Chapter 24 - Armour
Master Obi-Wan Kenobi was somewhat nervous about taking on an apprentice. Rey had never wholly been his responsibility, some had been Qui-Gon's and well, no matter how protective they could all be of her, she was an extremely capable adult. This wasn't the case with Ahsoka Tano.
As his Padawan, she was in every sense, his responsibility to keep safe.
And he still had a bounty on his head.
He restrained a sigh, as he watched her warm up, all of the Council had said that it was time for him to take a Padawan learner as he both wanted one and was ready.
The price on his head was just a risk he would have to factor into everything. Which now meant staying at the Temple or going on missions to systems too remote or under disguise to keep people from realizing what he was worth in bounty. For his hair he had actually gone to a beauty technician rather than constantly dying it, it now grew in red. But he couldn't think of a way to have Ahsoka blend in with Padme's guard.
"Show me your basic forms," he said to her as she came up from a split that showed her flexibility and grace.
Obi-Wan could do flips all day, but he didn't want to guess at all the muscles he would rip if he tried doing that.
She nodded, and he could feel her nervousness about him.
It brought back memories of how he had felt around Qui-Gon, but Obi-Wan would make sure that Ahsoka never doubted that he wanted her to be his Padawan, even if he was starting to get the feeling that this girl was going to make his life interesting.
Her motions were rushed, she pulled too soon out of some steps and swung too deeply into others.
"Is holding your blade in a reverse grip your preferred hold?" he asked.
"Yes, Master Kenobi," she said, looking as if she were waiting for him to dig in on about all the disadvantages to that.
But Obi-Wan had helped train Rey, someone who was passing with a normal lightsaber but excelled with a dual bladed staff despite the extra skill she had needed to develop to use the weapon effectively.
"Then when you practice use a reverse grip."
Her eyes went wide, "You- I mean everyone else-"
"I am not everyone else," he said, "lightsabers are personal weapons, there is nothing to be gained by conformity if a slight adaptation is best suited to you. However," he saw the worry spring back to life on her face, "it does mean you will have to train harder, and there will be fewer people who can advise you well with that grip."
"Yes, Master Kenobi," she said and continued through another round of basics with a gesture from him.
"Better," he said, coming to stand beside her, igniting his own saber and reversing the grip. He had enough practice with Rey's saberstaff that the downward facing blade wasn't foreign to him, even if it felt strange to hold his own saber like this. He went through the basic motions with her.
She paced herself better following his timing. He wondered how long it would take to build a Master and Padawan bound with her. She wasn't the powerhouse that Rey was, almost no one was, but Ahsoka was powerful in her own right.
He did three more rounds with her, pleased that the corrections he emphasised in his own motions she picked up. Her physical intelligence was remarkable.
Obi-Wan stopped to watch her do another sequence. He frowned, one problem with the reverse hold was that it left her side exposed, as all Forms were designed with a front facing blade she would have to work harder to crossguard her vulnerable side.
He had seen Asajj flip her blades on occasion, despite her focus in Makashi that was almost solely a front facing grip.
"Padawan Tano," he called before tossing his lightsaber hilt to her.
She caught it easily, eyes wide, "Master?"
He smiled, "Try two blades with the reverse grip, neither of those sabers are truly designed for it but most Jedi don't keep the blades they made as initiates. We can make a trip to Ilum easily enough."
She bit her lip, nodding her head in answer.
He realized she was trying to hold her tongue. He fought not to laugh, Rey had only told him a few stories last night as they were preparing for bed. He didn't know Ahsoka yet, but he was under no delusions that she was going to remain the quiet respectful Padawan she was trying to be at the moment. However, this was their first day together, he was going to cherish this memory of obedience.
Her teenage years were probably going to be a nightmare. He had always tried to be good for Qui-Gon because his own place as Padawan had been put in doubt once too often. But he had counselling sessions with others, Master Dooku included, and he knew that happy and secure Jedi teenagers were a special type of fun to raise.
Ahsoka let out a happy sigh as she walked through the motions with the two blades. The bit of jerkiness she had had while trying to cross the reach of reverse grip was smoothed over with the presence of the second blade. Her steps were marked by a lethal grace that reminded Obi-Wan of the style that Mor used with his metal short swords.
"Is Jar'Kai something you would be interested in then?" he asked.
She stopped, a wide smile on her lips, "Yes! This feels so natural! I didn't think you would let me…" she cut herself off, finishing awkwardly, "Thank you, Master Kenobi."
He raised a brow, amused, "You thought I would be stiff and traditional?"
She pressed her lips together, "I mean, you did Master Soresu, but then, I didn't know until yesterday that you were making your own Form."
He shook his head, it probably wasn't a good sign that she looked on Soresu as too defensive and traditional, but then he didn't choose her because she was like him. He chose her because he thought she might be able to keep up with him. Besides, he hadn't exactly been calm and disciplined at her age either. No, that had come in his rebellious years when Qui-Gon had shown his true colours as a contrary and maverick. The only way to rebel against such a Master was to be rule abiding and traditional.
"Master?" she began hesitantly drawing him from his thoughts, "Are you, I mean would you train me in Form VIII?"
He suppressed a smile, trying to keep his face stern, "I certainly can."
Her smile was as bright as Rey's, "Really?"
He nodded, "Yes, but don't blame me a year from now when you find yourself wanting to murder me in my sleep."
Her expression fell in confusion, "What?"
Shaking his head again, he said only, "I am not a Master of Jar'Kai but I understand the adaptations, before you can move on to learning Form VIII, you need to relearn the basics with the two sabers. Tonight I would like you to meditate on what you will like your saber design to be. And tomorrow you can start to research in the archives on other Jar'Kai Masters and saber designs. Whenever you feel you have a blueprint for sabers you would like, we can plan a trip to Ilum. Until then, you can use my saber for practice."
As if she couldn't help herself she blurted out, "Do you like using a blaster?" Indicating the one on his belt despite that he was wearing his robes as opposed to his Nubian uniform.
"It's a barbaric weapon, but handy for long range targets."
"Oh," she said awkwardly.
He smiled, "Practice the basics, we can review formal adaptations for Jar'Kai after you've familiarized yourself with the feel of them. When I return, I expect you to still be practising the foundational forms."
"How long?"
"Until I get back?"
Again she bit her lip.
Nope, he didn't think this easygoingness was going to last long.
"I mean," she began respectfully, "how long will we focus on the basics?"
He stroked his beard and said casually, "My Master kept me on the basics until I was seventeen."
Her jaw actually dropped, her blue eyes filling with horror.
He pressed a knuckle to his lips as if in thought, but he was really hiding a smile, "But we will see. I created a variation of the basics for Form VIII, so you will not be stuck studying exactly what the initiates are doing."
She almost looked as if she was about to cry as she fought herself not to argue with him.
Obi-Wan would explain to her later, once she calmed down some, just why Qui-Gon had had him train in the basics so long, as opposed to waiting until he had been seventeen to explain his thought process.
Communication had not been Qui-Gon's strong point.
"I will see you in a few hours," he said, bowing to her.
She bowed in return, "Yes, Master Kenobi."
He had to suppress another smile as he heard her sigh loudly as he left the room.
oOo
"Rey?" Obi-Wan asked in suspicion, "Why are we having tea here?"
They were near one of the lower levels beside the pool rooms. There was a waterfall here, one that he knew too well.
Bruck had died here and Bant had nearly spent enough time underwater that even she had almost drowned.
"I've never spent time here before," she said as a non-answer, passing him a thermos of tea.
Should he tell her? But he wasn't particularly in the mood to relive the trials Xanatos had put him, his friends, and Qui-Gon through. At least not today, his mind was busy with fresh worries of taking on a Padawan of his own.
"You will do fine, Obi-Wan," Rey told him, correctly identifying his worry but missing that part of the tension was the sound of the rushing fall. "You're going to be an amazing Master, I know you were for me."
He sighed, tapping his fingers on the thermos, "I still have a death threat hanging over my head, I disagree with the Council that I should be taking a Padawan at this time."
"It's been four years," Rey said. "You've been trapped on Coruscant, in the Senate with a bunch of politicians, except for the annual trips to Naboo. No one has been able to uncover your secret identity yet."
She wasn't wrong, a uniform and red hair, plus the beard, had seemed to fool pretty much everyone, even if he spent half his nights in his own room at the Temple. But then Padme spent a lot of her time in the Temple as well, fitting well into his disguise.
"But someone is going to figure it out with a Padawan following me around."
"You've kept Padme safe through how many assassination attempts now?"
"Fourteen," he sighed, thinking that as agonizing as the hours spent in the Senate could be, the last four years had been far from boring.
Plus, he had grown quite fond of Padme, Sabe, and their entourage.
Padme had been officially appointed Senator Padme Nabarrie Amidala, while Sabe had been officially voted in as Queen of Naboo. The assassination attempts on the Queen had stopped, meaning that someone had known about Padme being the Senator.
Obi-Wan was just grateful no one was targeting the Nabarrie family. Padme's sister Sola had just had a baby, and it would have broken his heart if anything happened to that little one.
"You're going to miss them, aren't you?"
He didn't answer. This wasn't the first time in his life he had felt divided loyalties, not that he would ever conceive of turning on the Jedi. But at some point, and he wasn't sure exactly when, he had become one of Padme's people. Her inner circle was one that was as close as a family, a family that would very much kill and die for one another.
"You love her."
He looked up at her sharply, "Padme?"
Rey smirked, "No, Panaka. Of course, Padme."
He shook his head, "No more than you do. If she wasn't working all the time I think Padme would much prefer your company to mine."
"Jealous?" she asked sweetly.
He rolled his eyes, "Hardly, you two are frightening together. I am so glad you aren't a politician."
"So you're not at all upset about Palo?"
He raised a brow, "Rey, I'm not interested in Padme. Besides, Palo is a kind person. I actually like his artwork and I typically don't care much for paintings."
"I think he's boring."
"You haven't met him," he said, smiling, "are you sure you are not the one whose jealous?"
She shook her head, "You would be better for her than him."
He spun the top off the Thermos, "Padme is my charge, and perhaps a friend, but nothing more."
"Have you spoken to Satine recently?"
He gave her a look, "No, I haven't. What is with you today?"
She shrugged.
Narrowing his eyes, he reached out with the Force, brushing his thoughts against hers as he leaned into her space. She was shielding, she had gotten better, good enough that she could keep him and Qui-Gon out without cutting herself off from the Force. But not always when they were close enough to make eye contact with her. "Was that your round about way of asking me if I still have feelings for Satine?"
Rey flushed, "Maybe."
He pulled back with a chuckle, Rey had good enough sense for people but a horrible sense of relationships between people. "To answer your unasked question, no, I do not have feelings for Satine. Though I still think well of her."
"Have you been keeping up with the news on Mandalore?"
He sipped the tea, it was good, lavender with a tangy aftertaste. "No, but from your tone, I'm guessing it isn't good."
"There's been a few attempts on her life."
His heart hurt to hear that, "Have they asked for Jedi aid?"
"No," Rey said, "And from what Harris told me it is probably best if they don't, I think if anyone from the Order tries to interfere things would escalate."
"Of that, sadly, I have no doubt."
Force be with her, he thought. After four years in the Senate arena, he had a whole new appreciation for rulers, especially for young females that everyone seemed to underestimate.
Padme had turned that fact into a weapon to wield against her foes, he wondered if Satine had as well. He wasn't even sure he could wrap his head around just how Satine ruled, pacifism wasn't the worst of governing ideas for Inner Rim planets, but Satine's people were warriors. Maybe Padme might know more about it than he did. He sometimes saw Satine in the Senate building, but she didn't often speak. Unlike Padme who very much had a thought for every topic.
But then Padme was in several committees, and Satine was only the representative for Mandalore, a planet that did not have a long history of asking for outside aid. Most of the time, they asked for the exact opposite.
Obi-Wan was also pretty sure that if he had wanted further insight into the issues on Mandalore, all he would have to do was ask Dooku who would certainly have opinions. Dooku and Mace had been tag teaming the Senate, Dooku as Count of Serreno, Mace as the representative of the Jedi.
The Senate seemed a little harried to have the views of the Jedi be so vocal when in recent history they had been silent agents of the Republic. Dooku allowed them to have more than one voice, which Obi-Wan had thought would be called out as an unfair influence. But even in public Dooku and Mace couldn't agree on everything, giving the appearance that Serreno was still independent of the Jedi even if both Mace and Dooku both held seats on the Jedi council.
He felt his thoughts begin to wander, and he sipped the tea, it was getting cold, cold enough that he drank it like water.
He was thirsty.
The rushing of the waterfall was making him thirsty. He watched the water, and the image of Bruck's broken body bein-
He tried to chase the image away, to not remember the sound of his-
"What type of tea is this?" he asked, lifting the thermos, or tried to… He had drunk all of it, shouldn't it be lighter now than it had been emptied?
"I'm sorry, Obi-Wan," Rey's voice told him.
"I don't want to be here…" he told her, his words slowing, "Rey, why… why are we here?"
"I'm sorry, Obi-Wan," she said again, "But there is an exit from the Temple from here, it will take a long time before anyone discovers where we went."
"What?" he asked, fighting to focus on her face as he slumped toward her.
She caught him with gentle hands, and the unbidden image of Bruck's body came to him again. Xanatos had been right, Bruck's death had been his fault. "I don't want to be here…" he said again, or tried to, the words that spilled from his mouth were slurred.
"It's alright, Obi-Wan, it won't hurt."
What wouldn't hurt? Black spots swam across his vision and the sound of the fall felt deafening. What was happening to him?
The tea! His wandering thoughts supplied, but that thought just made him more confused as she helped him lie down.
"You drugged me?" he was too confused, the question was stupid. Rey would never hurt him.
So why wasn't she calling for help?
"Yes, didn't you think it was odd I only brought tea for you?" she asked lightly.
"Rey?" he asked, starting to panic now even as his spiralling thoughts slowed.
He was so terribly tired.
Rey was leaning over him, brushing his hair back from his face, "Yes, Obi-Wan?"
She sounded reasonable. Was he dreaming this?
"Why?"
"Because I joined the Dark Side."
"What?" he asked, if he wasn't so tired he would have debated the ludicrously of that, his Rey could channel the Dark Side but she would never join with it. But his thoughts were so muddled, he just wanted to sleep.
"Stop fighting it, Obi-Wan, all will be made right, I promise."
"Dark Side?" he asked, no longer able to see her face, so he reached for her in the Force.
"I couldn't pass up the cookies," he thought she said, but he couldn't be sure. She kissed his brow, "Sleep, Obi-Wan, you're safe."
He fought then, because he heard a note of distress in her tone where there hadn't been before. He tried calling out to Qui-Gon, but Obi-Wan was already too far gone.
It was Ahsoka's first day of training with her new Master, and despite his leaving the room, she refused to fail him or slack off.
So she practised, and practised.
The basics.
She had by no stretch of the imagination mastered the basics, but that was because she felt that something like Ataru, or something like Form VIII, might be vastly more suited to her. Shii-Cho was boring.
Was Master Kenobi really going to keep her on basics until she was seventeen? Five years of training with nothing but the basics? But why?
She didn't have the answer, but she told herself it wasn't because he believed she was incompetent, because A. she couldn't imagine that even as a Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi had been so wholly unproficient at lightsaber duelling that his Master found him that lacking, and B. Master Kenobi had given her his lightsaber.
She knew what a big deal that was, plus he had encouraged her to use a backward grip, unlike any other Master who had taught her in the past, and he said he would train her in Jar'Kai, the double-lightsaber arts. She had never thought of wielding two blades, but it felt right.
With all this in mind, Ahsoka put her heart into training. Sure, the basics might eventually get boring, but for now, she was being given free rein to use the grip she wanted and was sorting through the technicalities of wielding two blades.
So she practised without complaint.
Two hours passed and she had finally found a rhythm for the two blades.
By hour three she lost the desire to rush through the motions, she lost her tendencies to alter her motions and instead fought to keep each swipe as regular as the repetition before it.
At hour four, she understood why people had warned her about Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Why hadn't he come back?
She needed a break, but what if he came back at that moment?
She was drenched in her own sweat and she needed water.
She was also hungry.
But mostly thirsty.
Her arms were shaking, and when her hand slipped, she almost burned herself with the blades.
So she turned them off, still gripping the hilts with sweaty hands.
She waited, and waited and finally, finally, she lost her temper.
He had forgotten about her!? Her Master had forgotten about her!
Their first day of training and he had forgotten her!
Angrily, she limped to the Masters quarters. This was ridiculous. If he didn't have a good reason for forgetting about her, she was going to ask Yoda if she could go back to being an initiate.
Obi-Wan Kenobi was a crazy, arrogant, air head!
She found his room, the one she knew Rey shared with him.
Ahsoka knew Rey loved her, and because of that, the older Padawan would be mad on her behalf too.
She was still holding both hilts, and she used the butt of his to knock on the door.
Loudly, though not as rapidly she would have liked, she was too exhausted to do even that much.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi!" she yelled when no answer came, leaving off his title rather than swearing at him.
The door to the right of the one she had just pounded on swished open.
Master Qui-Gon Jinn frowned at her, "Padawan Tano?"
Shamed, she lowered her arm from the door. She looked at her feet, exhaustion heavy on her, "Apologies, Master Jinn."
"Ahsoka?" he asked, his tone worried.
What was she supposed to say? She was mad at her new Master? On her first day as a Padawan no less?
A gentle hand touched her chin, tilting her face up to him, she had to fight back tears. She couldn't stop the tremors in her body as the sweat cooling and the exertion of the day began to catch up with her fully.
"What happened to you?" he asked.
She blinked fast, "Master Kenobi left me to practice on my own. He said I could stop when he came back, but he didn't!" she winced at the whine in her own tone.
But Master Jinn didn't chastise her for her tone as he looked over her again, "How long have you been training?"
"Six hours!" she exploded, her voice high.
His expression darkened and he too turned to the door, pounding a fist against it. "Obi-Wan," he called, voice dangerous.
No response.
He opened the door. The room was neat, two beds, a desk with a stack of flimsies and two datapads. On Rey's bed was her staff.
Ahsoka found that deeply disturbing. Rey never went anywhere without that staff.
Master Jinn entered the room, examining the space closely, the refresher door was open and empty. He picked up the staff and looked to Ahsoka, "You have Obi-Wan's lightsaber?"
She looked down at the offending hand, "He- he gave it to me so I could get used to two sabers."
Master Jinn nodded. "Come," he said, leading her to his room, Rey's staff still held in his hand. Once they were inside the room filled with an assortment of things, driftwood, river stones, he ordered, "Sit down."
She sat down on one of the cushioned seats, leaning on the low table for support.
He tossed the saberstaff on his own bed and went to the sink and poured a tall glass of water which he handed to her, "Drink, Padawan. You did well today, but you do not have to push yourself this hard, especially if a Master is not present in the room with you."
She downed the entire glass before she could muster an answer, "Thank you, Master Jinn." He refilled her glass, this one she forced herself to drink slower.
"Did Obi-Wan mention where he was going?"
She shook her head, and he pulled out his comm.
"Obi-Wan, come in," he paused for a moment before trying again, "Obi-Wan Kenobi."
No answer.
The worry in her gut grew.
Master Jinn switched the frequency, "Rey, come in."
No answer.
"Padawan mine, answer me."
Again, the channel remained empty.
He lowered the comm, and closed his eyes.
Ahsoka could feel him connect with the Force.
He was quiet for a full sixty seconds.
He raised his comm to his lips for a third time, and this time it was answered immediately.
Ahsoka's hopes that it was Master Kenobi died when her heightened hearing picked up, "Qui-Gon this isn't-"
"Dooku, Obi-Wan is missing. I can feel that he is alive but unresponsive, Rey is shielding against me and she left her staff in their room."
A brief silence, then Master Dooku said, "We will send out search parties."
Master Jinn nodded, pocketing the comm he turned to Ahsoka, "I need you to stay here, you're no shape to help with the search."
Leaving the staff on the bed he went to the door, turning back, he offered, "We will find him, Ahsoka."
And he left before she could respond, only then did it hit her why she should have been worried.
Master Obi-Wan Kenobi had the largest price on his head that had been seen in fifty years.
She sat there, alone in the Temple at a loss as to what she should do.
Finally, Rey's comm lit up.
"You know," Harris said, one of three Mandalorians that had come to help her, "I knew it was possible for us to kill a Jedi, I just think it would be this easy."
Maas nodded, "Six hours? We could have been off world by now."
Rey sighed, "It is rather disappointing."
"Just another reason you should leave the Order," Chakraborty said.
"Agreed," Maul said in a growl, his elbow resting on Obi-Wan's 'unconscious' body.
She rolled her eyes at them, "Thanks for the support, guys."
"We support you," Harris argued, "We just know you can do better than being a Jedi."
Rey shook her head, knowing it was pointless to argue with them. Then an idea occurred to her. The five of them had spent the last six hours discussing weapons, bounties, and the finer details and possible scenarios of their plot, but for once, she had a semi-political question. "What do you all think of Duchess Satine?"
Harris snorted, Maas made a rude sound, Chakraborty scowled, and Maul… well, Maul's sour expression didn't really change.
"Not a fan?" she asked.
"She's going to start a civil war," Maas exploded, "I'm not a supporter of Death Watch but our Duchess isn't giving us a lot of options."
"Maas isn't allowed to make weapons anymore," Harris clarified.
"What?" Rey asked, "but you're a Master!"
"I'm allowed to repair authorized weapons and make armour," Maas said bitterly, "But most of my creations are now regulated to my sketches. I hate her."
"We are a warrior people," Chakraborty said, "She isn't just dishonouring our history and ancestors, she's taking away who we are."
"Why do you ask?" Harris asked, "Are you considering moving, perhaps?"
"Satine Kryze is my maternal grandmother," she said seriously.
They all stared at her, and finally, Harris said, "Satine is too young to be your grandmother, you're near enough to the same age."
"Just like Obi-Wan is too young to be my grandfather," she answered coolly.
Maul was squinting at her, clearly trying to pick out a lie through the Force.
Maas asked, his voice full of concern, "Are you alright, Rey?"
She nodded, her face breaking into a smile, "Sorry, it was just how the ancestry test came back."
"What?" Harris asked.
"Satine and Obi-Wan both came back as my maternal grandparents, but as that is impossible the healer said that they are actually my aunt and uncle, my mother is their sister, or was, we still don't know who she is really."
"Wait," Chakraborty said, holding out his hand, "Are you telling us you're related to Duchess Satine Kryze?"
Maul followed up that question, "Obi-Wan Kenobi is your relative, through blood?"
"Yes to both questions. It really skeeved them out apparently, knowing that they share a sibling. Obi-Wan didn't want to track down his birth parents, so we don't exactly know how the cards fell per se, but I can say without a doubt I am related to them both."
Chakraborty grabbed her wrist, "You're related to the Kryze's, definitively?"
Rey gave him a look, "Yes, that's why I wanted to know about her. But by what you have described, heck even what Obi-Wan described of her, Sheev isn't only one who makes me glad I was picked up by the Jedi Order. I'll fight for peace, but pacifism is not the way."
"Rey-" Chakraborty said, then shook his head, softening his voice, "Rey, if you could prove relation to the Kryze family, you could replace Satine as our Duchess."
It was her turn to gape at him, "Chakraborty, I am not a politician."
"But-"
"We need to move," Maul said, standing to pull Obi-Wan's 'unconscious' body onto the back of his one person speeder.
"Who knew making friends with a Jedi would give us the best opportunity to purposefully piss off Jedi?" Harris said as he too straddled his speeder and put on his helmet.
Rey could feel the merriment of her friends and realized that the next thirty minutes was going to be interesting. "Nobody is allowed to kill anyone and don't die."
"Pssh," Maas jested, "and here I thought we were going to have fun."
Rey put on her own helmet, Maas having brought an entire Mandalorian armour set for her.
She was at that fully convinced that their offer to join them was in earnest, though really, Tolkien continuing her language lessons should have been proof enough.
They rose in their speeders, and she checked over her shoulder, careful to keep her presence hidden. Maul's teaching techniques for shielding had been far more useful then what the Jedi had tried teaching her. Disguising herself in the 'mundane' as Maul had put it was a lot easier than trying to build walls against the Force. It was like spreading her powers thin, letting the Force itself hide her rather than trying to bury herself within her own body.
They started moving through the streets, and some siren went off as Obi-Wan body was spotted by the policing droids.
Rey checked over her shoulder again, she caught a glimpse of a dark skinned figure, a dark cloaked man with blonde hair, and a white skinned female.
She cursed. "Windu, Asajj, and the Mor," she said into voice piece in her helmet. Maul was only one of them not wearing armour, "all of them will use deadly force, do not engage."
Harris laughed in her ear and Chakraborty said, "Guess we are just going to have to fly better and faster."
Rey was beginning to have strong doubts about this plan, but said, "Stay in view of the droids."
It was their plan 'D' and as she switched over her speeder into high gear, she let the worries go, and let herself go into the race.
Windu tracked her, Asajj tracked Maul, and Mor started chucking throwing stars and knives at them.
Mandalorians, a Dark Sider, and Rey, a Padawan in Mandalorian armour against a Council Member, a Shadow, a Shadow in training, and a growing army of police droids.
The bystanders were the real ones in danger. But Rey had hired her friends with the direct instruction that no one, but possibly her, gets hurt.
They flew, dodging and weaving. Rey heard Asajj call to Maul who was riding ahead of her, "You found the wrong calling-!" the word she said then Rey didn't understand.
But Maul did, because he spun his speeder over hers, and with some trick that even Rey's mind couldn't follow, he got a hold of one of Asajj's lightsabers and sliced a piece off her speeder.
But Asajj Ventress was vindictive, not a common quality amongst the Jedi Knights, though less uncommon among Jedi Shadows. With her remaining saber, she gutted Maul's speeder.
Asajj was forced to make a crash landing, and Maul let his speeder explode against a concrete wall, respectfully not hurting any bystanders.
He had Obi-Wan's 'unconscious' body by the belt, as he settled behind Rey on her speeder.
"Are you sitting on Obi-Wan?" she asked him as his arm wrapped around her, one of Asajj's stolen sabers in his free hand.
"We are paying him enough," Maul growled.
Rey, herself, wasn't taking a piece of the prize, that wasn't her goal here.
She sped up, grateful for the helmet keeping the wind out of her eyes, Mace wasn't so lucky, a fact she took advantage of as she skimmed a water fountain.
Maul used the saber to run through the fountain, causing steam to rise, obscuring Mace's vision momentarily.
"Watch out!" Maas's voice called out, and the four of them swerved like flying geese as a line of blaster fire came at them.
"You weren't joking about the Mor," Harris said, coming up beside her speeder, a throwing star embedded in the back of his helmet.
"You okay?" she asked.
She could almost hear his answering grin, "This is the most fun I've had in years."
"Quit jabbering and dive," Chakraborty commanded, and they did, following a port entrance to the underground.
The lower level streets cleared like panic ants at the sound of sirens.
Maas abandoned his speeder, turning it into natural so it floated harmlessly down to be stolen to the first scoundrel who came across it. He landed on Harris's speeder. Back to back, Maas pulled two compacted rivals and began firing on the police droids, causing Mace and Mor to constantly weave out of the way, the underground streets constricting their movements.
Rey had altered the speeders that they were riding now. Mace and Mor had the Force, but Rey knew how to tinker with a speeder. They weren't necessarily better pilots, they just had superior technology.
Something Maas seemed completely delighted by.
Of course, they didn't call the Shadow, the Mor without reason. Because the madman had no trouble boomeranging his yellow lightsaber at Chakraborty.
He leapt out of the way just in time as the speeder was totalled. Harris caught his hand and Chakraborty slid into the driver's position without missing a beat.
Maul let go of Rey's waist, and because she had been training with him for nearly five years now, slowed down, knowing his plan, even if she disagreed with it.
And then she thought maybe it was just a male thing, because then Mor, like Maas, abandoned his speeder to jump onto the front of Mace's speeder.
Maul had one foot planted on Obi-Wan's back, the other wedged, between the 'unconscious' body and Rey's seat as the green blade met gold.
Rey was careful to keep the speeder steady. They couldn't be shot out of the sky because Mace and Mor had realized Obi-Wan was still alive.
Maul hissed at Mor as their sabers sparked against one another.
Maas had stopped shooting at Mace's speeder and merely watched the duel taking place between the two speeders. "You know," he mused, "I get it, why you stay in the Order, lightsaber duels are nifty."
Maul snarled, "You don't have to be a Jedi to wield a lightsaber."
Mor, who obviously thought the Zabrak had been speaking to him, "I didn't think Nightbrothers had high enough-"
Maul nearly trimmed Mor's hair.
"Is he a Sith?" Mace asked.
Maul bared his teeth as he parried Mor's blade, Maul's skill far out wayed Mor's abilities with a saber.
Which wasn't exactly saying much, Rey could match Mor, but then Rey had never faced Mor when he had the intent to kill.
"Are you a Sith?" Mor asked, his voice calm as he met Maul's every violent blow with a violent blow.
Atura was difficult in a static position.
Obi-Wan probably could have kicked both Maul and Mor's asses if he was fighting from a standing position on a speeder.
Maul twisted his saber, disarming Mor and just reflecting the small explosive Mor tossed at his face.
It exploded to the left of them.
"He could have killed you three with that!" Harris exclaimed in outrage.
"I told you he would use deadly force," she called back over her head piece.
"Speed up," Maul said, grabbing Obi-Wan's belt and tossing the man to Chakroborty.
Mor cursed loud enough for Rey to hear him over the wind and through the helmet as Obi-Wan's form dropped mere feet in front of them down to the waiting bench of Chkroborty's speeder.
Mace tried following, but Chakraborty had already spun down two back streets.
Rey activated a few more alarms, but she too lost them.
And just as publicly as they appeared, they were lost in the villinary of the underground.
The Mor and Mace were left fumbling for a direction to take.
Maul sat back behind Rey, and said for only her ears, "That was worth it."
Maul was entirely too pleased with himself. A Shadow and Master Mace Windu had come face to face with him, and not called him out as a Sith.
Sure, they had asked, but he knew the reputations of Shadows, and they would have followed him, not their lost Jedi, if they really believed he was one.
As he, Rey, and the Mandalorians waited for the cashing in of their prize, he felt that the Force was with them.
And perhaps if the Jedi Council responded ill with Rey's chosen actions, or perhaps when the Shadow and Council Member caught up with them, they would attack without asking questions.
If they did, Maul knew it wouldn't be enough to drive her to the Dark Side, but it might be enough to drive her from the Order.
"What in the bloody hells do you mean it is a false account!?" the Mando named Harris exploded.
The guild leader, a human male with beady eyes looked green. "I mean- it was a scam?"
Maas caught the man by the collar, "Are you telling us that we just went up against the Jedi Order and you aren't going to pay us?"
"I- I-"
"Well, well, well," the Shadow said from behind him, "it seems you all just signed away your lives for lifetime imprisonments on an empty promise."
Maul twirled the man's saber in his hand, "Is that what you think?"
Chakraborty moved in front of his men and Rey, "I didn't think the Jedi enforced speeding tickets on Coruscant."
The female Dathimorian moved from behind her Master's back, Windu at her other side as she snarled, "Is that what you think your crimes are?"
Chakraborty chuckled, "Maul is going to be a good Zabrak and give you back your lightsabers."
Maul bared his teeth, that was unlikely.
"Maul?" the Shadow repeated looking at him more closely, "Rey's friend? She'll never forgive you for hurting Obi-Wan."
Oh, he was aware, if he ever harmed a hair that man's head, Rey would gut him. No matter how far he pushed her to the edge, she would never betray Obi-Wan Kenobi.
But for the first time the thought didn't make him see red.
Why was that?
"I told her you were an idiot male," Asajj Ventress sneered at him, "you proved me correct today."
Maul sneered right back, "She told me you were impulsive. It was not hard to knock you from your perch, youngling."
She hissed at him.
He hissed back.
Windu took a step forward, "Give us Master Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Loosening his grip on the guild leader who had been slowly turning blue, Maas asked, "Are you going to give us our money?"
"There was no money!" the man gasped, "It was a shell account! Please, Jedi! Save me."
Maas dropped him and Harris punched him, at the same moment, Asajj ignited her remaining green saber and Windu ignited his purple lightsaber.
Maul would have drawn one of the two he had stolen, but Rey caught his arm, stepping forward.
"Surrender," Windu said.
Rey took off her helmet, wisps of brown hair escaping from her three buns, and Maul would never forget the expression on the other three Jedi's faces.
The Shadow palmed his face, "Damnit, Palpatine! I could have killed you!"
Chakraborty chuckled, "Amazing Foundling, even now they trust you wouldn't betray them."
Maul scowled, "Not them, they know she wouldn't betray Obi-Wan."
Rey glanced back at the guild leader, "Is the bounty cleared now?"
The man, who seemed to not understand who Rey was nor the significance of what she was saying, said, "Yes, but no money. It'll get out that the prize was fake, no one will believe a hit on him real again. No one will risk an empty promise while going after a Jedi Master."
"You mean no one sane," Harris corrected cheekily, and Maul understood that the man correctly identified himself as not sane.
Maul sighed, handing the two lightsabers he had stolen to Rey who immediately tossed them back to their true owners.
"Explain, Padawan," Windu said, "And your friends aren't going anywhere. You put Obi-Wan in untold danger doing this."
"Not going anywhere?" Harris asked, "Really, Jedi? Is that what you think?"
Maas laughed as he threw down a smoke grenade.
Maul tugged on Rey's Padawan braid in a brief farewell, before making himself scarce along with the Mandalorians.
Just because he had successfully hidden his Sith training despite his wielding a lightsaber, did not mean he wanted to be integrated by a Jedi Shadow and a Council member known for his dabbling in the Dark.
No, Rey could take care of herself.
He could only hope that her punishment would put a wedge between her and the Order.
Ahsoka couldn't stay still.
Yes, she was tired, yes, her muscles were screaming at her with every step, and yes, Master Jinn had told her to stay put.
But she had to follow the Force, something was driving her, and following her instincts, she went down to one of the ground floors.
She followed the Force, and it led her to a waterfall.
"Master Kenobi!" she dropped to her knees, and shook the man, "Master Kenobi! Please, wake up!"
And miracles of miracles, he did.
Blinking blurry eyed up at her, the first words out of his mouth were, "I am going to kill Palpatine."
Dooku was trying hard not to laugh as he watched his old Padawan try to glare down an unremorseful Padawan.
"It was the only way," Rey was saying.
"You risked your life!" this from Mor, "And Obi-Wan-"
"Obi-Wan was fine!" she shouted back, "I barely even drugged him. It was just an extremely strong sleeping aid that he could be woken from, as Ahsoka was able to do. We hired the shapeshifter for that reason."
"I threw a bomb at your head!" Mor shouted at her.
Obi-Wan's face was a mask of horror, "You did what!?"
"I was trying to save you," Mor told him.
"By throwing a bomb at the person holding me?"
"It was a localized bomb, it would have only punched a fist side chunk out of her head, or Maul's chest."
"But you said she was driving, and Maul was there?"
Dooku was amused by all the shouting happening in the Council chamber, the Council chamber typically was the place where people sat around and answered questions calmly with the occasional swift take down and responding raised voice. Atypically the place where Master Jedi got in one another's faces over choices made in the heat of speeder races.
Poor Padawan Ahsoka was looking between them all in wide eyed horror, (or was it fascination?), hard to tell.
Windu shook his head, "Yes, the male Zabrak was there, and Padawan Palatine, I must ask, is he a Dark Sider?"
Dooku's interest in the details of this otherwise straight forward plot rose.
Rey had hired a group of Mandalorians to 'collect' on Obi-Wan's bounty. They had made it public, used a shapeshifter as an Obi-Wan decoy, and had purposely pissed off the Jedi Order in front of multiple cameras to make it all seem real.
But Dooku hadn't thought Rey would employ an actual Dark Sider.
Yet it wasn't Rey who answered, but Asajj, "He wasn't anything special. He was strong in the Force, but not that strong. He was competent enough pickpocket and wary enough to not stab himself on a lightsaber, something most Dathamirians are capable of."
Dooku tried focusing on Rey through the secondary bond between himself, Qui-Gon, and her, but whatever Maul was or wasn't, Rey was at peace with it, and her emotions did not spike in any direction at Asajj's words.
"I don't understand why you had to drug me," Obi-Wan said, moving on with the conversation.
"I needed you to be convincing."
"I was unconscious!"
"Exactly," she said smugly, "you played your part to perfection."
Dooku swallowed another laugh as Qui-Gon pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Unacceptable, this is," Master Yoda said, "Well intentioned you were, but dangerous, were your actions. Decided the Council had been, to proceed with your trials, Padawan Palpatine. But Qui-Gon's Padawan shall you remain for another year."
"Okay," Rey said with a smile, as if he had just rewarded her rather than punished her.
This time, he did chuckle, receiving a glare from Qui-Gon, Mace, and Master Yoda.
Obi-Wan, however, was not done with the conversation. And he was about to show them all why he had earned the rank of Master and why the Council had pushed him to take a Padawan despite the risks of that bounty.
A bounty that was no longer an issue.
"Rey," Obi-Wan began, "I know your intentions were well meant, but by not including more of us in on this idea, you put lives at risk-"
"But I made sur-"
Obi-Wan held up a hand, halting her protests.
"I left Ahsoka to practice on her own with the intention of returning in less than forty-five minutes, but because of you, she was left alone for six hours, and she practised for six before coming to find me."
Real remorse crossed Rey's expression then and she looked at the younger Padawan. "'Soka, I am so, so sorry… I had no idea."
"Of course you didn't," Obi-Wan interjected, "because there is no way for you to plan for every eventuality, which is why plots like yours could have backfired so badly. You have to trust in the Order as much as you trust in the Force or we will fall apart. You only wanted to help, and I am relieved to have the bounty off my head, Rey, but it wasn't worth the possible risks, including an unsupervised Padawan working herself to her limits, all because of an internal attack on the Jedi."
Rey looked as if she might have cried, as she bowed first to Obi-Wan then to Ahsoka, "I am so sorry."
Wow, Dooku said to Qui-Gon through their bond, taken aback, he's good.
Qui-Gon's mental sigh was tangible, At this rate, he's going to make the Council before he's fifty.
Do you see Mace's face? Dooku asked, glancing at the almost awe filled light in the Vaapad Master's dark eyes, Who would have thought that you of all people would raise the perfect Jedi?
I'm sorry to be such a disappointment, Qui-Gon responded ruefully.
Dooku tried to make his expression firm, though he was almost positive given the look Sifo-Dyas shot him that he was sporting a smug curl of lips as he sent back, I think I can forgive you Obi-Wan when your current apprentice is still wearing Mandalorian armour.
Qui-Gon went back to pinching the bridge of his nose.
AN: Thoughts, reactions, ideas, or happy dolphins? Pretty please?