Hello once again my lovelies. Looks like I was able to get the first chapter rewritten faster than I thought I would so here it is the very next day. Enjoy :)
"Xan, come on, we're going to be late" Obi-Wan Kenobi's call was accompanied by several knocks to the fresher door for what seemed like the tenth time in as many minutes.
"To hell we are," was the response he received from his master inside. At least the water had turned off and Obi-Wan took that as his cue to stop badgering the older man and get ready himself. He was seated on the couch pulling his boots on when Xanatos exited the fresher, half undressed and his hair still wet.
"If the council calls us to a meeting fifteen minutes after we've returned from a long term off-planet mission then they should expect no less than for us to be fashionably late," the Jedi Knight said as he took to his room to get dressed, "I do not care what anyone says, there is no way I'm making any kind of legitimate report smelling like sweat and banthas. Like sweaty kriffin' banthas."
Obi-Wan could only smile and shake his head fondly at his master. "Alright but the council isn't going to be too happy when they hear that we ran late because you were prioritizing your body odor over their orders" he spoke as he finished strapping his boots and walked to the door.
"And since when do I specialize in making the council happy, hm?" Xanatos exited his room looking as disheveled as ever but joining Obi-Wan at the door regardless.
"You might not, but I do," Obi-Wan quipped as they stepped out into the hallway. As they walked, he reached out and patted a bit of lint off of Xanatos' tunic, "That's why they put us together."
Xanatos looked over to where he was being adjusted with only a slightly offended expression on his face. "Excuse me, I picked you-a decision I'm sorely beginning to regret right about now."
"Of course you do." Obi-Wan chuckled as they walked along, they day having begun no differently than it usually did.
Once they reached the council's chambers, bowing was about as far as formality went for the Omega-Kenobi pair. They were both very familiar and comfortable with the Jedi masters around them, which allowed them to behave more freely than most would.
"In Naboo your new assignment is" Master Yoda began once the two straightened. The disdain that quickly overcame Xanatos' features didn't go unnoticed by the masters.
"We are aware that you have just returned from Mandalore but this is a simple mission regarding the blockade caused by the Trade Federation," Mace Windu continued.
"It's a negotiation mission, boys, your specialty," Qui-Gon, who had very much settled down since Xanatos' knighting, picked up from beside Mace, "The Federation is being impractical and the chancellor feels that having Jedi speak to them would be far more efficient than to send anyone from the senate."
"Basically he wants us to bare our teeth at those Trade Federation cowards and get them to back off?" Xanatos raised a brow.
"That is one way to put it, yes" Plo Koon nodded, accustomed to Xanatos' blunt mannerisms at this point.
"Leave tomorrow morning you will and be able to return by tomorrow you should," Yoda assured the duo. "Have a break after that, you can, young ones."
Both Obi-Wan and Xanatos had to smile at being referred to that way by Yoda. They nodded with a word in unison of, "Yes master," before bowing and taking their leave, offering Qui-Gon, the closest to them an extra smile.
The trip to the Trade Federation's flagship wasn't necessarily an interesting one. For the most part it consisted of team Omega's usual tomfoolery around the average sized ship they'd attained and Xanatos checking into the cockpit every so often to look over their stats and location. When they finally landed in the hangar of the ship they were greeted by a protocol droid by the name of TC-14. It brought them to an empty conference room, informed them that the Viceroy would be with them shortly and left.
"I have a bad feeling about this" Obi-Wan muttered as they looked around the room.
"I don't sense anything" Xanatos replied, walking further into the room, inconspicuously scouting it for signs of foul play on the Federation's part.
"It's not about the mission master" Obi-Wan continued, "It's something elsewhere...elusive."
Xanatos looked back to his apprentice and raised a brow. He looked as though he wanted to say something but turned to the window closest to him instead. Looking out to the planet of Naboo in the distance, he waited till Obi-Wan was at his side again before speaking.
"Years and years of training with Qui-Gon make me want to say something along the lines of, don't center your anxieties," he smiled discreetly to himself at how he was slowly becoming his former master, "But then I would end up contradicting myself because Master Yoda on the other hand always told me to be mindful of the future." Obi-Wan was about to reply but Xanatos wasn't quite finished yet, "But then again Qui-Gon also said not to focus on the future at the expense of the moment and that you should be mindful of the living force. But hey, who am I to lecture, I'm at war with myself here."
Obi-Wan, as per usual after these one sided conversations with Xanatos, simply smiled and stared off out the window as well, thinking of how he really wouldn't have his master any other way.
"Do you think this is actually going to be a short negotiation?" Obi-Wan asked quietly, staring down at the planet of Naboo below.
"Knowing our luck it's probably a war under the wraps" Xanatos rolled his eyes, then decided to answer a bit more seriously, "It looks like just a routine mission, kiddo, enjoy it. The quicker we finish, the quicker we get home,"
"Of course. But you know…I can't help but wish we were back in the heat of things," Obi-Wan paced his words, "Mandalore was exciting, bold, daring. We got to show the world what Jedi are really made of, you know? How many people have gotten to do that in these times of peace? We're practically glorified advice givers at this point, with the routine missions and the patrolling that we're going to be forced back into in no time."
Xanatos smiled to himself once again, at how he was the exact same way regarding adventure at Obi-Wan's age. He was caught between two generations, between being a wise old master and a youthful padawan and that amused him.
"I hear you, kiddo," Xanatos answered, careful not to shoot down his apprentice's zeal the way that was often done to him in his youth. "But for now let's just appreciate the fact that we have peace to be bored of. The times of opportunities to prove our glory were harsh ones. The reign of the Sith..." he paused, touching upon the sensitive subject, "is something I would rather not deal with in exchange for boredom."
When Obi-Wan only let out a breath, lesson learned, Xanatos added, "Cheer up, I'll give you action via beating into the pavement once we get back to the temple."
"You couldn't beat me in a duel if you tried, old man," Obi-Wan snickered half-heartedly, "Those brittle old bones have got nothing on me."
Xanatos opened his mouth to respond but the door behind him whizzing open took his attention instead. Both men looked to the door as the droid from before returned to hand them drinks. While Xanatos eyed his cup warily, Obi-Wan took a sip.
"They are taking unusually long, aren't they?" Xanatos muttered after a moment.
Obi-Wan nodded before pitching in his own thoughts, "I say we give them just a little more time before getting suspicious. For all you know the Viceroy could just be taking a last minute shower to rid himself of bantha and or sweat like odors."
Xanatos chuckled in nothing but pure amusement. However a sudden disturbance in the force was quick to pull the Jedi out of their musings. Sensing the deaths of their pilots immediately afterwards, they wasted no time to stand and draw their lightsabers. As the weapons hummed to life, the droid took a startled step back. Xanatos ignored it and strode to the middle of the room, inspecting his surroundings and upon seeing no immediate danger gestured for Obi-Wan to lower his saber. As they retracted their blades, Xanatos growled, "Dioxis." He didn't have to elaborate for his apprentice to know exactly what that meant. The Jedi sucked in deep breaths of air while the oxygen was still clean and needed only to exchange glances to be on the same page in terms of what to do next.
Unorthodox and mildly dangerous as it was, Xanatos simply took to walking out of the room and found himself face to face with a flock of droids. "Come now" he exhaled deeply, running a hand through his disheveled hair, "You didn't think it would be that easy to kill us, did you?" The droids were perplexed at the Knight's words and one in the front row even let out a dumbfounded "Um..." before another shouted, "Fire!"
Xanatos unceremoniously rolled his eyes, quickly drawing his lightsaber to deflect the shot fired at him. His apprentice followed the suit and wiped out the rather incompetent group of attackers with ease. The two followed the presence of living beings to a large steel door that seemed to led to the cockpit of the flagship.
Xanatos turned away from the door for a moment to glance at Obi-Wan but the younger simply waved him off, "I've got your back, you worry about the door."
Xanatos nodded and without hesitation, impaled the gate with his glowing green saber. As he began cutting a circle into the steel the clanking of more droids reached his ears followed immediately by the sound of Obi-Wan terminating them.
However as soon as Xanatos' blade came close to making it all the way around, he felt a pressure fall upon his lightsaber. He furrowed his brows, sensing that the door had been reinforced. Irritated, he withdrew his weapon and stabbed it into the door once again, this time pushing faster and harder. But yet again before this circle could be completed the sound of Obi-Wan's voice interrupted him, "Master, destroyers!"
Xanatos let out an exasperated breath as he heard his apprentice's words and returned to the younger's side. As capable as Obi-Wan was, Xanatos also knew how difficult destroyer droids could be. Their shields made it near impossible to defeat them within a desirable amount of time and time was certainly not something the duo had on their hands at the moment. If anything the last thing they would want was to wind up trapped on the Trade Federation's ship without transport or communication with the council. And so when the destroyers rolled up to a halt before them Obi-Wan and Xanatos did the only logical thing to do in their situation; they ran.
In a matter of moments the master and padawan were making their escape through the ventilation system. It was the only way to get by undetected and despite how little they liked the idea it was necessary. When they finally navigated their way to a vent exit in the hangar they found it grilled shut. Of course it didn't hinder them for very long; Xanatos was quick to use the force to remove the metal bars blocking his path. He leaped from the vent to the ground noiselessly and made a mental note to have a word with Obi-Wan regarding the matter later, when the younger's boots clicked against the floor upon his own landing. For now however Xanatos focused on ducking for cover behind stacks of steel crates near them.
Once they were hidden out of view they looked out into the hangar and much to their surprise, came face to face with an army of droids.
"Battle droids?" Obi-Wan vocalized his master's thoughts.
"It's an invasion army" Xanatos mumbled absentmindedly, trying to figure out the answer to the question Obi-Wan would ask next, "Why would the Trade Federation have an invasion army?"
Xanatos pondered for a moment longer before answering, "I don't know but we have to warn the Naboo and contact Chancellor Valorum."
Obi-Wan nodded in silent agreement before suggesting, "Should we split up? Stow aboard separate ships, see what we can find and meet down at the planet?"
Xanatos smiled at his apprentice coming up with a plan he couldn't have worded better himself. Bursts of pride such as these weren't uncommon for Xanatos; Obi-Wan was and always had been a highly rewarding apprentice that could enlighten Xanatos' mood during even the darkest of times simply by showing off just how alike they'd become over the years.
"Precisely" Xanatos approved, "I'll see you down on Naboo." He placed a firm hand on his apprentice's shoulder as a gesture of affection before drawing to his full height and taking off to find himself a ride. The exchange lifted Obi-Wan's spirits as much as it did his master. There wasn't much else that meant as much to him as the approval of his master and even the small amount of praise he was given was enough to get him on his feet mere moments after the elder; he had a droid transport to catch.
So that was the first rewrite chapter introducing or two main characters of the series, Xanatos and Obi-Wan who is his apprentice in this little au here. I changed their characteristics and relationship around significantly from what it was before and hopefully it was all for the better. Anywho, constructive criticism questions, comments, suggestions, anything at all is welcome, I love to hear from my audience. I'm shooting for Friday for the next chapter. Till then toodles :)