Alright. Chapter 2 is up.
A WORLD IN CRISIS!
THE PEACEFUL PLANET OF MANDALORE IS BEING STRANGLED BY THE GRIP OFF CORRUPTION.
WITH SHORTAGES OF EVERY KIND, CITIZENS MUST TURN TO THE BLACK MARKET IN ORDER TO SURVIVE.
DESPERATE TO FREE HER PEOPLE, DUCHESS SATINE HAS ASKED HER FRIEND PADME AMIDALA TO SPEAK WITH THE JEDI COUNCIL IN HOPES THAT THEY WILL SEND ASSISTANCE TO HER STRUGGLING WORLD...
Revan was having a hard time believing what his master had just asked him to do. "Master, no disrespect or anything but, are you out of your mind? Do you know what the Mandalorians would do if they found out who I was?" he asked, his voice taking on a panicked tone. "Revan you'll be fine, besides. Don't you want to help, Ahsoka?" Obi-Wan asked him. His mild look of panic turned into a thoughtful one. Unbeknownst to the youth, his master had figured out the teen's feelings towards their mutual Togrutan friend and instead of talking him out of it like any other Jedi should. The older Jedi decided to encourage the young man's feelings, since he himself had lost the chance with Satine a long time ago. Obi-Wan had decided he wouldn't let the boy he considered a son, lose the chance at being with the one he loved. "Yeah I guess I could help her out, sure." Revan said after a moment, a smile on his face before the two made their way to the hanger and catch up with Ahsoka, Anakin and Rex.
The group came out of hyperspace in their Eta-class shuttle a short ways away from Mandalore. "The Jedi Council has given you two a mission. It's your duty to see it through." Anakin reminded. "Don't you think we're just a little overqualified for this?" she questioned. "According to Senator Amidala, Mandalore is a deeply corrupt world. If the cycle is to be broken, the future leaders at the Royal Academy of Government must learn the evils of corruption. Yoda feels only young padawans like yourselves can get through to them." he answered. Ahsoka had a thoughtful look.
Anakin flew the ship towards the capital city, Sundari. Which was enclosed by a bio-dome that allowed the city to exist on the harsh planet, which had been rendered a desert after years of Mandalorian wars. The Knight descended the shuttle onto one of the landing pads connected to outside of the dome. The four exited the ship and while Rex remained at the bottom of the ramp patiently, the Jedi walked towards the Duchess and Prime Minister. "Duchess Satine." Anakin greeted, kissing her hand before looking at the Minister. "Prime Minister Almec." he greeted with a respectful nod.
'I hope she doesn't expect me to kiss her hand, not looking forward to that.' "Master Skywalker, so good to see you again." she greeted back with a small smile before looking at Ahsoka. "This is your padawan, I assume?" she asked. "Yes, my lady. May I present, Ahsoka Tano." he introduced. "Duchess. Prime Minister." she greeted them. The Duchess turned her attention to Revan. "And you must be Obi-Wan's apprentice. He's told me lots about you." she said kindly. Revan froze and his heart rate picked up. 'Shit! I hope she doesn't know who I am. Or at least trusts Obi-Wan enough not to say anything in public.' he gulped silently, despite having a dry throat from being nervous.
"Evan. If I remember correctly, yes?" she asked. The padawan took a long mental sigh of relief as he started to calm down. 'Thanks Obi-Wan. I owe you big time.', "That's my name, don't wear it out." he joked lightly. The Duchess let out a small giggle before turning her attention back to Anakin. "I am grateful that the Jedi Council could spare the three of you to help instruct our leaders and peacekeepers of tomorrow. Please thank Master Yoda for me." she said, grateful for the help. "Oh, uh… I'm afraid due to our limited resources, I must return to battle immediately." he apologized. "So you will not be staying, Master Skywalker?" Almec asked.
"No. But I assure you, the padawans are highly capable Jedi and have the full confidence of the Council." Anakin assured. "Very well." the Minister said before turning around as a two Royal guards moved out of the way. "Cadet Korkie, Amis, Lagos." he called out as three cadets lined up next to each other. The last cadet was a female. Almec turned back to look at the Jedi. "These are some of the cadets that you will be instructing, padawans." he informed. "Nice to meet all of you." she greeted kindly with a smile. Revan smiled as well and gave a nod.
"That's a fine weapon. May I see it?" Korkie asked, pointing to her lightsaber as he attempted to step closer. The Minister placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "I'm afraid not. Because of Master Kenobi's recent visit and the trouble that followed, no offworlders may carry weapons on Mandalore." he informed. Revan was glad he started clipping his saber on the back of his belt, putting both hands behind him he used the Force to quickly take the saber apart with one hand before using the other to grab the crystal. After putting it back together he clipped it back on and subtlety slipped the crystal into his pocket. While he didn't much care for the hilt, seeing is how he could easily make a new one. The crystal however was an extremely rare Hurikane crystal, and when used in lightsabers, they created blades that were very good at penetrating defenses. Revan managed to convince people who asked about that he acquired it on Ilum. When in actuality he had stolen it from Windu's quarters as the Jedi Master had quite a few of them.
"Master Obi-Wan caused trouble? That's a first." Ahsoka said sounding surprised with a smirk. Revan was equally surprised. Anakin sighed. "Just, give the lightsabers." he said, holding his hands out. The padawans placed their lightsabers into one hand each. "Thank you for respecting our ways, Master Jedi." Satine thanked him, giving a small nod as Rex came up beside Anakin as the Knight turned to face him. "Excuse the interruption, sir. But it is time to depart. General Fisto, is expecting us." the clone informed. Anakin nodded respectfully to the Duchess and Minister. "If you'll excuse me." he said as the two walked back to the ship. Ahsoka gave the Duchess and Minister a smile before they started towards the dome, the cadets behind them.
Once inside one of the academy's classrooms, the cadets they met outside plus a few more that joined them took their seats before Ahsoka started to speak. Revan had decided to remain quiet and let her teach, unless he had to speak. "Corruption is what happens when someone in power puts their own personal gain before the interests of the people they represent." Ahsoka explained to the class. A cadet named Soniee lifted her display visor up. "So it's a result of greed?" Soniee asked. "Yes. A leader sacrifices moral integrity for the sake of money or power. Entire star systems have collapsed into chaos or revolution because their greedy politicians got caught up in a cycle of bribery and blackmail while their people suffered." the padawan explained. "Does that mean most government officials are corrupt?" Lagos asked her.
"Well… no, but the point is that temptation is always there. And citizens must be vigilant so corruption can't take root. The deadliest enemies of a society dwell within it's borders, and from these internal threats. The people need to be protected." she explained again. "But if you don't trust your leaders, isn't that treason?" Amis asked. "It's very citizen's duty to challenge their leaders, to keep them honest and hold them accountable if they're not." she answered. "How do you do that?" Korkie asked. "By exposing corrupt officials for what they are. Lasting change can only come from within." she said, looking at all of them. The cadets look at each other thoughtfully.
"Be sure your assignments are prepared for tomorrow." she reminded them over holo, not long after they left before noticing Revan smiling at her. "What?" she asked. "Not much. Just that if you decided to stop being a Jedi, you could have one hell of a career in teaching." he complimented. "Really?" she asked, mirroring his smile. "Definitely. Hell even I was paying attention. And you know I rarely pay attention when it comes to learning." he praised, joking lightly at the last sentence. Ahsoka blushed from the praise and her smile became a shy one. "Come on. We've got some stuff to do before bed." she said before they left.
The cadets walked into the class and immediately took their seats. Revan looked at each other four who spoke the previous day. 'Somethings off about them. Not "bad" off. Just off…' Ahsoka seemed to notice it a bit too. "Korkie, you seem distracted today. What's going on?" she asked him. "We did what you said. We found evidence of corruption." he replied. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Well, we were hungry. So we decided to go look for food." Lagos answered instead. "Food?" the padawan asked. "Yeah, down at the government warehouse." Amis answered. "Someone just let you in to inspect the warehouse?" she asked, sounding suspicious. 'Here it comes…' Revan had pretty good idea what the next words were gonna be.
"No. We broke in." he said without thinking his words through. Soniee face palmed. "Oh great!" she said sarcastically. "So you committed a crime." Ahsoka said giving them disappointed looks. Revan suddenly snorted in laughter, earning a glare from her. "What about them committing a crime, is so funny?" she asked unamused. Revan pointed at Amis. "Him. He just ratted them out like he was telling the news!" he said chuckling a few more seconds before sobering up. "It sounds bad, I know. But then we saw a meeting and offworlders…" he trailed off before Lagos continued. "And they chased us!", "Maybe they chased you because you broke into a government warehouse." Ahsoka rationalized, scoldingly.
"No, it was a black market deal. I know it! My aunt Satine told us to stay out of it, but we must do something." Korkie insisted. "Do you have proof?" Ahsoka asked them. "We made a holo-recording. The Prime Minister's meeting us tonight to." Sionee answered showing her holo-cam. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Ahsoka asked. Amis raised his hand for a moment. "But I thought you said it was the duty of every citizen to expose corrupt officials?" Amis asked her. Ahsoka walked up to Korkie's desk as she spoke. "I'm only saying you should take this slowly. Examine all of the facts and all of the people involved before you act." she explained. "You sound more like my aunt than a Jedi Knight." Korkie said quietly. Revan flinched lightly at his words. 'Shit. And here I thought I sometimes went pretty low.' The class then grabbed their stuff and left.
Later that night the two padawans jumped off a building and Ahsoka knocked out a guard that was about to hit Amis with his baton. Revan jumped up and kicked the one holding Lagos in the head as Ahsoka kicked one to the side and he grabbed another's arm and threw him to the ground before grabbing the baton and tossing it to Ahsoka, who grabbed it and threw it at a guards head. Revan immediately kicked the one standing over Soniee away. The guards on the ground picked themselves up and fled before he helped Soniee up. "Looks like the Prime Minister set you up." Ahsoka said as the cadets walked up to them.
"That's treason. He's the leader of our system. He couldn't possibly be a traitor." Korkie said with uncertainty. "We need proof." Lagos said. "We have the recording!" Soniee remembered before turning it on and focusing it on the hooded man. "That's no good. You can't see who it is." Korkie said. "Wait. Stop right there." Ahsoka told her. Soniee pressed a button and the hologram stopped spinning and now faced towards the padawan. Ahsoka pulled out her datapad. "Information retrieval. I need you to I.D a hologram." she said. The pad beeped and a few seconds later the Prime Minister's face was shown under the hood. "That's him!" Korkie exclaimed.
"You're right. That is the Prime Minister!" Soniee agreed, turning off the cam. "We have to take this to my aunt and warn her." he said. "They know I talked to her." he realized a second later before they all ran towards Satine's home. The first thing they noticed was a guard in front of her door, at the bottom of the steps. "We're too late." Korkie realized before Ahsoka kneeled down to check on the guard. "He's dead." she informed before standing back up and stopping Korkie from entering the room. "Korkie, wait. The intruders may still be inside." she warned as he moved passed her.
"They took her. this is all my fault." he blamed himself and sat on the steps in front of the dining table. The padawans and other cadets walked up to him and Lagos kneeled down and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Korkie shrugged it off and stood up. "Who knows what they've done to her." he said, anger creeping into his voice before they all turned to the padawans. "Now what? How are we supposed to find her?" Amis asked. "Who can we trust?" Lagos asked. "I need all of you to calm down and focus. We know the Prime Minister is behind this." Ahsoka reminded.
"After my aunt, he's the most powerful person on Mandalore." pointed out. "So lets go talk to him." she said with a mysterious hint in her voice. The padawans walked into the Prime Minister's office with three guards escorting them. "Master Jedi, this is an unexpected pleasure. What can I do for you?" he asked as they stopped in front of his desk. "Actually, Prime Minister. It's what we can do for you." she replied with a smirk before turning and gesturing towards the entrance. Four guards escorted the cadets in binders up to the Minister's desk.
"We believe some of our students are involved in a conspiracy against you." she informed him. "Intriguing." he said, smirking at the cadets. A little while later the guards were escorting the cadets into Mandalore's prison while the padawans, Minister and two guards watched. Korkie managed to stop long enough to look at them for a few seconds "You can't do this! We trusted you, Master Jedi!" he said, sounding betrayed before a guard placed a hand on his shoulder and moved him along. "Thank you for bringing the traitors to justice, Master Jedi." the Minister said, sounding pleased.
The padawans turned to face him. "They mentioned that Duchess Satine was their leader. We should arrest her too." Ahsoka suggested. "Do not worry. We already have her in custody." he assured. "Really? Where?" she asked. "That is none of your concern. Now, I must prepare a public statement about the Duchess and her crimes." he replied, stepping onto a Mandalorian automated transport as the guard started it before they flew away. The padawans stepped up to the guard in front of the turbolift leading up to the prison. "Officer, we need to interrogate the prisoners immediately." she said to him. The guard nodded and moved out of their way and they stepped into the lift.
Two guards escorted them to the cadets cell and opened the door, letting them in before closing. "Careful, we're being watched." Ahsoka warned quietly, gesturing towards the door a guard was looking through. "Did he buy it?" Lagos asked them. "Have you found my aunt?" Korkie asked before the padawans could answer Lagos. "Not exactly, but we know they have her in custody." Ahsoka answered. "Where?" he asked. She gave down look. "The Prime Minister wouldn't tell us." she said. "I knew this plan wouldn't work." Amis complained in a defeated tone and walked to the corner of the small cell.
"Have a little faith. We'll find her. We'll just modify the plan a bit." she suggested. "How are you going to that?" Sionee asked her. "Don't worry. You'll know when to act when we give the signal." she replied. "What's the signal?" Korkie asked. Ahsoka smirk confidently. "You'll know it when you see it." she said mysteriously before turning to door. Revan shrugged his shoulders at the cadet's confused look before turning to the door as it opened. "You will take us to Duchess Satine" she said, waving her hand in front of the guard's face. "I will take you to Duchess Satine." he replied.
The guard lead them in the opposite direction they came from before another joined and lead them into a room with some kind of special glass cell with three levels, the Duchess was in the top part. Spotlights followed them as they walked up to the cells. Ahsoka stepped up to the console. "What are you doing?" one of the guards asked. "She must interrogate the Duchess." Revan said, waving his hand. "She must interrogate the Duchess." he repeated. Revan smiled at Ahsoka, who nodded and gave him one of her own before stepping back to the console and pressing some buttons before the Duchess' cell was lowered to the ground floor.
Revan quickly caught her before she fell and helped her stand straight as Ahsoka stepped up to them quickly. "We're getting you out of here." Ahsoka assured her. "Padawans, it's a trap." Satine warned them. 'Why do I get the feeling the line, "It's a trap!" is going to become popular?' Revan wondered before they heard the Minister's voice as he walked in with two guards. "I see you found the Duchess, younglings. You may stop your playacting now, Sergeant." he said to the two guards that were thought to be mind-tricked before they both turned and stood to attention. "Prime Minister, sir!" the obeyed. "Using a Jedi Mind trick was a very poor decision. My guards have been trained to resist such archaic magic." he said, smirking triumphantly as he reached and six more guards surrounded.
"And now you have revealed yourselves as conspirators." he said, earning a glare from Ahsoka. "Set for stun." he ordered as a searchlight focused on her and shot two small blue rings. She let out a small cry of pain and fell to her knees, using one hand to keep herself up while the other clutched her stomach. Revan immediately dropped down to make sure she was alright. "You little fools." Almec insulted. Revan glared murderously at the man and his eyes briefly flashed yellow. "Leave her alone, you bastard!" he snarled and stood up, only to fall back down beside her as two stun blasts hit him. Revan knew he couldn't do anymore lest he receive another blast, his identity being revealed or worse, Ahsoka gets another blast.
Two of the guards grabbed the padawans and moved their arms behind them before placing binders on as the Minister walked up to Satine holding out a datapad with writing on it and a pen. "Sign it. Sign the confession and admit to your treasonous ways." he demanded. Satine glared up at him. "There is only one traitor to Mandalore here, Prime Minister. And that's you. You control the black market. You have betrayed the public trust and used your office to accumulate wealth and power! It's shameful!" she accused while the Minister chuckled evilly. "Your idealism is inspiring, my dear. But hopelessly naive. I established the black market for the people." he explained.
"That's absurd!" Ahsoka snapped before the Minister started pacing. "The war is disrupting trade across the galaxy. The profits from the black market are being used to purchase humanitarian supplies for Mandalore. Think of it as a new tax in the interest of national security." he explained. Satine turned her head to face him. "It's a tax for your benefit, Prime Minister. Where are these humanitarian supplies you speak of?" she snapped. "Sergeant, put the shock collar on her." he ordered. The sergeant took it off his belt and walked over to her before snapping it on.
"My patience has worn thin, Duchess. Maybe this will convince you." he snarled, pressing a button on the console. Satine cried out in pain as the collar was activated before the Minister let up a few seconds later. Satine started breathing heavily. "I would wrath die than sign your confession!" she spat in breathless voice. "That can be arranged." he pointed out. "You're wasting your time!" Ahsoka spat at him. "Bring me those traitorous cadets." he ordered the sergeant who left immediately. Satine turned to face the Minister. "No you can't. They're just children!" she pleaded before he gave her a dark smirk.
A few minutes later four guards escorted the cadets into the room in binders. "I'm afraid your nephew will have to suffer needlessly. Put the shock collar on cadet Korkie." the Minister ordered. The sergeant walked forward with another collar as a guard held the cadet still. Ahsoka suddenly head butted the guard holding her in the chin before summersaulting and as the same guard attempted to grab her she elbowed him in the face before slapping her fists on anothers head. "Go!" Korkie exclaimed as he and the other three tackled the four guards to the ground.
The Minister attempted to use the console again before suddenly being thrown into two guards by Revan using the Force. He turned around and used the Force to take a guards' shield from him before kicking him away and quickly turning around to block stun blasts from the spotlight. Revan pushed two guards away with it before throwing it towards another. The cadets knocked down another guard as Ahsoka used the Force to throw one into the cell before the padawans and Duchess started dodging stun blasts. Ahsoka kicked another two the ground as Revan dodged another's baton by backflipped behind Satine.
He removed the collar before ducking another stun blast as Ahsoka kicked the Minister's feet out from under him. Revan quickly placed the collar on him and he attempted to remove it before Ahsoka quickly moved to the console and slammed her fist on the button. "Gotcha." she said in a low voice as Almec was electrocuted for a few seconds before falling to his knees . Two guards attempted to move forward, but stopped when he raised his hand. "Stop fighting!" he order quickly before breathing heavily. Satine stood up and looked at Ahsoka. "Send for my personal guards." she asked the padawan who nodded as the cadets stood up.
After her guards showed up and a few took away the Minister's guards the padawans, cadets and Duchess' binders were removed they placed Almec in the same cell she had been in earlier. Satine pushed the right lever on the console and the door closed before the cell raised to the ceiling. She turned to the padawans. "You must know by now that I didn't bring you here just to teach. I knew something was amiss, but I had no one to trust. I thought if I brought a Jedi. Especially friends of Senator Amidala's, we could solve this mystery together." she explained. "I never doubted you, Duchess." Ahsoka said smiling. Revan smiled as well and gave a nod of agreement. "Neither did we." Korkie said before hugging his aunt.
Awhile later the padawans, cadets and Duchess watched as the Jedi shuttle landed on the platform. The padawans turned to face Satine as Korkie stepped up to them. "It was an honour to serve with Jedi Knights." he said, giving them a small bow. "It was our privilege to be your teachers." Ahsoka answered for them both with a smile before they gave Duchess a respectful nod. They turned back around to see Anakin exit the ship and made their way towards him. "I hope this assignment wasn't too boring for you both." he said with a kind smirk.
The padawans looked at one another with secret smiles before turning back to him. "It had its moments." she replied. Anakin grabbed their sabers off his belt before flipping them in the air and holding them out. "Huh, like the one where you convinced untrained children to help you overthrow a corrupt government?" he asked giving them an accusing look. "That was a highlight." she replied sheepishly as they took their sabers. "Sounds pretty risky. You're both lucky you didn't get hurt." he reminded. Ahsoka smirked at him. "Nothing you wouldn't have done." she said before walking up the ramp, the other two right behind her. Anakin then started the ship and took off for home...
Chapter 2 is done. Hopefully i'll have chapter 3 up soon.