Vanguard

Chapter 13

"Warnings and orientation tours"

[Jedi Temple, Coruscant]

It's been a day since the UNSC Vanguard rose from Saleucami's surface and engaged the frigate Justification and ended up victorious. The corvette Viper Infinite, and her crew, had landed on one of the landing pads of the Jedi Temple. Eva and Agos remained by the ship to attend to what needed to be done while Cain Komari ventures inside to find Anakin Skywalker in regards to his former padawan, as he made his way through an external plaza he noticed he has been receiving several different looks from the people around him, looks of pride, respect, worry, and even disgust. But he did not let those last two affect him as he greets those considered friends to him and make his way inside the temple, when he made it inside he walked down the massive corridors that always seemed to have someone walking through them. He turns around a corner to see a small class of Jedi younglings being led by one of his oldest friends in the order, a middle aged human male from Naboo wearing a typical outfit for a Jedi with brown hair and a missing left eye, Jedi Knight Lador Mattis.

The two old friends stopped in front of each other where Lador said "Cain Komari old friend it is good to see you again."

"Likewise Mattis, off to lightsaber practice are we?" Cain asks as he looks down at the younglings.

"Indeed, Master Yoda would normally be the one to take them but he personally requested that I teach them while he had other matters to attend to" Lador then turns to the younglings and said "Everyone, I would like you to meet my dearest friend, Cain Komari."

The young children greeted the Cerean "Hello Master Komari."

"And hello to you all little ones, this is your first time is it not?"

"Yes Master" the kids answered.

Cain pulls out his own lightsaber "A lightsaber is a Jedi's most trusted weapon, but remember that it is only to be used as a last resort for a Jedi's true weapon is their words and understanding. They don't call us keepers of the peace for nothing."

One child asks "What does that mean Master Komari?"

Cain smiled feeling proud inside and said "In due time you will understand young one, all of you will understand."

He stands back up when Mattis suggests "Perhaps when I am done training the younglings we can go and celebrate your return with a couple of drinks."

"I thank you for the offer friend but now is not the best time, right now I need to see Skywalker. Do you know where he is?"

"Skywalker? I believe he is in the grand library the last time I heard."

Cain nods to that and says "Thank you, I will head there now, perhaps another time."

"Perhaps another time" Mattis responded before he walks away with the children close behind.

Komari watched his friend walk away for a moment before turning away and begun making his way to Skywalker in the temple's library.

About twenty minutes had passed when he finally reaches the temple's library, where all of the Jedi archives are stored and documented, and when he enters the library the first person he sees was another one of his old friends and former tutor, Jedi Librarian Jocasta Nu.

The old woman looked over to see the Cerean approaching her and greeted him "Cain Komari it has been a while, I suppose you are here for Lador?"

"Not this time Jocasta, I've come to seek Skywalker. Do you know where he is?"

Nu turned around and pointed her finger to the far end of the library near a set of consoles "He's over there but I'm afraid he's been there ever since young Padawan Tano has left. The poor thing, perhaps you can lift his spirit."

"Funny, of all the stories I have heard it seemed that his spirit has always been up. I will do what I can Lady Jocasta."

The librarian gave a warm gentle smile and walked away to tend to her other duties while Komari made his way through the library until he spotted a terminal currently occupied by a tall human male with brown hair and wearing a dark blue outfit, brown boots, and brown hand gloves. There was an empty chair close by so Cain used the force to bring it over and sat himself down by the distracted Jedi Knight as he looks through different articles on the terminal screen.

"Skywalker" Cain said greeting him.

"Cain, to what do I owe this unexpected visit?" Anakin said not taking his eyes off the terminal screen.

"I understand that you are facing complications about your former padawan."

"And I take it you're here to cheer me up, sorry Komari but I don't think drinks will help me."

"I am here to at least give you some closure in regards to Ahsoka."

That grabbed Skywalker's undivided attention when he turns to the Cerean and ask "Closure? What do you mean? Is she hurt?"

"Calm yourself she is fine, I just spoke with her yesterday. I have information regarding her and her new acquaintance."

Komari pulls out his small hologram communicator and shows Skywalker a hologram of what appeared to him as a large battle droid unlike anything he seen, he could only ask "What. Is that?"

"A soldier of dangerous proportions that is allied with neither the Republic nor the Separatists."

"I've never seen armor like that, it's sort of like a clone's but this one's different . . ."

"That is because no one has seen this kind of soldier before, a SPARTAN."

"SPARTAN? Whatever that is it can't be good. So what is this thing capable of?"

"Why don't I just show you, I've recorded my first encounter with this being on Dantooine, here."

He begins playing a holographic recording of him fighting Longarm in a fast paced brawl throwing punches left and right but eventually the towering metal giant won, despite Cain dodging nearly every throw and landed plenty of his own onto the seemingly invincible soldier.

The recording ended as Cain adds "And his warship is something a warmonger could only dream of. It single handedly destroyed a separatist frigate in two salvos from what I can only assume was its two forward magnetically charged cannons."

"What is it called?"

"The Vanguard . . . supposedly it is a destroyer unlike any I have ever seen."

"And this SPARTAN, what's his name?"

"We don't know of his true name but as far as I know he goes by the name Longarm."

That name made something click in the back of Anakin's head as if though he remembered a name like that, for a moment he had no clue until he remembered what Master Obi-wan had said about the separatist attack on Toydaria, "I remember a name like that, Kenobi mentioned someone named Longarm that was one heck of a fighter, from what I heard he took on General Grievous in hand-to-hand combat and survived without a scratch."

"Then he is stronger than we thought" Cain says now concerned for Ahsoka's safety.

Skywalker then asked "What could Ahsoka be doing with someone like Longarm?"

"That is something she was rather unclear of herself, but there is no doubt that she is clearly way in over her head."

"What can I do about it? She's no longer part of the order and I think it's still too early for me to be back in her life."

"I know that Skywalker, but she is in danger and she needs you. Find Longarm and confront him, I hope you will use your words to persuade him but I believe I know you better, all I can say is do not underestimate him."

"I don't even know where to look. If you said you talked to them yesterday then they could be anywhere in the galaxy by now."

Komari places his hand on Skywalker's shoulder and says "Then I wish you the best of luck. Oh and I nearly forgot, there was another man I came across that seems to pose another danger to Ahsoka and even Longarm."

"Who?"

"A Mandalorian by the name of Granor Kahn, Longarm claims to have killed him but I still sensed his utter rage and hatred even when we left the system. If he is still alive then no doubt he will hold a grudge against the SPARTAN, I'd advise caution."

"Thanks Cain, now if you'll excuse me, I have a togruta to find."

Komari nodded and gave Skywalker a gentle pat on the shoulder before standing up and walk away towards the entrance of the library. Anakin then began to ponder on how to find this Longarm when his first thought came to Kenobi, who was currently aboard his flagship planning an assault on a separatist shipyard, and decides to use the terminal to contact him. He presses several keys and switches resulting in the screen to change stating for him to please wait as it tries to send a live feed transmission to the Vigilance.

It was only a few minutes later did the screen change showing his old master and his right hand man, CC-2224 or 'Cody', Kenobi asks "Anakin I hope you have a reasonable explanation as to interrupt my briefing."

"Sorry Master" Skywalker said with his casual grin which caused Obi-wan to say "Anakin I know that look, what do you have on your mind?"

"Oh nothing Obi-wan, I'm thinking about aiding you in the upcoming attack on the separatist shipyard. You could use all the help you can get."

"Are your men ready to head out so soon after Cato Neimodia? It hasn't been a week since they returned to Coruscant."

"I'm sure Rex will have the men ready in a day and I believe Admiral Yularen is waiting for my return to the fleet."

Kenobi pondered for a moment knowing the shipyard will be heavily guarded, even with the help of Longarm and Ahsoka it will still be difficult, he eventually said "Very well Anakin, I'll send Yularen the coordinates of our staging grounds. We'll also be expecting outside help from Ahsoka and her new friend."

Skywalker acted surprised "Ahsoka? And by friend I suppose you mean that Longarm guy as well right?"

"Indeed, she said something about them acquiring extra firepower so hopefully it'll help."

"I'll be sure to make my way there as soon as possible Master."

"See to it that you do, in the meantime I will see about making a new plan of attack with your forces. Kenobi out."

The transmission ended leaving the screen blank when he stood from his chair and started making his way out of the library as he contacts Captain Rex and begins relaying orders to him. No matter what it had to take, he was now more than willing to save Ahsoka's life from this new dangerous entity.

[UNSC Vanguard, Slipstream Space]

Aboard the destroyer, deck fifteen ,cafeteria 2-B, Longarm and Ahsoka were both sitting at a table across from each other as they ate lunch together while Percival was hard at work regulating the power flow from Tano's docked cruiser on the starboard side to the Vanguard's primary fusion drives propelling the destroyer through slipspace.

Tano took another bite of her meal and asked "Mm this is pretty good . . . what is this?"

Longarm took another spoonful of wheat rice before looking at her meal and said "Moa steak."

"What's a moa?" she asks.

"A moa is a large flightless bird found on our fortress world, Reach. Eventually after initial discovery, they became another source of food for humanity shipping them across UNSC space for repopulation and farming."

She takes another bite before asking "Well this is definitely better than Republic rations."

The SPARTAN became curious "What do they have?"

"Oh not much, mainly just tasteless squares of protein supplements and fruit additives. It's weird to think we're so more advanced than you and yet you have better tasting rations on your ships."

He chuckled "Hmhm, well I guess that's a perk for us UNSC. Say, what's your favorite food?"

Ahsoka didn't pay attention as she savored the last bite of moa before asking "Sorry what was that?"

Longarm repeated himself "What's your favorite thing to eat?"

"Hmm . . . I'm going to have to go with gatro egg omelet with diced roba and bellassan peppers, with a cup of jawa juice."

"Huh so you're a breakfast kind of person just like me."

"What do you like?"

"Well I believe it would be moa patties served with gravy and buttermilk biscuit and eggs."

"Huh so we do have something in common. That's a first."

"Agreed" Longarm said as he takes his last bite of his meal.

Eventually Percival spoke on the ship's intercom system "Sierra-121, I believe some of our aerial assets are in need of repairs down in the hangar as well as space capable craft that could indeed help us in the days ahead."

This prompted Ahsoka to ask "Speaking of space capable craft, what do we have in the hangar?"

The SPARTAN placed his helmet back on and stood up with his tray in hand saying "We have two F-99 UCAVs but they only work in atmosphere, we also have a D77 Pelican dropship as well as that other dropship those boarders used, and for fighter support we have one YSS-1000 Sabre Starfighter."

"You have another fighter besides that?" Ahsoka asks as she picks up her tray and follows him.

He looks down at her asking "No. What do you mean by that?"

"In case you didn't know I'm a great pilot, my former master is an ace in fighter combat."

"Well that's good to hear but the Sabre is all we have for now, if it helps any it's a two-seater."

That comment did not help when Ahsoka spoke with some sarcasm "Oh great, I love being a backseat pilot."

Longarm then suggests as he and she place their empty trays on the cafeteria counter for someone to clean later "Maybe you can buy a fighter with the money Senator Amidala gave us for our work on Toydaria."

The two began walking towards the cafeteria exit as she states "Not really, we have enough money to buy parts for a ship such as weapons and maybe even some shielding if we're lucky."

"Why not just buy an old fighter and we'll give it a good tune up."

"I guess so . . ." she says as the two walk out of the cafeteria.

Longarm then said "Alright then, I'm heading down to the hangar to do some repairs. I'm aware that you haven't been given a proper tour of the ship so I'll leave you to Percival."

"Um . . . alright then" she responded unenthusiastically.

The SPARTAN gave a subtle nod and begins walking away moments before Percival said "Well then, let's have a good look around the ship shall we? Note that some rooms and sectors are restricted for your safety."

"Like which room?"

"Well for starters the engine room where we keep the slipspace drive, since we're in transit we can't go in there due to the massive amounts of radiation being emitted from the drive itself."

"Ok Percy, lead the way."

The AI responded with a cheerful "Gladly."

Ahsoka took one last look at Longarm still walking away before Percival says "If you'll kindly head towards the aft I can show you the ship's training room where our crewmembers would normally go to stay fit for service."

[Jedi Temple, Coruscant]

Cain Komari was seen walking back to the landing pad where the Viper Infinite was when a protocol droid with a silver chassis approaches him with a tablet and reports "Master Komari, your ship has been loaded with the supplies and all damaged components have been repaired as requested."

The Cerean nodded "Thank you" and begins to walk towards his ship when the droid stops him "Um Master, there also seems to be a disturbance aboard the ship between your two apprentices, something regarding 'old unsettled business'."

Cain took a moment to think what the droid meant by that but soon quickly understood what was happening and said "Thank you, I'll handle the matter myself."

"As you wish Master, have a productive day" the droid said before leaving letting Komari make his way into the Consular-class cruiser.

Once inside he made his way to the ship's storage bay and found Agos tied up against a crate and nearly unconscious with Eva standing next to him with his electro-staff in her hands.

Komari asks "What is the meaning of this? I thought we had settled the matter long ago."

Eva states "Forgive us Master, but it is understandingly difficult to bury the hatches between us. You should know that as well."

"Yes I do but now is not the time for petty squabbles to take hold, we must see to it that this Longarm and the Vanguard no longer poses a threat to this galaxy."

"You're normally not the one to take such actions Master, what do you have in mind?"

"I have encouraged Skywalker to find his former padawan and see about this matter himself, so this is now out of our hands. For now we must do what we have done always, find the sith slaver and bring him to justice."

He then uses the force to undo the tying around Agos's body and then gives his orders "Eva take us to Tantooine and Agos see to it that our cargo is secured."

Both apprentices bowed saying "Yes Master" and went about their business.

The two leave leaving Komari alone to ponder if Skywalker would be enough to deal with Longarm, but he can only hope for now and wait for the results.

Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.