Chapter 52

HK-47s hologram flickered into life.

"Perfunctory greetings: Hello Master."

I regarded the droid with narrowed eyes, "HK, report."

"Answer: The mission was an unqualified success, Master. You shall find that the director meatbags of Concordia Crescent Technologies will be most cooperative in any endeavor you put forward. They have also changed their minds about pushing for the capital weapons project. Derisive comment: It's just as well, master. The proposed weapons would have barely scratched the hull of a frigate."

"Good, then I can at least do some good at the board meeting tomorrow. I trust you kept things within proportions in applying leverage?"

"Insulted rejoinder: Of course, Master. What do you think I am? An amateur?"

"No, you're a sadistic, homicidal, very experienced and effective droid intelligence who likes to be creative with my orders."

"Affirmation: Correct, Master. Amazement: You always know the best things to say to warm my cold heart, Master."

I waved off the droid's attempt to get under my skin. "What about your secondary objectives?"

"Answer: I can only report a partial success, Master."

"Explain."

"Statement: The meatbags involved in the local black market have met numerous setbacks and unfortunate accidental fatalities where appropriate. Conclusion: It has only had a short and medium term effect, Master. The nature of meatbags will mean it is impossible to stamp out completely."

"I didn't expect it to, HK. A message needed to be sent and it was. The Mandalorian Guard will now have the breathing room and time to grow into an effective tool to combat this hydra when it eventually resurfaces."

While there wouldn't be a mass sickness and poisoning among Mando'ade school children in this timeline, the black market was still growing too fast for my liking. The galactic war was making everything more expensive, giving incentive for people to look for cheaper options - the black market was naturally such a place. The ills that went with a black market - graft, corruption, poor quality control and safety, was something that equally couldn't be afforded.

"Eager Query: Master, are you truly sure that no such creature exists somewhere?"

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, HK." The droid really took to the English language's metaphors and I sometimes regretted educating it regarding the etymology of some words and phrases.

"Disappointment: Ah well, it would've been a nice challenge. Query: Do you have my next orders, Master?"

"Yes, return to Coruscant. I'm going to be heading back there soon. In the six days until my arrival after you get there, you will first see if Hermione doesn't have something for you to do. After that, you may indulge yourself in the lower levels until I call."

"Affirmative: Yes, Master."

"HK…"

"Query: Yes, Master?"

"Make sure you clean up," I said sternly, gesturing around him.

His holo wasn't projecting his environment, as the droid no doubt intended, but that mattered little to me.

He was standing in the middle of a small back room somewhere in Concordia's small city. The dead bodies of half a dozen moogans were strewn about the room, either dead by blaster, vibroblade or snapped necks. All of them were also armed with a variety of blasters and HK had a few scorch marks from where the droid had been tagged.

"Affirmative: Yes, Master. Signing you off."

The holo winked out.

"Bloody droid," I grumbled and walked out of the small holo room and into the second floor hallway of Riyo's official residence.

It was an estate that was just under a hectare of land on the outskirts of Kernone, the actual local name for the Pantoran capital city. The common perception was that Pantora was the 'moon of marshes'. It was the predominant landscape but it had at least one major ocean and large lakes stippled everywhere.

The view outside was certainly not Naboo, but it was beautiful in its own way.

The sun was still in its early morning phase and cast a brilliant shine over green gray marshes, snaking between areas of solid land where a variety of grassland type plants grew, and where pantorans built their structures. The atmosphere was hot, humid and too oppressive for my taste.

I found Riyo seated at an outdoor table on the upper floor balcony, glass of water in hand and staring into the distance and surrounding landscape. She was dressed formally and looked ready to resume the day's negotiations with the Trade Federation. I could sense though that the last two days of these talks had taken their toll.

"Ah Ahsoka, did you manage?"

"Yes, thank you," I pulled out the neighboring seat and helped myself to the jug of cool water waiting on the table, pouring out some into a glass. "Thanks for letting me use your com system."

"No problem. Things went well with the Council?"

That had been my first call of the day.

"As well as can be expected. I wouldn't say they're happy, but they're satisfied that the blockade is about to end."

The blockade wasn't technically over yet, though it was only a matter of time and paperwork. Currently, only a single Lucrehulk remained in orbit until the negotiations were finalized and ratified with Chairman Papanoida's signature. He would be arriving today with his other daughter, Che Amanwe, freshly rescued from Tatooine at the hands of Greedo's gang of bounty hunters. The bastard had apparently managed to flee from the shootout, whilst leaving the rest of his 'buddies' to die.

"Riyo, has there been any word about Che's condition?" I asked delicately.

She gave me a look and her mouth thinned - she understood immediately what I was implying. "Nothing in the chairman's communication implied or hinted that… the scum took anything that wasn't theirs."

"Would he even indicate to you that it had happened?"

She took a deep drink from her glass and stared at it, I could almost see her wishing a different drink was in there. "It is entirely likely that he would not. It would be an internal family matter. This is the Outer Rim, Ahsoka. Pantora sometimes feels like an island of law and order in a sea of chaos. We know full well the dangers every time we leave our solar system and accept it. If Che has been violated, we will take care of her and help her heal fully. Pantoran society doesn't make a stigma of it."

Nothing from Prescience was hinting to me about this, it was the experience of Tatooine and my gut talking. It was a side of the lawless reality of certain parts of the Outer Rim that was naturally not portrayed in my previous life, given the genre it had operated in.

"Changing the subject, have you given thought to what I talked to you about yesterday evening?"

"I can see the merit, Ahsoka. I just don't know if we can swing it through the Assembly. Our Navy has only ever needed to be cruisers and below, defending and securing a single system from piracy and criminality. What you're talking about would change that paradigm greatly and necessitate a four fold increase in the defense budget. Not to mention the Isolationists in the Assembly would be screaming murder that we are interfering in other sovereign system's business."

"I'm not talking about flag planting, Riyo."

"I know, Ahsoka. It's just they won't see it that way."

"Riyo, all it would take to cut Pantora and the eighteen other worlds in this sector, off from the rest of the galaxy, would be the loss of Farstine and Llanic to a CIS sponsored pirate fleet. The only thing that could stop that would be if you at least had about four naval groups centered around battleships, that could deter the threat and buy you enough time for a GAR response fleet to arrive."

Prescience hadn't indicated that possibility, but I couldn't see everything. It was my tactical mind speaking and was exactly the thing that I'd do in Dooku's shoes. It also would neatly increase security levels along the Farstine Hyper corridor and Llanic Spice Run. The latter leading straight to Mon Gazza. If the Pantoran Navy had those battleship groups ready and the Gazzans destroyed the spice mines, it would put a huge dent in spice production that would affect the price on a galactic level. The Pantoran battleship groups would also be a huge deterrent to any drug lord or the Pyke Syndicate trying to regain the planet. Even longer term; I wanted as many strong Republic member worlds with localized system and sector navies as there could be.

That would be just the ticket for resisting a Vong Invasion, that didn't depend on blinkered future Republic politicians that would see the galaxy burn as they blindly kept wanting the status quo to continue, ignoring all evidence to the contrary and who couldn't conceive of the Vong threat. Who'd rather cling to the notion it was all a hoax or fake.

"I see the danger Ahsoka, you don't have to convince me. I think it's only now that the reality of this war has settled into their minds. Before it was just rising prices and shortages - the fighting is happening thousands of light years away. Now a battleship fleet was parked above their heads. That will have opened the eyes of many. I can only hope the chairman and I can steer their minds and decisions along the right path."

"So do I," I said gravely. My chrono chimed a warning. "We better get going, Riyo."

"Well, let's not keep the ambassador waiting."

What followed was day number three of just standing behind Riyo's chair at a very large, elegant table as she and a bunch of Pantoran Assembly ministers negotiated and talked ad nauseam with the Trade Federation ambassador.

I was there in two capacities, her bodyguard and as the Jedi Order's representative and witness to the agreement that would be signed. This would also eventually require my own signature on the document. Thankfully, I could now be back in my natural facial and lekku patterning and infinitely more comfortable Hapan Jedi outfit, which was even more welcome in the hot climate. The Pantoran Assembly building had HVAC, but somehow the pantorans still liked things relatively hot, even as they constricted themselves in heavy clothing. It was apparently a combination of culture and pantoran biology that gave rise to this.

Also as more welcome news, Anakin had sent a message that he and the Resolute would be coming to pick me up from Pantora. This would also send a pointed message and act as a flag waving exercise that the Republic would be committed to the defense of Pantora, even as far out as it was in the Outer Rim.

"Make sure you get the scorch marks and hull repaired beforehand, master."

"Snips, I understand the concept of a flag-waving," he had retorted grumpily.

I buried my amusement at the memory, so I wouldn't be caught smirking at an unfortunate moment as the politicians kept nattering on and on. It seemed that even between two entirely different universes, that didn't change. Even the coming board meeting of CCT would be a torturous affair to attend, although at least there I would have a full twenty minutes of speaking time allocated to me and I could interject and ask questions at the other blowhards on that board.

Eight hours passed in this manner, with only a single thirty minute allowance for lunch and drinks.

It was bad enough that I'd started imagining shutting some of these politicians' mouths with the Force. There was a particularly annoying one on the pantoran side that had a voice that was really grating on my montrals and unfortunately, said politician really loved to talk and the sound of his own voice.

Suffice it to say, when the negotiations finally concluded at the end of the work day, I put my signature down with a tad more force on the physical document than truly necessary.

I escorted Riyo out of the Assembly building and even piloted her personal transport shuttle.

Only when I walked back into her house did I let go and truly let loose a storm of invective in Togruti, Mandalorian, English and even a few other Earth languages.

When I was done, my shoulders slumped and I gave Riyo an apologetic glance, "Sorry, about that."

Her expression shifted between shock and amusement. "Not a problem, Ahsoka. I feel the same way sometimes, I suppose I'm just used to it. I didn't know that Jedi could get angry or even express it like that."

"Oh we can, expressing it depends on the Jedi. I suppose I could've just let it serenely go, as most masters would want. I am not a Jedi of that school of thought. We are not one single monolithic entity that is united in thought, Riyo."

"Interesting," she said with a thoughtful frown. "So there are actually other 'schools' or factions in the Jedi Order. My grand uncle didn't mention that."

"Factions are not the correct word, that implies a different level of conflict or ideological views. There are numerous ways Jedi develop; there are groupings related around our lightsaber styles, which represent our own thoughts to conflict mediation and resolution. Even further the color of our blades can distinguish how we view the Force and its use. Beyond that, we even have a more recent categorization that has emerged, which is related to how we ascribe to the Jedi Code."

Riyo looked quite baffled at this point. "It sounds incredibly complicated."

"I doubt your grand uncle would therefore burden a very young Riyo Chuchi with the full story then, would he?"

She chuckled, "No, he wouldn't. He died when I was seven, so…"

The front door of the house chimed.

I gave a quick scan of the entire estate with Farsight and sensed… ah.

"It's safe, Riyo, you have a distinguished guest."

She walked to the front door, pulled it open and Chi Eekway Papanoida bounced cutely in happiness before giving Riyo a big hug. Then she became a whirlwind that barged into the house, bounced again upon seeing me and seized me in a hug as well.

"Oh Ahsoka, I'm so glad to see you again."

"Hello," I winced. Good grief, this girl was deceptively strong and knew how to use her weight to her own advantage. She had captured my arms in the process and I couldn't even hug her back really.

She let go and looked me up and down. "That is an amazing outfit, you must tell me all about it. But first, do you have something to swim in? Because if you don't, we can quickly go to this wonderful place I know-"

"Yes, I have something, Chi," I interrupted her babble.

"Excellent. Riyo has a wonderful pool we can all use."

"Chi," Riyo said with a stern look. "I have a lot of work still to do before I can-"

"Oh, work, shmerk, I know you've been stuck in dreadful meetings for the last three days, you can take at least an hour and join us."

Riyo gave a tremulous smile, especially when Chi started throwing what was the pantoran version of puppy eyes at her.

"Fine."

"Yay."

"But only an hour, no more, understand?"

"Let's goooo!"

I wish someone would go ahead and invent a faster hyperdrive.

I was in the modest outdoor pool, wearing my hapan nano-bikini that I'd never thought I'd wear again. Chi had taken one look at me, gasped in amazement, grabbed me by the arm and dragged me into the pool, and was now talking my montrals off about swimwear fashion on Pantora. Her own outfit was essentially just a triangle bikini and it fit her very well. Her own body was only 'chubby' to a point but her skin wasn't flabby at all. It sat well on her and whilst she probably could stand to lower her BMI, she had no real health or fitness issues at all that I could sense.

She was also very comfortable in her own skin and had no shame whatsoever or felt any envy at my own figure. In fact, she boldly enquired into my own exercise routines.

Riyo was wearing what I would call 'ski shorts' for a bottom piece, whilst her top was boob tube and she watched Hurricane Chi lay into me with a fond amusement.

"I begin with squats, three sets of ten, then a Coruscant Press, four sets of six repetitions-"

"What's a Coruscant Press?" Chi asked, looking cutely baffled.

Feeling this would go faster if I demonstrated, I got out of the pool and sat down on the edge. I made an overhand grip above and behind my head and moved my joined hands up and down. "Now imagine there's a weight barbell in my hands."

"Oh, I see," she smiled, her eyes had a glint of appreciation and I was suddenly aware of what this exercise did, given what I was wearing.

I lowered my arms quickly, "Then inline curls, four sets of six." I demonstrated again. "Coruscant Press again. Moving into weighted push ups, three sets of ten. Two hand curls with weights. Tricep stretching. Wrist curls with weights. Sit ups, five sets of twelve. Finally ending off with the calf raise, five sets of twenty."

I pushed off the pool edge and hid myself with the water.

"And that's just the beginning?" Chi asked, looking at me with astonishment.

"I haven't even begun unarmed training then, which moves onto lightsaber training afterwards."

"By the moon goddess, how do you do all that and still go on to have a full day?"

"Hard work, training, and the Force," I shrugged.

The front door of the house rang again. It was all I could do to prevent myself from facepalming at this moment as Riyo looked at me with expectation.

"It's fine, you'll want to let them in."

She nodded and climbed out of the pool, grabbing a towel to wrap around herself.

A few minutes later, Notluwiski Papanoida, in his full regalia as chairman of the Pantoran Assembly walked into the pool area, followed by Ion Papanoida, his youngest son and Che Amanwe.

"So this is where you disappeared off to Chi," Notluwiski said sternly, but also knowingly with a hint of amusement.

"Daddy!"

A sopping wet Chi emerged from the pool and hugged her father enthusiastically. To his credit, the chairman didn't seem to care one whit that his royal red outfit was now stained with pool water in the process.

"Honestly Chi," Ion scoffed, but his face twitched at his sister's antics and he regarded her with familial love and fondness. He was relatively quite handsome in that dark blue outfit with paneled tunic, red sash tied around his waist, matching pants and calf length boots.

Notluwiski broke the hug and surveyed the pool before his attention fell on me. "Padawan Tano?"

I stopped wishing for the pool to swallow me up and accepted my fate. I moved over to the pool stairs and stepped out of the water in as dignified a way as possible before walking forward and stopping a polite distance from the assembled Papanoida family.

I bowed, "Chairman."

Notluwiski had an excellent poker face and didn't bat an eye, though I could sense both astonishment and amusement, with a faint background tinge that he really appreciated what he was seeing - he was still male after all.

Che Amanwe simply sighed and stared at her younger sister with fond exasperation. "Really Chi?" I was ever happy that my gut had been incorrect, as I didn't sense anything really wrong with Che in both body and spirit - she only had tiredness from a long journey and there might be some lingering psychological issue from her captivity, but she hadn't been violated.

"Don't look at me, it's what Ahsoka herself had," she defended herself with a huff.

Ion, on the other hand, was frozen like a statue and looked like he was on the verge of having a stroke. I tried my best to put out of my mind the feelings I was sensing from that direction.

"Chi is correct, this is the only swimming attire I readily had on hand, I apologize for any offense, but I found myself unable to say no to her insistence on coming to the pool. It was either this or going out to a local shop, which I didn't want to do and she was impatient."

Notluwiski chuckled with a rasping deep laugh, "Yes, I can well imagine, padawan. It requires a deft hand and wise mind to corral my daughter." A pouting Chi gave her father a light punch on the shoulder. He bore the treatment as if he fully expected that reaction. "I came here to personally express my thanks to you for her rescue and for enabling Senator Chuchi to end the blockade."

I bowed again, ignoring Ion's slight choking cough, "It's a pleasure and my duty, chairman."

"Please, if there is anything I can do…" He trailed off expectantly.

"The only thing I will accept in repayment, chairman, is that in a few days, Senator Chuchi will come to you with a proposal - I ask simply that you keep an open mind."

He frowned as he took in the seriousness of my tone. "Indeed? That does sound rather ominous. Very well, I will do as you ask, padawan. Now, knowing my daughter, she will not let us rest until we join her in the frivolities and have some… fun."

Chi took that as her queue and grabbed Che and Ion, who's cheeks were still dark blue as he stared at me and dragged them both to the pool.

The evening that followed was a distinctly memorable affair - Chi even managed to coax the entire family in their underwear to join in a bit of swimming and Riyo served up a hasty evening meal we had at an outdoor table.

Notluwiski's emotions throughout the evening were quite heartwarming to experience and served to drum up my own feelings for my father in my previous life.

I let those feelings run their course, keeping firm control of my tear buds and let the two sisters do their best to distract me.

Of course, the inevitable happened when Chi, riding high on joy, eventually asked for me to do some Force inspired tricks. I could hear the various masters in my imagination scoffing and deriding the notion. I, on the other hand, couldn't imagine that the energy field that binds and enables life in the universe would object if it was used to create happiness.

I began simple with a light Force Push thrown into the water that pushed up a wave and splashed Chi right in the face. I didn't use any mnemonics or gestures to make sure she couldn't say I just pushed hard with my hand - it was a clear 'supernatural' event.

She huffed and splashed me right back, but I created a TK deflection that parted the water to splash to either side of me.

That caused almost everyone except Riyo to look on in astonishment.

"Don't try it, Chi, you won't win," she said with a smirk.

That was the wrong thing to say.

Chi, Che and Ion joined together in an abrupt sibling alliance to attack me into playful submission with a water fight.

They quickly surrounded me and started frantically splashing.

Eventually they stopped, utterly exhausted from the attempt and by sheer stupefaction at what they were seeing.

I folded my arms and stared at the perfectly cylindrical mass of water held up in the air around me.

With a twitch of will, the vertical cylinder of water exploded softly outward and nailed the siblings in their faces.

"Okay, that's just ridiculous," sputtered Ion, wiping his face and spitting to clear his mouth of water.

"Told you," Riyo sing-songed.

Eventually, later in the evening, even Chi finally got tired and her father declared a firm end to the night.

They redressed even over their wet underwear and I endured another round of thanks and said goodbye to every family member. Even Ion could at this point keep a straight face whilst looking at me, though I sensed he had the beginnings of a distinct crush.

"Did you at least have fun, Ahsoka?" Riyo asked me as she prepared the guest bedroom.

"I did," I admitted. How long had it been since I could say I had spent any length of time in carefree fun and just experiencing joy for its own sake? I couldn't even begin to answer that. Maybe when I was very young on Shili, playing with the other kids of my old countryside village home.

"Good, you're still young and sometimes I feel like I'm sitting with my grandmother when I'm speaking to you. This war has made you grow up too quickly."

I was glad she had rationalized herself to that explanation.

"Perhaps it has," I said as I approached the soft single bed, pulled open the covers and absentmindedly undressed and got into my pajamas.

"Good night, Ahsoka."

"Good night, Riyo."

The long swirling tunnel of hyperspace fractured and split. The view resolving to show Pantora seemingly zooming towards the Resolute before the deceleration cycle completed and it almost filled the forward viewports of the bridge.

Anakin instantly became aware that his padawan was very close.

He turned the command chair around just as a beeping from the com officer station occurred.

"General Skywalker, incoming transmission from a pantoran shuttle, requesting permission to land on board. It has… Commander Tano aboard, command codes verified."

He couldn't help but smirk at the com officer's confusion. Anakin looked to his left where 'Ahsoka' was standing or rather her enclosed armor was standing, being manipulated by internal motivators and actuated by a specially programmed droid intelligence.

"So, what do you say, M8-40, want to meet your new mistress?"

The droid intelligence dropped the vocal emulation and spoke with a distinctly different mechanical female tone. "Finally, it's about time."

"Comms, permission granted. Divert the shuttle to the starboard bay."

"Yes, General."

"We're also getting a message from Pantora, with diplomatic credentials from Chairman Papanoida. Message reads: 'On schedule, proceed as discussed, my thanks, Resolute.'"

"Nav, make use of the course, speed and time parameters the pantorans transmitted earlier. Nice and slow flyover of the capital city, bring us to a stop and hover fifteen kilometers beyond the outskirts."

"Yes, sir."

Anakin stood and began a steady walk off the bridge with M8 smoothly following at his side. He couldn't help but feel satisfaction at the achievement of essentially transforming Ahsoka's armor into what she called 'power armor'. So fluid were the actuators that M8 could do a good job of a very mild version of Ataru lightsaber sparring with him, easily fooling anyone watching and leaving the impression that Ahsoka was inside the armor.

He doubted that she would actually use the power assist the armor now gave her, unless in an emergency, but she had for the longest time expressed interest in a small personal droid that could slice any systems and computers she encountered in the field. Astromechs were too big and vulnerable on a battlefield or in an infiltration situation. So he took inspiration from the small exploration droids that some Jedi used in the Explorer Corps, to get into the smallest nooks and gaps in the ruins they sometimes investigated. Then integrated the miniaturized systems that were found in a BD droid into her armor and worked from there.

The final result was M8-40.

By the time they arrived in the starboard bay, the small pantoran shuttle had already landed and Ahsoka was unloading two large duffle bags from it. She opened each, seemingly double checking something, before walking around and waving at the forward cockpit.

The shuttle immediately powered itself back up, hovered briefly in the air, yawed around, before shooting out of the containment field on a return journey.

"Skyguy," Ahsoka smiled and bowed. He carefully assessed her for a moment; she seemed in good spirits, if a little frayed around the edges, but was physically fine.

He returned her bow, "Snips, welcome back."

"Good to be… master, did you seriously…" She stared at M8-40 with amazement and a half-smile. The droid embodied in power armor actually shuffled nervously under the scrutiny of her new mistress. "It was just a notion."

"Well it was a good idea," he retorted, patting M8 on the shoulder pauldron reassuringly. "Ahsoka, meet M8-40, your new integrated exploration intelligence and power armor."

"Hello Mistress," M8 actually used the armor to emote shyness quite well.

Ahsoka approached the droid - he sensed her probing it with her technometry - before she smiled brilliantly and briefly hugged the armor. "You're amazing… oof!" M8 hugged her back a little too enthusiastically.

"Sorry, mistress."

"That's all right. Skyguy, you've really outdone yourself here. She actually managed to keep the charade?"

"That she did," Anakin smiled. "I only had to do a bit of cheating when it came to usage of Telekinesis during our usual sparring sessions, and I had to keep tinkering with the personality emulation over time, but otherwise…"

"Well M8, I can see we're going to get to know each other really well," Ahsoka teased the droid intelligence.

"I look forward to it, mistress. Please…" M8 trailed off, again shy. Anakin wondered if he didn't need to tweak the emotional parameters a bit. He had started M8's programming from the ground up as her own unique personality, then had her adopt Ahsoka's emulation. It was only natural that M8 would learn from the emulation and even integrate things. In this way, M8 could be almost an artificial 'sister' of sorts.

"What?"

"Please wear me."

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes at her power armor, before tutting, "You've been looking forward to this moment, haven't you?"

"It's what I was made for, mistress."

She stepped back and opened one of the duffle bags, before pulling off her comlink, vambraces, and armored boots. Her current hapan tunic and pants were tight enough that it wouldn't get caught on anything inside the armor.

"From behind, Skyguy?"

Anakin nodded.

The powered M8-40 Aegis armor abruptly stiffened to maintain balance, as the backplate and upper legs mechanically blossomed open with only a slight hiss and whine of actuators. Ahsoka approached and regarded the interior for a moment, before tentatively threading her left leg in, testing the feel and balance, before also putting in her right leg and leaning forward. The next part was slightly tricky, ducking her head down and upward into the domed helmet meant to accommodate her lekku and montrals.

The moment she was fully into the armor it closed up.

She immediately detached and pulled off the helmet, adjusting the flexible membranes that supported the lekku, before putting it on again.

"How's it feeling in there, Snips?"

"Comfortable, it's almost as if there's no difference."

"That's good, I had to increase the armor's exterior dimensions a bit to make room for the new systems."

Ahsoka flexed and moved her arms first, testing the range and movement. "There's a slight delay."

"Sorry, mistress," M8 said almost frantically, "I was given scans of your movement, but there's…"

"Relax M8," Ahsoka soothed. "It's merely a calibration issue. You're now dealing with the real thing and not simulated models, you'll learn. For now, please turn off the power assist."

"Yes, mistress."

Ahsoka tried again and the difference was immediate to the trained eye. She then flexed her left hand and opened her palm, causing M8's logic probe to extend outward from under the wrist.

"Nice," she commented and closed her hand, retracting the probe in the process. "The scanning systems are amazing, master."

"I did a bit of tweaking to the standard equipment and programs that explorer droids come with, we are mostly dealing with combat environments, not tombs or ruins."

"And what about your armor, master?"

"It's currently under rebuilding, I'll finish it up to our new standards during the cruise back to Coruscant."

He gestured towards the nearby turbolift.

Ahsoka picked up both duffel bags, slung it around her shoulders, before patting the armor's utility belt and touching each of her lightsabers. He felt the Force ripple as she touched the Darksaber and he could sense there was a lot going on there, but he had no real words to define what.

"Everything all right with that blade?" he asked in concern.

"Fine, just re-synchronized with it," she sighed. "It's just grumpy that it missed out on all the action I had on Mon Gazza."

They entered the lift and he thumbed the button for the crew decks. "I read the official report, but there's definitely more. What happened?"

"How do you know that, Skyguy?" she retorted sweetly.

"It's you, Snips."

"Fair enough," she sighed. "We'll talk in my quarters. I'm long overdue for a bit of meditation as well. The last few days have been tumultuous on Pantora."

"Oh, what happened?"

"Chi Eekway Papanoida happened. She's three years older than me but has the energy of a six year old human on caf and is my new best friend."

Her words were distinctly at odds with the mix of emotions he was picking up from Ahsoka with regards to her new friend. "That's good?"

"She's a sweetheart, but overbearing is an understatement."

"This is the chairman's daughter you rescued?"

"Yes."

"Well, gratitude from those you rescue is something a Jedi has to learn to deal with."

Ahsoka turned her head to face him and he sensed a dark humor radiating from her. "I think I'll share a few select memories with you, Skyguy. Then get back to me."

"Really, Snips, how bad could it be?"

Resolute did a whirlwind tour of physically visiting every major Pantoran city over the course of the day. The visit to the capital had been synced to nicely coincide with the chairman's speech addressing the people, and all in all, generally did the job to settle down the friction that had been building in them ever since the blockade had started.

The last Federation Lucrehulk had jumped into hyperspace hours before the Resolute's arrival in the system and now a Republic Star Destroyer was here. The symbolism obvious and to the point.

The victory tour didn't last too long thankfully and barely a day later Resolute set course for the long ten day journey back to Coruscant. The ship was mostly back to combat readiness, but a number of systems needed full drydock inspections before they could be recertified and bring the ship officially back to 100% readiness rating.

Anakin used the journey to finish up his armor and continue to instruct me in the ways of the lightsaber. His Aegis armor wouldn't have an integrated droid intelligence, but did include a direct data uplink to R2-D2, so the droid could 'hack' using the logic probe in the armor. In this way, R2 could safely find a hiding spot or even stay on board whatever ship we were using and continue to provide his hacking skills even in the harshest of fire fights or battlefields.

I was also busy with getting to know M8 and studying the improvements and changes Anakin had made in detail to my own Aegis. I had to be capable of fixing it or performing maintenance myself, in the field, without having to rely on a full workshop or Anakin. As it was never guaranteed that I would have access to either.

The final time sink was the dread specter of digital paperwork, and whilst M8 had done a good job under Anakin's guidance, I couldn't delegate it now that I was truly back from undercover work.

Speaking of undercover, Anakin had done a bit of digging around the Holonet around Mon Gazzan servers and eventually brought me a data chit of how my actions there had seemingly gained a legend and life of its own. The locals were abuzz about 'The Naked Gun' and rather strangely, were reporting sighting 'her' in times and places that shouldn't be possible. In fact, a poster on a local data forum said that he had seen me disrupt a Pyke shakedown just two days ago. No one had so far managed to grab an image, but the guy also swore he had taken a picture of 'me' fighting two gangers only to later find that he had taken a picture of the two Syndicate members fighting each other.

It didn't take me long to deduce what was happening.

I was going to have words with Kina Ha.

Of course, that lack of images didn't stop a few local artists from rendering their new folk heroine in traditional and electronic mediums, with the embellishments, interpretations and exaggerations that came with it. It was embarrassing - since most of them only rendered me wearing boots and a gun belt. It was also flattering, as I wish I looked as good as what some of these artists came up with and I was depicted as rather older than I actually was.

Anakin's reaction to the art was even worse - teasing me subtly at the oddest moments during our training and when I least expected it. I naturally got him back for it by sneaking the odd punch past his guard into the stomach during our sparring sessions.

It finally got out of his system by the time Resolute docked in the Coruscant Shipyards.

We said our goodbyes to the crew and Admiral Yularen, then boarded a speeder to fly directly to the Jedi Temple.

Only to run into a very rare, full, in-person sitting of the Jedi Council, who summoned us before we could even put our luggage into our quarters.

"Welcome, Knight Skywalker, Padawan Tano. In order, congratulations are. Shown your courage and strength in dealing with the Pantoran blockade, you have," said Master Yoda.

"Job well done, Ahsoka," Master Plo Koon declared, bowing his head slightly.

I kept a carefully neutral face and bowed in acknowledgement.

"Now onto a pressing matter," Obi-Wan stated. "There's a large-scale civil war on Balith in the Inner Rim that erupted in the last few weeks. There was an attempted coup of the local government by a faction of Separatist sympathizers and all out war has erupted. The governor has asked for our help. Anakin, you will leave immediately to command the 501st Legion, who will be transferred to the Star Destroyer Furor as your transport."

Anakin nodded before asking pointedly, "And what will my padawan be doing?"

Mace Windu answered by addressing me, "Padawan Tano, you will remain on Coruscant for the moment. The delicate political nature of the Pantoran Blockade means we need your full report on the entire affair. It might seem pedestrian and routine, but this report will inform not just the Council but a lot of high officials on future policy decisions."

"Understood, Master," I nodded. "How long will I have?"

"There is no strict deadline on it, padawan," Obi-Wan said with a slight twitch of humor in his voice. "This is not the Academy. We care about accuracy and quality, though it would be nice if we could have it in hand for the Council to discuss whilst we are all here in person."

Jedi Council sessions generally lasted for a week. This one had been going for a few days already…

I bowed, "You'll have it in hand in two days, masters."

The next morning I woke up in my bed in Anakin's quarters and glared at the ceiling. I rolled my eyes. "Honestly?"

Many Jedi really disliked the fact that some younglings would often personify the Force in some manner. Their young minds couldn't help but associate what they were feeling from the Force into some sort of context that made sense for them. Over time, as they grew up, that would fall by the wayside, usually as a result of many older Jedi teachers hammering that 'childishness' out of them. The Force was, after all, cosmic in scale from one perspective, so how could it be ascribed in such a limited fashion. Yet in the other perspective, the Force was absolutely personal and worked every day in a Jedi's life.

Personally, I thought both viewpoints had valid elements.

Right now though, the Force was being a worrying little ninny, clutching at its pearls, gnashing its teeth and pacing back and forth. It was also glaring at me for thinking this and slapping me upside the head - figuratively speaking of course.

That could be the only reason it had sent me a Force Vision of something I had already foreseen and probed with Prescience. That such a vision was even possible within the deepest part of the Shroud only further showed how agitated the Force was.

"Yes, yes, I'm getting up," I grumbled and went about my morning routines.

I went over my first draft for the Pantoran report whilst I ate breakfast. That done, I tapped my comlink.

"HK, fun time over. I need you at the Senate Apartment Complex."

"Smug statement: I monitored your arrival to Coruscant, Master. As such, I wrapped up my amusements on the lower levels yesterday. I will meet you there. Signing you off."

"Bloody droid."

"HK, I will do most of the talking."

The assassin droid, looking factory fresh in his white and rust red colors, with the Jedi symbol prominent on his chest, was riding with me in the expansive elevator in the senatorial apartment complex. No doubt he had also put himself through a thorough cleaning.

"Acknowledgement: Yes, Master."

The elevator with the best view of Coruscant's Galactic City, eventually slowed to a stop and the doors parted.

We were immediately greeted by Captain Gregar Typho. I had called ahead to request this meeting and we were just in time it seemed.

"Padawan Tano, good see you again." He gave me a salute before shaking my hand and smiling.

"And you, Captain. Things are well?"

"As can be expected, padawan. Busy time, especially with the senator due to travel tomorrow. The security arrangements alone are a nightmare. You'd think we were going to Tatooine. Anyway, why are you here? Please tell me this is a social visit only."

"I'm afraid not, captain. This is something pertaining directly to Padme's safety that I must speak to her about. Naturally, you can be there as I'm going to be needing your help and cooperation."

Typho let out an explosive breath and shook his head ruefully, "You Jedi. Come along."

He led the way into the expansive apartment and into the living room veranda, where Padme was herself busy attending to numerous suitcases of luggage, with the aid of C3P0.

She looked as breathtaking as ever, though her outfit was rather muted in style; a simple, yet elegant, floor length, light purple skirt and blouse, with a darker sleeveless jacket for warmth. Her normally elaborate hair was now done up in a singular long bun on the back of her head, which was encased in a golden 'basket' to help maintain the shape.

He politely coughed to draw her attention, "Senator, Padawan Tano and HK-47 to see you."

Padme's face lit up in a brilliant smile and soon I was engulfed in a hug.

"Ahsoka! It's so good to see you." She gave me an extra squish and held me at arms length. "How have you been?"

"Quite well, all things considered."

"That's good to hear," Padme nodded at HK. "HK-47, I wish I could say it's good to see you, but when you arrive anywhere, especially with your mistress, chaos is sure to follow."

"Sarcastic Statement: Your powers of observation are astounding, Senator."

Padme rolled her eyes at the droid. "So, Ahsoka, as good as it is to see you. Why are you here?"

"Simply put, I've learned that there is a distinct threat to your life. Within the next three days, if it isn't stopped, an assassin will successfully strike at you."

Padme's bearing grew instantly serious. She didn't need to ask where this was coming from. She sat back on her couch, "Do you have more details?"

"It'll happen at the war refugee conference you and Senator Organa are holding on Alderaan. As for who the assassin is, that is less clear. For this reason, I've brought along HK as there is no one better in the galaxy in assassination at the moment."

"Exclamation: Master, your words flatter me so! Dramatic mockery: Oh, the heart can't take it."

I scowled at the droid, "What heart?"

"Satisfied agreement: How right you are, Master."

"Captain Typho, please take all necessary precautions," Padme ordered.

"At once, Senator. Should I also arrange for two extra passengers to Alderaan?"

"Yes," I said hurriedly before HK could interject some barbed sarcasm about inferior meatbags stating the obvious or their relative intelligence.

The droid turned his head to me, its photoreceptor eyes dimming slightly. I met his stare challengingly. Oh yes, I knew what you were going to say, chromejob, I thought.

"That's excellent," Padme smiled. "With you both along in addition to the Naboo Guard, I'm sure this threat will be dealt with swiftly. Besides, I enjoy your company and I definitely want your first hand account of Pantora."

"Yes, Senator. It'll be my pleasure."

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