The Other Padawan- Chapter 2: Negotiations... and So Much Sand.
Welcome to Chapter Two of The Other Padawan. If you missed it, here’s Chapter One.
Warnings: none
Series Rating: Teen to be safe
Word Count: 1852
Previously on The Other Padawan: Catastrophe in the Outer Rim. Commanders Amara Eberlyn and Ahsoka Tano found themselves assigned to aid Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker during the Separatist assault on Cristophsis. There they struggled to defend the integral heavy cannons. After destroying a shield generator they achieved a narrow Separatist defeat with the arrival of reinforcements led by Jedi Master Yoda. Now we find Master Kenobi and Padawan Eberlyn preparing to negotiate with Jabba the Hutt himself.
The world blurred back to normal as I pulled the lever to drop out of hyperspace. I pulled up next to Master Kenobi with Tatooine stretched out in front of us.
I heard him speak over the comms, “Good job Youngling. I might make a good pilot of you yet.” His voice dropped as through he was muttering more to himself, “I just hope Anakin doesn’t have the chance to teach you any of his tricks.”
“Thanks Master. Tricks you say? I’ll have to ask him about those.”
I felt the “Kriff!” reverberate across our bond, and giggled.
R4 made some very admonishing and apprehensive beeps. I felt the “Can we focus please?” behind them.
“Yes. Right. Don’t worry R4, I’m sure Jabba’s in a good mood.” Master Kenobi responded as he began his descent towards the surface. I followed along with R8 chirping nervously as well.
~~~
Landing is definitely the most difficult part of flying. My stabilizers kicked up dust as I gently lowered the fighter to the ground, trying to keep it as level as possible. I sighed in relief when I felt the familiar thud that meant I had successfully made it back on the ground. “Thanks for the help R8.”I said, to which R8 beeped back at me with a pleased tone.
I stepped out of the fighter and slid my boots around in the hot sand a bit before going to stand next to my master. There was a glint in his eye as he pulled his hood down to protect his face again the suns, “Not a bad landing for your second time.”
I smirked, “Like yours was any better.”
There was a loud bang and the sounds of gears grinding as the main door of Jabba’s Palace opened to reveal a protocol droid surrounded by decidedly shady characters. I pulled my own hood up as we walked towards them.
The protocol droid stepped forward, “We should not keep the wise and powerful Jabba waiting.”
My master’s tone was only slightly sarcastic, “We wouldn’t dream of it.”
We cautiously followed the droid into the dark entrance of the palace, while the other brigands flanked us on all sides. I could feel the tension tainting the Force. My master leaned down to whisper to me, not quite trusting our bond to carry the message, “Let me take the lead here. We don’t want to accidentally cause offense. I’m sure you can sense how on edge the Force is.”
“Yes Master.” My response was just as soundless. I straightened my robes anxiously, noting that their usual blue was dulled somewhat by the low light of the palace. After a moment, we arrived in the main chamber of Jabba’s palace, where he was surrounded by drunkards and dancers. We approached the platform on which Jabba sat as the protocol droid moved to stand next to him.
My master spoke first, “Mighty Jabba, one of our most powerful Jedi is on his way to rescue your son. We will not let you down.”
Jabba, though he apparently understood basic, could not speak it, and so responded in Huttese. I had done my best to pick up a few languages as a youngling at the temple, and Huttese had happened to be one of them, so I understood what he was saying in any case. Nevertheless, the protocol droid relayed what I already knew he had said, “The most gracious Jabba has one more small condition. He demands you bring back the slime who kidnapped his little Punky-muffin.”
My master tried to contain a laugh, “Punky?”
Jabba spoke, which the protocol droid repeated in basic, “Dead or alive,” and then again, “If you do not succeed, Count Dooku and his droid army will.”
My Master bowed and I followed suit, “Thank you, gracious Jabba.”
Jabba glared as he spoke again, followed by the droid, “You have one rotation.”
I felt my master stiffen slightly beside me, but he masked it with a pleasant smile.
Jabba waved his hand and the protocol droid interpreted, “You are dismissed.”
My master discretely motioned for me to follow him. I heard him speak through the Force, “Come on, we need to contact Anakin.” We exited the main hall and walked through a short hallway to an empty room. With the door closed safely behind us, he pulled out his holocomm to contact Master Skywalker. A small image of him appeared with his arm up, likely holding onto one of the supports on a gunship.
“Alright Anakin, here’s the story. Jabba has given us only one planetary rotation to get his son back home to Tatooine safe and sound.”
Master Skywalker smirked as the ship shook, “Won’t take us that long Master.”
“Well take extreme care. We have no idea who’s holding Jabba’s son. When we’ve finished negotiations with him, we will join you,” my master ended the transmission and then turned to me.
“Now we just need to go back in and tell Jabba that Anakin has reached Teth, and that he should be able to retrieve the Young Hutt shortly.”
We walked back into the room and my master informed Jabba of the intel from Master Skywalker.
Jabba turned as one of the men next to him spoke quietly, “Perhaps we should speak to the Separatists again my lord. They seem to be much more efficient.”
The protocol droid didn’t seem inclined to translate, and I knew my master didn’t speak Huttese, so I decided I had to do something.
I stepped forward and responded, in Huttese, “With all due respect, most gracious Jabba, I fear that the Separatists would only try and take advantage of this situation, as is often their nature. Please rest assured that the Republic is taking every measure to ensure that your son is safely returned to you and that we value the life of your son as much as we do your cooperation. The same cannot be said of Dooku and his droid army.”
Jabba looked at me, as though trying to gage me. He then waved and voiced our dismissal once again.
I bowed and spoke in Huttese, “Thank you, mighty Jabba,” and then turned to leave with my master.
Once we were safely outside of the palace Master Kenobi turned to me, “What did you say?” I explained what the attendant had said and that I simply pointed out that the republic was far more likely not to take advantage of his son to work for their own gain when compared to the Separatists. His tone was serious though his eyes were light, “And jumping into negotiations, speaking a language which I do not, to the person we’re supposed to be negotiating with, still falls under the category of ‘let me take the lead’?”
“My apologies Master.”
“You are quite the little Spitfire, aren’t you?” he smiled.
“It would seem so,” I said, grinning.
As soon as we reached our fighters R4 and R8 began a very dramatic retelling of their encounter with some Jawas with a cacophony of beeps. Master and I exchanged a glance before laughing at their antics.
We both climbed into our fighters as R4 continued his assault on our ears.
“I know R4, I want to get out of here too.” My master placated the droid, which finally stopped talking. I began prepping for take-off as R8 programmed the navicomputer. I followed my master as we left the planet, connected to our hyperspace rings and made the jump.
~~~
We dropped out just in front of the flagship cruiser and pulled into the hangar where Captain Cody was waiting for us. I noticed that the landing was significantly easier this time and smiled to myself. Stepping out of my ship, I walked over to where Cody was standing. As my master unbuckled his seatbelt he called, “Captain, tell Admiral Yularen to get under way. We need to reinforce Anakin.”
Cody stood at attention, “Right away, sir,” and walked off to go and find the Admiral.
“Well,” my master jumped down from his ship, “This is certain to be a mess. I think some tea is in order. Would you care for some Amara?”
“Don’t know. Got milk and sugar?”
“As it happens, I do. Why don’t you head down to our apartments and put the kettle on? Milk and one spoon of honey for me. I need to contact Anakin and then I’ll be right behind you.”
I nodded and headed off to go get myself some tea. As it happened, I ended up being very glad that I had taken the time to study the layout of these cruisers beforehand. I got a bit lost as it was, and had to ask a trooper for directions on my way there. Once I eventually found the Jedi apartments, I walked through the common room to the small kitchenette. I grabbed the kettle and crossed to the sink, filled it and set it to boil. I set out cups as I waited, my hands subconsciously finding my braid and fiddling with the woven golden strands. This is going to be the best cup of tea I’ve ever had. That was when the alarm tried to shatter my eardrums. Cringing, I rushed to the door and jabbed the button to open it. I stuck my head out to find troopers running down the hall. I waved as I called one over, “Trooper! What’s the situation?
“We’ve been ordered to prepare to reinforce General Skywalker Sir!”
“Thank you!” He ran off as I turned back to the kettle and sighed. Tea will just have to wait I suppose. I jumped out to join the stream of clones already on their way and started running down the hall.
When I got to the hangar Master Kenobi was already waiting by our prepped fighters, “Truthfully I was hoping you would bring to-go cups.”
I raised my brow incredulously, “You want to bring a cup of tea to a fight?” he shrugged, and I rolled my eyes, “Alright then. So, what’s going on exactly?”
“Anakin has retrieved the Hutt, but he’s also found that it’s the Separatists that are behind the abduction. He’s under heavy fire, so we’re on our way to reinforce him.”
“Sir!” Cody jogged over, “We’re nearly there. Time to get in those fighters.”
“Alright Captain, we’ll meet you down there. Wait for my signal to scramble the gunships,” Master Kenobi gestured to the line of gunships to our left as he turned to jump into his fighter.
“Will do General,” Cody turned to me, “Good luck Commander.”
“Don’t worry Captain, I’ll soften ‘em up for you,” I gave a half-salute before swinging into my own cockpit.
“Heyya R8,” I greeted as I started up the engines and prepped the guns. R8 beeped back a friendly hello.
“Do me a favour and get the stabilizers online?”
R8 whistled and got to work.
“Thanks mate.”
I heard my comm crackle to life, “Alright Spitfire, before you get too far ahead of yourself, just remember to stay close to me.”
“Don’t worry Master, I’ll be right behind you.”
I heard the siren that signalled the cruiser was coming out of hyperspace. As soon as we dropped, my master called out, “Alright here we go. Form up around me and call in, Amara-“
What if Obi-Wan wasn’t actually lying when he told Anakin he’d requested a Padawan on Cristophsis? Could it be just enough to throw the Emperor’s plans off course?
Meet Amara Eberlyn, a young Padawan who’s about to be in over her head, and who maybe, just maybe, can make cause a ripple that will turn into the wave that saves the galaxy.
Basically I suck at summaries, the Clone Wars is over and it broke my heart, so I’m fixing it. Here we go.
Also this is severely long, and this whole fic is going to be very long the way I see it, but this chapter in particular has a pretty high word count- at least by my standards.
uhh, so yeh, here, take this...
Warnings: None really, depictions of a battle on Cristophsis but not anything graphic or anything.
To be fair, I should have been looking where I was going. To also be fair, I really didn’t expect a Loth-cat to come flying at me as I walked down the hall to the Caf. I managed to prevent my tea from spilling, but then a blur of orange ran straight into me.
“Sorry!”
“’Soka? What are you doing?”
“I might have accidentally set a Loth-cat loose in the temple.”
“How did you even?”
“Ugh, it was Bando’s fault.”
I raised my eyebrow at my crèche mate, “Ahsoka, how could this possibly-“
“Just help me catch it, alright? If anyone finds out about this, I’m never getting off this rock.”
There was a loud crash and a screech from down the hall, “Too late!” I yelled as I looked at her, and then we both took off running.
I wasn’t sure quite what to expect as I walked towards Master Yoda’s personal meditation garden. I’d been thinking about it ever since I’d received the invitation to join him for tea that morning. What could I have possibly done wrong this time? I’ve been on my best behaviour since the incident with the Loth-cat in the Room of One-Thousand Fountains last week…I think.
I was jarred from my thoughts when I realized I had reached my destination. A small durasteel door marked the entrance to what looked like any other room in the temple, though the Life-Force that teemed from it could be sensed from all the way down the hall. Not quite sure of what to do, I hesitantly knocked before hearing a bemused “Come in”.
The door slid back to reveal a small garden space, with the afternoon sunlight filtering through the green canopy made from the trees that circled it. In the centre of the small garden was a stone table set for tea, and a small green Jedi Master.
“Greetings Master Yoda” I said as I bowed.
Master Yoda gestured for me to take a seat, and I began to pour tea for the two of us.
“Glad to see you I am, Padawan Eberlyn”
“What was it you wante-” I froze mid-pour before my brain caught up to what he’d said, “I’m sorry Master I must have misheard. Did you say Padawan?” As I finished pouring my tea, I couldn’t help the swell of excitement, though I tried my best to release it into the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace.
Yoda gave a dry chuckle, “Mmm, misspoke I did not. The purpose of our meeting this is. Discuss your new assignment we must.”
“Assignment?”
“Yes, young one. Assigned to Master Kenobi you have been. Meet him on Cristophsis you will. A message for you to deliver to him, I have.”
“What’s the message?”
“Having trouble contacting him and Master Skywalker, we are. Need them to come back to the temple immediately we do.”
“Yes Master.”
“Depart in twenty minutes, you will and joined by Padawan Tano, you will be.”
“Thank you Master.”
“Go now, you must. May the force be with you.”
I bowed again and turned to leave the garden. After the door shut behind me, I allowed myself a brief moment of excitement. I walked back to my quarters to collect my minimal belongings before steeling myself towards the challenge set ahead of me: a new master…and an active war-zone.
As I reached the hangar bay, I spotted a familiar pair of headtails standing by one of the ships. I walked in that direction: “Hey ‘Soka!”
She turned and waved. Once I made it to the ship the pilot came down the ramp to ask if we were ready to depart. We both nodded and stepped aboard.
As soon as the pilot had disappeared into the cockpit, she let her serene Jedi mask drop and grabbed my hands as she whisper-yelled “We’re padawans! And to the two best generals the republic has!”
“Oh, Master Yoda didn’t mention who you’d been assigned to?”
“Ooh! I’m assigned to Master Skywalker!”
“The Chosen One Master Skywalker?”
“Yes!”
“Wow! Have fun with that one ‘Soka, I’ve heard the stories, apparently he’s quite a handful.”
“Says you! Obi-Wan Kenobi? I mean, wow. How did we end up here?”
“I have no idea. Honestly when Master Yoda paged me I thought I was going to get sent to Taanab or something.”
“No, the Agricorps? Why?”
“Do you not remember last week?” She looked back at me confused, “With the Loth-cat?”
“Oh.” She had the nerve to giggle. “That.”
“Yes that. I can’t believe you managed to set that thing after Master Ropal and when you ran, and I got blamed!”
“Yeah, sorry about that…”
“You know, on second thought, you and Master Skywalker will probably get along just fine.”
~~~
We lapsed into silence. I found a seat and after staring at the blur of Hyperspace got boring, decided to settle down to meditate, which was difficult given that the Togruta across from me Could. Not. Sit. Still. In response to her continuous antics I sank deeper into the force, feeling it flow through me as I examined all of the emotions that I could feel bouncing around inside me. Excitement, happiness, relief, yes. But also, nervousness, and anxiety. I visualized them all evaporating off of me and into the force. When I’d finished, I opened my eyes and checked my chrono. It had been nearly three hours! We were nearly to Admiral Yularen’s ship. Even Ahsoka had settled down to meditate.
~~~
As Ahsoka and I walked down the ramp we were met almost immediately by the Admiral.
“Ahsoka Tano and Amara Eberlyn I assume?” The Admiral approached us with his hands behind his back, the very image of an imposing military officer.
“Yes sir.” I responded, hoping that was the right thing to say.
“Excellent, we’ve been awaiting your arrival. We are departing now. This cannot wait.”
We followed him to the other side of the hangar. I could hear the muffled sounds of a firefight outside the hangar doors, and I couldn’t help but feel nervous again. Once we reached the small shuttle the Admiral went straight to the cockpit as Ahsoka and I took our seats in tense silence. I noticed that, though it had a single window, I was not tall enough to see out of it.
It was my first time flying through a battle and being blind during the process was unnerving to say the least. The Force was like an ocean in a storm. Constant movement everywhere. I could feel the blaster bolts that flew past us, as well as the fighter squadrons that were laying down cover for us to land. I could hear the explosions and chatter over the cockpit comm, and it dawned on me just how many people were losing their lives just so we could land. I felt the Force shift as we hit the atmosphere. The closer we got to our destination the calmer the Force became, and also the more foreboding.
~~~
There was a dull thud accompanied by the sounds of the landing gear venting. Ahsoka and I stood and looked at each other as the ramp began to open. I smiled in what I hoped was a reassuring way, before walking down the ramp towards the two Jedi. Two Jedi who both looked quite shocked.
The one I recognized to be Master Kenobi spoke first: “Younglings.”
“And who are you supposed to be?” Well, Master Skywalker certainly seemed to live up to what I’d heard of him back at the temple.
“I’m Ahsoka and this is Amara, Master Yoda sent us,” Ahsoka spoke next to me.
“We were told to tell both of you that you must get back to the Jedi Temple immediately,” I added.
“There’s an emergency,” she finished.
“Well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but we’re in a bit of an emergency right here,” Master Skywalker pointed to the ground as he spoke.
“Yes,” Master Kenobi crossed his arms over his chest, “our communications have been a bit unreliable, but we’ve been calling for help.”
“Master Yoda hadn’t heard from you, so he sent us to deliver the message,” Ahsoka tried to explain.
Master Skywalker turned to Master Kenobi: “Oh great. They don’t even know we’re in trouble!”
“Maybe you can relay a signal through the cruiser that just dropped us off,” I folded my arms behind my back as I spoke. Master Kenobi nodded towards me and then turned and began to walk in the direction of what appeared to be the centre of command on Cristophsis. Master Skywalker moved to walk alongside him and Ahsoka and I followed along behind.
~~~
We stood gathered around the holo-table as it flickered to life. Master Kenobi pressed a few buttons and an image of a bridge operator appeared. Master explained that we needed to contact the Jedi Council. The officer nodded: “We’re under attack by Separatist warships, but I’ll try to make contact with the Jedi Temple for you. Stand by.”
The image of the officer cut out and was replaced by a miniature Master Yoda: “Master Kenobi, glad Ahsoka and Amara found you, I am.”
“Master Yoda, we are trapped here and vastly outnumbered. We are in no position to go anywhere or do anything. Our support ships have all been destroyed!” My Master looked distraught and it occurred to me just how serious our situation was here.
“Send reinforcements to you we will-” the transmission cut out with static as Master Yoda was speaking.
“Master Yoda. Master Yoda!” Master Kenobi’s hand landed on the table just as the connection was lost and the bridge operator reappeared.
“We’ve lost the transmission sir,” He looked apologetically at us.
We heard the sound of a door opening as another officer appeared behind him: “And we have to leave orbit immediately, more enemy ships have just arrived. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.”
Master Skywalker looked disgruntled as he crossed his arms over his chest: “Well I guess we’ll have to hold out a little longer.”
Master Kenobi let out a sigh before turning towards Ahsoka and I: “Well, my apologies young ones, it’s time for a proper introduction,” Master Kenobi turned to Ahsoka, “I assume you are the new padawan learner?”
Ahsoka nodded, but before I could jump in to point out that I was also a new padawan, Ahsoka was already speaking, “I’m Ahsoka Tano.”
“I’m Obi-Wan Kenobi, your new master.”
“I’m at your service Master Kenobi, but I’m afraid I’ve actually been assigned to Master Skywalker,” Ahsoka raised a hand to point at the shocked Jedi.
“What? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. There must be some mistake. He’s the one who wanted the padawan!” Anakin gestured to Master Kenobi, clearly agitated.
I finally managed to jump into the conversation: “So he did. I think that’s where I come in, actually,” I crossed my arms over my chest as Master Kenobi nodded and then shot me an apologetic smile.
Ahsoka, however, remained focused on Master Skywalker, “No! Master Yoda was very specific. I am assigned to Anakin Skywalker and he is to supervise my Jedi training.”
Master Skywalker was still protesting, “But that doesn’t make any sen-“
“We’ll have to sort this out later. It won’t be long before those droids figure out a way around our cannons,” Master Kenobi quickly changed the subject.
“I’ll check on Rex and the lookout post,” Master Skywalker grumbled.
“Mmm. Better take her with you,” Master Kenobi’s voice was teasing as he lightly nudged Ahsoka forward. She followed Skywalker off towards another grouping of troops while I stayed behind with Master Kenobi. Once they had left, Master Kenobi turned to me: “My apologies young one. I’m afraid I simply assumed they’d place you with Anakin.”
Instead of asking why I simply nodded, “It’s no problem.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Well then, I suppose that makes me your new master.”
“I suppose it does,” I found myself chuckling.
“Well, let’s head over to command to see if we can’t start coming up with a plan for when those droids return.”
“Yes Master.”
“Come along.”
I took a moment to take in the city as we walked. For the first time since I’d landed on Cristophsis I really had time to take in the devastation. It was almost unfathomable. What had once clearly been a beautiful and sprawling city filled with people, had been reduced to shattered buildings and empty streets pock-marked by explosions. I had never seen anything like it. It was one thing to hear about the destruction of the war on the Holonet but another thing entirely to see it up close. And, now that I had a moment to see it, I realized that there was no way I could have been ready for it. There was such a deep sadness everywhere, like the Force was mourning the dead around me, and, also, the loss of peace itself.
Master Kenobi turned to look at me. He seemed almost sympathetic, maybe a bit sad. I really must pay more attention to my shields. I must have been projecting a lot for him to pick up on my thoughts that much.
We passed our walk from then on in companionable silence. We crossed under a collapsed archway into a small square where a few clones were already gathered. They saluted Master as we walked in.
“At ease men. What do we know about the droid’s positions?”
One of the troops stepped forward: “Sir the droids appear to be regrouping just beyond this point,” he pointed to a Holo-map, “We think that they will gear up for a second wave soon, but our scouts have been unable to ascertain what exactly it is that they’re planning.”
“Very well. We’ll keep the heavy cannons prepped. Just be ready for their assault.”
“Sir yes Sir!”
Another clone had just started giving a damage report when Master Kenobi’s comm interrupted with a loud beep. He pressed a button, “General Kenobi here.”
“Master!” it was Master Skywalker, “It’s the droids, they’ve set up an energy shield around their troops. We’re heading back to your position to discuss a plan. It looks like the heavy cannons won’t be much use.”
“Alright Anakin, we’ll wait for you here,” Master turned off his comm and then turned to the clone who was about to give the report, “Pull up the holo-map, quickly! We need to locate that shield generator!”
“Sir, yes Sir!”
By the time Ahsoka, Rex and Master Skywalker arrived, we already a pretty good idea of where that generator was, now it was just a matter of deciding what to do about it.
Master Kenobi started to explain the intel that we had to the others, “The shield generator is somewhere in this area,” he pointed to an area of the map marked by a red dome, “They’re slowly increasing the diameter and keeping it just ahead of their troops.”
Rex looked troubled: “Heavy cannons are gonna be useless against that.”
“As they get closer, I suppose we could try to draw them into the buildings. That might level the playing field a bit,” Master Kenobi stroked his beard as he spoke.
“If the shield’s gonna be such a problem, why don’t we just take it out?” Ahsoka looked to Master Kenobi.
“Easier said than done.” It seemed to me that Rex was still very disgruntled by this whole thing, and by the presence of two teenagers at his strategy meeting.
“Well I for one, agree with her,” I found myself looking at Master Skywalker, surprised that he supported Ahsoka’s idea when his Captain wasn’t so sure, “Someone has to get to that shield generator and destroy it. That’s the key.”
“Right then,” Master Kenobi had a glint to his eye as he spoke, “Maybe you two can tip-toe through the enemy lines and solve this particular problem together.”
Ahsoka, though surprised, seemed to have gained plenty of confidence from her Master siding with her plan, “Can do, Master Kenobi.”
Master Skywalker shot a light glare, “I’ll decide what we do.”
I looked back down to study the map as my Master spoke.
“If Amara, Rex and I can engage them here,” he pointed to a narrow street about midway between the generator and the cannons, “you two might have a chance to get through their lines undetected here.” The second point was slightly closer to shield generator than the previous. I, meanwhile, was still looking at the streets that we were supposed to engage the droids on, wondering if there wasn’t something we could do to-
“They won’t have much time. The droids far outnumber us, so our ability to street fight is limited without the use of heavy cannons. They will march forward under the protection of their shield until they are right on top of our cannons, then they will blow then away,” Rex was practically glaring at the map now.
Suddenly an idea occurred to me, it wouldn’t stop the droids per say but… ”Perhaps we could barricade or block some of the streets in their path to slow them down? It would give us more time to take out the shield before they reached the cannons.”
“It’s possible…I’ll see what we can do about that,” Rex stepped back to comm one of the men posted further out on the streets.
Ahsoka, satisfied, turned to her Master, “Come on Master, Let’s go!”
“If we survive this Snips, you and I are gonna have a talk.”
I heard Rex chuckling behind me, “They make quite a pair, don’t they sir? You think they have a chance?”
“They better. If they can’t turn off that shield generator before it reaches the heavy cannons, there’ll be no escape for any of us.”
I glanced at the map once more before taking a cue from Ahsoka, “Well, we’d best get going then.” I thought I saw Master Kenobi smile just for a second.
I fell into step beside my Master as we headed towards the rest of the company, “So, what’s the plan?”
Master glanced my way, his eyes glinting, “Well, it was your idea to barricade the streets, I thought you would have something in mind.”
“I mean...it was more a suggestion…”
“But?”
“But I would say not to station the troops directly behind the barricades. They would have to wait for the shield to pass over, and they would be left vulnerable since the droids would be practically on top of them by the time they could open fire. No. We should post men in the buildings directly next to the area that will be within the shield. We could outflank them and then attack on three sides once they get bogged down by the barriers.”
“Not bad, we’ll discuss that with the men and see what they think.”
Rex, Master Kenobi and I were standing in front of the remainder of our forces, which were to defend the heavy canons, for a debriefing. Rex was just finishing up clarifying our positions before addressing the clones, “Right, so the General and I will hang back along the front line behind the barriers, while Amara leads the attack from the right flank, and Blitz leads the flank from the left.”
“Yes…We will likely still be over run, but at least we can give Anakin and Ahsoka more time” My master spoke quietly, after all, the reality of our situation wasn’t exactly a good pep talk. I zoned out a bit as Rex reiterated the plan to the rest of the troops, wondering exactly how I was going to pull off leading an assault. My master’s hand on my shoulder pulled me from my reverie, “What is it Amara?”
“Master, are you sure about this?”
“What do you mean Padawan? It was your plan.”
“I mean…I know…It’s just that…I’ve never been in, let alone led, an assault before.”
“You know the plan?”
“Yes Master.”
“Then have faith in yourself and trust the Force. It will be fine.”
I heard Rex finishing up, “Right then, positions everyone! Come on! Move it!”
My Master smiled at me before nodding toward my post, “You’ll do fine Amara, now you’d better get going.”
It was not fine.
It had started out well. I had taken my position along the right side of the street, in front of the barrier, hidden amongst the buildings. I had about twenty men with me. We could see the droids approaching. That was probably the worst part. The waiting made the Force feel so tense that I thought it would snap, or explode, or something. The men around me seemed about as tense as I was as we watched the shield slowly expand towards our position. I remained behind the wall of a half-destroyed skyscraper until the red glow had safely passed over me. I turned to see across the street where I could just make out Blitz between the buildings. I gave the signal and ignited my lightsabers.
I leapt out from behind the cover of the buildings, cutting down every droid I came into contact with. My men followed behind me. Blaster bolts were flying everywhere. It was overwhelming. I could only focus on what was directly in front of me so I could at least think through the chaos. We all did our part and for a while it seemed like we were making a dent. We were joined by the other two flanks and successfully held the droids by the barrier for a few minutes. Yet the blaster fire seemed to be getting heavier. I looked up from the droid that I had just sliced in half to see the approach of three separatist tanks. Uh oh.
“Pull back! Quickly! Get behind the barrier!” I yelled as I moved to the front of the line to help cover the others as they too saw the incoming problem and began to move. I continued to deflect blaster bolt after blaster bolt, slowly moving backwards toward the barrier. I could feel my arms burning as the last of the clones got to safety. The tanks were almost in range now. I deflected one last bolt before sprinting towards the barrier and flipping over it. Once I hit the ground I kept going. I didn’t get quite far enough though.
The explosion of the bombs hitting the barrier knocked me off my feet. The world was distorted, and it sounded… wrong. My ears were ringing, but I could still faintly hear droids moving in behind me. I stood and shook my head to try and clear it. I ignited my lightsabers once again and headed back towards the heavy cannons, deflecting yet more blaster fire as I went.
I as approached the position of the rest of our forces I heard my Master telling Rex, “The shield has almost reached the heavy cannons.”
I jumped over the console that was serving as their cover, landing between them as Rex spoke, “We’re not gonna be able to stop them Sir!”
“Rex, move your troops back to the heavy cannons. Do everything you can to protect them. Amara, go with the Captain; I’ll delay the droids.”
“But Master shouldn’t I-” I saw a flash of blue over my head as Master Kenobi’s lightsaber ignited to deflect a blaster bolt that would have hit me in the face.
“That’s an order Amara! Now go!”
With that Master leapt over the console towards the droids. I quickly went to stand by Rex as we were slowly pushed back towards the cannons by the droids. It wasn’t looking good. Rex and I had taken cover behind a large bit of wall. I was doing my best to aim blaster bolts back towards the droids that fired them, while Rex was focused on shooting down as many as he could. It was manageable, and then, in an instant, it wasn’t. The droid fire got significantly heavier, and not long after another trooper joined Rex and I, “Sir! General Kenobi’s been captured! There’s no one else left.”
Rex stopped firing for a moment, “We’ve got to hold out!”
As he went back to firing, I yelled over my shoulder, “We can’t let that shield reach the heavy cannons! Keep fighting!”
The trooper hurried off to help hold the line. I glanced at Rex as I we continued to stave off the droids. He was all focus, but I was wondering just how we were gonna get out of this mess. Come on ‘Soka. Where are you? I need you to get that shield down.
Just as I thought all was lost, the sky changed colours. I realized with a start that the shield had been shut down. I heard the boys cheering behind me as Rex yelled for them to push forward and fire the cannons and air support buzzed overhead.
Gradually the clunking of droids died down as I cut down the last few stragglers. I turned to head back and meet up with the Captain. As I walked past, I saw many of the men. Some injured (which made my heart clench), some collapsed against buildings, exhausted, and some moving about cleaning up after the battle. A few of them saluted, and I couldn’t help but feel proud of what we’d just accomplished.
I spotted Captain Rex just in front of the cannons, “Not bad kid”.
I smiled “Thanks. Not so bad yourself Captain.” This drew a short laugh as he motioned for me to follow him to the gunships that were waiting to take us to pick up Master Skywalker and Ahsoka.
Riding in an open gunship was a whole new experience for me. The flow of fresh air felt luxurious after the confinement of the battle of the last few hours. Ahsoka, it seemed, had, like me, been tired out by her first proper run in with droids. Her master, on the other hand, didn’t appear affected at all, which was admirable if slightly frustrating.
Rex turned to Master Skywalker, “Great job, General Skywalker,” to which Master Skywalker nodded, “You too, Youngling.” Ahsoka smiled, an inside joke of some kind, I presumed.
I looked away from the open air and towards Ahsoka, “Good to see you ‘Soka.”
“You too Mar.”
I sensed more than saw Master Skywalker smile at us. Ahsoka returned her focus to her Master and I mine to the world that was flying beneath my feet. It was probably the most peaceful I’d felt all day.
Soon though, we began our descent to land near Master Yoda and Master Kenobi’s position. As we circled down, I could see that Master Kenobi was already speaking to Master Yoda. The gunship jolted as it came to a halt next to the landing platform. Ahsoka, Master Skywalker and I stepped off while Rex stayed on.
“Master Obi-Wan, Master Yoda,” Master Skywalker greeted. I bowed.
Yoda looked to Master Skywalker:\, “Hmm. Trouble you have, with your new Padawan, I hear.”
I saw Master Skywalker and Ahsoka exchange a glance before Master Kenobi cut in, “I was explaining the situation to Master Yoda.”
“Really?” Master Skywalker crossed his arms.
Master Yoda’s eyes were glinting, “If not ready for a padawan, you are, then perhaps we can…”
“No wait a minute,” Master Skywalker looked down to Ahsoka, “I admit Ahsoka is a little rough around the edges, but, with a great deal of training, and patience, she might amount to something.”
“Then go with you she will, to the Teth system.”
“Teth? That’s wild space. The droid army isn’t even in that sector.”
“Kidnapped, Jabba the Hutt’s son has been.”
Master Skywalker’s eyes flashed, “You want me to rescue Jabba’s son?”
“Anakin, we’ll need the Hutt’s allegiance to give us an advantage over Dooku” Master Kenobi tried to reason.
“Hmm. Negotiate the treaty with Jabba, Obi-Wan will. Find the renegades that hold Jabba’s son, your mission will be, Skywalker.” Apparently Master Yoda wasn’t leaving much room for argument.
Ahsoka, always one for the bright side, piped up, “Come on Master, it doesn’t sound that hard. I’ll find Rex and get the troops organized.” She waved to me before turning and heading back towards the landing platform.
When I tuned back into the conversation Master Kenobi was speaking to Master Skywalker, “Don’t worry Anakin. Just teach her everything I taught you and she’ll turn out fine.”
“You know, something makes me think this was your idea from the start.” Master Skywalker turned and followed his new apprentice towards the waiting gunship.
My Master turned back to Master Yoda, “Let’s just hope Anakin is ready for this responsibility.”
“Ready he is, to teach an apprentice. To let go of his pupil, a greater challenge it will be.”
“If we’ve got to make a deal with Jabba the Hutt, we’d best be on our way.” My Master bowed, as did I, and then we headed over to another gunship which had just pulled up to the platform.
Once it had taken off, my Master turned to me, “Amara, in future, when I give you an order in the middle of a battle, don’t question it.”
My eyes dropped to the floor, “Yes Master.” Oops.
He chuckled, “It’s quite alright. Just don’t want to spend any unnecessary time talking while under heavy fire. You did well today Padawan.” I looked up to smile at him, which he returned.
The gunship landed in the hangar bay of one of the Republic cruisers above Cristophsis. My Master explained that we would be taking Jedi Fighters to Tatooine. Oh Force. I’ve done flight sims, but I’ve only ever flown an actual fighter once. As we walked through the hangar my Master looked at me expectantly, “Well, aren’t you going to get in your fighter?”
“Fighter? But I don’t have a-“ I paused at his smile. He motioned towards a Jedi Fighter next to the red one which I assumed to be his. It was painted with purple accents in a sunray pattern and had an R8 unit with sky blue details already loaded. The droid turned out to be quite sassy and introduced itself as R8B8 when I walked over. I could tell we would get along just fine.
I climbed into the cockpit and started up the engines as R8 programmed the navi-computer. I heard my Master over the comm, “Are you ready Padawan?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
I felt him smirk through what I realized must be the very beginning of our training bond.
I followed him as he flew through the protective ray shield and attached a hyper-ring. He waited for me as I connected mine and lined up beside him. I looked down to double check the coordinates and when R8 gave the go ahead, pulled back the lever that sent us into hyperspace. To Tatooine it was. This would certainly be interesting.
You were sitting in your office. Classes had let out at least 4 hours ago but there you were, still grading papers. This week had actually been pretty busy for you. You’d pulled a lot of all-nighters trying to get grading done after going on a mission for Ozpin during the first half of the week. You’d had maybe 12 hours of sleep over the last 5 days. On top of all that one of your classes had just handed in their ten page essays (on Grimm of their choosing), and most of what you were reading was giving you a headache. After finishing struggling through a one Cardin Winchester’s paper, your head simply fell to your desk in defeat. “I just can’t read another paper” you thought as you raised your arms onto the desk so that your head was resting on them instead of the hard surface and let your mind wander. Your thoughts, unwittingly, drifted towards your close friend (and if we’re being perfectly honest long-time crush) Ozpin.
“Come on, don’t tell me that you actually only know how to make hot chocolate!” you were in fits of giggles, one arm wrapped around your middle and the other around Ozpin as you leaned against him for support.
“Well, it isn’t that I don’t know how… it’s just that… well… shall we say… it doesn’t tend to go well…” was his sheepish response.
“So boiling water to make tea or coffee is too much?”
“Well…” now he was laughing with you, “I suppose”
“And you’re how old again?”
“Well technically…”
“you’re several thousand years old and have yet to master more than one warm beverage,” you finish, as you finally get the laughing under control.
“Well, since it seems you know what you’re doing, why don’t you come up to my office and teach me?”
“Me? The infallible headmaster of Beacon Academy wants to learn something…from me?” you tease, turning to look at him. Which is when you realize that at some point he had turned to look down at you, and now your faces were dangerously close together and he’s looking directly into your eyes. You stare for a while in shock but once you’ve processed this, you look back down, at the wall, at your feet, eyes flitting around trying to look anywhere other than at Ozpin. “Yeah, sure I’ll try to help your lost cause,”.
He only chuckled as you walked towards his office.
You must have fallen asleep without realizing because the next thing you know, there’s a light pressure on your shoulder and you find yourself being gently shaken awake. You look up, groggily, and see the clock on your desk first: 9:30…oops. You look over to the person who had just woken you up, Ozpin. Of course, I mean, who else would still be at the school this late, he probably saw that your light was still on as he was leaving to go back to his dorm.
“Y/n?” His voice was soft, but you could tell he was holding back a chuckle.
“mmmmph” came your gruff response, you were still half asleep and really just wanted to stay where you were.
“Come on, we need to get you home,” now he was chuckling as he offered you a hand up. You didn’t take it.
“Jus’ leave me, ‘m tired.”
“When was the last time you got a good night’s sleep?”
“mmmmm…Friday?”
“It’s Thursday.”
“I know…”
“Come on now…y/n? Y/n!” He sighed, you’d fallen back to sleep. He tried shaking your shoulder again but this time it didn’t do anything to stir you. He thought for a moment. He couldn’t exactly leave you here- no that wouldn’t do. Unfortunately, you were terribly stubborn and refused to live on school grounds unlike most of the teachers at the academy. You claimed it made you feel too much like a student. This normally wouldn’t have bothered him, except he couldn’t remember where you lived, and honestly he wasn’t about to let you drive home even if he could get you awake again. That didn’t leave him with many options.
“I knew I should have made her take more days off after that mission.” Ozpin muttered as he picked up your bag, “Well, I suppose there’s only one course of action to take.” and then he lifted you into his arms bridal style. He exited the classroom, locking the door behind him. As he was walking towards the teacher’s wing he looked down at you and smiled, “She’s so pretty when she’s relaxed like this…wait…what?” he sighed as he reached the doors to the wing.
When he arrived at the headmaster’s quarters, he carried you in and set you on his bed (he only had one bedroom and he wasn’t about to make you sleep on the couch. No, he would take the couch, that was only polite.) He carefully took your shoes off and then set your bag by them at the foot of the bed, then he pulled the covers over you and tucked you in. He leaned down and whispered “Goodnight, Y/n,” before pressing a quick kiss to your hairline. He stood up to leave, but stopped as you realized that you had wrapped your hand around his wrist and wouldn’t let go. Your eyes were still closed, but you mumbled, “Stay with me,” in a voice that was sleepy and adorable and just too challenging to deny, and, to be perfectly honest, it wasn’t as though Ozpin needed that much convincing anyways. He crawled in behind you, and since his hand was still firmly in your grasp, his arm wound up being draped over your waist. It didn’t take long for him to fall into the same deep sleep you were already in.
~~~~~~~~~~
Ozpin almost never needed an alarm as he naturally woke up quite early. When he did come round, the first thing that he registered was the fact that there was someone else in bed next to him, and then that they had beautiful (h/c) hair, and then what had happened last night came flooding back to him. He blushed, furiously. You had shifted in your sleep so that you were practically on top of him, which felt disconcertingly nice, and somehow very right, but it was also not exactly professional, and you were still only friends after all and what would you think of him taking you back to his rooms while you were asleep? Would you be angry? Had he been wrong not to just let you sleep in your classroom? He snapped away from his thoughts when you stirred slightly and snuggled closer to him in your sleep (if that was even possible). He looked down at you and smiled. He shifted slightly, careful not to wake you and grabbed his scroll from where it rested on the bedside table. He messaged Glinda to say that he would be coming in late this morning and marked you as sick and set up someone to cover your classes. Then, he gently got out from under you. He didn’t wake you, but you did frown a bit at the loss of proximity. He had to hold back a chuckle, you were so cute when you pouted. Yet, being that you’d decided that work was more important than sleep, Ozpin figured that you had also probably not eaten a proper meal in the last few days, so he was determined to cook you something wholesome.
You opened your eyes slowly, to find the sun shining through the window. You took in the mahogany paneling, and green curtains and bedsheets. You realized that you were in what was quite probably the comfiest bed you had ever slept in, and that it smelled wonderfully like Ozpin and that…wait. Where were you? You’d never been here, and the last thing you remembered was grading papers, and then…oh. Ozpin. Waking you up. He must have- but, what, taken you back to his rooms? No. He’s kind, and you two are very close, but, certainly he would have just woken you and walked you to your car or something; not let you stay over at his place. That was when you smelled it. Y/f/b. “No way,” you smiled to yourself, “No way Ozpin is actually cooking. And since when does he remember what my favorite breakfast is?” You decided that this needed some investigating. If Ozpin had been faking not being able to cook, you were never going to let him live it down.
You slowly got out of bed and stretched, yawning slightly. That was the best night’s rest that you’d had in…well, you couldn’t remember the last time you’d slept so well. You walked lazily towards where the smell seemed to be coming from. You rounded the corner to the kitchen to see a reasonably stressed Ozpin attempting to cook y/f/b. You smiled. He looked absolutely adorable. His brows were knit together as he tried not to burn anything. He nearly jumped out of his skin when you spoke: “So… You can cook. Since when??” you smirked, and he met your eyes with a glint in his own.
“I wouldn’t exactly say that this qualifies as knowing how to cook,” he quickly looked down as something splattered.
You chuckled taking a few steps forward until you were standing next to him behind the counter, “Let me?”.
He nodded gratefully and stepped aside to let you take over. That was when you saw the clock, and that it read 10:10. “Oh my Gods, Oz we should both be at work!”
He chuckled, “Don’t worry, I marked you as sick and got someone to cover your classes, and I told Glinda that I would come in this afternoon.
“Mmm, and who exactly is covering my classes?”
“Erm,” Ozpin visibly cringed, “Qrow?”
“Oh no. Oh no. No way am I leaving him to cover my classes. Oz how could you? I’m going, right now.” You started to walk back towards the bedroom, where your things were.
“Oh no you’re not,” Ozpin’s arm wrapped around your waist and pulled you back to him before you could get away. You tried your best not to blush as he held you against him. He locked eyes with you, “When I found you yesterday I couldn’t even wake you up you were so exhausted. Y/n, you need the day off, please just take it.”
You sighed and looked over at the food that was still cooking on the stove. You knew he was right, and, honestly, Qrow probably couldn’t do that much damage in a single day.
“Alright, but if Qrow messes up my classroom I’ll never forgive you for convincing me to leave it unattended.”
Ozpin, never actually wound up heading to his office, and you were far too pleased about it. Instead you two spent a very relaxing day together, which was really something that you both needed. There were a lot of movies, cards, and general shenanigans. Neither of you realized how late it had gotten until you got a text from one of your room-mates.
“Hey Y/n, just saw that you didn’t come home last night. (we all figured you might be having some fun) but you still aren’t back. You ok?”
You looked at the clock, it was nearly nine. You quickly responded that you’d just wound up staying at a friend’s house and that you were fine.
“Oz, it’s getting late, I should really head home.”
“Ah, I suppose it is. I…um… it was nice spending time with you, although I hope I never have to carry you back to my rooms because you’re so sleep deprived I can’t even wake you up ever again.”
“I’ll try not to let that happen, maybe I should just move into a room in the school just in case I ever need it,” you laughed lightly.
“You and I both know that I think that’s a good idea. In fact…” he pulled out his scroll, “I’ll sort that out right now.”
“Sounds good Oz. I’ll see you tomorrow,” You smiled at him as you both walked towards the door.
“See you then,” He smiled back as you stepped outside.
“Oh and Oz,” You turned back as he looked up, a little surprised.
“Yes?”
“Thanks for everything.”
“It was really a pleasure y/n. Now drive safe.”
“Will do,” and with that you turned and walked down the hallway.
