ANAKIN
"Disturbing is this move by Chancellor Palpatine." Master Yoda said thoughtfully, folding his hands over the top of his cane.
"I understand." Anakin replied, giving what he hoped was a humbled and diplomatic nod of his head. He cast his eyes over the other Jedi who sat in a circle around him in the council chambers.
"You are on the council," Master Windu said and Anakin felt his heart leap in his chest. "But we do not grant you the rank of master." Just as his heart reached it's full heart from the leap, he felt it come crashing back down.
"What?" Was all he could blurt out. Windu fixed him with a distasteful stare while Obi-Wan seemed to give an internal sigh, probably because he knew he'd have to deal with Anakin's whining once they left the chambers.
"How can you do this? This is outrageous." He fumed, feeling his anger beginning to boil inside of him. Though his words were strong he managed to keep his voice relatively calm. "It's unfair. How can you be on the council and not be a Master?"
"Take a seat, young Skywalker." Windu said, placing an exceptional amount of emphasis on his reference to Anakin's age. He felt heat rising in his cheeks but decided to keep his mouth shut.
"Forgive me, Master." He said stiffly and strode over to his waiting seat. His rage was dulled when he found himself surrounded by his fellow Jedi Masters. They sat in a circle, as equals. Except he wasn't their equal. Anakin felt his anger threatening to bubble back to the surface.
"…there are rumours that General Grievous is hiding in the outer rim." Master Plo Koon was saying.
"We need to sweep the outer systems, but we do not have many ships to spare." Obi-Wan added, sounding tired.
"Make do with what we have, we must. Guide us, the force will." Master Yoda said profoundly, and the members of the council nodded solemnly.
"May the force be with us all." Master Windu said hopefully, clasping his hands together and rising from his feet as Anakin raised an eyebrow. That was it? Why wasn't the council doing more? If it meant ending capturing Grievous, resources shouldn't be a question. They should be doing whatever it took to end the Separatist threat.
Anakin's tiresome mood stayed with him as he marched out of the council chambers beside Obi-Wan.
"What kind of nonsense is this?" He muttered to himself, hoping Obi-Wan was paying enough attention to indulge in his slights. "Put me on the council and not make me a master?" He added when his Master stayed silent. "It's never been done in the history of the Jedi. It's insulting."
"Oh, calm down, Anakin." Obi-Wan sighed and he stopped at the top of the steps. "You have been given a great honour. To be on the council at your age – it's never happened before."
Obi-Wan looked over his shoulder as the last Jedi left the council chambers. When he looked back at Anakin, his brow furrowed, and he crossed his arms over his chest. "The fact of the matter is you are too close to the chancellor. The council doesn't like it when he interferes in Jedi affairs."
Whatever Anakin had expected to hear from Obi-Wan, it certainly wasn't this.
"I swear to you, I didn't ask to be put on the council." He said, dropping his eyes to the floor.
"But it's what you wanted." Obi-Wan pointed out. "Your friendship with Chancellor Palpatine seems to have paid off…The only reason the council has approved your appointment is because the Chancellor trusts you."
"And?" Anakin demanded, instantly going on the defensive.
"Anakin, I am on your side." Obi-Wan sighed, holding up his hand in surrender. "I didn't want to put you in this situation."
"What situation?" Anakin asked as his master's words hung in the air.
Obi-Wan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers, not meeting Anakin's eye as he spoke. "The council wants you to report on all the Chancellor's dealings. They want to know what he's up to."
"They want me to spy on the Chancellor?" Anakin asked, not quite believing what he was hearing. "That's treason…Why didn't the council give me this assignment when we were in session?"
"This assignment is not to be on record." Obi-Wan replied.
"The Chancellor is not a bad man, Obi-Wan." Anakin seethed, feeling his anger still simmering deep in his gut.
"Anakin, our allegiance is to the senate, not to its leader, who has managed to stay in office long after his term has expired." Obi-Wan replied.
"The people wanted him to stay." Anakin said feebly.
"Yes, but use your feelings, Anakin. Something is out of place." Obi-Wan tried.
"You're asking me to go against a mentor and a friend, that's what's out of place here." Anakin shook his head. "Why are you asking this of me?"
"The council is asking." Obi-Wan finished quietly, and Anakin got the sense he wasn't happy about the arrangement either.
Anakin opened his mouth to retort, when he caught sight of someone standing by one of the pillars at the bottom of the staircase. The Queen of Troska was easy enough to spot with her silver gown standing out amongst the demure greys and browns of the Jedi temple's décor. His mouth twisted into a coy smile, his angst quickly forgotten as he nodded to his Master, indicating that he should follow his gaze.
When Obi-Wan saw Thalia, Anakin watched as the crease in his brow softened and he un-crossed his arms from his chest.
When he looked back to Anakin, he scowled at his apprentice's smug expression.
"Don't start with that again." Obi-Wan said tersely.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm off to meet with Rex." Anakin shrugged innocently, but as he turned to leave, he couldn't help having one final dig at his Master. "Say 'hi' to your girlfriend for me."
"I…Anakin!" Obi-Wan spluttered at Anakin's retreating grin.
Obi-Wan huffed and looked down at Thalia. She'd turned to stand before one of the tall windows, looking out across the city landscape.
Obi-Wan trotted down the steps and walked up to stand beside her at the window.
"I'm sorry if I interrupted you and General Skywalker. It seemed important." She said immediately, turning to look at him.
"No, not at all." Obi-Wan smiled slightly.
"Is everything okay?" She asked hesitantly. He studied her face. The pale purple colour she wore on her eyelids matched her eyes perfectly. Coupled with her pale, pink hair she looked like the end of a rainbow.
The thought of his previous conversation with Anakin made him drop his eyes to the ground and turn to look back out the window.
"A new assignment given to him by the council. He's not happy about it. Especially when he's been asked to report on a friend." Obi-Wan sighed, careful of what information he let slip.
"I think it's dangerous, letting them get any closer than they are." Thalia nodded knowingly, and Obi-Wan frowned as he looked at her. Perhaps she knew more about the situation than he did. She was privy to the gossip of the council chambers and Padme was always up for a chat. "I assume you mean…the Chancellor." She said in a hushed voice. "Padme tells me they're quite close."
"Well…" Obi-Wan began. "I suppose you know more than I do if you have your own source inside the senate." He smiled, turning back to the window.
"Some will call it gossip but I call it perceptiveness." Thalia shrugged a smug shoulder, but her face soon fell to be replaced with a look of concern.
"As much as I enjoy your company, I didn't come here for conversation." She began, sounding almost awkward, and Obi-Wan turned his attention away from the flowing traffic. "I've had a transmission from the minister of Akiva, asking for Troska's assistance in their fight for neutrality. They've asked for shield technology." She waved her hand at that part as if it weren't important. "But I was under the impression that Akiva has been uninhabited for the past decade. The only record I could find of their operations was back when my father was king. There have been no communications since and not a single ship has entered its system, which I also cannot find."
"Yes, well that certainly doesn't inspire confidence in the validity of the transmission." Obi-Wan nodded, running a hand over his beard. "I must say, I haven't heard anything about Akiva for years either."
"Do you know anyone who might have an ear out for these sorts of things?" Thalia asked, clasping her ringed hands in front of her. "Someone who hears things when people think no one's listening?"
"I do." He replied slowly and cast a sidelong glance at the Queen, who's face soured as she cottoned on to who he had in mind.
"No." Was all she said with a frown. She still hadn't recovered from her last trip to the Lower Levels.
. . .
"Obi-Wan!" The booming voice of Dex Jetstter rang off the tiled walls of the diner. Nothing about this place had changed since Thalia had last been here. Even Dex's shirt seemed to be the same, including the stains.
"Hello, Dex!" Obi-Wan grinned as Thalia stood stone faced beside him.
The huge Besalik came wobbling out of the kitchens and embraced Obi-Wan in a six-armed hug. With a loud chuckle, Dex turned to Thalia and her eyes widened in alarm as she realised, he intended to greet her in the same way. With a clearing of her throat and a quickly extended hand, she shook one of Dex's own and tried not to grimace at the greasy residue left on her palm.
This time, Thalia remembered to take a seat beside Obi-Wan leaving Dex to squeeze himself into the pew opposite them.
"So, my friend, what can I do for you and your lady?" Dex grinned.
"We're wondering if you've heard anything about the planet Akiva." Obi-Wan began, ignoring Dex's comment, but judging by the sly smile that pulled at the corners of the Besalik's mouth, he hadn't missed the flush of colour that crept over the top of Obi-Wan's beard. "We were under the impression Akiva hasn't been inhabited for at least the last decade."
"Hmm…I haven't heard much." Dex thought, running a hand over his lumpy chin. "There have been rumours about traders using the system as a hub for bartering their wares, so the planet is certainly still there. Perhaps the original inhabitants moved on, but the traders are establishing their own population."
Thalia and Obi-Wan shared a look. At least Akiva still existed, but whether it was a planet truly in need of Troska's help was another question. A government run by traders, thieves and bounty hunters would certainly be looking for a hub with a strong defence, but Thalia wasn't sure Troska was the right place to find that protection.
"And if we wanted to visit Akiva, how would you suggest we go about getting there?" She asked.
"You'll have to find it first." Dex grinned, showing a set of razor sharp, yellow teeth. "I doubt your Jedi records would have the coordinates still logged if the planet was deemed uninhabited, but I'd try looking in the Ranjer system. That's what all the traders who pass through here say."
"Thank you, Dex." Obi-Wan smiled gratefully, but Thalia didn't miss the deep crease between his brows.
"What are you thinking?" Thalia asked as they stepped out onto the sunny street. The sun gleamed off a tall, glass building opposite the diner, forcing Thalia to squint against the blinding light.
"I should like to accompany you to Akiva. Even if it does still exist, a government of thugs doesn't sound like a place I'd be willing to send anyone on their own." He replied and Thalia smiled appreciatively.
"We have to find it first." She said, as Obi-Wan turned to stand between her and the shining building. While it protected her from the glare of the building, Thalia couldn't help but notice the halo effect it cast on Obi-Wan. Light shone around his head and shoulders, turning his hair golden and making him look incredibly saint-like.
"I think I know someone who can help." He said, pulling her back to his eyes and she shifted uncomfortably, realising she'd been staring at him.
"It's not another low-life, is it?" She asked flatly as the Jedi turned and started across the road.
"I wouldn't call him that to his face." Obi-Wan called over his shoulder and Thalia begrudgingly followed.
. . .
"Reach out with your senses. Feel the force around you." Though he was small, Yoda's voice carried all the way across the blue, carpeted floor of the Jedi Temple to where Obi-Wan and Thalia were approaching.
As they neared the training room, Thalia glimpsed small, flashing lines of colour from between the open double doors. She couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips as she realised what the lights were. About twenty children, barely older than eight, held the smallest lightsabres she'd ever seen. Large helmets sat low, over their eyes as they used the force to deflect blaster bolts from training balls.
"Use your feelings, you must." Yoda instructed and Thalia raised a hand to her chest, placing it just over her heart as she cast a doting look at Obi-Wan who smiled at the scene in front of them.
Realising he had company, Yoda tapped his walking stick on the ground and waved them in. Thalia decided it would be best if she stayed in the doorway.
"Younglings. Younglings, a visitor we have." Yoda called and the children peeked out from under their helmets.
"Hello, Master Obi-Wan." They all chorused, and Thalia thought her heart would melt.
"Hello." Obi-Wan replied, trying to stop the smile that threatened the corner of his mouth. "I'm sorry to disturb you, Master."
"What help can I be, Obi-Wan?" Yoda asked, directing his gaze past his fellow Jedi to land suspiciously on Thalia.
"I'm looking for a planet described to me by an old friend. I'm under the impression that it was no longer in the archives, but the entire system seems to have disappeared as well." Obi-Wan explained.
"Hmm. Lost a planet Master Obi-Wan has. How embarrassing. How embarrassing." Yoda chided, casting a withering look at the children who giggled behind their helmets. "Liam, the shades."
A small boy walked over to where Thalia was standing in the doorway and waved her aside with his tiny hand, determined not to be foiled in his special mission from Master Yoda. Amusedly, Thalia stepped aside, and the boy pressed a button on the panel she had been standing next to. The windows in the back of the room darkened, but the darkness was short lived because hundreds and thousands of tiny stars sprung to life all about the room. She realised they were all the planets in the archive memory. It was beautiful.
"Clear your minds, and find Obi-Wan's wayward planet, we will." Yoda said as Obi-Wan began to make his way across the room.
"It ought to be…here." He said, pointing at an uncommonly large gap in the stars. "Gravity is pulling all the stars in the area to this spot, as any system would, but there's nothing there."
"Hmm. The stars suggest something remains. If not in the archive, where might we find a record of the system?" Yoda asked the younglings, who stared at him with wide eyes. Obi-Wan looked around the room, his eyes eventually landing on Thalia. The furrows between his brows softened slightly as he looked at her through the tiny glowing lights. Thalia felt his gaze on her, but she didn't meet his eye. This wasn't the first time she'd felt him watching her and she liked the look on his face when he did. She knew if she turned to him, that look would vanish and he'd look away.
"Master?" A small voice came from the back of the room, drawing Obi-Wan's attention to a youngling clutching his helmet tightly between his hands. "On an older system? Like a droid or a ship?"
Yoda's chuckle rumbled in his chest. "Very good, Alex. Truly wonderful the mind of a child is, from one so young to imagine something so old."
Little Alex had made a good point. If the Jedi system prided itself on its efficiency to update, they needed to search through one that was outdated.
Obi-Wan began to move back towards the doorway and Master Yoda followed him.
"Your majesty." The old Jedi murmured as he bowed his head. "Aiding you once again, Master Obi-Wan is." He remarked. If it were anyone else, Thalia would have thought he was teasing, but the scrupulous eye he cast towards her made her swallow thickly.
"I had intended to ask your approval, Master." Obi-Wan said and Thalia cast him a sideways glance, her eyebrow raised slightly.
"Go, you may." Yoda nodded. "But another you must take, a good experience it will be…Accompany you, Master Voss will. Work on his probation he will."
Obi-Wan's shoulders seemed to sag at the mention of Jedi Master Voss, but he graciously thanked Yoda before leading Thalia out of the training room.
"You weren't going to ask for their approval?" Thalia asked slyly as they made their way down the hall.
"I knew what their answer was going to be, so decided it wasn't necessary." He replied purposely.
"That's not like you, Obi-Wan. To disobey the rules." She grinned but Obi-Wan's smile appeared more as a grimace. She wanted to ask him the real reason he didn't go to the council, but Thalia thought she knew the answer already. He didn't want the council to think that he was at her beck and call. They might get the wrong idea.
"Who is Master Voss?" Thalia asked, trying a different subject.
"Let's just say, if you thought Anakin was reckless, compared to Quinlan Voss he's a…"
"An Obi-Wan?" Thalia offered, finished the Jedi's sentence.
"That's one way to put it." He replied slowly, looking sideways at the Queen. "He was put on probation a few months ago and is trying to work off the time by doing 'community service' as he puts it."
"I didn't know Jedi could go on probation." Thalia frowned.
"Well, as I'm sure he'll tell you, that's just another one of the firsts he's achieved in his so far short but exciting life." Obi-Wan grimaced.
"Is that disdain I hear?" Thalia teased.
"Astute as always, my dear." He replied with a sigh. Whoever this Quinlan Vos was, he sure had Obi-Wan's nerves jumping already.