Ship to Coruscant
*This is one of those times I wish our technology and the requirements were like they were during the Clone Wars*
*Agreed even though we were mainly on battleships we could use civilian ships to make contact with the Temple at need, both of us had to do that on several occasions over those three years*
*By now we're missing and most likely dead to everyone but Master Yoda*
*I know Anakin and unfortunately this bond doesn't give us the ability to truly communicate with him, all he can really sense is the fact that we're alive he doesn't know where we are or anything else including our current health status*
*How soon until we're on Coruscant?*
*I asked the Captain earlier today and he said it's going to take a few more days yet*
(Mental sigh) *I could really use a spar right now and I hate the fact that it's still going to be a while unfortunately there's nothing we can do about either right now*
*Anakin maybe we can get in some exercise even if it isn't our full routine, remember what we used to do during the Clone Wars and were stuck in small rooms for whatever reason?*
*I completely forgot about that, but no lightsaber practice*
*I know, at least we can still do that in our heads and we'll only have not done so for a few days*
*True, I forgot the last port we had a spar in a quiet area away from the main port before we left that planet*
*Exactly Anakin, plus you know why we have to stop every few days and wait a bit*
*I know, we need the money for transport, though I did manage to barter that one ride through my mechanical skills*
*Which was a good thing in my mind because that planet only gets worse from here on out*
*I know which is why I did that in the first place, I didn't want to be on that planet any longer than necessary like you*
*Point, when we get back we're going to have to replace our communicators*
*I miss the days when our comm links were on our wrists*
*Few more years Padawan*
All of a sudden though they felt the ship they were on jolt to the side and all of a sudden alarms were sounding off
"Master, looks like there's trouble"
"Agreed, Clone Wars?"
"Nope, don't want to give ourselves away remember?"
"Right, any other ideas then Anakin?"
"See what they want first and then go from there"
"Fine, let's hope this doesn't actually get us killed like the Council probably believes"
Turns out that the attackers made a mistake due to faulty equipment. They were planetary protectors and the ship got a bit too close to the planet, unfortunately sensors on both sides failed to recognize each other so the ship was attacked and boarded but when the mistake was discovered they were not only allowed to continue the mission unimpeded but given an escort due to the fact that the ship currently couldn't communicate properly with any other ship and no one could repair it because the area damaged was on the outside of the ship. Three days after the incident Anakin and Obi-Wan were finally back on Coruscant
"So nearest free comm system?"
"Nope, I know someone who can get us a ride where we need to go no questions asked"
"We're going to get mobbed as soon as we get back aren't we?"
"Yes Padawan we are, but first let's flare our Force signature to alert the proper people that we're back and alive"
Council chambers
"The Chancellor asked earlier today if we've heard from Knight Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker yet I told him..."
Just then they felt the flare of two Force signatures, signatures that most didn't believe they would feel again
"Knight Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker are alive"
"Maybe this means we'll see them soon if we can feel them flaring their Force signatures"
Half an hour later a Padawan who looked shaken reported that Knight Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker were requesting entrance into the Council chamber
"Enter they may, much to report they have"
"Good thing we don't declare anyone dead for sure until after a year or we have actual proof, not to mention we have procedures in place in case anyone comes back after a year goes by due to capture or something else"
As soon as the two walk in everyone could tell that they had been through an ordeal
"What happened to the two of you?"
"A lot Master Windu, first for the report I can say with absolute certainty that Tranceles is not going to be ending the civil war any time soon as I'm sure you've heard that they are currently in a state of civil war from the Chancellor months ago"
"Indeed we did, we lost contact with a team trying to get you out of there before the fighting got too bad to send anyone unfortunately they were attacked upon entering the atmosphere and we currently have no idea what's happened to them"
"We know, we found their bodies and did what we could before we left the planet. Since then my Padawan and I have been planet hopping to get back, if not for Anakin's mechanical skills on one planet we might not have made it home. For the rest of the time we simply earned enough money to get from one planet to another"
"Very well we will put those two on the KIA list and then the two of you are going to get checked out by the medics, you look bad"
"No kidding, we've been doing what we could to survive, we fought off three pirate attacks, six ambushes, two assassinations and helped deal with seven ship breakdowns"
"Excuse the interruptions Masters but my Master miscalculated on the assassinations due to the fact that he was unconscious for one of the attempts"
"When was that my Padawan?"
"Remember the accident on the Restorance?"
"Oh yes that engine explosion, I remember being out for three days according to the ships medics"
"You were, on the second day there was an assassination attempt that I managed to stop only because of the fact that I was in the room at the time eating with the target, a disguised member of the Royal family of Kranlo. She decided to head home on a simple ship to see how ordinary people lived life in cramped quarters and also to find out just how many refugees were coming to her planet each month on average, whether as a lay over or permanent home. How the person who wanted her assassinated knew she was on board is beyond me, and I was forced to reveal my Jedi status due to the fact that one of the assassins is a known Jedi hunter and recognized my Padawan braid for what it was"
"Did you use your lightsaber?"
"No, those blaster lessons proved very useful Masters I know that it's currently only an experiment but I recommend that all Jedi who are Padawans and up learn how to properly use a blaster just in case"
The experiment Anakin was talking about was one that had gotten started when Anakin was fourteen the first time but didn't last very long because the skills of the lightsaber were more the focus and by the time the Clone Wars came those lessons were completely forgotten. Anakin hoped that this time if the lessons continued more Jedi would survive because they would know basics about blasters and how to use them
"If they knew you were a Jedi why didn't you use your lightsaber Padawan Skywalker?"
"Easy Master Plo Koon, the size of the ship prevented it, if I had used my lightsaber in certain areas I would have killed us all by putting us into space or I would have destroyed a lot of needed equipment, or rooms which the pilot currently can't afford to replace"
"I never heard about that Padawan"
"Yeah, I didn't know it at the time either but once we landed on Kranlo I found out from him that his engines are past retirement and he needed to use what money he had on that planet to get new ones. Apparently he would have been better off except for a family debt to the Hutts he's currently trying to pay off on his own, father is dead, mother is too sick, sister is married and the brother is hiding and doing nothing to help, the father incurred the debt accidentally but it is what it is"
"Understood Padawan Skywalker, anything else to report Knight Kenobi?"
"Only that I'm glad we had a fighter escort for the last leg of our trip because otherwise we would have been attacked by Coruscant due to the fact that the ship we were on was having issues last time I knew that meant they couldn't properly identify themselves and communicate who they truly were"
"A story I sense in those words"
"Yes Master Yoda, the ship was attacked by a planetary defense force because of the equipment malfunction. If not for my Padawan I might have made the situation worse"
"To be fair Masters, we had just helped deal with a pirate attack only two days earlier and both of us were a little on edge because we hadn't been able to properly train in a few days. Again we used blasters due to the dimensions of the ship when it came to the pirates, plus we didn't reveal ourselves to be Jedi unless necessary and even when we did we continued to simply use basic transports because there really was no other option, and every where's we landed there was no communication ability for whatever reason"
(Sighs) "I think I speak for all of us when I say we understand, we want a full detailed written report later Knight Kenobi, in the meantime you and your Padawan are to report to medical...again just so that we know you're okay after this ordeal"
"Understood Master Windu...Masters if I may I request my Padawan and I have leave for at least two weeks to decompress and get back into routine"
"Granted Knight Kenobi, we were going to discuss how much leave you will have once you left the room to visit the medics, now then Healers now"
The two simply bow and go to the Healers who give them a clean bill of health overall
"Now then both of you are a bit underweight and you Knight Kenobi have some minor wounds still healing while you Padawan Skywalker have a nasty cut on your arm that needs stitches"
"Yeah, the engines were starting to act up and I decided to help the mechanic with the problems before we were dead in space"
"When was this Padawan?"
"You were sleeping I was awake for some reason and decided to get some food when I discovered that we were having engine trouble. It was shortly after we got the fighter escort the rest of the way home"
"Were the fighters at fault?"
"We all thought so at first including the fighters, turns out the problem started before then but went undetected until after the battle, turns out the escort saved our lives by attacking us by mistake"
"Okay then"
The two leave the Healers and head to Master Yoda's quarters and wait for him so that they could discuss things in the open about what Anakin had thought of before Tranceles. Soon after they arrived Yoda arrived and they simply went inside
"Need to discuss something with me you do young Skywalker?"
"Yes Master Yoda, I have a plan in regards to order 66 in the clones"
"Your plan, dangerous it is?"
"No Master Yoda, at least it shouldn't be. I have a question though deletion or change?"
"Delete the order you should if possible, change it if not, unsure I am if in time for the first clones you will be"
"Don't worry I will be"
Anakin begins the hacking process and succeeds in discreetly deleting order 66 from the clones programming
"Okay that's one step in the right direction, unfortunately we have a long ways to go before Palpatine is defeated"
"Meditate we must on whether we should reveal ourselves or not"
"We also need to do that three way spar, Master Obi-Wan and I were serious when we mentioned we hadn't had any lightsaber practice in a while, though we finally did use the Clone Wars routines to keep up our hand to hand combat skills"
"Formalities not needed in this room between the three of us, Yoda I simply am to the two of you now, but outside this room formality needed just in case"
"That's going to be a hard habit to break Master Yoda, especially because of the fact that you're the Grand Master of the Jedi Order and have been around much longer than any of us and as such deserve the respect you've earned"
"Know this I do, but teach you to be informal in this room I will"
Turned out their lessons started that day when they simply decided to actually talk about the Clone Wars and their old "dead" comrades, those that hadn't been born yet or were too young at the moment for them to truly know them like during the Wars. After simply talking they went to the room where they had a spar, this spar was late at night though so that no one disturbed them and didn't ask questions and they went at it with each other using all the skills they had learned during the Clone Wars and even some they learned afterwords when they were separated and Anakin was Vader while Obi-Wan was on Tatooine and Yoda on Dagobah. Afterwords they went back to Yoda's quarters to discuss other things that they didn't want anyone to accidentally hear