A Note: I do not have Disney Plus, and have not seen the latest Kenobi Series, or any other streaming series for that matter. This means that any new Canon data revealed by these shows, unless they make it to a wiki before I do my research, will not be used in my piece. It also means that this Fic will remain spoiler free!
Chapter 81 - Ingenious Workaround
"And what did they say about using the flats at point three-three-one for landing?" Dodonna asked.
"A strict no. That land is sacred to them. The Yrashu would never allow foreigners to walk on that land, let alone land a spacecraft," replied Master Coleman Kcaj, who along with his Padawan, had been negotiating with the natives. "But they were willing to help us transport supplies from landing points seven through nine. And they mentioned bringing along a type of pack animal to help.
Dodonna winced. He didn't think the natives quite understood the weight of the items they were agreeing to carry. "Are you sure they can't be persuaded to let us use them temporarily? I'd really rather have them during the first phase of construction, when we need to bring in the beams for our foundation. They're solid stone, and it'll take forever to go that distance."
Coleman sighed. "Short of being declared citizens, I don't know of any way to persuade them." the Ongree scratched the side of his head, above his left eyestalk. "We've offered them a fortune, but it's still not enough. It's a long, and deeply engraved tradition, I'm afraid.
Dodonna looked up. "Well, what about it?"
"Hmm?" Coleman inquired.
"Being declared citizens. What would it take?"
"Oh," Coleman blinked several times. Clearly he had not thought of that. "It would take a ritual, I understand the natives call it a 'Momu.' Other than that, I haven't been able to learn much on it. R2-D2 didn't even have the word in his dictionary. It's only been in recent conversations, thanks to C3-PO, that I've heard the word mentioned. I can inquire more about them, if you think it'll help."
"Yes, you do that. I'm going to see if we can divide the rest of the supplies into smaller portions. Ideally whatever weight these pack animals can carry," Dodonna closed. He pulled a stylus from behind his ear and pulled out his datapad. "Hopefully I'll have it done before the next ship arrives." Dodonna's ship was only the first ship the Rebellion was sending. Most of his men were soldiers and they were there to make sure things on site were secure. The next group would contain the builders Bail was able to muster. He knew at least one architect would be among them, and he hoped they had the patience of a Jedi, to deal with all the hiccups of doing this.
"Master."
A wave of a hand silences the Padawan.
"Master," Leo whispered.
With a sigh the Master left his meditation and items around the space fell from where they were floating. He reached out and picked up a comlink, which had been flashing, to read the message on its screen. "Alright, you may come out of meditation. We are almost at Beskarn, but we have time for a little more training."
"Ooooooooh." Leo groaned. "Can I atleast take this off my head?" He motioned to the holobook he was balancing precariously on the top of his head.
"But it helps your balance," Kento Merek said with a hint of humor to his voice.
"Uh-huh," Leo groaned. He blushed to think of what their practice sessions looked like to the crew walking by. All his father's and brother's crazy stories about learning under Obi-Wan, at least the man didn't make them walk around with a holobook on their heads.
"One more time. I want to see how your improved posture helps with those forms," Kento ordered.
Leo sighed. He pulled out his lightsaber and stepped into the first position, making sure the holobook stayed in its place.
When their ship landed most of the men on board went to check in with a supervisor. Most of them, even their fellow Jedi, were there to build the base for the Rebellion. "We're going to put your hands to work. Give them something practical to do. It'll be good for you," this is what Kento said was why he accepted the mission to leave Tatooine.
Honestly though, Leo didn't need to hear any excuse to pack his bags. He was tired of being the younger brother, receiving tidbits of stories from his cool older siblings. He also already knew who else was going to be at Beskarn, and he didn't need an excuse to follow her anywhere.
As they landed, Kento led Leo past where cargo was being distributed to everyone else. His master packed light on journeys like this, and encouraged him to do the same, thus they only had a few belongings already tucked into their robes. They walked up to where two familiar presences stood by watching.
"Greetings, Master Kenobi," Kento bowed. "Master Kcaj."
"Greetings, Knight Merek." Obi-Wan responded. Coleman bowed beside him in reply.
"Uncle Ben," Leo gave the familiar greeting. "Where is Ella-Reese?" He looked around for his fellow padawan, but to not see her next to her Father or her Master was odd.
"Ah, yes…" Coleman's voice trailed off.
"Ella-Reese was injured a few days ago and she is recovering in the village," Obi-Wan explained.
"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that," Kento said.
"Can I go see her?" Leo added on.
"No. The medics say it will be a while before she is fully restored, and for now it is best to limit her mental workload. She has a Concussion, you see. And she's had a little trouble with her memory." Obi-Wan answered. "I'm limiting her visitors down to just myself and Master Kcaj."
Leo was about to give his Uncle a strong case of baby eyes and plead that he was not just any visitor… but Coleman spoke up first.
"Well, she was doing well when I went to see her earlier. I think she could use the distraction."
"Please," Leo added, with the baby eyes for just the right effect.
Obi-Wan blinked, then he looked away. "Alright. As long as you don't make any loud noises. They give her headaches."
"Alright," Leo whispered. He smiled as he followed them to a hut in the town.
Obi-Wan opened the door which had a mechanical lock placed on top of the traditional one, and stepped back in shock. Leo followed his Master and peeked in to see what was going on. Standing by her bed were two natives. Yrashu, he had read about them on the way here. Unlike the adults in the illustrations, these Yrashu had green fur on their usually bald heads, and big eyes that looked up at them.
"What is this? How did they get in here?" Obi-Wan began to question. The Yrashu ducked their heads, appearing to cower.
"Da-aaaad," Ella-Reese called out. "They're just younglings. R2 brought them here, with the chief just a little while ago."
"R2? I didn't give that droid access. How did he get in here?" Obi-Wan questioned.
Ella-Reese shrugged. Just then a curtain in the back of the hut moved and some bits of white and blue plating could be seen, before the droid turned around and retreated.
"Arr-Two!" Obi-Wan shouted. "You get back here or I'm gonna…"
Leo thought it would be better for his family relations if he did not hear the end of that threat. He turned to Ella-Reese and knelt by her bed. "Hi," He said in a gentle voice. "Do you remember who I am?" Obi-Wan did say she was having trouble with her memory. He thought he'd start there.
"Hmmm" Ella-Reese tapped her chin with a finger. Leo got worried, then he sensed suppressed amusement coming from her and he knew she was faking it. "I don't know. You'll have to remind me."
Leo knew what she was referring to. He leaned forwards and kissed her on the lips.
After a few seconds, when their kiss started to deepen, a voice cleared behind him to remind Leo there were still others in the room.
Leo turned to Kento and said, "Master, can we have a moment alone, please?"
Kento gave him a firm look and said, "No, Master Kcaj and I learned after the Jawa incident, never to leave the two of you alone." Both Masters folded their arms in unison, and Leo rolled his eyes.
Ella-Reese wasn't shy about it though. She grabbed his chin and pulled him back for some more kissing. "Mmmm, Reese."
"What?"
"I think … your da… coming back." with a last smooch she let him go and they leaned back panting to catch their breath.
Obi-Wan threw the door open again and they both looked up at him. "What's going on in here?" he asked.
"Oh nothing. Just reconnecting over old times." Kento said, and he pulled the father away, leaving Coleman as their only form of adult supervision.
'Thanks Master.' Leo sent over his bond.
The man sent what amounted to a wink back, and Leo laughed.
"Where did you get this?" Coleman asked. He was pointing to a string of beads on the table.
"Huh? Oh that. The chief brought it. It's a gift, I think. R2 was hesitant to even try to translate what he said. Could've used C3-PO, but he's too much of a rule abider to use R2's back door," Ella-Reese explained.
"Can I borrow it?" Coleman asked.
"Sure, go ahead," she answered.
"... If we can have some alone time," Leo rushed to tack on.
Coleman huffed and looked back at the necklace. "You are definitely a Skywalker," he muttered. "Alright. I'm going to take this with me, but I can come back at any time. Do you hear me? I could come walking through there at any moment." He pointed to the door to make his point.
Ella Reese rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we got it."
Leo just gazed lovingly into the girl's eyes until her Master's footsteps could be heard walking out.
Dodonna was having a meeting with Boba Fett, about his latest assignments. "You've got those scan results from the site."
"Yes," Boba nodded. "Not even a probe droid. Sir, the sight is clean."
"Good, good." You can call it an overreaction, but this general was not going to rely on the ship's scanners for the rebellion's security. Not when they had shuttles with better scanners installed. "Then I guess…" He was interrupted from finishing that sentence.
"I've got it!" Coleman announced as he flung the hut door open. Both men's heads went up in shock. Boba's hand went to a weapon on instinct, but pulled back a moment later when he realized who it was.
"You've got what?" Dodonna asked.
"You asked me how we could be declared citizens, so we can land on the Yrashu's sacred land to bring in supplies," Coleman reminded him. "Well, with knight Kento's arrival, I hadn't been able to sit down with C3-PO yet, but… It may be easier than we thought." He pulled out a necklace made from several beads and held it out in front of them. "My Padawan has already been given this by the village Chief."
Boba reached out and touched the necklace. "Has she? I have one of them too. Right after we brought the Kenobi adiik back, I went with one of their elders into the Jungle. He seemed to want to show me his survival skills, so I demonstrated a few things I'd learned in other places, and at the end of it, he put that around my neck and said something in their native tongue. I didn't catch the words."
"Can you teach others what you demonstrated to the village elder?" Coleman asked.
"Wait a minute." Dodonna was connecting things. "Coleman, can your Padawan pilot a shuttle?"
"Wha- Uh, yes she can."
"Yes," Dodonna cheered. "We can have your padawan pilot the supplies to the landing zone, then Officer Fett will be able to supervise the natives as they help transport the beams for the foundation down to the site, or to wherever we are allowed to meet them at."
Coleman looked worried back and forth. He was still having doubts about letting them use his Padawan in this way.
Boba nodded. "Yes, sir. I can make sure it goes well. No harm will come to adiik Kenobi either sir. I will look out for her."
Coleman sighed. "Alright. I'll mention it to her. And I'll ask about having more of your men go through the Momu, so we have that option as well."
Dodonna nodded to acknowledge his agreement. As the man turned around and left his hutt, he could be heard muttering something faintly. "It's been five minutes. What trouble could two kids have gotten into in five minutes? Even Kenobi 'n Skywalker."
Dodonna didn't reply to that. His own experience as a father would've answered Far more than you'd like, but he didn't say that. Instead he turned to Boba and said, "So we've got that planned. Do you have any thoughts on the route you're going to take through the jungle?"
Hello There,
I hope you enjoyed this one. Leo took a larger portion of the chapter then I intended, but then what do I expect, he is a Skywalker.
Leo is the third born child of Padme and Anakin, Incase anyone forgets. And Ella-Reese is Obi-Wan Kenobi's first born daughter. Of course, they'd fall in love. Right? If anyone's worried about some unintended consequences of their alone time, you need not. I intend to keep this story at a T rating, and we all know if that happens, Kenobi's going to be upping the violence warnings up in here.
Anyway… Next chapter I intend to do a time jump, to a little after they've finished construction when everyone else is moving in. Though, I haven't written it yet, and characters have hijacked the script from me before, so…
