replied, stretching out his senses for a moment to make certain that they weren't being encircled from above. They were, but none of the Quarren or his own people were that close just yet, they were all bunched up at the last intersection. Still, it was only a matter of time before they built up enough courage and numbers to come after them, and then he and Ranma would be pinned here. "In fact, I'm at a loss as to how they have small shields like that in the first place. Personal shields like that are immensely expensive!"

"Joy, so that leaves it to me." Ranma smirked.

"Ranma…" Kit asked, his tentacles twisting in the equivalent of a raised eyebrow as Ranma pulled out what looked like a heavy skimmers main gun and set it aside against the wall. "…That was in your ki space I take it? Where in the world did you get that?"

"On a little shopping trip back on Coruscant," Ranma said smirking evilly. "Do you think it could get through that shield?" Kit nodded with a smile of his own and without further ado leaped out of into the corridor, his lightsaber flashing as it once again deflected quad bolts into the walls and back at the shielded guns. The shields shimmered, but held.

Ranma laughed, shaking her head. "Man after my own heart!" She pulled the large rifle up, and sighted past Kit's head towards the targets. "On three, one…"

As Ranma counted down, Kit gave himself to the Force even deeper than he already had, waiting for the timing to be perfect. On 'three', Ranma pulled the trigger, watching aghast as Kit didn't duck immediately. Then he did, letting the heavy bolts from the massive weapon pass just over his head to hammer at the two heavy blasters in their niches. Even as Kit once again began to block the bolts coming toward them, the gun's shields glowed red then failed one after another. Ranma's attack continued, slagging first one gun then the other.

Kit now charged forwards, with Ranma right behind him putting his blaster away as the guns fell silent. "Push! Push on!"

A moment later they reached a circular area that led off to various corridors, two of which traveled back up, another down, and one straight ahead seemingly on the same level. More importantly guards boiled out of each, mixed Quarren and Nautolan, to join a group already putting defensive blocks into position there. "Fire, Fire damn it, kill them both!" Shouted one Quarren, even as he opened fire himself.

"For freedom! The depths will take you!" shouted the Quarren and the mercenaries, who didn't need to be told. Fire crisscrossed the room at the Jedi interloper and his strange companion trying to cut them down. Kit fell back desperately blocking bolts, wincing as one of them nearly caught him in the shoulder despite the best he could do.

Ranma jumped forward, avoiding many of the energy bolts aimed her way, bouncing off the ceiling to land in the center of the room. Not even thinking of getting her overpowered gun again she clenched her fists gathering his ki in them before thrusting her fists forward shouting "Moko Takabashi double!"

Cerulean spheres of Force shot out, slamming into the first people out of the nearest corridors, throwing them back in heaps. Ranma leaped forwards, jumping into the first groups that had tried to put together a defensive position in the actual intersection.

For a moment the fire slackened off as the defenders stared in shock at Ranma. Behind her Kit charged forward now. "In the name of the Jedi Order, the government of Dac, and the Republic you are all under arrest!"

"Not the best warcry my friend!" Ranma laughed, slamming one Quarren down to the ground with a kick before using the impetus of that impact to push backwards slightly, grabbing the head tentacles of two more in passing before slamming their heads together as her feet landed on a Nautolan's back, crushing him into the ground. She winced as several blaster bolts found him, but these were normal hand blasters and rifles, nothing heavy so they couldn't get through her durability. Even better Ranma was moving so fast the defenders actually killed one another as she dodged around

"We Jedi are not specifically warriors, so I apologize for my lack of a warcry! On the other hand I prefer to let my actions do the talking!" Kit said, with a laugh as he actually began to enjoy this. There was just something about Ranma's attitude to combat that was infectious.

Shi Chowas a lightsaber style dominated by heavy sweeps, slashes and blocks, large movements of the lightsaber designed to take out multiple enemies at once or deflect blaster bolts in any direction the user wished. In an enclosed space it became a decent defensive style against blasters, but in a medium-sized space like this it was a deadly offensive style.

Kit put it to good use, killing or taking out of the fight two or even at three terrorists with every sweep of his lightsaber that didn't block a blaster bolt from hitting him. We really have to look into that durability of Ranma's! He thought to himself, turning slightly to watch the way they had come in from as more defenders joined the battle.

"Kill them, kill them aghh!" shouted another Quarren as his head was smashed to the floor by another kick from Ranma.

"Stand still you fucking female, and take your punishment!" said another Quarren.

"That sounded dirty, was it supposed to you fugly bastard?" Ranma quipped, before landing right in front of that Quarren, a small feminine fist lashing out. It caught the mouthy Quarren in the stomach, throwing him back so hard his body crashed into the metal of the tunnel and left a dent, despite there being solid rock on the other side. "Sorry, not interested!"

The locals simply were no match for Ranma and Kit. The last of them fell quickly but to their credit none of them retreated. Even those that came in from behind the two interlopers fought and fell where they fought.

Ranma moved around the room, quickly making sure that none of the defenders were going to be moving anytime soon, knocking out the crippled that Kit had dealt with, and making sure of her own at times. As she did this, Kit reached out with the Force, getting his bearings once again only to break off with a faint smile. "Straight ahead for us, but Knight Ti has arrived with the locals as well. We won't be alone down here for much longer."

Ranma smiled at that news, but moved her head toward the corridor Kit had indicated. "In that case, we should get a move on quick. How much you want to bet these guys would rather kill the hostages and dump their bodies somehow before we get to them just to get rid of the evidence?"

"I would rather not bet anything when it comes to the lives we're here to protect." Kit said promptly pointing down a corridor and then leading off, the Force assisting his speed as Ranma quickly joined him.

OOOOOOO

As Shaak had predicted she didn't have much trouble convincing the locals of her bona-fides. Indeed, it only took showing her ID and her lightsaber to gain the local police commissioner's trust. After that she explained what they had done, and showed him the tracker that Kit was carrying as part of his own tracking device.

Organizing a force to go after them took a bit longer, but not much. While the Mon Calamari were not a truly martial race as most thought of the term they were an organized one, and the Dac equivalent of their National Guard was nothing to sneeze at even if it didn't have much in the way of heavy weapons platforms.

Shaak led a large task group comprised of the local constabulary and the National Guard deep into the ocean towards where she felt Ranma and Kit's presence, hoping that the two of them were well on their way to finding the Dergal family. Closing in on the odd construct Kit and Ranma had invaded they began to run into interference.

The first was a large group of small skimmers carrying Quarren armed with heavy slug throwers. These were designed like jet bikes almost, fast and mobile in the water but without any armor to speak of and little offensive punch. The heavier police subs and transport vessels were in the process of forcing their way through when Quarren and surprisingly Nautolans armed with smaller but similar weapons designed to work underwater boiled out of the installation.

A battle began there in the waters, with Shaak using her piloting skills to good effect at the helm of a small submarine, while Tune, picked up at the police station where Kit had left him, manned the guns.

Even as she piloted her submarine against the defenders however, she kept her mind on the main prize. "Subs one through six, you're on guard detail for the troop transports. Troop transports, I am highlighting what looks like an entrance to that complex, can your scanners pick up any others?"

"Negative master Jedi," said commander Eresham, the Mon Calamari in charge of the force from the national guard, currently riding on one of the troop transports. "It looks to be the only entrance. We're getting a 360 view of it now, and there doesn't seem to be anything else there. They don't have any exterior weapons on its hull either, praise coral."

One of the transport pilots cut in then. "It looks like a Shir'aan class colony ship, only with the hyperspace generators and real space engines removed. But it couldn't've been here for long, this is off the beaten trail around Mon Cal true, but it's not that far off. Surely someone would have reported it if it had been here more than half a year or so."

A local base then, designed just for this one act, Shaak thought then said it aloud.

"Most likely my lady," said one of the other sub pilots. Several of them had broken off to take the attackers under fire, corralling and pushing them away from the installation as best they could, up and away in the water. More than a dozen small skimmers had already been destroyed, their greater mobility at a major disadvantage at a defensive action like this. The swimmers were faring better, but they were also being forced out of position.

They tried desperately to close with the troop transports, the large transports obvious among the smaller, far sleeker police subs. But the six subs Shaak had ordered to defend the transports cut them down mercilessly.

With the cost generally clear, the transports moved forward, docking one after another with the outer hatch, despite the damage Ranma and Kit had done. Within moments over a hundred heavily armed Mon Calamari and Quarren troopers were moving inside. Soon after that Shaak Ti felt that the exterior battle was under control. She maneuvered her small sub to join them, docking with one of the transport ships in turn before heading inside.

Shaak exited the airlock, pulling on a small com bead, connecting her with the police units which had already begun to spread out throughout the underwater base. Nearby stood a middle-aged Mon Calamari, one of the transport commanders who had stayed here to organize the inflow. On one arm was a holographic map of the area, continually being updated as the troops moved through the base. "Your mapping as you go?"

"Yes Master Ti. We took some of the map from the colony ship this place resembles from the outside, but like all Mon Calamari ships it would have been different in the interior in small to large ways. Making assumptions based off that map would have been folly."

The Togrutan Jedi nodded her head, moving out of the way of the inflow of more troops. She concentrated through the Force, feeling for where Kit and Ranma's presence were. She stopped concentrating on that however when she heard a controlled, yet grim voice over the police feed. "Lieutenant Imrek is down. Falling back, but we are under heavy fire. Four, repeat four quad lasers behind heavy shields. Repeat, taking heavy fire from automated defenses."

"Where is that report coming from?" Shaak asked quickly, turning to the captain. The captain quickly tapped in a control, making a small dot appear on the map. Shaak took another moment to stare at the map memorizing the route before nodding sharply. "Send a company after me captain, but make sure they are heavily armed, I'll get your people out of there."

With that she raced off, pushing her speed with the Force as much as she could. She would later be surprised to learn how fast she really was. Not even a minute had gone by since she had heard that communication and the time she arrived at the battle.

Four Mon Calamari and a single Quarren all dressed in the same uniform was pinned down in the open of a long hallway. They were using the bodies of three of their compatriots and four dead defenders for cover, while two other Mon Calamari further back tried to give them cover fire unsuccessfully with rifles.

The Quarren was injured screaming, his leg badly burned in several places. But one of the Mon Calamari was trying to see to him while the other two continued to rain fire downrange at the quad lasers that were keeping them pinned.

Shaak noted it had been incredibly smart of them to use the bodies of their fellows. But such cover was not going to protect them for long.

"Check fire you two!" Igniting her lightsaber, Shaak charged forward past the Mon Calamari at the entrance to the hallway. They gasped in shock at her speed, raising their rifles to point at the ceiling. A second later she leaped over pinned down troopers even as the quad lasers began to fire at her. She batted their bolts aside, smacking them into the walls or back the way they came, then took a moment to glance down at the pinned Mon Calamari. "Retreat as best you can." she said crisply.

Two of them did so, leaving one behind, who grimly began to pull at his lieutenant's body, not to remove the body but to get at his belt. He found two thermal grenades, holding them up to Shaak who had turned back to her deflection of the quad lasers bolts. "These might take those shields down, Master Ti."

"They might indeed." Shaak said, nodding. "How good are you at throwing them?"

"I won't win any prizes but I'm accurate at least," the man said, quickly standing up behind Shaak who continued to shield them both with her lightsaber. "I'll aim for the closet on the right first."

Shaak nodded, and then continued to block the bolts coming towards them. Her lightsaber dipped slightly and the man threw the grenade over one of her shoulders hurling it towards his target. It impacted and the shield died, followed quickly by the laser behind it, immolated by its own bolts returned by Shaak's lightsaber.

"All troopers, hold fire then concentrate when the target's shield goes down!" The man behind her barked, answered by four affirmatives shouted over the din of the ongoing spans and boom of the lasers and Shaak's lightsaber. "Ready, for number two, Master Ti?"

"When you're reading Lieutenant." Shaak replied, having a slightly easier time of it now that they were down to three quad lasers.

"Not the LT ma'am but here we go." Two more grenades followed the first one after another. The troopers behind Shaak fired all around her, at each exposed target in turn, destroying two more of the emplacements.

"What exactly is beyond here do you think?" Shaak asked, as she continued to block the sole remaining quad laser's attacks..

The man behind her head shook his head. "The Lieutenant said something about them pushing on down here from every direction, so we think it might be an armory or a command center."

"Then we shouldn't waste time." Shaak said with a nod and then she began to stride forward into the bolts coming down the hallway towards them. Shaak was able to project her Force telekinesis powers much further than Kit could, her lightsaber style emphasized the use of both weapon and Force, though Kit was somewhat more subtle about it than her at times.

But this wasn't a job for subtlety, this was a job for reach and power, especially since the quad laser had just been joined by several dozen Quarren coming round the corner behind the laser. Once she was within her known range Shaak reached forward, the Force bypassing the shield entirely. Finding a hose of some sort, she reached through the Force and ripped it out of the wall. The quad laser died, slumping down as its power failed.

From behind her the Mon Calamari began to push forward, bolts of stun beams passing by her on either side now. She continued to stand there as they moved forward defending them from return fire, until two of them came forward with large riot shields, which could block blaster fire, moving them around her with difficulty into position.

Once they were in place Shaak moved back, nodding at the Mon Calamari who had thrown the grenade. He seemed to have taken charge here, even as another squad had joined them. "Well done."

"Wouldn't've been enough without you Master Jedi." He said, his galactic standard somewhat accented, but not overmuch.

"What is your name Lieutenant?"

"Not a Lieutenant Master Ti, part of the militia. I'm Ensign Gial Ackbar."

Shaak nodded, and made a mental note to recommend him for his courage under fire. After all, most of the militia wouldn't have been combat veteran before this, and he had handled himself with courage and intelligence. "Will you be all right here Lieutenant?"

"Not a Lieutenant Master Ti." The man repeated.

"You are now," Shaak said smiling. "Or at least are acting that way. I say again, will you be all right here?"

"We should be. With the shields up here now, and our heavy weapons coming in we'll be able to break through to the armory before too many of them can get armed." The fact that was one of three armories in the place was a problem, but in the end, the defenders simply didn't have the numbers to see off the attack.

Shaak nodded, deactivated her lightsaber and out to them. "Good luck Lieutenant Ackbar, I must be off." With that Shaak turned and raced off, feeling once again for Kit and Ranma's positions.

OOOOOOO

At the same time the troop transports began to arrive, Ranma and Kit had run into their final hurdle: a few of the kidnappers, all Quarren, had decided to take the Dergals hostage. The area they were in was smaller than the intersection where Ranma and Kit had run into the defenders last, leading into what looked like a converted penitentiary, both of the parents were down on their knees with guns pressed against their back of their heads, while the young baby was being held in the arms of another Quarren, a gun pressed into one of his large protruding eyes.

"Stop right there!" a Quarren stepped forward wielding a heavy blaster rifle pointing it at the two invaders. "Stop right there and drop your weapons, or all three of them are dead! I, I mean it, I'll off the fucking tadpole first!"

Kit held up his hands, deactivating his lightsaber but not letting it fall just yet. "Easy, it's all of over. You know it, I know it. If you all stand down now, you and your fellows here will be given leniency under the law. There's no reason to make it worse on yourselves now."

"Personal satisfaction will do nicely Jedi!" The Quarren gargled, sounding somewhat manic to Kit's admittedly uneducated ears, though as he went on he calmed down, seeing another team of guards coming in behind the Jedi. "Three less Mon Calamari in the world! That's always a good thing in my book Jedi! Peace!" He spat that word. "You Jedi are alike, always siding with the oppressors! Always siding with your damn Republic! We Quarren have been slaves in all but name, and where were you, oh bringers of justice?!"

"There are Quarren representing their people at all stages of the Dac System government, you are citizens of the Mon Calamari government, not slaves." Kit said firmly, refusing to be baited into a debate with this man. To his side Ranma simply stood, her arms stretched empty above her head. "I have seen real slavery, you have not been enslaved."

"Silence Jedi! Lies spew from your mouth like hot air from a vapor! Toss your lightsaber down. No tricks, Jedi. You can't trick all of us. Toss it over your shoulder back the way you came."

With a sigh Kit did so. "Very well, now what?"

Almost immediately two of the Quarren aiming guns at the kidnapped family turned their guns on Ranma first, gunning her down. She fell backward, but then as they were about to turn their guns on Kit Ranma rolled suddenly. Her hands flashed forward holding several small bits of shattered wall and flooring. The bits struck with bone breaking strength shattering the hands of the gunners, as well as catching the leader, or at least the one who had been speaking which probably meant the same thing, in the forehead. The impact of that particular rock threw it's victim backwards, his skull shattered.

That was all the opening the two ex-Rangers and Kit needed. Kit's lightsaber zoomed through the air from where it had landed into his hand, and he turned towards the doorway, blocking several blaster bolts from the groups of guards that had come up behind them. Many of them went down from the deflected bolts, and he gained the doorway easily, holding it against the rest.

The two ex-Rangers pushed themselves to their feet, taking their injured guards down in a heap, rolling around on top of them and using their tied together fists to pummel both Quarren into submission. At the same time Ranma leapt forward, grabbing the baby where it would've fallen from the air out of its kidnapper's hands making a point to stamp on the leaders chest hard before knocking him unconscious. She then moved over to the Rangers placing the blubbering babe next to his mother for a moment. "Just a sec, I'll have you loose in a minute."

So saying Ranma gripped the handcuffs holding them, which looks to be more like thick metal wire rather than metal cuffs connected by chain. Nonetheless, Ranma easily ripped them without even a grunt of effort.

Ressa immediately grabbed up her baby, shushing him quietly as the father raced over to one of blasters, then took up a position by the doorway firing out past Kit. "Thank you for your aid Jedi Knights." he said, sparing a moment to glance at Ranma. The short human female was impossibly strong, and he wondered if she was from some high gravity world or something.

"One Jedi, just between us I'm something else." Ranma said laugh as she grabbed up two blasters. "Are there any other guards down this way?"

"No," the mother said quickly, moving into a corner away from the fire with her son in her arms. She would've normally run out to help her husband, but taking care of their child came first. "This passage only leads to our jail cell."

Ranma nodded, and moved to support Kit. "Mission accomplished?"

"Our part of it for certain." Kit said with a nod. "Extraction could be at bit of an…" he paused as he felt a faint tingle in the Force, a familiar Jedi mind coming closer. "Never mind. The cavalry has already arrived, and in force too."

"Cavalry? Do you even know what a horse looks like Fishy?" Ranma quipped, causing Kit to laugh while the Rangers shook their heads in disapproval.

Kit was true to his word however. Not twenty minutes later, the battle was over, with the last mercenaries giving up and the last Quarren stunned or otherwise in custody. As the local police began to round up the prisoners, of which there were practically hundreds, Shaak and a small band of them met up with Kit and the others.

Ranma and Kit both exchanged brief but extremely heartfelt clasps with the other Jedi. "An excellent job all around," Kit said smiling as he released Shaak's arm to go over and look at the child with one of the medical doctors, speaking quietly to the parents.

Shaak and Ranma remained holding hands for a second before letting go as Ranma smirked. "Sorry we didn't leave anything for you to do."

Shaak laughed. "Oh I had my own fun Ranma, believe me."

OOOOOOO

"All the Quarren you captured were apparently part of aradicalsplinter group. They believe that Quarren need to fight for their independence and overthrow their oppressors. Who obviously are my race." said Ychrag. He exchanged a glance with another senator who had come in from one of the Quarren dominated cities.

The Quarren responded by lifting up many of the tentacles around his mouth, in the Quarren equivalent of a sneer. "Many of my people could wish for an equal voice in the running of Dac, but considering the size of our populations we can't honestly say we aren't equally represented. I will admit that the general feeling about my race in the galaxy as a whole is rather bad, but it isn't exactly unjustified. Not just because of groups like this but my species inclination for certain… vices that the Mon Calamari do not have."

He glanced at Shaak and Ranma, then away, trying to hint at what that actually meant. Many Quarren found other alien species, particularly females to be fascinating, something the Mon Calamari generally did not. And the Quarren were also much more likely to be involved in the crime of all sorts than the Mon Calamari.

"But groups like this are simply trying to turn back time. They want to go back to the good old days where we tried to expand at the expense of our neighbors, which ended when the Mon Calamari defeated us. My species is naturally aggressive, and many of us resent the Mon Calamari not, well, rolling over and dying even now thousands of years later." The Quarren's voice was a sort of gargle in Galactic Standard, yet even so his tart tone came through.

Shaak nodded, while Ranma simply listened politely, not really taking it in. She didn't care about the background of the kidnappers and even less about the local politics. So long as slavery was outlawed here she wasn't going to take much notice. No, she was more interested in listening to the conversation going on next door. She smiled slightly as he heard Kit agree to keep the young child's Midi-Chlorian count secret, so long as the family kept in constant contact with the Order and the Rangers. It showed a humane side that Ranma hoped to see expand to the rest of the Order in the future. The whole idea of bringing in youngsters, babies in particular, right away was sheer anathema to Ranma.

She came back to the here and now when the police commissioner addressed Shaak Ti. "You realize that because all of this was politically and socially motivated you're probably going to have to make a statement at some point? Whether you are here as a representative of the Republic or not, that is the way you are seen."

"I know," Shaak's replied with nod, sighing internally. "I wish it wasn't so, but I at least can understand other people's points of view on that subject. I intend to make two statements, the first on the crime itself, which I will do this evening. I will laud all involved for keeping calm, for not allowing emotions to control their actions, and for looking for facts rather than simply believing their first impression."

She looked at both the government officials sternly. "My statement about the ongoing debate to completely join the Republic, which made the Opposition Party such an obvious foil for this crime, I will require a few days to think of."

Kit had already received an invitation to do just that even before they had solved the case. But as a Guardian, Kit was not as well suited for diplomatic missions as Shaak was, who until recently had been a shoe in for the Consular class. She was now technically a guardian herself, despite not having reviewed her bounds yet to enter that sect, but she would do so after this mission was finished. Her belief that becoming a Guardian was the way forward for her had solidified over this mission and the weeks interacting with Ranma. At least as a Guardian I might be able to keep up with him, she thought now, looking over at Ranma.

As the two of them left the police commissioners office Ranma asked, "Will I have to be present for this statement of your?"

"I'd like your support, but I don't think you actually have to listen to it, no." Shaak replied with a smile. "And don't worry, after I make that statement most of our time will be our own, and you can start looking into that ship of yours."

"So we'll be able to move out of the hotel and into a place where we can start training again?"

"Almost certainly," Shaak nodded laughing quietly at Ranma's one track mind. "For now however, I'm feeling rather hungry… again. This is going to take some getting used to. And we need to continue acclimatizing you to different foods."

Ranma grimaced, but linked his arm with hers and joined her in laughing at her joke as they made their way over to Kit and the Dergals.

OOOOOOO

The next day the duo checked out of their hotel even faster than they had checked in. Shaak Ti's face was now plastered all over the local news, her identity as a Jedi ousted to the Nth degree. Indeed her public statement from the night before about the kidnapping was replaying as they check out on the main holocron screen while the two of them were at the front desk.

Despite her dislike of the attention she didn't think she deserved Shaak was not above using her ousted Jedi status to get the two of them an apartment elsewhere on the planet on the government's tab. The complex was on the outer edge of one of the floating cities in the equatorial belt called Aleisto, which was the closest the planet had to a tourist attraction for offworlders. That the owners would gain fame and notoriety through having a Jedi stay there was not lost on Shaak or Kit, but both decided not to make a big deal out of it since the place was so perfect for Shaak and Ranma's long term needs.

The apartment was a single story affair with two bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen, and a main sitting area. More importantly to the Jedi and Ranma however was the fact it had a personal training complex out back, and shared an artificial beach with several other complexes along the edge of the city's area. Ranma was looking forward to getting some sun out there as well as swimming, so long as he didn't have to dive as deep as he and Kit had. And the training area was perfect for most of the training they would be doing.

Once they were all checked in Ranma, Kit and Shaak separated with Shaak and Kit going over to the police station again. The amount of high-tech, expensive gear the Quarren separatists had was disturbing, and something both Jedi wanted to follow up on quickly. Unfortunately neither Jedi Knight had the computer or economic skills to run that aspect down.

While Kit started to question the prisoners on where they had gotten their funding, Shaak concentrated on making certain that there was no backlash against the Quarren, which could result in more internal issues for the Mon Calamari. It was a good lead up to the public statement she'd have to give to the Representative assembly.

For her part Ranma took a shuttle up to the Mon Calamari dockyards with Tune where they began to start the process of finding the right construction company to work on Ranma ship. Thank to Tune having started the process before the Jedi had finished their mission this went quickly with Ranma only needing to choose between Tune's top five choices.

The one Ranma decided on was mid-to-small company going by the name of Storm Weathered Shipyards, or at least that was what it translated into Galactic Standard. According to Tune it really meant something more in the Mon Calamari tongue, about how their ships could see their owner through any storm. But that really wasn't important to Ranma.

What was important was they specialized in two areas. The first was building medium-sized spaceships of all varieties, and even smaller ships too, which included starfighters. They had the legal right to build combat vessels from the Dac System government, a fact which had let Ranma cut out two of Tune's choices. Ranma didn't want his ship to be a sitting duck with no firepower, and the reason he had wanted a Mon Cal ship in the first place was because their ships were not only beautiful but beautifully engineered. Adding weapons later would have been expensive and difficult.

SWS also specialized in optimizing ships to the performance their clients required. Most of those clients were other Mon Calamari of course, but the rest of the sector also bought ships here, and SWS had some very good reviews from several other races in the area. That meant they were able to both modify a ship with his input and also knew the differences in environmental and other areas between their own race and humans.

She had Tune set up a meeting with one of the designers, and to his surprise the astromech droid was able to get them in to see the designer late that very day.

The Mon Calamari was the oldest individual of that race Ranma had heretofore met. He was short of stature and almost gray of skin while the skin around his neck and eyes noticeably wrinkled, and he had a lot of those little hairs the Mon Calamari developed on their chin. But there was a certain indefinable toughness to him, and his webbed, long fingered hand was both strong and calloused when he shook Ranma's in the universal gesture of welcome. "You'd be that young padawan who helped the two Jedi with the kidnapping case correct? Any Jedi's a friend of SWS, especially after you helped the Dergal's out, we're all proud of them around here. I'm Ducat Askai, are you here to order a personal ship for you and your master?"

Ranma paused for a moment, wondering if she should correct that assumption. He shrugged however, realizing not only was it unnecessary it would simply confuse the issue right now. Huh, and come to think of it, I bet that's precisely the assumption Yoda wants people to reach. If they do, not only do I have doors opened for me, but anything good I do reflects back on the Order, and any, call it collateral damage I cause, can be put down to youthful exuberance or something similar. Crafty little frog.

"Something like that. We're still not certain exactly what I am, and the learning goes both ways I suppose. But yes, I'm here to purchase a ship." Ranma said, prevaricating slightly yet not outright lying or correcting Ducat's assumption.

Ducat nodded, gesturing Ranma to sit down at the desk, the center of which was dominated by a hologram projector which immediately came to life showing the name of the company before the man began to type in commands. "What exactly are you looking for? Medium hauler, long-range scout ship, starfighter? We make allthree here of course, starfighters might be new to Our race's defense fleet, but the technology is sound, as are the tactics. And do you know about Mon Calamari shipbuilding practices?"

"I've read about them, but I'd love to hear it from a local perspective." Ranma answered, sitting down and gesturing Tune to one side. Ducat nodded at the droid, noting that it was one of the new R2-D2 types before going into his spiel. "Every Mon Calamari ship is unique, not just in small construction modifications from one dock to another, but in several larger areas. Where the shield generators go, where the living quarters are, how power is maintained. We strive with every ship to learn more about the design process of shipbuilding, every ship in effect a mixture of a test bed and a work of art. We also believe in redundancy, that is why you might have heard about how our ships are so much more durable in comparison to similar sized vessels."

Ranma nodded. "That was the aspect that actually got me interested in your ships in the first place. I don't know if you've heard about it, but I was actually there on Yinchorri with the Jedi, and let me tell you and after we noticed your fleet hadn't lost a single ship in the battle."

Ducat puffed himself up slightly. Mon Calamari were not, despite what Ranma had seen, that well-known outside their own sector. That sector was a bustling, highly industrialized area in terms of the Outer Rim, but Mon Calamari themselves and the species in that sector didn't actually interact with much of the rest of the Galactic Republic. Their ships weren't very well known, and their military, small as it was, was a mere rumor at this point to most.

Indeed, that had been one aspect of why Shrook'an had agreed to step in when Count Dooku had sought their aid. They wanted to make a statement, most particularly to groups such as the Techno Union and the Trade Federation, both of whom were trying to make inroads into their sector.

"Yes well as I said, it has some very practical upsides to it as well as drawbacks. We're more expensive, and we're somewhat slower than what you as a human might be used to dealing with. I think," Ducat went on, surreptitiously looking at his computer, which had been analyzing Ranma's speech pattern "that you're a Corellian correct?"

"Not exactly I've been trying to get that accent out of my speech, guess it still needs work. But yeah I understood that, and trust me, money's no object."

"Normally it would be for Jedi…" Ducat replied, frowning thoughtfully. "Jedi are not supposed to have much in the way of possessions and I know that goes for ships as well. I can't personally understand why, surely having the best ships would be a like a warm current when about your missions." Ducat had personally never dealt with Jedi, but he had talked to several other shipbuilders and others who had, most notably the family of one of the only current Quarren Jedi. "Still, I have to say that a more open purse policy is long overdue."

Ranma decided once again not to correct the ship designer. After all it wasn't really any of his business so long as Ranma had enough money to pay for the ship. "I have upwards of 2,000,000 credits, will that be enough?" he said with a faint smile.

Ducat barked a laugh, then tapped a series of keys. The hologram above his desk changed, its field expanding to allow it to show several ships of various types ranging from small fighters to a medium scale hauler. "With that kind of money, you could buy any of our current designs, and modify them to your specifications. Or even pay us to come up with an entirely new design!"

His eagerness showed through clearly, and Ranma laughed quietly. Mon Calamari were artists and explorers, just as Ducat had said. They took to designing ships like that was part of their art, just like Ranma did with any martial arts technique. It was always fascinating to watch a master at work, and Ranma realized she was going to enjoy this.

The next few hours passed quickly, with the two of them plus Tune working on narrowing Ranma's design needs and wishes down. Ranma wanted a ship he/she could live in that had enough room inside for a crew of around four to live in comfortably, or for two to live in comfortably with enough room to exercise. Defense was a necessity of course as well as overall power, but outside of food for the crew holding space wasn't a necessity.

It was when they began to talk about weapons that Ranma became grateful for having not corrected the man about this not being for a Jedi specifically. It turned out that while the Mon Calamari were not part of the Senate, they followed many of the same rules in terms of armed ships in their sector of space. You could have as many defensive installations, shields and armor, as you wanted but weapons were another matter entirely.

Thanks to not having corrected the man, Ranma got around this, sort of. The designer warned that many systems would still require her to purchase a permit if he was active in their space, but a Jedi's ID would get her a pass in most. "Except in the corporate sector and worlds owned outright by the Technocracy." Ducat said with a shake of his head. "At least that's what I hear."

Ranma nodded, but he had no intention of going into the Corporate Sector anyway. Unless they have martial arts I'm not interested.

Eventually the two of them decided on a unique weapons design. The ship would carry two proton missile launchers forward, hidden underneath panels which could slide back and forth, along with a large grade Ion cannon. It would have two pintle mounted light quad-lasers for visible defense. They wouldn't do much against capital ships, but were deadly against fighters and most pirate ships.

Proton torpedoes had been around for a while, and were fast anti-ship missiles which could pack a punch even on a fighter scale, which these were. That allowed Ranma's ship to carry over fifty of the torpedoes, whereas if they were capital ship sized it would only have been able to carry fifteen.

Ion weapons on the other hand were a relatively new design to the Mon Cal sector Ducat was interested to work with. Ion weapons duplicated electromagnetic pulses, taking down shields or other electronics. Shields could deflect or absorb most energy, but ionic particles instead traveled along the energy of the shield until hitting the shield generator, shorting it out.

Ion weapons were not all powerful of course, how long this process took depended on the size and durability of the shield and the power of the weapon, and they were bulky, three times the size of an equally powered turbolaser, and energy hogs to boot. This one wasn't incredibly powerful, but if a shield wasn't fully powered or if the ship was of equivalent size or smaller, it would do the job with only a few blasts, and power wasn't an issue in any Mon Calamari design, given their policy of redundant systems, including power generators. And no one would ever suspect a ship this size having one in the first place.

The final ship design, as it spun gently in the air between them, looked almost like a Mon Calamari Sha Shore class heavy starfighter, a recent design by one of the man's friends over at Blue Reef Shipyards. The size and the interior was designed around a light freighter of the Dangerous Water type, a ship design that was well known throughout the Mon Cal sector, durable and quick.

Ducat had been in his element the entire time, and found Ranma an excellent client, insightful, thoughtful, a good listener, and, it had to be said, one who didn't seem to care about the cost. He wasn't used to dealing with humans, but if Ranma was normal for the species, he could well understand why the government had begun to start advertising for further shipbuilding projects outside of the sector.

Right now Ranma was using the hologram on the desk to turn it this way and that looking at the ship avidly while Ducat brought up several figures on a hard screen before him. He looked at his dockyards current schedule, the number of available workers, resources, parts, and everything else that could tell him how long it would take to get this project off the ground.

"You're in luck," he said after moment. "We have three projects which have stalled due to the company reneging on the last payment. Under the structures of our contract with them, I can switch the resources of one of those projects over to other work, and that should give us enough material to start building almost immediately. The work crew too, which means we can start work on the structure of the ship tomorrow. Excellent."

Ranma nodded and Ducat went on. "Now for payment, will you be remaining on Dac? If you are, we prefer to negotiate a pay as it goes basis, that way there's no hard feelings on either side if something happens and construction is delayed, or you are unable to meet the payment."

"That's fine," Ranma said with a nod. "In fact, I'd like to be involved in the actual building of the ship. At least when you get to putting on the exterior armor section."

Ducat paused at his typing, looking at him thoughtfully. "May I ask why?"

"Two reasons. One, I have little to no engineering background, and I'd like to know is much as I can about the ship from the keel up. I figure on the job training is going to teach me that, and I've always been good learning with my hands anyway. I know a lot about construction of houses and electronics of that nature and I want to see if that can carry over to ships."

Ducat nodded. He didn't know where Ranma would've learned such techniques, but he understood the interest, and he had known several people both Quarren and Mon Calamari who had made the jump one way or the other from spaceship design to water-ship design or housing. "They aren't exactly the same," he warned, "though you could possibly pick it up quickly so long as you are flexible enough mentally."

Ranma laughed. "No worries there."

"And the second reason?"

Ranma frowned thinking about sharing what might become one of his most powerful secrets. But realizing that she needed the man's up approval for this idea to even work, she decided to come clean, in a way anyway. "There is a Force technique that I've learned which allows me to reinforce items well beyond what they are normally capable of in nature via the Force. I have seen an ancient master use this technique on a piece of wood, and harden it enough to punch through heavy metal. I want to see if I can toughen up the metal itself in a similar manner."

"Interesting…" Ducat mused, his old eyes narrowed in thought. "I have never heard of a similar technique but as you are a Jedi I will not question it, the Jedi and their Force powers are not well understood by us layman after all."

He laughed, while Ranma breathed a sigh of relief at having gotten past that hurdle. After a moment of gargling laughter the ship designer went on. "If you can show me an example of this, I will happily add you to the work crew once we get to the point where we're putting the outer hull together But will your master be agreeable to your taking time out of training? I understand that the Jedi train every day, and building this ship will take months."

"I think Shaak will be happy with that." Ranma said with a smile. "She's got political junk to deal with these days, and after that, I can spend half the day up here working on various projects, and the rest of the day with her."

Ducat nodded, chuckling internally at Ranma's attitude, which while not matching up to any tales he'd heard of Jedi was at least amusing. The two began to talk about numbers and eventually the two of them agreed on a price. The ship would be extremely expensive for a ship of its size, but with five medium class shield generators, four energy generators, and the weapons, the expense of one and a half million Republic credits was pretty believable.

"And you'll be by tomorrow to show me an example of this 'strengthening technique'?" Dukat asked.

"Agreed," Ranma said, signing his name on the form and then standing up holding out her hand.

"In that case," Ducat said smiling in the manner of his race. "I look forward to working with you Ranma."

It was near evening by the time Ranma got back to Aleisto, where she quickly met up with Kit and Shaak for dinner. The three of them ate together, telling one another about their day so far.

Kit told the other two about his part last. His questioning of the prisoners hadn't turned up anything, even with his Forces sense on max he couldn't discern anything incriminating in terms of the tech gear he and Shaak were so concerned about. He turned up a lot of other things, and most of those terrorists would be put away for life because of it, but nothing about the tech, which the Force was telling both Jedi was important.

He shook his head slowly. "I've also sent off a Hypercom message to the Council, and they've decided to reassign me already. I'll still be within the Mon Cal sector for now, there are a few issues here that the Council believe require a Jedi's touch. All of them investigative, with only one of them having a political overtone, thank the Force."

Shaak laughed quietly at his overdone expression of relief at that, shaking her head ruefully. "I on the other hand will be stuck dealing with the politics here for a while. Speaking of, did the Masters mention anything about Master Dooku and his current self-imposed mission?"

"Politics move glacially slowly when there are so many competing factors," Kit said with a shrug. "They didn't hint at anything going on there just yet, though I imagine eventually we'll hear about it one way or another. The impression I got from Master Windu was that Dooku and the other political experts have decided on the wording of their first draft, and have gathered enough backing to start working the entire Senate but not quite enough to do so openly just yet. There are several issues still unresolved, and in particular..."

Ranma tuned out the conversation for a moment, not actually interested in politics at all, even if Dooku was involved. Instead she picked up a fork, and began to channel her Force into it slowly, trying to replicate Cologne's strengthening technique. She paid attention again when Shaak asked "Did you actually talk to Master Dooku, or not?"

"No I didn't talk to either him or her to Master Yoda. I talked to Master Zagarat of the Council of Reassignment, though he did pass on a message from Yoda to you and to Ranma."

Shaak and Ranma looked at one another than back and Kit who smiled slightly. "Unless something else comes up he wants you both to head over to the Kashyyyk after your ship is finished."

Ranma sat up eagerly while Shaak's lekku twitched slightly, betraying her sudden interest. Shaak had never been to Kashykk, but had heard stories about it, and it sounded amazing. For his part Ranma had met a Wookiee and had looked up their home planet as much as he could afterward, simply because it had been interesting. "Did the froggy say why?" Ranma asked.

"No, but he did say that he would be there." Kit replied, ignoring Ranma's derogatory term for the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order with difficulty. "I don't know what's going on, but Yoda and a few of the other Masters are no longer on Coruscant they're out and about elsewhere. And…" Kit frowned, thinking about his impressions from the brief conversation. "I have to say that I think Master Windu looked… almost harried I want to say. I am uncertain why."

"Interesting." Shaak murmured, smiling faintly, not knowing what to make of that and simply concentrating on the message from Yoda. "I've always wanted to go there, the flora and fauna on the Kashyyyk is supposed to be fantastic both in variance and type."

Kit shook his head ruefully. "You and your plants. Give me water worlds any day."

OOOOOOO

Early the next day Kit left the planet, bidding farewell to his two friends before taking the Consular class ship out on the first mission the Order had sent him to the Mantooine system.

Returning to their apartment, the two spent the morning training, then the afternoon meditating where Ranma again failed to figure out a way to interact with the Force without putting his all into it. To Ranma's way of thinking there was no way to just take in energy from the Force, and he couldn't seem to get the hang of sending out just his thoughts, unable to separate them from his Living Force, as Shaak put it.

On the other hand, Shaak made significant progress in enlarging her reserves. That evening, she also finally got Ranma to agree to powering up the holocron again, and to show his female form to Master Halcyon.

"You mean to tell me that you think this is Ranma?" said the hologram staring between the short but very svelte redhead and the Togrutan Jedi. "Have you been touched in the head? She looks more like a descendant of the Sunrider clan than anything else, she's not even the right height for Ranma. This must be a joke."

Shaak stood up behind the shorter redhead, holding one pitcher of slightly steaming water and another pitcher of cold. She looked down at the redhead asking, "Are you ready?"

"Let's just get this over with." Ranma groaned. "It's not like I'm going to spend that much time in my male form on this planet anyway. I know better than to tempt fate like that." Indeed, the only time since they had arrived Ranma had dared be in male form was when he was sleeping or in the shower. He'd tried to go out the other day as a guy, only to get splashed not two minutes later by a passing ship moving along the city's waterways.

Shaak smiled encouragingly and poured the hot water over Ranma's head. Ranma, who had changed out of her swimsuit for the occasion and was back in his normal garb of silk pants and spacer's shirt, shifted, gaining in height as his body went through the change until he was equal to Shaak's own height.

For a moment the hologram of Master Halcyon simply stared, his mouth opened, his eyes wide. It was a show of shock and amazement that no Jedi master should've ever shown, alive or dead. "How?! Why?! What!?" the hologram seemed to flicker for a moment before coming back as strong as ever, but Halcyon's expression of shock was still there.

"You should feel what it feels like in the Force Master," said Shaak laughing. For some reason the sheer joy that the Force felt, that laughing humor in it when Ranma went through his change, was just funny no matter how often she felt it.

With a sigh Ranma explained the origin of his curse, and also where he and Dooku figured he had come from originally.

Halcyon simply listened, the hologram kneading at its nose as if he was a living person dealing with a migraine. "That is an impossible tale. But I have known several impossible tales to prove true, and the strength, and mystery, of the Force is never to be underestimated. Very well, I will try to understand. Does this mean you would wish to train as a woman as well?"

"I suppose," Ranma muttered staring past Halcyon to the window where the water of the ocean could be seen. "Even standing here I think I'm tempting fate." Is it just me, or do those waves lapping against the artificial beach look as if they're coming deeper inland? Some might have called Ranma paranoid, but after all his misadventures, he felt perfectly justified.

"I think you're just being silly, but I won't argue." In reply Ranma poured the cool water over his head, and Halcyon once again stared as the change occurred once more. "And you say the Force feels like it's laughing? Humor, really?"

"Indeed master."

"I've never felt anything like that." Halcyon murmured, a smile on his face. "That would be quite a treat I have to say. I'm almost envious of you Knight Ti." With a shake of his head he got down to business. "Now, what exactly do you wish to be trained in tonight?"

The two of them spent some time working on lightsaber forms, while Ranma developed his own staff/spear skills from that. Then Ranma and Shaak once more debated the Jedi code as it existed today with Halcyon as a mediator. But this debate wasn't about the Jedi's training in, or rather abstaining from, emotions. Thanks to Halcyon's backing Ranma had won that argument, though Shaak was unwilling to admit the Order's Oath was so far removed from what it had once been.

Instead, Shaak decided on a new avenue of attack, the idea that Jedi should not have families or create attachments to people or planets. She had looked up several bits of history from the era directly before the Reformation, during the so called New Sith War. Specifically several events that had led to the creation of the Army of Light, the Fourth Great Schism of 1000 RR (a nomenclature used to count back from the Russaan Reformation.

It was searching for forbidden knowledge, ego, and a desire for power which led to Darth Ruin's fall to the dark side, so much so that even today his Jedi name was known to only a few historians in the Order. And it had been Ruin who had restored the power of the Sith and launched them at the throat of an unsuspecting galaxy, with the aid of fifty defected Knights, all of whom came from long-standing Force Sensitive families.

She also used events throughout the new Sith War era that showed how giving into emotions and having divided loyalties, such as to their planets and families rather than the Order, that resulted in either battles lost or the war going on for far longer than it should otherwise have. It was during this era where the Jedi Order fractured more than any other, the High Council on one side, and the Jedi Lords on the other.

Yet Ranma had also looked up the New Sith war, though he was more interested in the tactics and strategies, as well as the techniques the Sith and Jedi used, than anything else. He'd come away with a respect for the Unifying Force and the effects it could cause. Despite his one track mind however Ranma had absorbed enough other information to fight back against Shaak's points.

"I'll admit that there are some ideas too dangerous to share with everyone, ideas and powers the search or use of which act like a… like a cancer to the soul. Immortality is one, the idea of having power over the lives of others another." Ranma began, causing Shaak's eyes to widen. Ranma's ability in these debates was growing quickly, and by acceding to that, he strengthened his coming argument against the rest of her points.

Ranma went on. "Yet it's easy to pick and choose from a war that lasted a little under a thousand years to try and prove your point. I look at it differently. One, only two Jedi Lords, Jedi masters tied through blood and race to their planets, fell to the Dark Side in the waning days of the war. Two, Jedi Lords, in the main, served their planets well, creating, what was it, beacons of order and civilization while the Republic died around them?"

Shaak winced but was forced to accede to some of that, but fired back. "Yet after the disbanding of the Army of light," she stopped and smiled as Ranma shook his head, muttering something about 'still sounds like something out of an RPG game', before continuing. "How many of those planets welcomed the return of a democratic Republic, and the order being more hands off? All of them did in one form or another."

"Of course, in times of peace it's easy to want to go back to the way you remember it from before the war. That doesn't mean the Jedi Lords were bad rulers, only that they weren't elected and therefore not seen as real representatives." Ranma rebutted. "But that isn't my point, my point is that those Jedi Lords didn't fall to the dark side, despite having families, loved ones, children, friends outside the order."

"You know what most relationships have? Passion!" For some reason when Ranma said that Shaak had to fight back a blush, she didn't know why. "Passion and love for the other individual. Most of those knights and lords had loved ones, they didn't feel jealous because other people could be around them, they didn't become angry when they were away from them. No, they believed in their love, and that love, that connection, made them fight the Sith when the High Council was trying simply to restore order to the Republic."

"I will acknowledge that they fought with a fervor High Council trained Jedi could not match, but they also were not as controlled, or as calm as they should have been and that led them into mistakes." Shaak returned. "It's known Master Hoth led ninety Jedi to their deaths despite being told his mission could only end in failure in the last days of the battle of Russaan and there were many other examples of Jedi Lords falling to their emotions when calm control would have served them better.

"Agreed, but that's just it." Ranma crowed, pointing at her. "Control is the thing, not ignorance! Look at that one bastard Hoth fought, he started life as a lauded member of the High Council right?"

"Yes, he was, but his arrogance and ego led him to the Dark side." Shaak replied.

"If he had more of a connection to the rest of the High Council, maybe he would have been more human, less egotistical and humble."

Shaak's fingers began to play with the end of her lekku in a way that any Togrutan would have seen as a sure sign of embarrassment. I can tell he's winning this round darn it. She stopped playing with her lekku, her eyes narrowed as she suddenly realized she didn't find that idea so worrying any longer.

Even so she tried one last time to rally. "Yet having divided loyalties also caused many Jedi to join the Sith, or simply turn Dark. And there have been eight or nine Jedi since the Reformation that fell to the Dark because they took lovers, there is evidence to indicate that having loved ones leads to the Dark side."

"The Jedi Lords had divided loyalties, most soldiers have divided loyalties. If they couldn't deal with it, they wouldn't have joined forces, they'd just have stayed home and defended their single systems. Again, control and friendship is the thing."

Ranma's voice softened as she went on. "As for the Jedi you mention since your Reformation, would they have fallen to the Dark if they had to hide their associations from the rest of the order? That'd be like, like having an affair or something , a part of you knows it's wrong no matter how good it feels, and it opens ya up to other, darker emotions. And given the recoil effect the Unifying Force can have on emotions, if you start to fall, stopping yourself would be damn hard. I'm not arguing that the Dark Side exists, it obviously does, but I think you have to realize that shutting out the good emotions leave you more, not less open to the Dark Ones, as well as cutting you off from your fellow sentients."

"I…" Shaak Ti paused, gathering her words. "I cannot refute many or your points, yet, yet you cannot deny that the Oath as administered today, the training of the Jedi today, have helped the Order and the Republic. A thousand years of peace, of stability, have been aided by the Reformation and the changes to the Order it put in place."

"Has it been stability, or simply stasis?" Ranma asked, her voice still soft, knowing how difficult that was for Shaak to admit.

Here Halcyon broke in, giving more examples of what that order was like in his day, a fond smile on his face as he talked about his own family, tacitly showing that he felt Ranma had won the debate, before asking a question he had been thinking about since he had been awoken by Grand Master Yoda. "Did you not say that there was a Jedi Master with my name today? That means that at least some of my family either haven't been Jedi but borne them, or we've retained our ancient practice of marrying regardless of the Council on Coruscant."

"I don't know about that, but there was a master Nejaa Halcyon. I haven't met the man personally, but I've heard good things about him. He works in Corellia and is stationed there permanently as the Sector's Jedi. I understand he is a proponent for working with local law enforcement more heavily than most Jedi do, preferring to work directly with government officials. But if there were enough Jedi to go around one to a planet I could see his point, but as it is…" Shaak shrugged.

Ranma's eyes narrowed at that, thinking of another point she could have brought up: that the Order's numbers today were nothing like they were before the Reformation, either because the Order's policy on the transfer from learner to padawan were too strict, or because there just weren't that many Force Sensitives anymore. But Ranma decided, in a rare diplomatic moment, to not bring that idea up.

Kieran Halcyon nodded thoughtfully. "When decide you are finished learning from me I would you ask you to give my holocron to this Nejaa. I realize that I share this holocron with other Masters, but my original plan was to leave this to my descendants, and I have not met this latest bearer of my name."

"I will have to check in with master Yoda about that master Halcyon. You were only loaned to Ranma and myself after all you rightfully belong to the Temple library." Shaak replied, though she was frowning as she did so.

"I see that much has changed indeed." Halcyon murmured. "In my time, the last wishes of the Jedi who had imprinted itself on the holocron was always taken into account."

"I will see what I can do master, I just can't promise anything."

As Shaak replied Ranma frowned wondering about this new Halcyon and whether or not he had ever actually sought out the ancient master's holocron. If he didn't, that could be one reason why they haven't met, though why he wouldn't is the question. But I don't suppose that's any of my concern.

After a few more moments discussion, Ranma and Shaak decided to turn in for the evening. The next day they got up, as normal, but when Ranma changed to his female form she frowned, feeling queasy to her stomach, a semi-familiar and all too hated feeling hitting him. Fuck, really? I knew I'd face this a few times during our stay here, but so quickly?

She groaned, reluctantly changing back into her normal clothing, knowing that wearing a bathing suit during this time was just asking for trouble. Moments later she joined Shaak at the breakfast table. She took one look at the local meal that Shaak had ordered in for them then raced back to her bedroom's fresher. Shaak blinked, then quickly followed. "Ranma, are you feeling all right?"

A few moments later Ranma exited, holding her stomach gingerly. "Ugh I'm fine, it's just the monthly monster has appeared, if you know what I mean."

Shaak frowned for a moment then got it. "Oh, you're fully, that is you are, um, fully functional? I hadn't made that connection. I'm sorry. My own race doesn't have such a thing, we have cycles, but they are happen once every three months rather than once every month."

"Lucky bitch." Ranma growled. With her, periods were a thing of queasiness, some outright pain, and a lot of emotional turmoil.

"Not really, our cycles are much more intense than human cycles. I normally have to spend an entire week meditating day in and out, to get a handle on it. Not so much physical as emotional control for us, save for one day directly in the middle where, it becomes even more painful than for humans normally."

"Still lucky," Ranma growled. "And I don't think I'm going to be keeping any of the local food down. No offense, it just looks too weird and my stomach always becomes sensitive during this time."

"I'll see what I can find for you Ranma," Shaak promised. "But I hadn't made that connection I'm ashamed to say. Your female form is a fully functional one." she shook her head.

Ranma nodded, looking at her thoughtfully before deciding to try this once again. "Yes, and that's why I have certain… nightmares… if you know what I mean."

After thinking a moment Shaak understood what Ranma was hinting at. "I can understand that." Then she smiled faintly looking at Ranma's wary expression. "I have had some of the same dreams and fears, indeed many female Jedi I know have. Would you like to talk about them, sometimes talking about them makes you realize your fears are nothing but smoke in the wind."

Ranma nodded again, and the two of them talked about his 'adventure' with the Ultimate Moxibustion Weakness Point. Up to that point if he had any dreams about being attacked as a girl by a guy it would always end up with his subconscious mind showing Ranma beating the shit out of them. But after that, dreams of what Kuno or Sanzennin or even, to her horror, Happosai could have done to her, were frightening.

The nightmares had become infrequent when Akane, in one of the few real selfless moments in their 'relationship' had helped her find the point and release it. But they had come back after the Imperial favor and Youthful Mind points had been undone. Now Ranma knew the guys after him/her wanted to do more than just grope his chest or kiss her, and the idea of any guy touching him/her in that manner was gross. While awake Ranma knew the odds of running into anyone strong enough to overcome him/her was next to nil, but asleep, his fears of those nights when he was so weak came back to haunt him.

Shaak heard Ranma out calmly then talked about how at one point she had been captured by a group of criminals she and her master had been investigating. The feeling of helplessness as they began to drug her was one Shaak would never forget, but luckily her master had been able to trace her through the Force and rescue her before they could do anything to her. The nightmares of that time had been horrible, and had reared their heads again during her test to become a knight.

It was a cathartic experience for something Shaak hadn't really expected when she offered to hear Ranma out. Both of them were able to point out to the other that their feelings of helplessness were not based on reality, neither were the sort to ever be truly helpless. While it was obvious hearing this from someone else helped reinforce it. Moreover Ranma had several unarmed techniques and had devised other methods to escape handcuffs and other similar things. He also had an immunity to various drugs, and promised to work on that with Shaak in the future.

Unfortunately, their morning had to end eventually, and Shaak looked up at the clock shaking her head. "I have to get going. There's a meeting of the Sector Assembly today, and they wish me to address them on the issue of Mon Calamari joining the Republic. I'd like to meditate one more time on the issue, but I don't think I have time to do that and have a shower. Not that it wasn't nice talking to you about this Ranma but…:"

"I understand." Ranma said with a faint smile. "My monthly monster makes me more emotional, it doesn't make me stupid." The two of them shared a laugh, and Ranma moved to get Shaak's clothing ready as she moved to the fresher station. A moment later Shaak came out dressed, and asked Ranma what he would be doing today.

"I'll head up to talk to the design team to start work on my ship." She held up a fork, then gestured, stabbing it into the metal of the table with a flick of the wrist. The fork sank to the ends of its tines into the metal of the table. "I think that should convince them that I was telling the truth about my technique, and hopefully none of the Mon Calamari will make me lose control of my emotions."

"How intensive timewise is that technique?" Shaak asked intently, ignoring that last bit for now, trusting Ranma not to lash out unless he needed to. "Again, having tougher stronger ships could save Jedi lives."

"Very and that's if I can do it at all. I know Cologne was able to do it, and happy. That damn pipe of his…" Ranma shook his head grimacing at the memory of how often happy had blocked his attacks or thrown him with that pipe.

"But I think that unless I figure out a shortcut, every panel is going to take me several days of forcing ki into them, because every time I stop I'll lose some of my progress. If I had more time, or if I had another person with the technique it could go faster, but as it is…" She shook his head. "Sorry, but I just don't think it's a viable technique to train Jedi in. Maybe eventually it will be, and you guys can figure out a way to shorten it using the Unifying Force, but I can't just yet."

Shaak nodded. "By the way, on a similar vein, are we going to keep training my toughness?"

"I'll be setting up a training area for us for that, it should go a lot faster now that we can work on your whole body at once rather than piecemeal. I'll warn you now though it's a very painful process." Ranma warned.

Shaak shuddered a little, but then threw back her shoulders resolutely, her lekku moving slightly as she did. "I am no stranger to pain Ranma, and the benefits will pay for itself."

"So long as you're sure," Ranma said warily. "Just don't blame me when you're a black and blue mass from head to toe. Or, heh, your species equivalent."

"That would be purple and black actually." Shaak laughed with Ranma joining her, and the two left the apartment together before moving off in different directions, strangely cheered.

About an hour after they left, a Mon Calamari, a local who worked as a technician here in the complex, entered their apartment, looking around surreptitiously. Shaak had called in an order form for a TV to be added to the room, along with a data reader. She wanted to start teaching Ranma how to read Galactic Standard and continue his piloting lessons, and those would help her.

Installing those items took the man a bare few minutes. But after that, he moved around the training center, stationing small listening devices in the training area. He had no idea why his current employer wanted to spy on the Jedi, nor did he care. However he didn't have enough devices to cover both the apartment in depth and the training area.

After finishing the training center he had to make a decision, and decided to put his last video recorder in the main sitting room along with his second to last audio receiver. The last he placed in one of the rooms, figuring that whoever his current employer reported to was possibly interested in blackmail material as well as the Jedi's training techniques. A bedroom would be the best shot for that kind of thing, with the sitting room the best for overhearing discussions.

Easiest credits I ever made he thought to himself as he exited the apartment. Four months later, his body would be found tied to a piece of concrete and left to rot in the depths of the ocean having gone missing months earlier.

OOOOOOO

Like the Republic Senate, the Mon Calamari Sector's government was through elected officials. Although the Mon Calamari still technically had a king, he didn't actually have much to do with the day-to-day running of the government. He was a voting member of that government, and had veto power, but could only use it if he could defend the veto as being for the good of the Sector as a whole, and so was rarely used.

Indeed, in normal parlance, the last time the king had needed to use that veto power was during the initial meeting with the Republic, to override his race's normal eagerness towards exploration and knowledge. The king at the time had not wanted to rush to any decision about joining the Senate, something that had paid off in the decades since.

The king was not in attendance today, distancing himself from this debate, something Shaak was ambivalent about. She would've liked to meet him, but understanding he wanted to maintain a distance from this debate was itself a telling point.

The Assembly was set in a circular amphitheater, with many different tiers. Seating here was not in any sense hierarchal, it was at a first-come first-served basis, for the locals, with others randomly chosen via computer for the planetary governors who could not attend in person. Only a few places near the floor were designated for specific occupants. These were mostly taken by individuals from the different Sector government position and she nodded politely to Shrook'anand the local police commissioner before looking around her at the gathered delegates as she took the seat reserved for outside specialists or observers.

Shaak sat there for a few hours as the Assembly discussed various items. The only one that interested her was the ratification of the formal agreement between the Mon Cal Sector and the Sluisi in regards to the Sluisi system. She felt a few of the governors or senators looking at her, but ignored them with the ease of long practice.

Instead Shaak's eyes nearly closed as she opened herself to the Force, waiting for her moment to speak, searching for any hint that the Force wanted her to do something specific here. She didn't receive one, but since that lack of response was the same she had felt the first few times she had meditated on this issue, she wasn't surprised. Alone then, ah well.

Finally the Assembly Speaker turned to the point she was here to address. He began by reiterating what had occurred in Mon Cal, the kidnapping, the frame job on the party Opposition, the fact the extremist might have been behind the Opposition's original leader, and how the Jedi had resolved the issue.

As he wrapped up, he waved lightly in Shaak Ti's direction. "But the reason the opposition party exists is still there, still dividing our people. Should we join our family to the larger shoal of the Republic, or should we continue to swim into unknown waters alone? It is a question plaguing many, and the emotions of the debate are still running high regardless of the true perpetrators of this flare up between the opposition party and the Dac system government. To speak on this issue, we have asked Jedi Knight Shaak Ti to give us her, and the Order's opinion on the matter."

There was a burst of noise from many of the governors and government reps. They had all known this was coming, but still needed to voice their disapproval at an outsider being involved in what was an internal sector matter. Particularly a Jedi, even if she was one of the three who had rescued the Dergal family and ousted a terrorist threat none of them had seen coming.

Shaak stood up smoothly at this, moving to the center of the room her entire manner poised and confident. With no direction from the Force, she had come to a conclusion which many of her fellow Jedi would never have considered. But after so long speaking with Ranma, listening to him then thinking about her issues with the Senate, she had decided on a course of action that was not in keeping with normal Jedi practices in this day and age. Time to start rocking the boat.

"Governors, Senators, good sentients all, thank you for this opportunity to speak. You have asked me for my opinion on this issue. I know that some people call the Jedi voices of the Republic. Some specifically call us representatives of the Senate, some the Senate's strong men, others their tool."

She nodded at those senators who had called her such moments before. "And in many ways, you would be correct. We, the Jedi Order are tied into and a part of the Republic. We have been for millennia, and it has served both the order and the Republic well, generally speaking."

"But there is an aspect of that relationship that has only crept into the order in the last hundred years or so: that of representatives of the Senate and its policies. My order was at its beginning about justice and law, not policy, not government, justice and order. And order you must admit, serves the majority of people."

There were some nods at that. The Mon Calamari people were organized and orderly as a rule, despite their artistic bent when it came to shipbuilding and other pursuits.

"The Jedi have a stake in the Senate, and the Jedi have a stake in the Republic." Supposedly, though I'm wondering if that's actually the case. Best not to mention that now though.

Pushing those thoughts to one side, Shaak went on. "But I personally do not have a stake here with the Mon Cal Sector government nor do the Jedi. You Mon Calamari have for as long as you have been on the galactic scene allowed Jedi into your systems, have sent your young ones off to become Jedi, be they Quarren, or Mon Calamari, or from any of the other systems in this sector. I do not see that changing anytime soon."

There was some laughter at that, but more nods. "So can we assume then that this Jedi has no stake in the idea of the Mon Calamari becoming full members of the Senate?"

There were some murmurs about that, but more nods than anything else. "So it is as a truly neutral party I stand here then." Shaak smiled. "Excellent, Jedi should always be neutral, especially when giving their opinions about a matter of policy and law. Here then is my opinion, and the opinion of the Order:"

"I do not have enough information on the economic side of things to make an informed decision or give an opinion based on that. I have heard the debate about the economic side of things, how opening your borders to foreign commercial ventures would be both good and bad, how having to agree to the Senate's enforced structure on such would be good or bad. In particular the Technocracy, the Banking Clans, and the defense issue, while on the other side the lightening of tariffs, the spread of your trade network, and access to more industry or technology. But again, I do not have enough knowledge to give you a true opinion there."

"So let us move on to the social aspect." Shaak went on, ignoring the exclamations of shock, as people realized she wasn't trying to dictate to them, or even convince them of the Republic's position on things. "Would opening your borders be bad socially? What ideas would you let in now that you aren't already open to?"

That brought even more laughs, since the Mon Calamari society was a pretty open one anyway, and Shaak Ti move on. "So then, we come to the Governmental side of things. You would, as a full member of the Senate, be allowed a voice in the Republic."

"A single voice, joined to thousands, sometimes arguing sometimes working in concert. That voice can be loud or soft depending on who you send, and there are, needless to say, pros and cons to having that voice able to speak to other sectors, other senators or interest group from outside your borders. Your economy is strong, you have much to offer the rest of the Republic and vice versa, no doubt your Senator, whoever it is, will become a power."

"Yet I understand the opposition on this issue too: for as a Senator you would, as I said, be a single voice among thousands. Thousands of voices who could, once you join, make policy and enforce it here in your sector unless you are strong enough to get dispensation like the Corporate Worlds or the Trade Federation."

She fell silent for a moment, letting the realization percolate that she had simply reiterated all the pros and cons that the Assembly members had brought up in the past. "I believe that this must be a decision that you make not because of pressure one way or another, or because you wish to join the Republic. You must make this decision based upon what is best for your people."

"I would urge you to continue to speak about it, to continue to talk. Discussion and discourse, logic and facts gentlemen should guide your decisions, not emotions, not personal self-aggrandizement, or exterior pressures."

"That is not what other Jedi have said on this issue." said one voice from the back of the hall. "Master Traillin and Knight Prokko have publicly stated they feel we should join the Republic, and the ex-ranger family you and your padawan and Knight Fisto saved were all outspoken about us joining."

"That might be true and the Dergals are citizens of Dac, as such they are allowed to have an opinion. We might be the voice of the government, but I believe that the Jedi should be the voice above all of reason and peace. Do therefore what you believe best for your people gentlemen, do not think that we can dictate terms to you, and never bow to external pressures whatever they are unless you believe that in so doing you will better your own people's way of life."

There were more than a few voices raised in murmured exclamations at her position. But the majority seemed to sit up straighter, stand a little more certain, knowing that the Jedi would back them whatever they thought.

Shaak smiled, nodded her head and turned the floor over to other speakers moving back to her seat job done in her opinion. It was not what the Order might wish. The Order probably would've wanted the Mon Calamari to join the Republic simply because it would make dealing with them somewhat easier, quantify the various legal issues facing them whenever dealing with the Mon Calamari or the various planetary governments, allow them to command rather than ask for aid.

But Shaak felt that maintaining neutrality was what the Force wished of them. We are instruments of the Force, of peace and law, not a single government, no matter how powerful. She idly wondered what Ranma would think of it then shook her head, stifling a laugh. Ranma would probably be asleep in a corner by this point. Not that that idea doesn't have much merit… Shaking her head slightly, Shaak sat back down, ready to sit through the rest of this meeting.

OOOOOOO

"When you said this exercise was going to hurt, I didn't expect you to mean it quite so…" Shaak paused thinking of the word, as she stared at the training area, her lekku twitching slightly in concern. "Literally?"

"Yeah, it'll be painful, believe me." Ranma said with a nod pushing sweaty black hair out of his eyes. Huh, gonna need a haircut soon, wonder I'll be able to find one here on Dac?

It had been nearly a week since Shaak Ti had addressed the Mon Calamari Sector Assembly, and Ranma had gotten over the last of his female form's monthly issue two days ago. Since then he had tried his best to remain a he as often as possible, which hadn't gone well. Shaak was still rather bemused to see that Ranma truly did seem to attract water, the only way he was able to remain male was to stay in the apartment or the training area. Every time he went out, he would be splashed within ten minutes max.

On the other hand Ranma's period had passed with no real issues. It turned out that working on the ship in near zero-g with the Mon Calamari actually helped. A lifetime of training in midair maneuvers had made Ranma at home off the ground, and it was a small step from that to the shipyard environment, so it didn't bother her stomach. And her strength and eagerness to learn had garnered her the respect of the dockworkers.

Even better, Shaak had found a store that sold vitamin bars. They were tasteless, but the sight of them wasn't nauseating to the human 'female', which allowed Ranma to eat them without issue. And being able to eat and work up in the dockyards helped Ranma deal with the emotional turmoil of her period with an equanimity Shaak knew she would envy the next time her people's cycle came upon her and she had to deal with the pain of it.

Ranma had also set up the training area for the same toughness training he and his father had recreated after seeing the effect it had on Ryoga. This consisted of several large pieces of ferro-crete the size of the two of them standing side by side, a pulley system, rope and a larger, even thicker wall of ferro-crete. This was the setup they were currently looking at and Shaak shook her head bemusedly staring at the ropes designed to hold the person going through the technique in place against the wall.

"The funniest thing though was Ryoga, well, you remember me saying it was an Amazon technique?" Shaak nodded, having heard about Ranma's rather bizarre fiancé issue. Not that there weren't races out there that practice polygamy of all sorts, there were, and she had met several such in her time. But the method in which Ranma had gained his fiancés still amused her.

"Well he thought he was learning a technique designed to shatter people with a touch." Ranma moved over to one of the smaller boulders, holding up a finger and then tapping it lightly with a single finger. The stone shattered as if it had been hit by a turbo laser blast. As bits of rock and debris settled around them he turned, grinning. "Of course it was a lie, ya can't break bodies like that. But the real reason he was going through the training was the durability factor. I'd already learned the Amiguriken technique, so improving his durability was the only way he could take the punishment I could dish out."

Her eyes wide and still staring in shock where the rock had been Shaak nodded, before shaking her head quickly to rid herself of the shock of another Force technique she'd never heard of. Of course I know of Master Windu's shatterpoint, but that isn't a skill you can actually learn, you need to be born with the ability, and even then, I don't think the shatterpoint can do that! "Will I be learning to do that?" She asked waving one hand at it.

"I don't know," Ranma said, smirking widely. "Can you multitask?"

Shaak was very tempted to respond to that with a rude gesture, a response that shook her for a moment then she just laughed quietly. Being around Ranma for a while either made you go insane, or made you loosen up to a degree that all too few Jedi would be willing to deal with. It astonished her at times, and this was one of them, that she was growing to like the experience. "When do we begin?"

Several hours later, Shaak lay on a patio chair, groaning in more pain than she had been since one of her more spectacular failures as a young learner. "This… this hurts worse than when I broke all the bones in my legs from mistiming a Force Jump landing," she groaned. Under her head, her lekku twitched slightly in spasmodic pain, her skin near purple and bruised practically everywhere.

"I did warn you." Ranma said, flipping her red hair back over her shoulder as she leaned down placing a cool drink next to Shaak's head. Ranma had changed to his female form before carrying Shaak out here. "I went through the same thing, and I have to tell you Ryoga held out for even longer at it than I did. You did good for your first day though."

Ranma paused suddenly, looking down at her feet then away over the side of the wall of the apartment's backyard and down to the communal beach. "U-um, d, do you want a massage? Er, and we've got some pain relief balm, I grabbed it from the ship before Kit left."

"AHhhghhhhh…." Shaak groaned, trying to lift her head enough to get her lips around straw stuck in the drink, a strange looping thing that had a small bell worked into one of the loops for some reason. A local thing perhaps? She decided to ignore it concentrating on more important things. "I, I think I would like that Ranma thank you."

She did not notice Ranma's blush becoming more pronounced, concentrating on the little bit of movement that was needed to get her lips around the straw. "Al, alright, I'll be right back."

Shaak grunted, now sipping her drink and trying to will pain away through the Force. She had been keeping it in check before this, but there was a limited return on Force tricks like that. The Force could heal, slowly for most, but all Jedi could mentally use it to push away pain, yet that was not the same thing as actually healing the damage done.

Nonetheless thanks to her training with the technique in the past few weeks Shaak had pushed the pain down a little more by the time Ranma was back and she heard the creak of her patio chair then a weight dropping on to her legs slightly.

Ranma leaned down, his face still flushed. Thank god I'm in my female form! She was sitting directly on Shaak's thighs, and the feel of her skin under his was Distracting with a capital D. Both of them were as was normal these days wearing their one piece swimsuits, and Ranma's thighs were directly on either side of Shaak's own.

Damn it, why'd I volunteer to do this again? Ranma moaned internally. Fucking hormones, down, down! This is, this is just a friend doing something to relieve a friend's pain nothing more. Ranma would have felt better after thinking that if another part of his mind, the part he was trying to ignore right now, didn't reply with a 'yeah right' and something that sounded too much like a cackle for his state of mind.

It didn't help matters that Ranma's initial physical reaction to Shaak had been reinforced with the friendship that had built up between them over the past few weeks. Ranma didn't think that he (currently she but still he in his mind) was in love with Shaak, not yet. But it could all too easily move in that direction.

Ignoring those thoughts, Ranma quickly spritzed a bit of the suntan onto Shaak's bare shoulders and arms. Shaak grunted a bit, muttering "Cold!" before she sighed as Ranma spread the lotion over her arms, and then grunted again as Ranma started to massage the lotion into her battered body.

"Oooh…that feels wonderful Ranma, thank you." Shaak and a few of her friends among her fellow learners had given one another massages, when they were young to ease out pains. That kind of thing was allowed among the learners, since they were often pushed well beyond normal endurance in the Jedi training. But already Shaak could tell that Ranma had a far better understanding of massage than any of them.

Ranma nodded, trying hard not to get too into his current job despite what his hormones were trying to tell him. Again, thank God I'm a woman right now! The feel of Shaak's skin under her hands, even with the bruising was one of the sexiest things he'd ever felt. Right up there with her first taste of chocolate or the memories of Shampoo's body that time she'd surprised him in the bath.

"You really did do good y'know." Ranma said, trying to keep her mind on more important things rather than that feeling, or wondering what her lekku would feel like, or the curve of her buttocks right under, stop that! "Y-You're the continual use of the Force to try and mitigate the pain you were feeling let us do as many reps in half a day as I was able to go through in three times that many hours."

Ranma's pain tolerance was incredibly high for any normal human, but when Genma and he had decided to go through the endurance technique himself, he hadn't yet learned how to use his ki to actually mitigate the pain, or any mental exercises to dull the impact. Ironically it had been Kasumi who had taught Ranma those mental exercises. She had dealt with several broken bones when she was younger, and her period was immensely painful for the young woman.

Shaak on the other hand had years of practicing using the Force to mitigate pain from wounds or exertion and had taken to using them to offset the punishment her body was taking in their spars easily. "In fact, I think you should nearly be up to my level of durability by the time my ship's ready to go."

Shaak murmured something, arching her back as Ranma found a particularly sore point then whimpering slightly as a knot between her shoulders unraveled. "Ohhh, that feels nice" she moaned, causing Ranma to twitch slightly.

She felt this through her thighs, but ignored it to reply to Ranma's praise. "Ahh, I'm glad for that. And I have just tell you again, no matter what kind of pain I'm going through right now, the upside is tremendous one. I'm not certain it would be a good idea to have other Jedi go through your training as it is, and I'll be thinking of ways of doing the same kind of thing without, well the humiliation of it honestly. But being able to simply wade through small arms or even medium-powered blaster fire will save lives."

"Agreed," Ranma said with a nod. Unlike a lot of his real ki techniques, Ranma didn't really have a problem with sharing this type of training. It wasn't as if the durability couldn't be overcome after all, he certainly could overcome it easily enough. The Amiguriken technique frankly was more dangerous in his mind, and with a lightsaber you could easily overcome it anyway, given what Dooku had nearly done to Ranma when they first met.

And if they take away the whole smashing rocks into your victim thing they won't be able to learn the Breaking Point technique. Which again was in Ranma's mind a little more dangerous a technique than Ranma was willing to share. Shaak had earned his trust, and after a few weeks with him Kit Fisto had quickly become someone Ranma liked, and might even think of training in the future, but he didn't trust the Order as a whole to use his techniques as they should be, not yet.

"A request however?" Shaak said, arching now slightly as Ranma began to work on her neck. "Mmm….could we just do this for our training just in the early morning? I have no doubt that I'll be called upon to arbitrate things even on a planet like this, so I'd like to keep my late morning and early afternoon free, and I know you want to be up working on your ship in the afternoon."

Ranma frowned. "Arbitrate, you mean like giving out justice? I thought that you'd already made your point about the whole 'should we join or not join the Republic' thing."

"I did, but Jedi are often asked to arbitrate on smaller matters while on missions. We are seen as neutral judges, guided by the Force. And the Force does has you've already learned give us quite a bit of an advantage in investigation and arbitration decisions, such as when two people disagree on something but which the law cannot easily solve or not solve at all, can be much more easily handled by Jedi."

Shaak smiled slightly. "Master Halcyon said that that was originally one of the larger aspects of the Jedi Order. Lying to a Jedi is incredibly hard, and by the time people are asking for arbitration they already have all the facts so it's just a matter of making a decision."

"Yeah but could that backfire?" Ranma asked.

"Oh yes," Shaak said seriously, now turning her head to look over her shoulder to where Ranma had turned around, and was now working on her legs. She smiled for a moment, looking at Ranma's back and the feminine curve to it, the way the redhead was nibbling at her lip as she worked.

I've only known him for a little under three weeks now, and I'm already closer to Ranma then practically anyone else. I wonder if that says something about him, her, heh, or me. Is it because I haven't conquered my races need for companionship and friendship as fully as I should have, or simply because of Ranma's personality? Regardless, I don't think I'm going to analyze it too much. It's simply too much fun.

Aloud she said, "There have been cases where Jedi made mistakes, we're only mortal after all. There have been other cases where we made incorrect decisions based on political pressure, public opinion, or simple arrogance without searching for all the facts. Many of those have of course been broadcast. The public seems to like pulling it's heroes to pieces just as much as creating them in the first place. That is why my master was so careful about teaching me patience and humility. If I don't think the case is clear-cut, I won't make a decision until I know all the facts, and if that means doing some research or investigation on my own, so be it."

"Good to hear," Ranma said with a nod. "And yeah, I suppose we can cut down on the time spent on this aspect of the training. Your sparring is coming along rather well too, as is your meditation." She worked the lotion into Shaak's calf muscles, easing the muscles there and causing Shaak to let out a small squeak.

Ranma to turned to look at her with a laugh while Shaak quickly turned away, flushing in embarrassment, her red cheeks lightening in color.

In an effort to regain her lost dignity Shaak went on briskly. Or as briskly as she could as her body continued to turn into a melted puddle under Ranma's hands. "G-good, in that case I will put together a tentative daily plan for us from now on. How long will you want to keep helping up at the shipyards?"

"Say from two o'clock local time to seven or so." Ranma shrugged. "But remember eventually I'm going to be doin' something I haven't tried before. That fork took me hours, so…"

Shaak nodded. "Very well. Then after dinner we will meditate for a time then have lessons with master Halcyon." She smiled faintly. Halcyon had begun to teach her mental exercises, and whatever the Halcyon family's lack of skill in telekinesis, they more than made up for it in mental disciplines. When she was done her training with him, Shaak would be able to dive deeper into a person's mind, seeing more of their motivations and even connect to the Living Force of another individual more directly.

Yet even that paled in comparison to what combining Ranma's training her in her own Living Force and that greater connection could do if combined. Shaak's Healing skills had risen astronomically of late, though she had initially put this down to the sheer amount of exercise that skill was getting. But it was her growing understanding of the way the Living Force in her own body worked and her ability to perceive that which had aided it. Shaak felt that if she could figure how to connect those two abilities, her ability to heal others would skyrocket.

She was eager to talk to one of her friends about that idea. Though a Jedi Knight like her, Luminara Unduli was quickly becoming known as one of the best healers the Order had seen for over 300 years, since the time of Master Marinus, a human who had rediscovered several healing abilities the Order had lost for centuries.

"Fine, for now though, just rest okay? I'll come and get ya for dinner." Ranma said, standing up and fighting back a temptation to playfully smack Shaak on her back, or, not so playfully, her rear. Damn hormones! Not knowing Ranma's thoughts Shaak murmured her thanks, then, despite not being in the correct position began to meditate slightly, before falling asleep in the sun of Dac.

OOOOOOO

Darth Sidious leaned back in his seat, contemplating ongoing video hanging in the air before his throne. I really have to look into finding more Force sensitives to train, ones that can be subtle at need, specifically using their own Force senses without being found by those they are observing. Maul is precisely what his name implies, a blunt tool, an excellent tool, but still a blunt one. The information a Force sensitive could tell me of this training would dwarf what this video recording can. I hope that my little mission for the Bounty Hunter's guild proves successful. If not, well, she might serve as another blunt weapon at least.

He smiled faintly as he watched the giant piece of ferro-crete be lifted away from the Togrutan Jedi tied to the wall, shaking his head. Torture as a training tool, the Jedi have taken a page out of the Sith's book! As amusing as that is however, the outcome supposed is surprising.

He smiled faintly as he listened to the discussion about the 'strengthening technique', and what it could do. The local that planted the listening and video recorders, he could have been useful. The decision to liquidate him was not a well thought one. He was at the very least intelligent, and resourceful as well as desperate for money. Such people are useful so long as you are the ones holding the whip hand.

That, and the resources provided to him were not enough to do the job. I could far more if I could overhear more of their conversations. They don't seem to use the sitting room or their own rooms. But the individual who emplaced the listening devices can't be faulted for his decisions. No, the fault lies in my own tool rather than the pawn of my pawn.

But even with that I can tell what is going on generally speaking. It appears as if the Jedi are allowing this Ranma fellow to train one of their younger up and coming members to see if a Jedi can learn them, possibly before opening the entire Order to his teachings. And the one chosen for this experiment is, as I had already discovered, the same one recorded following him with Yoda, that pestilential geriatric!

At that thought Sidious couldn't keep his mind from going down a tangent. The information coming from Kashykk is… irritating, as is the fact the future is becoming more difficult to read, even for me! The overall plan is still viable, but the end game could be much more difficult to pull off. On the other hand, the Order itself is split about these changes, my discussions with that bitch Gallia and the alien Poof is enough to tell me that even if the futures I can still see did not. That could let me utilize other front men, and the chaos of that and the ongoing conflicts will serve my ends just as well. I am nothing if not flexible.

However, that might mean I need to step up a certain personal plan I have. Master Plagueis is still useful, but he isn't flexible enough to go along with the new plan, and he still believes himself my master, a fact that is growing more galling and irritating with every passing week.

Shaking those thoughts off for now, Sidious turned his attention to the matter at hand."Computer, search known Jedi for anything known about a Jedi Knight named Shaak Ti." Sidious said aloud into the darkness of his hidden throne room. His room was wired for sound and connected to a computer whose system was nearly as self-aware as a droids. "Include all known acquaintances, past missions, enemies she might have made on those missions, and possible weaknesses, physical and mental. Prepare it for this evening."

With that done, Sidious turned back to observe the training once more, frowning as he watched the alien Jedi and the chaotic locus spar. Ranma was, as in all their training he had seen so far, training in hand to hand, and was covering his limb's with a shield of pure Force. I could still wish to know more about this Ranma's odd abilities, his strange 'curse', and where he, or she, came from. But have enough to start with. The Jedi will not steal a march on the Sith!

With a gesture a nearby communicator came on, carrying Sidious' voice to where his apprentice was meditating. "Darth Maul, join me. We have training to discuss."

OOOOOOO

The next several weeks fell into a rhythm. Every morning Ranma and Shaak would get up early and spend an hour sparring together. Then Shaak would go through the toughness training, while Halcyon helped Ranma with his plains for his light pike, which was what Halcyon called the weapon he was planning, while Ranma monitored Shaak's progress. During lunch, Shaak would lay out on the patio and Ranma would give her a massage, while Shaak would practice her Force telekinesis by pulling small items of food towards the pair of them, or her Force healing on herself.

After that, Shaak would either remain there, or would speak to a Sector Assembly rep, clarifying this or that Republic law. Or if she was feeling up to it, meditate and practice under master Halcyon. Only a few times was she actually called upon to act as an arbitrator as she had said to Ranma that first day of her toughness training. These were not anything immensely important, just small issues which the local constabulary's couldn't come to a conclusion about without outside interference, and more than once Shaak was called in simply because the Jedi neutrality, which she had emphasized in her speech to the Senate, could more easily solve the issue without bruised egos.

While she was doing this, Ranma spent his time up in the dockyards. For the first few weeks he simply follower the team members around, lending his strength wherever it was needed, learning all he could about the electronics and different systems that when brought together became a spaceship. He would never be more than an engineer or technician, he didn't have the immediate understanding or any imagination for more, but he would at least know what to do for most nonlethal emergencies.

The ship slowly took shape, slightly slower than a human shipyard could have done the work on a common class of ship, but Ranma was well pleased. He wanted his ship to be unique, and the Mon Calamari were more than happy to help him in that. There were a few problems of course. Most importantly the electrical runs to the fourth shield generator that had replaced half of the ship's cargo hold crossed over that between the power generator and the engines. But every problem they ran into the Mon Calamari designer and his team solved just as quickly with a level of artistry and panache that Ranma could recognize and admire, but never come close to matching.

Several weeks into the building process, the exterior hull pieces were brought in, and Ranma went to work on the real reason he was up here.

Each piece of hull plate was about 15 feet long and five wide, but more than half of that was designed to go under another plate, aiding the outer defenses. This was another Mon Calamari design factor which added to their ships durability, as well as cost, both for the initial ship building and for repair.

Ranma found that enforcing the metal with his ki was indeed a slow process. Every day when he came back to the same piece a little under half of the ki would have dissipated, the metal unable to hold a charge of Living Force like something which had originally been alive. He talked to Master Halcyon about it, and Kieran mused that if Ranma was able to use the Unifying Force, he might be able to do something more permanent.

But Ranma was still wary about using the Unifying Force, something that had not been helped by his previous experiments in reaching out to it. He couldn't argue that the process might work though, and put it to one side to think about later while stubbornly continuing the exercise.

During the evenings, Ranma would come back and have dinner with Shaak. Then the two of them would talk or meditate under master Halcyon, or Shaak would teach Ranma more about piloting using a local training program, whatever they felt like doing before heading to bed. Both of them enjoyed their time together immensely for various reasons, but certain moments served to bring them even closer together:

As Shaak had predicted her species' cycle also came up during their stay on the water planet, around two months into their stay. While she was able to deal with the emotional issues well enough thorough meditation Shaak woke up one day groaning in agony, the pain centered around her lower torso. Sighing faintly Shaak began to reach out for the Force, slowly using it to push away the agony in her mind, as well as try to calm the actual pain in her body. Ugh, I'm going to be useless for anything today she thought to herself, shaking her head. Even that bit of movement caused her some pain, particularly in her lekku which for some reason she had never figured out were even more sensitive than normal during this time.

She sat up in bed, wincing occasionally from pains in her arms and legs. Sitting in the lotus position Shaak once again reached out to the Force, slowing willing the pain away bit by bit. It was only after forty minutes of doing so that she felt well enough to get out of bed.

She found Ranma in the kitchen pulling out leftovers from last night for breakfast as he looked at some of the kitchen appliances. Neither of them had ventured into cooking just yet, not being at home with any of the local ingredients. He looked up with a smile on his face, which quickly segued into a frowned as he noticed how stiffly Shaak was moving. "Are you okay? Normally even after the toughness training you'd be back to normal by the next day."

"It's not the training, it's just that a certain time has crept up on me as it did you." Shaak replied obliquely, hoping that Ranma would get it without further explanation on her part.

Ranma did get it immediately, and quickly moved over to her helping her to her chair. Not that she needed it, but it was rather nice of him to hold the chair out for her. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Give me an out on training today?" Shaak asked, shaking her head. "I'm using most of my mental capacity to deaden the pain as it is. I couldn't possibly fight at more than half strength, and the idea of going through the toughness training on top of this is a horrifying one."

"Really? Huh, my fighting ability doesn't go down much if at all when I go through that. Though, I suppose that's because my normal inhibitions on using full power against people goes out the window."

Even Ranma's rivals in Nerima knew to stay away from Ranma when through her period there. It only hit five times during her stay with the Tendos but that had been enough to get the point across. When she put Kuno into the hospital for over two months because he tried to hit on her even Ryoga had gotten the hint. Even Akane had been nicer to him during that time frame, though his father had simply avoided him, which frankly was the best response of all in Ranma's opinion.

"That would be because your normal strength and power doesn't dessert you, whereas my combat ability is based on my Force abilities the majority of which as I said is already tied up with dealing with the pain."

"I don't think that's the case anymore," Ranma said smirking slightly. "In fact, judging by how you nearly kicked me through a wall yesterday, I think I can safely say that is no longer the case."

Shaak smiled at the memory of that. She had surprised Ranma with a backflip catching him neatly with a kick to the side of his head before he could get out of range. It was a good sign of her becoming better at using her entire body as a weapon and was one of very few blows she had really surprised him with. "Thank you for that, but it's still an issue."

"How do other female Jedi deal with it?"

"Most races don't have that issue. I know my friend Aayla doesn't, nor does my other friend Luminara or… most nonhuman Jedi who I can bring to mind actually. Humans however have developed a medicine that deals with the issue though I was told for medical reasons that it was not available for Togrutans."

"Okay…" Ranma said slowly. "The way you say that, it sounds like more than simple painkillers right? Oh, and do you want some of those?" Shaak nodded and Ranma got them out while Shaak explained that the pills in question actually halted the menstrual process. It had been developed on a Core World for population control reasons. The Order routinely bought stocks of it for the human females among it.

Hearing that, Ranma shook his head. "On the one hand sounds interesting, on the other hand it disturbs me, that whole suppression of the body thing just sounds wrong. Especially given the reason it was developed in the first place."

Shaak shrugged. "As I said I never looked into it after discovering the pills wouldn't work on Togrutan biology. I'm sorry. Would you have liked some?"

Ranma frowned, pulling at his pigtail for a moment as he moved over to grab some food and place it on the table in front of her. Unlike Ranma's Shaak's stomach wasn't effected so she was able to eat the local 'delicacies'. lf that was what they were, they had gotten this meal from a fast food place. "No thanks, No offense, but that feels more like you're running away from the issue."

"We'll have to agree to disagree on that one." Shaak said with a faint smile. Then she cocked her head, looking at him/her purple lips forming into a pout as she deliberately widened her eyes. "I don't suppose I could get a few massages could I?"

"Do we have enough of that pain relief lotion to keep using it?" Ranma replied quickly. "I'm fine with the idea, but last I looked we were down to nearly a fourth of it."

Shaak frowned. That ointment was a Jedi Order specialty, something the Agricorps made and sold on the market to bring itself and the Order as a whole some income. She couldn't recall offhand if she'd be able to buy it out here on Dac however. "I suppose just a massage then?"

"I can do that." Ranma said with a faint smile. He was never going to tell Shaak this, but massaging her was one of the highlights of his day for many reasons. The jokes they shared at that time were always fun, the closeness of it, as was watching Shaak use her telekinetic powers. The fact they gave Ranma some interesting dreams was a dirty pleasure too, one he wasn't proud of but could not deny.

"Thank you Ranma." Shaak said sincerely. Pain aside, she was slowly becoming addicted to Ranma's massages, and not just because of how they helped her with the pain. The friendship they had developed, the closeness they shared, called out to her Togrutan soul.

The next time when Ranma's period hit, Shaak decided to return the favor. But instead of offering to massage Ranma, she decided to cook. Ranma came home the first evening of her second monthly monster cursing volubly. She didn't really care about being in her female form these days, it was just a thing, and his/her mind did not change between forms, something he/she had always been leery of during her time in Nerima. But the amount of time he was spending in his female form meant the monthly monster was coming around almost as regularly as it would for regular woman, and that irritated him/her quite a lot.

She paused on the threshold of the apartment, sniffing the air appreciatively. Something smells good. That was a surprise, since most Mon Calamari foods either didn't smell to him or smelled at best like sushi. Sushi might be tasty, but the scent of it was not its selling point.

Following his nose Ranma made his way through the apartment toward the kitchen where he saw Shaak standing in front of the small kitchenette. Something was sizzling in a skillet on the burner, while a large bowl filled with local roughage was sitting nearby. All of it was various colors of green, and most of it, as Ranma knew at this point tasted like the seaweed it so resemble in the wild.

But there were a few that were actually somewhat tasty, one that tasted like lettuce and a small seed like plant that filled the same niche as rice. The locals also made a kind of small flatbread that somehow tasted like cinnamon. That had become a favorite snack of both human and Togrutan.

Shaak turned with a faint smile on her face, gesturing Ranma to sit down. "I decided it was time one of us at least try out the local foods and see what we can do with them?"

"So are you experimenting Shaak, or actually cooking?" Ranma said cautiously.

"The salad is an experiment." Shaak said with a smile. "What I'm cooking most definitely is not. It is akul steak."

Ranma's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Wait, wasn't that he creature you had to hunt to get those teeth on your headdress?"

Shaak raised a hand to her headdress lightly, her smile widening slightly. "Indeed."

"So it's not like a steak is then, which is from a domesticated animal, this is more like Tiger or bear steak."

Shaak made an interrogative noise before turning quickly to her cooking, and Ranma elaborated. "Tigers are a f-feliniod predator on my world, and bears were," Ranma paused thinking of how best to describe bears. "Sort of another top predator I guess, kind of like that wampa thing I was forced to put down in the underground pit."

"A akul is more like a tiger than. It is large but moves very fluidly, and its jaws are its main killing tool. Its claws are dangerous, but it's bite can punch through steel with ease."

"Did you eat the one you hunted?"

"Myself, my master, and several high ranking dignitaries in the city we were staying in partook of it, yes. They are a delicacy on my world."

Cocking his head, Ranma had to ask, "How did one end up all the way out here then?"

Shaak shook her head sadly. "As Cubs they are rather cute and trainable. A trader tried to domesticate one as a guard animal, but his training failed, primarily because he didn't neuter the beast, and he apparently sold it to an unsuspecting Mon Calamari. Said worthy took it home, and promptly realized that he had brought a land-based predator onto a water world. The creature tried to maul several Mon Calamari when they tried to transport it to an animal reserve, the only such on the planet that is based upon land I might add, and promptly began to attack several of the other animals in the reserve."

"Ouch, talk about the law of unintended consequences. And when in this drama did they call you, hmmm?"

"Yesterday, well after the poor beast had gone insane with all the odd smells and its captivity." Shaak said with a faint sigh. "It took them a while to make the connection between Shili, the akul and my race, and even longer to actually think I might know anything about them. Just because I'm a Jedi doesn't mean I don't know anything about my home planet." She shook her head ruefully. "Though admittedly there are Jedi that wouldn't know anything in a similar case."

She shrugged. "An akul is the apex predator on my world, and this one was insane, it would likely have killed every other animal it came upon. After the authorities consulted me and I examined the beast personally I told them it would be best for the akul and for them if it was put down. I bought it off them and with the help from some of the locals, butchered it for some of the meat. Not a pleasant process I have to tell you."

"You didn't have to go to all that trouble for me Shaak," Ranma said, now feeling a little guilty. The idea that someone would go to that trouble just to give him a treat to make him feel better was really nice though, really nice.

"It wasn't just you don't worry." Shaak said with a faint laugh, causing Ranma to laugh too. "I wanted to thank you for helping me with my own cycle, and I know your own cycle is irritating. I felt this was a good way to pay you back, and to help you deal with it."

As she moved over to the table Ranma reached out, grabbing one of her hands and squeezing gently. "Thanks Shaak," Ranma said. "This means a lot."

For some reason Shaak found herself flushing slightly, and looking away almost as if she was feeling shy. "You're welcome Ranma, now, let's sit down and eat! I'm interested to see how the salad turned out, and the meat eater in me must be fed!"

Ranma laughed and let go of her hand, and the two sat down to one of the best meals Ranma could ever remember having. And the food was good too.

Several days later after his cycle as Shaak put it had passed, Ranma returned the favor, and Shaak came in to find Ranma in his male form cooking at the kitchenette. It got to the point where one or the other would cook at least once a week, something they both enjoyed.

OOOOOOO

Nearly three months into their stay on Dac, Ranma's ship was nearing completion and Shaak was meditating when through the Force she felt the distant arrival of several Jedi in the dockyards circling Dac. She smiled, pulling out of her meditation and standing up, moving from where she had been sitting in the lotus position in her bathing suit to the fresher. As she did she called out, "com, open a link with Ranma please."

The apartment's computer did so, and as she stepped into the refresher, she said "Ranma, I just felt the arrival of several of my brethren, we might be having visitors. I don't know why yet, just giving you a heads up."

Ranma replied in the affirmative, and agreed to meet her up in the dockyards. Shaak took a shuttle up after a few moments spent dressing herself, once more wearing her Jedi robe. Moments later she and Ranma were there to greet the incoming Jedi as a Consular class ship touched down in the docks above the planetary capital.

Two Jedi came out. One was an Aqualish padawan, his stance, age and the color of his robe giving that away even though he was a species that could not have the normal padawan side-knot.

The Jedi master, who Shaak barely recognized having only seen the man in passing before, was a member of another aquatic species, an Ishi Tib. "Master Grhoto, greetings" she said, bowing her head.

"Greetings Knight Shaak Ti," said the man, holding his webbed hand up formally, palm out in token of peace. "I bring you greetings." He smiled faintly, gesturing into the Consular class ship. "No doubt you are wondering what I am doing here, please come inside, you and your… companion."

The Ishi Tib looked at Ranma, his eyes narrowed slightly over his triangular beak, but not antagonistically, more judgmentally than anything else. Ranma and Shaak entered the Consular class ship, sitting down around the main sitting area, which Ranma noted was actually quite crowded with various items and boxes. He frowned in disapproval. He knew the Consular class didn't actually have much cargo space, and all that it did have was used for food and other requirements for the ship itself.

But even so, how are they supposed to train in here with this kind of stuff all around? There certainly wasn't enough room to swing a lightsaber without hitting something. Not, he thought complacently, that'd slow me down much.

"Are you here on another assignment master, or are you here to pass on a message that the high Council would not wish to pass via Hypercom?" Shaak Ti asked as she sat down, gesturing Ranma to sit down next to her.

"A little of both, Knight Ti. Knight Fisto's report mentioned the small shields and the heavy quad cannons you two and this one ran into. " Master Grhoto said flicking one hand towards Ranma "That was not the only example of expensive high-tech gear being spotted in the hands of groups that could loosely be termed terrorists. I'm here to help hunt that lead down. My specialty lies in computer programming and analytical data collection." He shrugged modestly. "That and my ability to swim and stay in the water for long periods of time made me a natural to follow up this avenue."

"Do you have any leads yet? Or theories?" Shaak asked, interested. Neither she nor Kit had been able to make any headway on that mystery.

"I never create theories before I have all the facts," said the man firmly and rather sanctimoniously in Ranma's opinion. The man was coming off as earnest, but also a bit arrogant and rather stuffy to Ranma's mind.

"My padawan and I are also part of an experiment. Grand Master Yoda wishes for the Jedi to begin to relate more to local governments rather than to the Senate." From his tone the man wasn't certain what to think about that, but would follow orders regardless.

"As such, he has decided to begin placing teams of Jedi on sector government planets. We are the first to arrive here, but I understand Knight Fisto will be permanently assigned here as well, and two others, though their names have not yet been chosen. We of course will not assign Masters of the same race to their home worlds, the urge to create attachments would be too great for most, and the majority of the Jedi thus assigned will be rotated out every year to other posts to keep the same thing from happening.

Shaak nodded, fighting to roll her eyes. Her self-control of such things had diminished greatly with her ongoing interaction with Ranma. The man's attitude was very apparent to her now, and she wondered idly if he understood how arrogant and standoffish it made him seem. In our efforts to remain neutral and aloof, we have become arrogant, is this how normal people see most of us?

Aloud she said, "I see. I had wondered what master Yoda was doing, and that seems a good idea to me."

"Your approval is irrelevant Jedi Knight, he is the Grand Master, and it is his word we follow." The man said, without rancor but as if he was simply pointing out the weather.

Shaak nodded, reining in her emotions with ease while Ranma rolled his eyes and leaned back, crossing his legs on the table. Grhoto stared at them for a moment, but when Ranma made no move to remove them he went on.

"We were also tasked to drop off several pieces of gear to you. One of them is a small lightsaber construction table." He said gesturing to one of the larger boxes. "I have no idea why Grand Master Yoda and the other High Council members decided to send that, I imagine it has something to do with this… experiment."

His eyes flicked back over to Ranma, who merely stared back. "I have to say I am rather ambivalent about it. Only Jedi should use a lightsaber, anything else is simply asking for trouble or at the minimum lost limbs. They aren't toys after all. However, the High Council made that decision and I will abide by it."

The man went on much more seriously. "I have also the parts and pieces necessary for you to put together a Hypercom uplink for yourself. You'll have to piggyback onto a local signal for power of course, but it has an encryption code built into it."

Ranma snorted and nodded touching Shaak on the shoulder to stop her from speaking. "That's from Master Dooku right? He convinced the other Masters that the Senate might be reading your mail?"

"…Indeed." The master replied, staring from Ranma to Shaak Ti's shoulder.

Yet when he went on for the first time, the master came off entirely sincere and humble. "He wanted to give the credit to you I understand? Thank you. I cannot tell you the number of times an investigation into a senator or high functionary has come to naught because they were given time enough to prepare a defense or alibi. Of course there were always other clues pointing away from the Hypercom signals themselves being overheard, but even so it should have occurred to us all much sooner that the Senate might have been listening in to our mail."

Ranma nodded back graciously, removing his hand from Shaak's shoulder almost absentmindedly, and Grhoto made a mental note on how Shaak hadn't reacted to that somewhat intimate touch. Jedi should not seek closeness with another, yet her race is against her there. So long as it hasn't grown to an actual… emotional connection… then I will not correct her behavior.

"The instructions will be in one of the boxes, I urge you to put the device together yourselves, once you have your new ship." He sniffed again, shaking his head. "Jedi should not covet worldly objects."

"Even if those objects let us perform our missions better?" Shaak asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Perhaps in that case, but they should be simple designs, not ostentatious ones, and certainly not s so expensive as I understand this ship is." Grhoto replied.

"The order isn't the one paying for it." Shaak said while Ranma nodded in agreement. "Ranma is."

The man turned slightly to face Ranma squarely. "The masters have made their decision plain on this, even if there are many among them who dissent. But I will abide by the Council's decisions as all Jedi should, it is simply very odd to me that we have welcomed you as an ally, when you use the Force in so odd a manner, and are clearly not a Jedi. Still I'll say no more on that."

He stood up abruptly, then watched as Ranma went around picking up the boxes and creating a pyramid of them in his arms, holding the lot of them with ease. "The Masters also said to get in touch with them the moment that Hypercom link is online and your ship is built."

"Is there any reason behind that urgency, or do they were simply wish for a progress report on the experiment, as you put it?" Shaak asked as she moved to help Ranma, showing far greater strength then even a Jedi Knight should be able to.

The master and his padawan's eyebrows both shot up, and the padawan looked eager to learn while the master merely nodded seeing some progress has had already been made. "I believe that the latter is true, but and Grand Master Yoda wishes to speak to both of you personally."

"Do you know how heavy this thing would be once we put it together?" Ranma asked. "Or how bulky? If it's small enough to transport, we can put it together in our apartment, and use it right away. If not, I'd want to wait until my ship is ready. If you are worried about someone listening to your mail you don't want to leave this device around, and I'm not free to spend all of my time up with the ship yard workers or in the apartment."

"Every race has sentients which can be bribed." the man said nodding his head in an abrupt, almost bird-like gesture. "You understand security good as is the fact that the experiment has already shown some results. Or have you always been so strong Knight Ti?"

Ranma laughed and nodded, while Shaak looked down at the items in her arms, her head cocked to one side. "I hadn't even realized it." She shook her head thinking that Ranma's mere presence tended to warp a person's ideas of what was normal.

A moment later the two of them on their way out, with Shaak formally bowing to the master as he nodded his head to her. A few moments later they were in the shuttle heading back down to their apartment. "So…" Ranma said, "How normal is that guy in the order?"

"Far too normal for me to wish," Shaak's sighed.

Later that day Shaak tried to invite the two newcomers to live with her and Ranma in their apartment, she was not at all surprised that Master Grhoto had refused, instead deciding to live in the ship they had come from for now until an ambassadorial suite could be prepared for them in the capital. That was generally in keeping with the Master's attitude so far.

Not that she was at all unhappy about his refusal. The idea of those two joining her and Ranma in their apartment felt sort of wrong to Shaak for some reason, despite the fact that she had routinely shared accommodations with Jedi she didn't know very well both at the Temple and on joint missions at times.

That standoffish attitude continued however. Neither the padawan, who had not been introduced, or Master Grhoto were interested in joining Ranma and Shaak's sparring. And not because of any High Council injunction against anyone else learning from Ranma.

No, they've didn't practice with lightsabers at all save the bare minimum the Order required. When Shaak asked him if they wanted to join, master Grhoto went so far as to say that the use of weapons was a sign of less civilized times, and that the Order as a whole might well do without them if the lightsaber had not become such a symbol of the Jedi.

Shaak smiled as he said it, nodded politely and changed the subject, very deliberately not looking at Ranma who had heard that. Shaak knew she would not have been able to keep a straight face if she had.

Grhoto did however keep her apprised of his ongoing electronic investigation into the off-world tech which the terrorists had used. He had quickly agreed with the local electronics experts that most of the evidence against the Independence League had been faked, and even tracked down the hacker who was responsible for it with their help. Unfortunately the Quarren in question did not have any connection to whoever had supplied the Quarren radicals with their advanced and very expensive weaponry.

In the weeks that followed, Grhoto tracked down several leads on them, all of them ending in dead ends. Whoever was behind this was very good at covering their trail, both electronic and in the real world.

About a month and a half after the two newcomers arrived, Ranma's ship finally finished construction.

OOOOOOO

Shaak and Ranma stood in the docking bay staring up at his ship. to Ranma's eyes the finished ship looked like the most badass manta ray in existence, with wings on either side of the main hull sloped backwards and down towards the deck beneath them. They held the two quad lasers on small topside pintle mounts. It's jaw, which was where the cockpit was, thrust forward from the rest of the body while the main engines were of course at the back of the ship and the entrance was under one wing.

It was about the length of four starfighters end to end, and at its widest point, was around the size of twostarfighters set wing to wing, and about a twenty-five feet tall. The body was slightly built up where the wings joined it. It was somewhat bulbous here and there, but mostly smooth, alien looking yet altogether beautiful in both Ranma and Shaak's eyes. "It's a beautiful ship Ranma, I think the paint job needs a bit of work, but the design is fantastic."

"I know!" Ranma said with a grin, nodding her head over to where the Dukat and his crew were watching them, all of them smiling proudly at their handiwork. Working on a one-off design like this, even if they had begun with the designs of two other ships and simply merged the two in many ways, was a joy to them: the highest art form their profession allowed for.

As the two walked around it, Ranma pointed out the panels which would move aside to reveal the main weapons of the ship which he'd mentioned a time or two to her obliquely. It was only sinking into Shaak's mind that the ship was going to be quite well-armed for its size. Two proton torpedo launchers along with an Ion cannon, good grief. I'm glad they're hidden, that would make nearly any Core World deny us entry, unless of course they simply tried to arrest us and commandeer it for themselves.

In the interior, the entrance way alighted directly into the main sitting area of the ship. It was much smaller than on a Consular class, but included a sofa along one side, and a holographic projector which, liking the Consular class could be raised out of the floor or put back down. It was large enough for a spar, but not by much, and it would certainly limits their ability to move around.

Shaak cocked an eyebrow at Ranma shrugged. "We had to take the space from somewhere. Most of the interior cargo capacity went to the extra power generators. The rest will be for food, a kitchen which is down that way," he said gesturing towards the aft end of the ship, "and a very small laundry room. Oh, plus of course the ammunition for the torpedo launchers up front."

The two went in that direction, and Shaak nodded. The kitchen was small but it was well stocked with appliances, and utensils apparently as she opened a few of the drawers, which would of course be locked during maneuvers. But the sitting room would obviously also be the ship's dining area too, since there was no room to eat in the kitchen. The engine room was equally small, but the engine itself was a powerful one.

The cockpit was big enough for Tune, who was set in the center of it at the moment, warbling happily to himself, and two pilot chairs. There was no room for anyone to stand once you entered the cockpit and closed the hatch. The two bedrooms were smaller than those of their current apartment, something which part of Shaak regretted. She shook that a thought off however. I am a Jedi, material things and comfort are immaterial.

The two rooms were directly down from the cockpit. About six feet by ten feet each room was set into one of the wings of the ship, and diagonal in shape. The beds took up much of the room, something Shaak could not in good conscience object to. There was a small overhead compartment above the bed and an equally small cabinet on the other wall.

"I think this ship needs some plants life," Shaak said thoughtfully, gesturing to the point of the diagonal behind the bed of the room they were currently in. "A small tree of some kind perhaps and maybe some plants in the main sitting room?"

"Well considering you're going to be living on this ship so long as your assigned to be my 'apprentice', I don't have a problem with you putting your own personal stamp on things," Ranma said with a shrug. "Go nuts."

The two of them fell silent for a moment as they continued their survey of the ship. While they wouldn't voice it neither liked the idea of Shaak being reassigned. Ranma was beginning to realize the reason why he didn't like it, while Shaak was still somewhat ignorant of what she was beginning to feel. All she knew was that she did not like the idea of leaving Ranma's side, and not simply because he needed a minder either.

Next to one room in the same wing was a very small walking closet that had been converted into a bathroom. A sonic shower of course, water on board ships was far too precious to waste on a water shower. A small area for toiletries was also crammed into the room. The shower itself however was of a decent enough size that you wouldn't feel cramped within it.

All in all Shaak was both impressed. "I like it Ranma I like it a lot frankly," she said as the two of them exited the ship. "What are you going to call it?"

"The Wild Light." Ranma supplied, pulling at his pigtail self-consciously. "Er, I figured it was appropriate."

She moved over to the locals, informing them that she greatly approved of the ship her 'padawan' had commissioned for the two of them, shaking hands all around, and being effusive with her praise in a way that most Jedi would not have been. It got a reaction and the spines of the Mon Calamari all straightened with pride even more so than they had already.

Shaak and Ranma spent the rest of the day shuttling their gear up to Wild Light, the heaviest of which was the Hypercom transceiver and the lightsaber workstation. Ranma hadn't begun working with that just yet, but he had already finalized the designs he was going to follow once he did.

Once their gear was stowed away Tune piloted the ship out into space, and the two of them began to put the Wild Light through its paces, finding the ship responsive and fast in maneuvering. Not as fast as a fighter would be in a straight line, but much faster than its size would indicate to most, and very responsive in its ability to turn.

It was a thrill to pilot for both of them and Shaak smiled proudly as Ranma put the ship through its paces. He wasn't quite up to the level where she'd trust him in a dogfight, but he was getting there.

This went on for several hours, before they went back to the dock and put in for the evening. After that, Ranma quickly put the Hypercom transceiver together in the main sitting area, where it thankfully was able to fit into the small compartment with the holograph projector and thus be stowed away at need.

"Should we call them now or tomorrow do you think?" Ranma asked looking over at Shaak.

Shaak frowned shaking her head. "I would like to put it off, we've had a full day already, however I don't think we should." The fact that she had even thought about doing so bothered her a little, but Ranma simply nodded, and quickly typed in a few buttons.

The Hypercom signal went out, piggy-backing out of the signal from Dac out into the intergalactic relay system, heading towards Coruscant. But even instantaneous transmission like this wasn't so instantaneous over that large a distance, and it was several moments before the call actually connected. It was responded to promptly however, and the faces of Mace Windu and Oppo Ranicisis appeared.

Shaak nodded her head formally up to the masters. "Master Windu, Master Ranicisis. We were told to call you only when our ship was finished, and we had a secure position for this Hypercom piggyback system. I hope that the wait has not been overlong."

If either Master had noticed the words 'our ship' neither gave any sign. "Not for the original reason we wished you to contact us, no. Master Yoda would still like to see both of you on Kashykk, but something else has come up." Ranicisis stated.

The two Masters exchanged a glance and looked at Shaak for a moment before Mace spoke. "Jedi Shaak Ti, padawan Aayla Secura is overdue reporting in on her mission."

Shaak didn't stiffen, her self-control was up to the task of keeping all of her emotions in check despite being around Ranma for so long. But inside a coil of cold dread began to grow. "I was never informed what mission she was on Master, is this late report of great concern?"

"Neither was the High Council for too long." Master Windu said his voice noticeably grim even through the Hypercom link. "She was sent on a mission by Master Cic'kan, though someone on the high Council must have signed off on it as well."

That caused the Shaak's worry to grow exponentially. Master Cic'kan was a Xerexian. His species was completely asexual, reproducing via eggs in crèches that the males germinated. They didn't even understand the terms for male and female and even after so long interacting with other species the idea that males and females were different were hard to grasp for them.

Worse on top of that built-in blind-spot Cic'kan was not very worldly. He had come up through the Jedi through his work with the Library and then joined the personnel division when his organizational skills were recognized. Shaak had dealt with him a time or two when she was a padawan, and found him to be analytical but rather cold in a way.

Ranma took one sideways look at Shaak's expression (or non-expression in this case) and leaned forward. "I take it there's been a problem here." he said coldly. "I remember wondering about what kind of mission a Twi'lek woman would be uniquely suited for. But I satisfied myself by thinking that most of the Jedi Masters I've interacted with would never be so damn stupid as to send a young girl on the type of mission I was thinking of."

Both Masters closed their eyes in pain at that pointed attack, though it was Windu who responded. "I wish that your trust in that was not in vain Ranma. Needless to say Master Cic'kan has been removed from the Council of Reassignment. He will never be in charge of personnel again, nor will he ever be allowed to take another padawan. And we are looking at his first padawan closely at the moment."

"Unfortunately Knight Vos learned of this event before we did, and we have been forced to place him under custody for attacking Cic'kan and two other members of the Council of Reassignment." Mace shook his head. "If not for Master Bulq being nearby Knight Vos might well have lost himself to his rage entirely, but his emotional turmoil is such we need to keep him under observation."

"Despite her master's indisposition, Padawan Secura needs extraction," said Master Oppo Ranicisis forcefully, glaring through the receiver as if he was still glaring at Master Cic'kan. "She was as Ranma and you Shaak have no doubt suspected sent on an undercover mission to follow a slave ring back to its point of origin. That point of origin seemed to be within Republic space, but we could not pin down where." He shook his head. "On the surface it was a good idea, but the cost what Aayla might be going through is too high a price for any information she could gain from it."

Windu took up the tale then. "We know she is very good at the use of mental abilities, that she can turn people's attention away from her and even use Force Stealth, but…" Shaak and Ranma both nodded resolutely and he went on. "The Jedi Order will not abandon a Jedi, not while I am Master of the Order. We want Aayla rescued, however that may be accomplished."

"However that may be accomplished?" Ranma asked before Shaak could get the words out. "So you're asking us to break her out however we can? Collateral damage doesn't matter, I want ta be clear on this?"

"I will shed no tears for anyone in a position to have slaves on Tatooine. That is where you need to go now. I would like you to get her out subtly if you can, but if you can't so long as it cannot be traced back to the Order I'm fine with whatever you do."

Ranma nodded, cracking his knuckles as he got to his feet while Shaak Ti did the same beside him. "Then we better get going shouldn't we?"

End Chapter


And there you have chapter five ladies and gentlemen. The next chapter, we dive into the events of PM, heh, and the lack of combat in this and the last chapter will be redressed (thank the Force, no more philosophy -_-;). This is also the only chapter which will not be based off canon plot pieces, the Quarren did of course want independence, but the rest of this chapter's actions came all from my own head. Even between the events of PM and the start of the Clone Wars (not certain fi that name will change, but we'll see) I will have Ranma and Shaak, and whoever else joins up with them, will be dealing with canon plot problems/issues.

Now, for two slightly more serious questions than the question I asked at the end of Game Changer about killing off Kuno. I actually wasn't serious about that guys, love the responses, but I just had to vent and know I wasn't alone in my pain with his damn accent.

Anyway, on to the serious questions: First, is Anakin redeemable? Whenever I come to this question, I remember he personally executed younglings and was willing to do so to protect his wife, and I can't remain objective about it. I think his main fall from grace is his relationship with Padme, and unfortunately I don't think that the Order will allow relationships openly for a while. I also feel he makes too good a villain, his slide into the Dark Side too interesting, to just get rid of it.

Second: Should this be a Ranma/Multi story? I am getting into the Shaak/Ranma dynamic, and I just have to wonder if a second girl should be introduced. Any thoughts on this and who would be a good addition would be helpful. Though I will say upfront if I do go this route it won't be without conflict, like in most of my other stories.