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Chapter Text

A UNSC Frigate class star ship, it's thrusters engaged to keep it's hull a mere ten feet off the ground, hovered in a barely adequate clearing of deep purple leafed trees on a un-colonised lump of rock in a nearly uncharted sector of space, scattering the dead black and blue leaves around noisily with the occasional stick or branch flinging up from the force the thrusters used to keep the ship airborne. The quiet sounds of the cargo bay's loading ramp unlatching from its' mooring scattered the few remaining small aerial creatures that hadn't abandoned the clearing when the ship came down from the sky in a fiery streak two minutes ago.

A seven and a half foot tall Spartan-II stood in the opening of the frigate's cargo bay, painted by the cold morning's yellow and gold light, arms crossed over his chest plates as he watched the last few minuets the other Spartan-II he was waiting for had left for this rendezvous with the only ship in the sector capable of collecting the highly trained super soldiers, tick down to mere seconds.

Three seconds remaining of the ship's schedule on this planet, a faint blur of motion drew his attention to the west side of the dimly lit clearing, where someone's stealth system rippled under the drops of dew falling from the strangely colored trees. The Spartan tensed, but the saboteur trained Spartan-II he was waiting for flickered into view sprinting flat out for the war ship's lowered ramp, and took a running leap to catch the side of the ramp before the ship started to pull up in preparation of leaving the unnamed planet.

"Master Chief, sir," came the distinctly feminine sounding voice from the marginally slighter though fully armored Spartan that joined him inside the cargo bay after triggering the controls for the ramp to close, "didn't expect to see you here."

She saluted him and held it while 117 checked her armor over for any obvious malfunctions, damages, or injuries. When he was satisfied that she was mostly in one piece besides some dents, he returned the salute. "Didn't expect to be the one picking you up, one-two-seven."

The Spartan numbered 127, saboteur specialist, cocked her helmet at him, and John had the distinct impression that she was smirking behind her mirrored visor. "Aww. I'm an afterthought. I feel so loved. One of these days, someone is just plain going to forget me."

"Given your talents, I wouldn't be surprised. Status of your mission?"

127, who had once been known as a young girl named Ashley before the Spartan-II Program had begun, held up one finger as she watched the chronometer count down glowing in the corner of her Heads Up Display. "Give it a minuet, sir."

Both Spartan-IIs stood there as 127 counted off the last few seconds, then stiffened as the faint shock wave of concussive force buffeted the steadily rising ship followed on it's heels was the similarly faint sounds of consecutive explosions blowing something up. It was a very familiar sound to both.

"My mission was a success, sir. Can we go now?"

John-117 studied the other Spartan-II for a moment. "How can you be sure of that?"

"The explosives from three tactical warheads, an unoccupied Grunt methane tank, and what looked like a generator operating on what seemed to be nuclear fusion not too far from them both." Ash-127 shrugged, moving just barely enough for the Master Chief to catch the movement. "I do need a visual confirmation but given what I just set off, you'll forgive me if I do that from the communications room, right?"

"Right..." John shook his helmet and gestured for the saboteur to precede him, Cortana giggling in the back of his head. "Remarkable timing you have, one-two-seven. After your little look at your handiwork, all Spartans are to be in Cryo-Stasis while traveling, Captain's orders."

"Joy."

The Navigational Officer and the current on duty pilot of the frigate class star ship of the United Nations Space Command, the UNSC Valiant, known as Lieutenant Victor Wills on purely social occasions, was privately of the opinion that the Captain of Valiant either hated or mistrusted one or both of the commanding elements of his latest orders, the Spartan-IIs or ONI. He could find no real reason for Captain Sully to resent the orders to pick up four of the Spartan-IIs, three on one planet and a lone Spartan on another nearly backwater rock in the middle of nowhere. Then again, he was a mere Lieutenant and the Captain usually had good reason for his personal preferences-

Lieutenant Wills snapped to attention along with the rest of the bridge crew as Captain Ronald Sully stormed onto the bridge, snapping out a curt 'carry on' to the crew in response to the automatic demand for attention at the Captain's arrival on the deck.

"Now that were done running someone else's errands, get us the hell out of here, Wills."

"Aye, sir! Estimated time for leaving the planet's atmospheric envelope, two minutes."

Personal concerns aside, Victor was just as happy to leave as the Captain. The latest Spartan-II that Valiant had picked up had either timed or remotely triggered an explosion in a nearly hidden Covenant base, one that the crew had passed over entirely until it came time to leave the planet's surface, and the flurry of activity around the now smoking crater the Spartan-II had left behind raised the risk that Valiant's presence might just be picked up on.

Valiant responded to her helmsman like the military class lady she was, rising out of the planet's higher atmosphere and into the wide reach of space without so much as a shudder for the rapid change of temperature. Wills' felt a moment of pride at her handling as he initiated the randomizing retreat vector for her jump to slip space. As per the Cole Protocol, since they did spot Covenant forces on this planet, the ship would jump to an empty sector of space until her crew and Captain was sure she had not been followed, then would turn around and leave for Reach.

Valiant gave a small lurch as she left the star's gravity well, then she was within the slip space corridor and on her way out of the star system.

"Fifteen minuets until reemergence from slip space, sir."

"Good," Captain Sully grunted to himself, giving his pilot a tight smile, "hopefully we're done picking up 'packages' for ONI and we can get back to the civilized parts of the galaxy sometime this week."

"Emergence from slip space in three... two... one... now, sir."

UNSC Valiant slid back into normal space with less turbulence than she left it, without a nearby gravity well to pull at her hull, and her comms officer allowed her another few seconds to rest her sensors before engaging them to ensure this stretch of empty space was truly empty.

The crew on the bridge waited those few tense moments in silence, but relaxed when Petty Officer Second Class Kailie Staffers gave her customary sigh of relief when the sensors reported nothing unusual in the ship's immediate vicinity.

"Two... three... four," Kailie muttered to herself as she watched her instruments, counting off the thousands of miles that the sensors were searching, keeping a wary eye out for anything hostile that the sensors might not catch. "Looks clear so far, sir," she called back to the Captain watching her after her sensors got to the mid range of their effective reach.

"Thank God for small favors. Wills, I think-"

"Contact! Looks like two-no three, large unidentified ships on the far side of ten thousand miles out!"

"All hands to battle stations! Wills, evasive maneuvers! Staffers, what the hell are they!"

"Too large to be human, sir." The Petty Officer sounded apologetic, as if the mere technical issue of differentiating realms of space and their effect on sensitive equipment was her personal fault. Her dark skin tone concealed the blush painting itself across her face. "From the size and look of them, I'd have to say they're Covenant built, at the very least Reverence class, sir."

"Wills!"

"The Shaw-Fujikawa engines are still underpowered, sir." Responded the pilot, having already anticipated the Captain's next demand and checked the condition of the slip space drivers. "We need an estimated ten minutes at the least, twelve at the most before we can jump to slip space."

Sully cursed vilely in his mind, not daring to voice his displeasure with that minor fact where his crew could hear. Underpowered Shaw-Fujikawa engines couldn't be used to generate the wormholes for slip space travel, those foolish enough to attempt it ended up as little more that atomized drifts of gaseous metal. Which meant Valiant couldn't simply dart in another direction before the Covenant ships closed in uncomfortably near her. And probably within range of their damned weaponry, too, the Captain mused bitterly.

"Try and keep as much space between us and them as you can, Lieutenant."

"Aye, sir."

Valiant swung up and to her starboard side, neatly skipping over the first shot the lead Covenant Cruiser spat when he noticed her and showing the three her aft section as she tried to put on more speed than was safe.

Even with her head start on keeping distance between them, the three ships started closing the distance between them quicker than her Captain was happy with. Another close shot made the frigate shudder as it barely missed her hull.

Sully punched in a line to engineering, getting the damnably cheerful face of his chief engineer in the view screen built into his chair. "Grall, we're trying to out run three big sons a bitches on our tail. Anyway you can improve on Wills' estimate on our jump time?"

"We're already close to red lining the engines, sir." The tiny image of the normally towering and well muscled chief engineer rubbed the 5 o'clock shadow he had thoughtfully. "Might be a thing or two that I can try. No promises."

"Try," was the Captain's tart response.

"Aye, sir. You might want to buckle up. This ain't gonna be a hay ride!"

Sully snorted as he let the link go. Crewman Jordan Grall had a strange reaction to stressful situations, getting more and more cheerful the more hopeless a situation appeared to be. In his kinder moments, Sully was prepared to admit that probably meant his chief engineer was firmly of the opinion that his Captain would be able to pull their collective asses out of the fire, but more often he had to wonder if Grall simply selectively ignored a few rather obvious things and simply lived off blind faith.

Like, for instance, that Captain Ronald Sully had not one damned clue how to get his ship and crew out of this particular cook fire.

Valiant shuddered again, this time with more violence and accompanied by the groan of tortured metal. Sully gritted his teeth as Grall came back and reported a breech of the lower decks, but no critical damage to the ship's primary system.

"Damn it all, Wills! Watch the paint!"

Victor managed a small laugh as he strained to keep Valiant a least a few steps before her Covenant chasers in their deadly dance. "Trying, sir. These gentlemen are not being very nice to the poor lady."

"Um... sir? Sensors report an anomaly, or at least I think it is."

The Captain stared hard at his comms officer. "Care to elaborate, Staffers?"

Kailie gave a grimace at her station and the flickering readouts that refused to stay still for a moment and make even a little sense to her. "It's playing peek-a-boo with the sensor sweeps, sir, and I can't get a good feel for what the hell it is. If pressed hard to guess, I would say it looks like a newly formed black hole directly behind that star."

'That star' happened to be the dying one that was the only other occupant of this stretch of space. It was a frequently used stretch that many of the UNSC commanding officers and pilots used to readjust their headings according to the Cole Protocols and select another destination before skipping back to where they were going.

Which would explain what three damned Covenant Crusiers are doing sitting around out here at the back end of nowhere, the Captain grumbled to himself sourly. Should have figured that they would get desperate, or irritated, enough to stake out some barren expanse of nothing simply to find our blasted home planet!

That line of thought both proved to be vastly reassuring and gut wrenchingly horrifying at the same time. On one hand, it meant the Cole Protocol was succeeding in keeping the greater Covenant forces guessing where any of the main human colonies and worlds where. On the other, it meant that these three would not take kindly to spotting their target and having her get away to warn anyone else.

That would make us well and truly screwed if they can hit the engines and keep us from going anywhere. Sully gave the tense backs of his pilot and comms officer contemplative looks as he tried to find anything that would give Valiant the time she needed to flee her pursuers.

"Lieutenant, how much longer on the drives?"

"Four minutes and counting, sir."

"Petty Officer, are you sure the damn thing is a black hole?"

"Near as I can tell from what she's giving me, sir."

He looked from one of his officers to the other as he thought. Well, this will either kill us all, or save our hides. But if Staffers isn't certain, then there's no way in hell whatever scaly reject they have over there at the comms can tell what the blip is. Captain Sully nodded, even if his two subordinates couldn't see him. "Victor, think hard now. Is there any way you can lead those fuckers into that in less than four minutes?"

Sheer surprise made the Lieutenant hesitate, and another shot from one of the Cruisers on Valiant's heels nicked her hull plating again in consequence of her helmsman's pause. Wills bit out a curse and yanked the frigate into a new heading to throw off the beams from plowing their hate through her hull.

"I... maybe, sir. Depends on how badly I can scuff up your ship."

"As long as we're alive to be irritated about damaged hull plates, you can do as you damn well please."

Victor gave a breathless laugh as he pulled Valiant into a barrel roll to evade another broadside. "Yes, sir!"

Staffers shot them both disbelieving looks for the sheer audacity of the plan Captain Sully thought up, but simply gripped the side of her console and started to pray that they would be alive later for her to request a different assignment. Maybe something planet side, she winced as another shot nicked the hull and opened another section of the ship to the vacuum of space, mother always wanted me to stay in one stable place instead of bouncing around space getting shot at.

Valiant twisted and wove her way around the larger three Covenant Ships trying to pin her down with a shot to her engines, darting here and there to keep them guessing about her trajectory and to slip under their massed weapons fire. Victor Wills had a plan, though. Instead of simply twitching around at random, he was drawing the Covenant closer to the dying star's gravity well, and to the black hole that was hidden behind it's bulk and pull, positioning her so that once he knew the drives were no longer underpowered he could dart straight for open space... and right into the black hole's gravity well.

Her dance partners seemed willing to follow her lead, intent on simply wearing out the fleeter frigate instead of trying to damage her and risk shooting something critically important before they could come to grips with her.

Victor kept one eye one the timer for the slip stream drive, mentally calculating out how long he had to play tag with the three Covenant Cruisers. At thirty seconds and counting, the UNSC Valiant's helmsman twisted her on a looping trajectory, as if he intended to dart behind the dying star and around the three Covenant ships. The three massive ships on the fleet human ship's aft gunned it in her direction, intending to keep her in their sights so she wouldn't have the opportunity to evade them by jumping elsewhere while hidden by the ball of molten gas and metal. They closed the distance between them, only to finally realize what it was that was behind the star as they rounded the right side of it.

Captain Sully grimaced as Valiant gave a tortured groan at the different forces pulling on her hull, and the rest of her crew could empathize as those same forces began to pull on them as well.

Wills, the closest on the ship to the event horizon of the black hole, kept only one eye open that was locked on the timer, his left hand straining to hover over the controls for the slip space drivers. The split second after the timer ran out, and a mere three miles from the event horizon, he triggered the creation of the worm hole for slip space travel.

The shock of the ship going from one extreme of gravitational pull to the relatively normal gravity that the ship could generate in slip space slammed through the purely human crew, causing most to simply pass out where they where. Staffers retained enough fortitude to finish programming a distress beacon to launch the moment the ship emerged from slip space before hitting the deck out cold like the rest of the crew.

Coruscant, capital planet of the Republic and home to the Jedi Temple. Regarded as one of the main galactic hubs of information and culture, and Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi couldn't find the creators of a simple poisoned dart anywhere in the amassed knowledge of Jedi available to him until he turned to one of his old friends. Even worse, he still couldn't find the creators, a race of people apparently very skilled in cloning, the Kaminoians, or their planet in the Jedi Archives.

Running his fingers over the cleaned dart in the overly large sleeves of his plain Jedi robes, Obi-Wan takes the last turn to arrive in the Training Veranda, where Grand Master Yoda was overseeing the seven young Force strong children in their training this day.

"Don't think... feel... be as one with the Force. Help you, it will."

Kenobi slows to a halt in the doorway, remembering with a faded fondness his own time in these same halls as he waited for the Grand Master to notice him.

He didn't have long to wait.

"Younglings – enough! A visitor, we have." The stout shape of Yoda turned to the doorway with a smile for the Jedi Knight waiting patiently for his attention. "Welcome, Master Obi-Wan."

The much younger Jedi conceals his smile as the seven young children of several different races stop and move back the heavy training helmets covering their eyes in order to see him.

"I am sorry to disturb you, Master." Kenobi gave a respectful bow to the Grand Master. "I'm looking for a planet described to me by an old friend. But it doesn't show up on the Archive Maps."

"Master Obi-Wan has lost a planet. How embarrassing." The stout green Jedi smirked at Kenobi before turning to the children watching and motions them to another corner of the room. "Gather round the Map Reader, younglings. Clear your minds and find Obi-Wan's planet, we will."

The children led the way to another corner of the Veranda, and a young twi'lek activated the Reader for the two elder Jedi before standing with the six other young children.

Kenobi easily picks out where Kamino was supposed to be and points at the strangely empty space on the star map, in the Outer Rim Territories. "This is where it ought to be... but it isn't. Gravity is pulling all the stars in this area inward to this spot." Yoda nods after a moment, and the Jedi Knight continues. "There should be a star here, but there isn't."

"Most interesting." The Grand Master turned to the young children clustered around the two Jedi. "Gravity's effect remains, but the star and all its planets have disappeared. How can this be?"

A young human tilts his helm father back to see the Map more clearly. "Because someone removed it from the Archive Memory."

"Truly wonderful, the mind of a child. Uncluttered." Yoda gave the child an approving nod before turning back to the Jedi Knight standing behind him. "To the center of the pull of gravity go, and find your planet you will." He waved a three digit hand at the children, and they return to their training.

"But Master Yoda," Obi-Wan lowers his voice and leans forward so only the Grand Master can hear him, "who could have erased information from the Archives? That's impossible, isn't it?"

Still watching the young children closely, Yoda answers without turning around. "Much harder to answer, that question is."

Kenobi bowed to the Grand Master before walking out of the Veranda, truly confused. As the sound of the training droids' fire and the sounds of light sabers fade, the Knight wonders what whoever erased the information was trying to hide.

*Beep Bee Beep*

"Really?" Obi-Wan gave some more attention to the small star fighter's sensor array. His astromech, R4-P17, pulled up her findings on his star map. "Well, I can't think of what it could be, seeing as the space out here is suppose to contain nothing more than asteroids."

R4 hummed to herself, trying to match up the anomaly to something in her admittedly vast store of previously researched phenomena that could occur in deep space.

"Tag it for a later look, R4." The Jedi snorted at her rather insistent beeps to find what it was supposed to be. "If it's still there after we check out Kamino, we'll take a closer-"

The Force pressed down on the unlucky Jedi Knight, making Obi-Wan grunt in surprise at the violence of the sensation. He keenly felt a great amount of shared desperation laced with pain suddenly slide into being, as if something shielded had suddenly opened.

*Dee-bee Beep*

"What do you mean it's gone?" Kenobi raised a hand to his head, trying to sort out what he felt through the Force and keep an eye on where he was going. "There has to be something there for me to feel... whatever this is, R4."

R4 searched the sector of space again, doubting that she would pick anything up. Her surprised squeal catches her Jedi's attention.

"Is that a space ship? It of no configuration I can identify." Taking control of his star fighter off auto-pilot, the Jedi steers his fighter closer to inspect the derelict vessel while reducing speed. "R4, can you tell what it is?"

Her response included her picking up some kind of ancient looking beacon, which made Obi-Wan press his lips together as he thought.

The vessel looked like it had recently escaped some kind of battle, great scores had carved themselves into the plating of the ship that dwarfed the Jedi Knight's star fighter. Some of the scores looked half melted still, glowing red against the black back drop of space. That told both the human Jedi and astromech droid that the ship had only recently escaped whatever had attacked it, seeing that the heat had yet to disperse to the absolute cold of space. It also looked more unwieldy and geometric than the sleek, single occupancy star fighter that the two shared. There were identifying marks down the side of the ship, and parts were still readable around the scores in the ship, but written in no language that either one could read.

"R4, can you see a hanger bay or anything similar?"

*Blatt*

"Yes, I'm going in there. How else are we to find out what it is?"

*Bee... Beep Dee Bee*

"Thank you." Obi-Wan carefully steered his fighter into the gap on the starboard side of the ship, setting the ship down next to what looked like another, but larger with a very long nose, star fighter on one side and something that reminded the Jedi of a troop transport on the other. "Now then, if you have any suggestions about how I get from here to the rest of the ship, I'm all ears."

R4-P17 considered that for a moment, giving her Jedi master a disgusted series of beeps as remotely transmitted a few files around and found the methods the oddly built other ships in the hanger used to control the bay's environmental systmes.

Kenobi gave his astromech a grateful smile as the hiss of the bay pressurizing to the internal atmosphere of the ship alerted the Jedi that he was now free to leave his fighter. He quickly triggered the canopy to open, vaulting over the edge as soon as he had enough room. "Thank you again, R4."

"Blatt!"

"I am well aware you do not like this, but they may need some assistance." Leaving the astromech that had been with him for the last several years behind getting acquainted with the other ships in the bay from her spot next to one of the stubby, larger ships, Obi-Wan quietly made his way into the ship's interior.

As he walked the silent halls, the Jedi had to wonder how many people had been ripped out of the ship due to the rents in its hull. Some sections of the ship had closed bulkheads, and when he placed a hand on the solid pieces of metal, he could feel the cold of space through it. Through the Force, he could feel some steady life signs on what he assumed was the bridge from what was the prow and from another location to his left, but the flickering, nearly lower than he could feel, signs of life a level below him, drew his attention with the effect of a lodestone with iron shavings.

Kenobi found a service ladder; similar to the type he was used to when the lifts on larger starships were not working correctly, and made his way lower. The life signs he was following kept steady at the unnaturally low level, making the Jedi worry that whoever it was, he or she was slowly dying.

Concentrating hard on the Force, his body's shivering to generate more heat caught Obi-Wan by surprise. He had not noticed, but the temperature in this hall was lower than even the hanger bay had been. Slowing, the Jedi inspected the hallway he was currently walking through. There was a door on his right, frost icing the edges of the metal doors and the same style of writing that had been on the hull marked the door.

He inspected the door and located the controls to open it. The door hissed open without sticking or complaint, further cementing in the Jedi's mind that this ship hadn't been abandoned entirely. An even colder rush of air greeted Obi-Wan as he peered into the icy room's dim interior. Four large tanks along the wall were glowing a bright blue, but were crusted over with ice, obscuring the Jedi's view of the occupants. That left several empty and dark tanks between the door and the glowing tanks on the far side of the room.

Cautiously, Kenobi took a few steps into the room, gaining confidence when nothing, not even a small service droid, popped out of the dark at his intrusion. As soon as he got close enough, he raised one gloved hand to scrape off the frozen condensation on the tank, only to be confronted by a mask. Jerking back, Obi-Wan looked from the ice now on his glove back to the mask frozen before him, before it dawned on the confused Jedi what he was looking at.

It was somebody in full body armor, not a mask. That would account for the faint life signs he could feel. He couldn't tell what it was that held them, and started to worry that whatever it was would kill them without any supervision. Inspecting the tanks, he found the controls on the side, drawing a muttered curse a moment later when he realized that he couldn't read them.

There was a lit green light, a dim red one right under it, and a few buttons next to the lip of the lid of the tank. He traced the buttons, figuring that they were a number panel simply by the three by four arrangement of it. There was also, tucked well back of the other buttons, a big red one.

"Well... here goes nothing, I guess." Obi-Wan concentrated, preparing to use the Force to save the person in armor if the button didn't do what he assumed it would.

He pressed it.

The light on the side, the steady green one, suddenly cut off, and the red one under it started blinking, gaining speed until it turned into a steady unbroken glare.

Tense, the Jedi held his breath as the tank started to warm up, thawing the ice that had crusted over the tank's lid. A few drops of water trickled down, and Kenobi could see more of the person in the tank as the melted water cleared more of the glass. Whoever it was, he or she stood taller than the Jedi by a good third of a meter in height. Every part of the person's body was encased by the unfamiliar armor, a wide visor for unobstructed vision, thick armor plates which overlapped that showed dents and pockets where some metal had melted or chipped off in some kind of violent fight in its past, a black under suit that seemed to cover everything the armor couldn't.

Busily inspecting whoever it was in the tank, Obi-Wan was caught by surprise when the armored figure suddenly kicked out, forcing the lid of the tank into flying off and almost into the Jedi, had he not used the Force to redirect the clear plate to miss him. The armored figure dropped to the deck in a rush of blue liquid, snapping upright a moment later and calling out in heavily accented Basic, "Identify yourself."

The Jedi Knight spread his hands to indicate he held no weapons and was not a threat. "My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi, and I mean you no harm. I was only worried that whatever it was you were in would cause you injury."

Tilting his helmet as the person inspected him, the armored figure slowly rose to his full height and towered over the Jedi. The top of Kenobi's head barely passed the heavy armored chest plates, leaving the smaller human to take a few more steps back uneasily as he was towered over.

John-117 inspected the man in from of him, trying to figure out what was going on, and exactly what the other man had spouted at him. "Cortana, did you understand that?" The Master Chief asked his AI quietly, keeping one wary eye on the robed figure who stood still after taking a few steps back.

'It's a mash of languages, to be sure. I think I heard some German and Russian mixed in his speech, as well as a bit of Italian. I process the very good likelihood that he can understand you, even if I have to translate for him.' Cortana's cool, trickle like presence in the back of the Spartan's head intensified as she used more of the suit's neural workings to piece some sense together out of the other human's words. 'He said his name is Obi-Wan Kenobi... that's a very strange name, and that he was concerned by the tanks. I think he thought it would kill you.'

The Spartan-II hesitated, checking around the Cryo-Stasis bay. "What's the status of the ship?" He noted the other three Spartan-IIs were still in Stasis, and that the other tanks were empty before fixing the robed man before him with his full attention, watching him for any movement that might prove hostile.

'I can't be certain, no one is answering my hails to the bridge, but the amount of damage the ship had accrued since the last time we were awake seems to indicate we barely escaped some kind of fight.' Tentatively checking on the status of the ship through the comm lines, the AI picked up on the beacon one Kailie Staffers had programmed before blacking out, and passed the information on to her Spartan. 'We just got out of a fight with three Covenant Reverence classed Cruisers, and the Foxtrot zone is no longer safe to use as a staging area. From the time stamp on the emergency beacon, it hasn't been that long since the pilot jumped the ship to slip space.'

John tensed at the information, giving the man before him one last look before spinning around and reviving the three other Spartan-IIs.

Obi-Wan tucked his hands into his robes, as the armored figure seemed to dismiss him and tend to the other three glowing tanks. He also released a breath that he hadn't been aware he was holding. The armored figure, the Jedi was tentatively certain was a male of some species, was more than the Jedi Knight wanted to take on in such close quarters. If the massive male had decided the Jedi was a threat and attacked him, Kenobi didn't really know how the fight would turn out against such a creature, and was thankful that he wouldn't have to find out.

What was fascinating to the Jedi, now that the armored male was awake and seemingly fine after almost being frozen alive, was that there seemed to be two consciousnesses emanating from him. There was the dominate one, the male that demanded to know who he was, and some slighter presence that seemed to originate from the neck of the creature. His curiosity rooted him to his spot as the armored figure woke another three in armor similar to his own.

John grasped Fred-104's shoulder as the marginally slighter Spartan male stumbled from the clumsiness that the Cryo-Stasis tanks caused in its occupant's fine motor control. The other Spartan took a second to regain himself before standing in front of the tank holding Ash-127 as the Master Chief tended to Kelly-087's tank.

Obi-Wan backed up to the wall as the three other full armored figures joined the first one, watching with obvious fascination as they seemed to hold a conversation between themselves just using slight motions and twitches. He remained in place as two of the armored figures moved past him and out the door at a fast clip, the one he had awakened and another came to stand in front of him.

"Am I right in assuming that you can understand me?"

The Jedi Knight inclined his head to the much larger armored male. "I can." The accent was unusual, but still understandable.

The original figure hesitated, and Kenobi got the impression that the second consciousness was supplying some kind of translation for the dominate conciseness. "Do you know what we are?"

"I have never seen your like before." Obi-Wan answered truthfully with a shrug. "I can't even read the language that seems to be written everywhere in here. I was on my way to one of the Outer Rim worlds when I came across your ship. The outside looks like you have been through some kind of battle, and I was wondering if I could assist you in any way."

Another few moments of silence, and the second armored figure tilted his helmet in a way that struck the Jedi a motion that seemed human in its curiosity and asked in a feminine voice, "Outer Rim?"

"We're in an empty parsec of space, between Tatooine and Kamino." When the two simply stared at him, or at least that's what the Jedi got from the silence from the two, Obi-Wan tried another way to clarify where they were. "Close to the Abrion sector and near Roon, the end of the Death Wind Corridor."

"I recognize none of those names." The female turned her helm to look at the male next to her. "Sir? Should we go and see if the Captain has any logs about what happened?"

"Patience, zero-eight-seven. Let's wait until one-zero-four gets back to us about who's on the bridge." The larger male crossed his arms over his chest plates and returned to staring at the Jedi.

Kenobi was fine with that, seeing as he had a few things to think about. Admittedly, he could do without being stared at by two armored figures, but since he didn't see that happening until they reassured themselves that he wasn't a threat, the Jedi kept his hands in his robes and thought. A lack of familiarity wasn't that usual, seeing as he himself was looking for a planet that he hadn't known about before that assassin he and Skywalker caught was killed by a Kaminoian dart. The accented Basic was a bit more troubling, seeing as it may complicate any attempts to explain his presence. What was even more troubling was how the armored figures were referring to each other. A list of numbers, three in all, disturbed the Jedi.

They spent a few silent moments in the cold bay, until Obi-Wan's attention was drawn to the sharp nod the male figure gave his female companion. "To the bridge then, zero-eight-seven. I got the all clear."

The other armored figure nodded and gestured to the Jedi to follow her. She set a brisk pace father into the ship than Kenobi had traveled in his preliminary search, and the Jedi Knight was aware of the male duel consciousnesses following him.

After a rather long and silent walk, the bridge proved to look like any other bridge that the Jedi had ever seen, the only difference being the lone armored figure assisting a human female up and back into what he believed was her chair. The young lady was rubbing the back of her head, and pulled her hand away with spots of blood on it. "That hurt worse that getting bucked off a horse." She waved the armored figure off and started to check over her console, sparing the other armored figures with Obi-Wan a curious look before bending her attention to her task.

A groan drew the Jedi Knight's attention to the other side of the bridge, where the female that had been in front of him had moved to assist some officer of a military outfit off the floor and back into his chair.

"Well, we're alive, so I think Wills is getting off about my paint."

The young lady on the other side of the bridge gave a breathless laugh. "Oh sure, sir. It's okay when he gets us out of an impossible situation, but not when some limp wrist idiot scratches the ship's hull during drill?"

"Hey, that wasn't my fault." Another young looking human, male this time, was hauled back into his spot by the same armored figure that had helped the young lady. He spun the swivel chair in order to easily look at the female as he protested weakly. "I did everything that a pilot was allowed to in that maneuver without breaking formation."

The older man snorted at him, before looking over at the three armored figures now crowding the bridge. "Oh hell, who let you all out?"

Instead of responding, the male behind the Jedi pointed along with the two others on the bridge at Kenobi. The Jedi shifted uneasily at the sudden attention directed to him. "I apologize for intruding, but I saw your ship drop out of hyper space and was concerned by the damage you have."

Opening his mouth to ask what the hell that amount of gibberish was supposed to be, the older man was interrupted by the young lady's suddenly uncertain voice. "Um, sir? I have... absolutely no idea where we are. I mean... um, by these readings, we're not even in the Milky Way Galaxy anymore."

"Staffers… that had better be your idea of a very bad joke."

"I'm sorry sir, but the readouts I'm getting don't correspond to any known systems in our galaxy." Staffers replied, still furiously trying to match anything around the UNSC Valiant to her star charts. "I think we're hopelessly lost."

The older male rubbed his forehead, trying to think around the beginnings of a headache. "Nothing? Not even the nearby star patterns?"

"No sir."

He heaved a sigh, almost if asking 'why me' without having to vocalize his displeasure, and turned to the large armored male still standing behind Kenobi. "Master Chief, I think we need to borrow Cortana for a few minutes."

"Yes sir." The Jedi moved out of his way, watching in fascination as the duel consciousnesses creature reached to the back of his neck and pulled a cube of some dark material out of his armor. Obi-Wan felt the separation of the two, and held silent as the cube was inserted into the console Staffers was at.

An image of another young lady, this one blue with numerous lines of some type of writing running down her digital form appeared, concentrated on something the physically present could not see, then turned to face the assembled. "Like the Petty Officer, Captain, I can not match any of the local stars to our known star systems." Cortana frowned absently a moment, then gave the Jedi a speculative look. "Permission to look through you own maps, Mister Kenobi?"

"If you think that may help, you have my permission, miss." The Jedi gave the digital blue lady a bow. "However, I prefer to be called simply Obi-Wan."

"I am Cortana, Obi-Wan. It's nice to meet you." Cortana inclined her avatar's head to the man, half her attention split off to investigate the star fighter that the Jedi had boarded the frigate in.

As she was poking around, the Captain looked from the AI to the unknown man still standing in the doorway. "You can understand that gibberish?"

"It's a unique mash of languages you both know and do not understand, Captain, which is why your mind keeps telling you that you know it without giving you something to comprehend. And yes, I've been giving the Spartans translations while conversing with Obi-Wan." The AI considered the information before her in the small fighter's navigational computer, opting to copy it all to the ship's memory banks instead of trying to see if she could store all that in the codes running down the form of her avatar. "He said his name is Obi-Wan Kenobi, and I still think that's a really strange name, and has tried to clear up our confusion about where we are. He's made references to a Kamino, Tatooine, Roon, an Abrion sector, and something called the Death Wind Corridor. None of which match anything in my memory core."

Staffers wrinkled her nose as she thought that over. "I have to agree with Cortana, sir. None of that sounds remotely familiar."

With a groan, the young man at the helm rubbed his hands over his face. "You've got to be kidding me. How do we end up nowhere close to where I set the slip space drives to spit us out at?"

Obi-Wan raised an auburn eyebrow at him, before asking the glowing avatar form of Cortana, "Where were you trying to get to? Maybe I could point you in the right direction."

"Lieutenant Wills? What was our destination?" The AI passed on to the pilot as she inspected the star map she had just downloaded from the Jedi's fighter, a fraction of her processes were reviewing everything else that had been included in the star fighter's memory.

"Um... it was randomized, since we were running from Covenant ships." Wills raked a hand through his short blond hair before cautiously straightening up in his chair. "But I was trying to put us closer to what's left of Reach, at least a bit closer latitude wise."

Cortana turned to the robed man; already sure of the answer to the question she was going to ask, but asking anyways. "Obi-Wan, do you know of a planet called Reach?"

"I do not." The Jedi Knight frowned thoughtfully. "I also don't know what a 'Covenant' is if that makes anything clearer to you."

The AI sighed, much like how the Captain had earlier, and turned to the humans and Spartans watching her. "I can't find anything familiar on Obi-Wan's maps, and he has one that contains this entire galaxy, except for a few outer star systems. Nothing matches up with what we have. He doesn't know of a Reach either."

"So we're what? Out in the boonies?" The Captain demanded irritably, wondering why he had accepted a promotion to captain a UNSC Frigate if this was how it was going to turn out. "There has to be something, Cortana. We were not out of it for all that long."

"I am sorry, Captain. There are no matches between our charts and Obi-Wan's. We seem to be in another galaxy altogether." The AI beckoned to the Spartan-II Master Chief, and he reached for her cube as her avatar deactivated.

Slotting the AI back into his neural network, the armored figure rolled his helmeted head before looking back at the Jedi.

Kenobi looked around at the three humans that crewed the ship's bridge and the three armored figures standing at the edges of the bridge, his frown still in place. "If there is anywhere you might find what you're looking for, may I suggest trying the Jedi Archives on Coruscant? Theoretically, it holds the majority of knowledge that the Jedi have found for thousands of years."

The Spartans listened in to Cortana's translation, and the female one looked over to the robed man curiously. "What's a Jedi?"

"Oh boy." Obi-Wan looked from one to the others, taking in their confused looks and expressionless helmets. "Ah... I am a Jedi. A Jedi Knight, to be exact. We are one of the peacekeeping forces of the Republic, sent to all corners of the galaxy to ensure that the law is upheld. I'm currently looking into the death of an assassin that was sent after Senator Padmé Amidala, and was on my way to Kamino when my droid spotted your ship."

The Jedi patiently waited the few moments it took for Cortana to translate that to the number of human and humanoids listening.

Crossing his armored arms over his chest plates, the Master Chief turned enough to look over Staffer's shoulder at the map Cortana had updated. "Any chance you'd be willing to take us there? There should be a number of things that we don't know about, like docking procedures and the like."

"I can see that." Kenobi considered the armored figures before him. "I do have to complete my own errand before going back to see the Jedi Council, so if you don't mind a slight detour, I can certainly take you to the Jedi Temple on my return to Coruscant."

The Captain frowned as a quiet beep drew his attention, snorting dryly when he found a complete translation of the conversation on the chair console's view screen. After reading it through, with the notes that Cortana had seen fit to supply with it, he turned his attention to the still unknown figure standing on his bridge. "If completing your errand is all you want from us in return for helping, then I suppose we have no choice. Tell Staffers... where you want to go. I'm sure between Cortana and Wills we can get you there."

"As I said, I was on my way to Kamino. It's only a few million light years from here, about three or so weeks away in a straight line, or a few days in hyper space." Kenobi pulled on his short beard thoughtfully. "I was planning some additional stops, but I don't seem to need to stretch my legs in a ship this size."

Staffers turned to her console just in time to see Cortana give her the relevant information. "Or two days and a half in slip space, sir. Wills?"

"On it." The blond young man turned back to the navigational center and plotted the slip space drivers. "Jumping to slip space in three... two... one..."

The three Spartans braced themselves in time to ignore the turbulence, but Obi-Wan was almost thrown off his feet as the ship under him lurched forward, further hampered by the sensation of the Force suddenly welling up around him. The Jedi shut his eyes, trying to calm his mind and body as the sensations tried to make him motion sick. Almost as abruptly, the sudden calming of the Force further threw off the Jedi, but was much easier to deal with. Kenobi opened his eyes, and gave the young man at the helm a speculative look.

"Time to reemergence in normal space, sixty three hours and forty-two minuets and counting." Wills turned to the Captain with a broad grin. "Permission to send Kailie to the mess to find us something to eat."

The older man snorted a laugh. "You heard him, Staffers. I'll be in the ward room writing this up in my report. See to the others, if you can." The Captain frowned momentarily, then cast a look to the Master Chief. "Your last soldier is looking for the other crew members, right?"

"One-two-seven is heading now to search the engineering room, sir. She couldn't find any personnel in the mess, the medical bay, or the hanger bay. She also said," the armored figure turned back to the Jedi, "that you have a very usual looking ship. Is that your droid?"

"That would be R4-P17, my droid is part of the star fighter." Kenobi agreed.

"Huh." The male fell silent, then pried off his helmet. John's blue eyes locked with Obi-Wan's. "My Spartan number is one-one-seven. Otherwise known as the Master Chief. That one in the corner is one-zero-four, and next to him is zero-eight-seven. one-two-seven is the Spartan you haven't seen much of yet searching the rest of the ship for survivors. Our pilot is Lieutenant Victor Wills, comm officer is Petty Officer Kailie Staffers, and the Captain is Ron Sully." The Master Chief frowned as he looked around. "I'll introduce you to the others as soon as we know there alive."

Kenobi gave the human crew before him a bow. "As I've stated before, I am Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight of the Galactic Republic. It is my pleasure to meet you all."

Chapter Text

The Spartan numbered 127 sat the bear of a man she found surprisingly alive up carefully, while inspecting the back of his head for any injury, disregarding the blood that splattered him as most of it wasn't his. "You took a hard knock, but if you're not woozy or anything when you finally get up, I'd say you're good to go."

Jordan Grall shook his head ruefully, wincing as that exaggerated the headache pounding in his temples. "What happened? Last I can recall, we were running from three big some bitches on our tail, then a whole lot of nothing."

"We escaped your 'some bitches', but no one except our little surprise guest knows where we are." The female Spartan looked around the blood splattered engineering room. "You've been the only one I can find alive in here, do you know where someone else might be?"

Grall grimaced at the news, but nodded in resignation to the question, not at all surprised. "If you can't find any other survivors in here, try the storage bay next door. I sent Kojak and Lily that way right before we dropped out of slipspace."

Engineering was the most dangerous section of a UNSC star ship to work in, and the engineers and technicians that worked there knew it. It was a point of pride for them to ignore any threat to their lives as they serviced the ships they worked on, in or out of battle. However, even a single moment of inattention was dangerous in the engineering section, as the blood washed and body part littered decks proved it with a grim point. The human body could only take so much stress at a time, and when the ship jumped from one extreme of gravitational pull to a relativity normal one; the fainting spells that passed through the crew had been fatal for far too many of the engineering crew. Some fell from high perches into the engines they serviced or collapsed in bad locations and had been torn apart by the exposed inner workings of the frigate class star ship.

The Chief Engineer of the UNSC Valiant had been lucky, he had been on his way to report to the Captain about the status of the engines when the ship jumped to slipspace and he collapsed next to the wall on the relativity safe side of the room.

Jordan gave himself another moment to mourn his fellow crew members that had been killed from the jump, before pushing himself upright to see about checking over the engines again. He gave the Spartan-II watching him a tight but grateful smile since she refrained from helping him, just watched silently as he got to his feet before pushing herself up right as well.

As the burly crewman made his way to the lethal engines that had taken the lives of several of his work crew to ensure they were undamaged from chomping up his fellow engineers, Ash turned to the storage rooms with a more hopeful outlook than she had coming into the engineering room.

Since it didn't seem like there had been too much turbulence since their jump to slipspace, Ash was mildly certain that she could find at least two more of the engineering crew alive. They would be badly needed if Cortana's guesswork was right, and the storage units were normally secured and bolted down unless some part was needed.

Backtracking out of the blood splashed engineering decks; the Spartan-II retraced her steps to find Grall's fellows in the bays intended for storage. Her HUD showed nothing alive, but the saboteur was smarter than trusting something so obviously confusable. It had said nothing was alive in the Engineering section too, and that assumption had proved to be wrong.

Her first look at the storage bay was disheartening, but she pressed on anyways. Some of the heavier units stacked along the walls had fallen from their places, possibly when the ship went from being in front of a black hole to slipspace. They were hazardous to one's health when they fell, and Spartan-127 knew and had exploited that fact personally on multiple occasions.

Checking along the loose crates and bits that had come loose with as much haste as she felt she could spare, the Spartan's attention was caught by the sounds of someone moaning as they stirred awake.

Three rows down, a small human foot twitched in Ash's sight, the rest of whoever it was seemed to be under a sheet of extra metal used to temporally patch hull breaches, something that would be needed in just a few more hours. She hefted it up easily, extra strength being a perk of her MJOLINER-VI armor, and pushed it out of the way of a tiny Japanese woman just stirring from her unwilling bout of unconsciousness.

Lily Kujiki jerked in surprise when the sheet of metal lifted off her, letting in a rush of cold air that washed over her form and woke her up the rest of the way. She whirled upright, only to hiss in pain and cringe as bruises she had not felt before made themselves known, sinking back to the floor.

"Careful, I don't know how long this has been pressing down on you. You may have a few breaks in your bones." 127 said as she set the plate of metal to one side and knelt down, holding one hand outstretched to keep the tiny woman where she was.

"What... what happened?" Lily asked shakily, pressing her non aching hand to her head. The last thing she remembered was looking for the tool boxes that Grall had asked for with Kojak...

The Spartan-II grasped the female and held her still before the panic she could see in her eyes could overwhelm her common sense and harm herself more. "Careful, I said. Do you know where Kojak is?"

"He... he was right in front of me..."

"Give me a moment then." Ash pressed the tiny, shaken woman back against one of the industrial shelving units before shifting more of the material that had fallen out of her way. A bit of digging later, and Kojak, a male of some intermittent ancestry and light brown skin, was revealed. The Spartan began to check him over for any obvious injuries, while talking to Lily and watching her every move. "Short recap, we escaped the three Covenant ships, but not without some heavy damage. The rest of the Spartans and I on board were woken up by a concerned passerby, and we're setting the ship to rights. I was sent off to locate any more surviving crew mates, Grall is alive, but it appears that the rest of the engineering crew apparently didn't make it, I can't find any bodies except for the ones torn apart in your section."

Lily nodded sadly, having already suspected the fate of the engineering crew herself given what had happened to her and her fellow. She traced her good hand down her body, searching out any breaks in her bones while the Spartan-II tended to Kojak.

Spartan-127 gave a short nod after her field inspection of the technician laid out before her. "Couple lacerations, possibly a concussion, and a clean break in his left arm, I think the radius. How about you?"

"I'm... I think I'm in shock, but fine overall." The tiny woman answered with barely a tremor in her voice. "Bruised all to hell, and I think some of my bones are too, but that was expected."

"Feel up to giving Grall a hand, then?"

"That's about all I can do," Lily laughed bitterly. She held up her left hand, showing the Spartan the swelling that had started as soon as she lifted off the plate of metal. "I think I can, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to take Kojak here to the medical bay. Then go report to the Master Chief." Ash raised herself up to her feet, giving the Japanese woman a hand up before picking up the technician and setting him in a fireman's carry over her shoulder. "I'll probably see you a little later, ma'am."

Kujiki smiled weakly at her before she took off, leaving the Spartan-II to take the unconscious man out of the storage bay.

Kelly met up with Ash in the hallways, giving the other Spartan-II's burden a sideways look as she joined the saboteur's stroll down the hall. "How many?"

"Only three. All from Engineering." The other Spartan shook her helmet at 087. "Little surprising they're still kicking, given their jobs. I'm not going to complain though."

"That one of them?" Kelly motioned to the man draped across Ash's shoulders.

127 nodded. "He's out for the count, not too shocking given what I pulled off him."

The two fell silent for the rest of the walk.

The Master Chief remained as the officer of the watch while Fred-104 went to check on the hanger and the other equipment in there. Lieutenant Wills had asked for and received Cortana to mind the ship. He had shot the Spartan-II a grateful look and took the opportunity to join Staffers in the mess, leaving only the Jedi and the Spartan-II Master Chief on the command deck.

Victor had explained before he left that the Valiant's old AI had reached the end of his seven years of duty, and the orders the Captain had gotten didn't leave time for the frigate to wait for her new limited AI before running off to pick up the Spartan-IIs.

Obi-Wan showed no outward nervousness as he watched the pilot leave, but the Jedi studied the other, massive human out of the corner of his eyes, wondering about how such a soldier had come to be and about how such a ship had come to posses what technology it had. Slipspace was unknown to the Jedi Knight, unless it meant the same thing as hyper space, but the sensations he had been exposed to when the ship jumped to 'slipspace' shot that comparison out of the horizon. That, and if what he heard the lady Staffers right, slipspace travel would shorten travel time by half a day, mostly because there would be no stop overs at space stations or mining platforms for the Jedi to stretch his legs. Kenobi decided to use the time between then and now wisely. "So... one-one-seven. May I ask what you are? You seemed rather... intent on my knowledge a few minutes ago."

The armored figure didn't answer, he had replaced his helmet when the pilot left for the mess and stood near the Navigational computers, but Cortana reactivated her avatar and turned to answer the Jedi Knight. "He's a Spartan-II." The glowing lines of code that made up her form seemed to race down her form faster than normal for a moment before slowing again. "Anything other than that is classified and I am not at liberty to say, I'm sorry."

"That... tells me nothing." The Jedi stroked his short beard again; looking curiously from the computer inhabiting lady to the soldier she had come from. "I've seen a number of human looking creatures, from Mandalorians to Cathars, but I have never seen a humanoid that reached your Master Chief's height. That, his armor, the tech on this ship, and your accents, raises some rather serious questions in my mind."

"I can see how that may be," Cortana began, looking for all the world as apologetic as she could with a faint pink tinge to her usual blue avatar, "but like I said, I can't tell you anything specific. My programming wouldn't let me inform you of a UNSC classified matter, and even then, their safety is paramount to me, even above my own. If you don't know anything you can't tell, even under duress."

Obi-Wan gave her a slight bow as he thought that over in acknowledgment of that truth. He really had nothing against Cortana, but if he was going to be in close contact with these humans, he would like something to guide his behavior by. "Is there anything I should be aware of then, since you can't tell me any details?"

"One or more of them are going to tag around you for a while." The AI's digital form glowed brighter for a moment, giving the Jedi the impression she approved of his tactful rephrasing of his question. "Don't take it personally, but you are our only known contact here until we find out where we need to go."

"So, they are going to follow me around?" Kenobi frowned thoughtfully. "What about my visit to Kamino? My star fighter only seats one, I'm afraid."

Cortana smirked at him, a hint of mischievous amusement lurking behind the transparent expression. "You can take the Pelican, zero-eight-seven knows how to pilot it. It's a troop transport, so it will comfortably fit us all."

"All? May I assume, then, that you and the Master Chief intend to accompany me as well?"

"All means all, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi." Her glowing smirk widened to a full blown smile. "The Master Chief, zero-eight-seven, one-zero-four, one-two-seven, and I will all see to your... 'escort' for the duration of your mission."

The Jedi's blue eyes widened, flicking to the imposing stature of 117 standing stock still as he listened in on the conversation. "Kamino... isn't a hostile world. In fact, when I sent on a message that I was coming, the individual I talked to, a miss Taun We, seemed excited that I was on my way. I do not believe an 'escort' will be necessary."

"It may not be," the Spartan-II spoke up in a level tone, his accent pulling at his vowels sharply and slurring the consonants almost too far to be understandable, "but you'll forgive us if we would like to insure we that get you back in one piece, right? Anything can happen, and from the sounds of it, your Kamino planet is either incredibly friendly or a badly concealed trap."

"Catching on already?" Cortana turned her smile on her Spartan-II as Obi-Wan fell to silently thinking that reasoning through. "That was fast."

"Like you said, it's a mash of languages, but understandable once you know the basics." John tilted his helmet at her. "Wasn't too hard to piece it together. There will still be translation errors, so keep on giving us the correct wording until we're used to it."

"Yes... sir." The AI cast a quick look to the Jedi to see if he had caught her quick word change in omitting the Spartan's name, turning her attention back to him after a moment when it appeared the robed Jedi was too lost in thought to pay much attention. "What do you plan to do if we can't find our way back at Coruscant?"

The Master Chief gave her a Spartan style shrug, only lifting his armored shoulders enough for her to catch the action before going back to standing still.

"Are you sure it's a trap?" Kenobi finally looked up from his musings and addressed the armored man. "I have never been there before, and as a matter of fact, I didn't even know the planet existed until a little while ago, so how can you be sure?"

"What do you know of the locals?" 117 asked unaware that he was speaking of a non human species.

"Kaminoians specialize in cloning, are loyal as long as you have a deep credit stack, but rather peaceful as a whole and keep to themselves."

"Who's paying them?"

"I-" Stopping short, the Jedi frowned harder as the question poked through what little detail about the world that he had gathered. "I don't know."

"Seems to me that you may wish to find out, especially if they are so excited to see you there." The Master Chief turned to inspect the robed man that woke him from Cryo-Stasis. "I would advise you to allow one-two-seven to investigate this place once we land; she's rather skilled at keeping out of sight, so your Kaminoians won't see her unless something goes wrong."

Obi-Wan tucked his hands into his robes as he considered the two before him carefully. "It seems that I was lucky I ran into you. I hadn't thought of that before leaving Coruscant. Your one-two-seven may do as she feels necessary."

"No, she may not." John shook his helmet, giving his AI a sideways look before turning back to the Jedi watching him. "You let her do that, and if these Kaminoians are not what they say they are, they will find a smoking creator where they used to be."

"Oh, dear... that would be... bad."

117 snorted at that massive understatement, the action safely hidden behind his helmet. "I'll have her look around as you deal with whatever these Kaminoians are. Zero-eight-seven, one-zero-four, and I will stand as your vanguard. Objection?"

"Um... no."

The Spartan-II gave him a sharp nod, and Kenobi had the impression that since he had not objected to what the Master Chief had planned out right now, it would happen even if he thought up of a reason not to have a personal guard later on. Before he could question the computer dwelling lady anymore about these Spartan-IIs, the bridge door opened behind him, and the smallest, for what heights these Spartans seemed to come in, armored figure that the Jedi had seen so far entered the bridge and saluted the Master Chief.

"Six surviving crew in all, sir." The feminine voice reported crisply. "I found three from Engineering, the Chief Engineer Jordan Grall, no major injuries, the head mechanic Lily Kujiki, battered and bruised but okay, and a Shaw-Fujikawa engine technician named Kojak Manson, who is still unconscious, has a break in his left arm, and considerable bruising." 117 nodded at her, and the Spartan-II turned to the Jedi. "I am one-two-seven, Mister Kenobi, and zero-eight-seven and I have cleared some crew quarters for you. If you don't mind, I'll show you around the ship now, before we start patching up the hull."

"Do you require any assistance?"

127's pause was a split second longer than the Master Chief's slight pause for translations, but she responded quickly enough that Kenobi was relativity certain he just imagined the extra delay. "That won't be necessary, sir. Our armor can be sealed to operate in the vacuum space, and if there is another hull breach while we fix the ones we have already, your body wouldn't last nearly long enough to get you somewhere we can seal off any breach."

"Ah... well, in that case why don't you show me to the quarters, and I remain there meditating until you complete your repairs? You can give me a tour once you're done." The Jedi Knight offered with a small bow. "I would hate to cause you an unnecessary delay." Obi-Wan was almost positive that the delay after that comment was a bit longer and almost tinged by the Spartan-IIs' approval for his offer, he did note Cortana's approving smile as the avatar of the digital lady returned her attention to the ship.

"Well then, this way sir." The female Spartan-II gestured to the door she had just entered through. "Crew quarters are on the next deck down."

Kamino was a water soaked world, and viewed from space it looked like a giant marble comprised entirely of swirling gray storm clouds and the greenish blue oceans that covered the planet.

Victor whistled at the sight that greeted them as the Valiant slid out of slipspace, impressed despite his intent not to be by the millions of tons of water that had to be on that planet for it to look like it did. "That's mighty... wet, sir."

After the gut wrenching sensation echoing through the Force that thankfully passed quickly again, the Jedi standing next to the Captain had to laugh ruefully. "The Kaminoians developed from a water dwelling reptilian race," Obi-Wan replied through his chuckle, tucking his hands into the sleeves of his over robe, "I do believe they prefer the wet, Lieutenant."

For the past two days, the surviving crew had contrived jury rigged repairs to the UNSC Valiant's systems while the Jedi Knight watched on. Translation errors aside, which often slowed the trade of information until the human crew got used to the shift in linguistics. Kenobi genuinely liked the young pilot's sense of humor, the tiny Lily's quiet calm approach to everything, the massive mountain of a man Grall's insufferably cheerful outlook on life, Staffers' efficient competence, and even Kojak's, once the technician finally woke up, ability to multitask at what seemed to be everything at once.

After that first day on board, the Jedi and the rest of the crew had not seen much of the Spartan-IIs on the ship. One or two would appear every now and again, remarking about some such repair or issue that needed to be dealt with before disappearing again. Only the Master Chief and his AI could be seen on a regular basis, and that was mostly on the bridge when the pilot was relieved from his shift.

Even if Obi-Wan hadn't seen them, he was under no delusions that they hadn't seen a lot of him. His training as a Jedi alerted him more than once when one of the Spartans decided to tail him around for a little while, mostly for a few minutes as if they were curious about what he was occupied with at the time, and once or twice for hours at a time. It could have been more times than that, the one they numbered 127 was hard to pick up on when she decided to tail him around, but Cortana had informed him that it would be the case and the Jedi Knight let it pass without comment. In their armored boots, he probably would have done the same with some stranger that claimed to simply be passing by.

Now, looking down at the planet that he was a half a day early in arriving at, Kenobi had to admit that the detour in inspecting a battle ravaged ship had been a good one to take, even if he discounted the company on board.

Sully grunted irritably, eyeballing the planet with a certain amount of distrust. "Cortana said you are taking the Pelican, right?" When the robed man inclined his head to him, the Captain gave the unexpected passenger he had acquired a hard look, ruined only by the hint of humor almost hidden in his brown eyes. "Don't scuff up those Spartans. I'm supposed to deliver them back to ONI in one piece."

"I will endeavor to return them unharmed." Obi-Wan raised a hand to conceal his small smile at the rough joke. His time spent listening to Wills and Grall gossip about the Spartan-IIs and their past histories over their shared meals the last few days had informed him that any Spartan was hard to damage even in battle, and that phrase was more of a way to wish him luck than any actual warning. "By your leave, Captain."

"Go, bring us back some decent fish while you're out." Ron waved a hand at the Jedi, frowning at the bow he gave before leaving. "Damned strange man."

Victor bit his lower lip to keep his snickers to himself. That's the pot calling the kettle black.

All four Spartan-IIs were waiting in the hanger bay for the Jedi Knight to arrive, two clustered around the ship they were taking for pre-flight checks and the other two standing by the hanger door.

Dusty green gray armor plates and a gold visor marked the Master Chief to Obi-Wan's immediate left, darker green armor with silver stripes slanting down his chest plates marked 104 on his right. Light gray armor with a small, long eared animal painted on her right chest plate that the Spartans refused to name marked 087 standing next to what Kenobi assumed was the Pelican, and 127, in ice blue armor, was shadowing the other female Spartan around.

The four gave the newly arrived Jedi one look, then all of them dropped what they were doing and headed for the transport's aft section. 087 pulled the rear hatch open, waiting for 127 and the other Spartans to precede her, and heading straight for the pilot's seat once she got in.

Following them into the ship, Obi-Wan found himself in a spacious bay, seemingly able to hold a good dozen people if needed. The Master Chief motioned widely enough to catch the Jedi's attention and pointed to one of the seats anchored to the side of the ship. 104 had already seated himself right next to the rear hatch, both female Spartans had opted to take the seats in the cockpit, and Kenobi watched 117 pick a seat across from his fellow male. Catching on to the silent advice, the Jedi Knight selected a seat one away from the green and silver Spartan and fumbled a bit with the restraints until he finally got it snug.

The Spartan-II Master Chief banged a fist on the hull. "We're secured, zero-eight-seven. When you're ready."

Instead of responding, 087 finished her pre-flight checks and Kenobi heard the engines kick on.

"Do you have any idea what's going to happen, sir?" Remarked the green and silver Spartan, turning his helm slightly to include the Jedi in his view. "Or are we going in blind?"

"Mostly blind. Taun We, the Kaminoian I talked to a few weeks ago, is expecting me in half a day." Obi-Wan leaned back in his seat, tugging on the oddly fitting restraints as they dug into him in a way he was unfamiliar to. "I really have no other expectations or insights than that. I'm looking for an armored killer, one with the ability to use saberdarts, in blue striped Mandalorian armor."

"Sounds fun." 104 turned his helmet back to look at the Master Chief. "What are we then, hired muscle, or professional bodyguards?"

117 was silent for a moment, though the Force Kenobi could tell that Cortana and her Spartan were having a quick conversation by the increase of Cortana's presence within 117, then the Spartan-II looked at him. "Well?"

"I would prefer professionals."

"You heard him," the drab green Spartan told his fellows, "professional guards."

127's stealth systems came as a nasty shock to the Jedi Knight, seeing as the saboteur activated it inside of the ship once the Pelican had landed on a rain swept landing pad outside of Tipoca City, and stood behind Obi-Wan right as the smaller human took a step back to get out of 104's way.

Coming up against warm armor without being able to see it, and the hands that grabbed onto his arms nearly made the Jedi reach for his light saber before the presence behind him registered.

"One-two-seven, stop trying to scare our Jedi guest," the Master Chief snapped out without turning from the rear hatch 104 was opening, "and get moving. You have three hours to get back here or we'll take off without you."

The amused sounding chuckle that sounded from behind Kenobi made the smaller man relax. 127 patted the Jedi on the back, before the slight ripple that was the female Spartan's presence through the Force started to pull away the moment the hatch was opened. Reaching to the back of his neck, 117 pulled out Cortana's AI cube and handed it off to the invisible Spartan-II as she passed him.

Neither the Master Chief nor the green and silver Spartan-II next to him made any movements that betrayed the ice blue Spartan's exit; they simply looked back at Obi-Wan as if waiting...

Right, they're my bodyguards, the Jedi Knight started belatedly for the ramp; they follow me like shadows and watch everything that happens.

087 had joined the small group by the time Kenobi had remembered his reason for visiting the waterlogged planet and started walking out to the space port's visitor's center to place a call. They were out in time to see R-4 land the Jedi's unoccupied star fighter next to the transport they had used to get to the city's space port.

Obi-Wan's robes had gotten thoroughly soaked by the rather violent thunderstorm overhead during the short walk to the covered portions of the city, but he only had to wait a few minuets for Taun We to make her way to the space port and greet him.

The towering Kaminoian named Taun We was an unusual sight for the Spartan-IIs still with the Jedi. She was humanoid in form, but was mostly neck with pale gray skin, inverted blue and black eyes, a speckle pattern covering the right side of her flat face, slits for nostrils, no protruding ears, and three fingers on each hand. She reached a whole head taller than the Master Chief, making her the tallest living creature any of them had ever seen.

"Master Jedi, so good to see you." She greeted Obi-Wan warmly, flickering only one glance at the armored guard at the Jedi Knight's back. "The Prime Minister expects you."

"I'm expected?" Kenobi kept any surprise from appearing on his face, almost able to hear 117's 'I told you so' already.

"Of course! He is anxious to see you. After all these years, we were beginning to think you weren't ever coming. Now please, this way!" Taun waved a three fingered hand gracefully at the corridor behind her.

The walk was conducted in silence, the only sound was the clanking of the Spartan-IIs' armored boots coming down on the floors as they followed. Fifteen minuets later, Taun We opened an elaborate door to a circular room with wide windows showing the storm outside. The Kaminoian male, identified as such by the crest on top of his smooth head, sitting cross legged in a half-circle anti-gravity chair looked up at the four humans shown into his office.

The female Kaminoian inclined her long neck in a rather drawn out bow. "May I present Lama Su, the Prime Minister of Kamino... and this is Master Jedi..."

"Obi-Wan Kenobi." The Jedi Knight finished for her, bowing himself to the Prime Minister.

If either Kaminoian found it odd that he had refrained from introducing the armored and armed figures at his back, neither showed it.

"I trust you are going to enjoy your stay. We are most happy that you have arrived at the best part of the season." Obi-Wan wasn't the only human to cast a wry glance to the windows showing a rather violent streak of lightning from the storm raging outside, but he was the only one the Kaminoians could see. "And now to business. You will be delighted to hear we are on schedule." Lama waved an equally graceful three fingered hand at another anti-gravity chair across from him for the Jedi to take, and Taun took that as a sign to leave the office for the moment. "Two hundred thousand units are ready, with another million on the way."

Kenobi sank into the offered chair, crossing his legs in a similar manner to the Prime Minister as the Spartans took up posts behind him. "That is... good news." He offered casually, sharp blue eyes still on the male Kaminoian before him.

"Please tell your Master Sifo-Dyas that we have every confidence that his order will be met on time and in full." When the Jedi Knight hesitated, Lama seemed to grow worried. "He is well, I hope."

"I'm sorry, Master...?"

"Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas. He's still a leading member of the Jedi Council, is he not?"

Kenobi gave the Kaminoian Minister a level look. "Oh. I'm afraid to say Master Sifo-Dyas was killed almost ten years ago."

Lama's inverted orange and black eyes seemed to grow larger for a moment in a shocked reaction. "Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. But I'm sure he would have been proud of the army we've built for him."

"The army?" Prompted the Jedi Knight, wondering if this quest would ever give him a straight answer as he exercised some of his skills in Force manipulation to spur the male into revealing more than he was wont to.

"Yes, a clone army." The Prime Minister straightened up even more, his neck's length making the shorter human crane his neck up to meet his eyes. "And I must say that it's one of the finest we've ever created."

Obi-Wan considered that information only for a moment before pressing on. "Tell me, Prime Minister. When my Master first contacted you about the army, did he say who it was for?"

"Of course he did." Blinking his inverted eyes at the Jedi before him, the Kaminoian cocked his head as he answered. "The army is for the Republic. But you must be anxious to inspect the units for yourself. Isn't that why you have brought these...?"

"That's why we are here." As the Prime Minister rose to his stocky feet so did the Jedi, indicating the armored figures standing behind him. "These are three of the best soldiers in the Republic. I brought them along to test the competence of the ones you have created."

The slight suspicion that had been nibbling at the back of the Kaminoian's mind evaporated, and Lama nodded approvingly. The soldiers at the Jedi's back held themselves so still that he had almost forgotten them, the mark of very strong self-discipline, enough to even rival the clones he and his people had worked so hard on. "We are excited to hear of how our soldiers compare. But for now, give us the rest of the night to assemble ourselves for your inspection. We have prepared rooms for you and your guests."

Kenobi almost baulked, the thought of the nearly invisible Spartan-II that the Master Chief had sent out running through his mind, until the Spartan himself tapped the Jedi lightly on the back, almost as if prodding him on to take the offer. "We appreciate it." He stated with a bow, instead of the protest he was trying to formulate.

"Taun We will show you to your rooms. Enjoy your stay." The Prime Minister returned the bow before crossing the room to open the hallway door again where the female Kaminoian stood waiting.

Taun opened the door for them, and the Jedi and his three soldiers gave her a respectful nod each as they entered the suite set aside for them. She smiled at the courtesy as she closed the door and turned away to ensure that her section was prepared for tomorrow's inspection.

Inside the guest suite Obi-Wan turned to look at the Master Chief, intent on asking if he had done what he suspected the Spartan-II wanted, only to have his jaw drop as 127 flickered back into view before his eyes.

"Oh, don't look so surprised, sir." She flicked her wet fingers at him as she walked passed, snagging one of the anti-gravity chairs to sit in and ignoring the puddle that formed from the water that had settled on her armor. "I'm good."

"A good pain in the fourth point of contact is more like it." Retorted the other female Spartan-II as she too crossed the room, snubbing the floating chairs to seat herself against the wall.

"Report, one-two-seven."

"Yes, sir." The ice blue Spartan-II reached to the back of her armored neck and drew out Cortana's AI core, tossing it back to the Master Chief. "Kamino is a very... odd world. Tipoca City is actually an entire cloning facility and military training base all rolled in one floating building. Everything from barracks to medical stations are tucked in somewhere around here, and they support a massive number of what they're calling Clone Troopers in all stages of their development." 127 reached up again and removed her helmet, rolling her neck and cracking some of her vertebra once her head was free and setting the helmet in her lap.

Obi-Wan wasn't surprised to note she had fiery red hair that was cut short, a smattering of freckles across her nose, and sharp gray eyes.

"I plugged Cortana in when we got to the underbelly of this complex, where the cloning goes on. She's got rest of the hard data, but I may have spotted why you think your mysterious armored figure is here, Kenobi sir." The Spartan saboteur's gray eyes flicked to him. "There are seventy or so non-clones that work around here, that have armor that would cover their entire form. I can't say who it is you're looking for exactly, so you'll have to see for yourself to decide which one it is."

The Jedi felt the presence of the AI intensify before the Master Chief turned to him. "Cortana said the name of the person in charge of training is Jango Fett."

"Fett is a Mandalorian clan name." Kenobi tucked his hands into his robes as he crossed the room to take a seat next to 127. "Does Cortana have any more information on him?"

"Not much on him, some notes... the fact he is what these Kaminoians call the 'template'... and that he lives here with a son." 104 took a seat next to 087 and both followed the saboteur's lead in removing their helmets as 117 followed the Jedi across the room. "He seems to have put together a cadre of what is called cull... cuvi... Cuy'val... dr... Dar, seventy five of which are noted to be more of these 'Mandalorians', to train the clones made in his image."

Now that her face was visible, the smirk that crawled over 127's lips was noticeable to the Jedi Knight as she wrinkled her nose at her commanding officer. "Real easy for you to say, sir."

A quick cough covered bark of laughter drew Obi-Wan's attention to the wall, where the two other Spartans had seated themselves. 087, who had shoulder length brown hair pulled back into a pony tail and blue eyes, merely smirked as the green and silver Spartan-II next to her shook his black and silver streaked head with a similar wry smirk. He had a prominent scar across the bridge of his nose, and as he smiled, one side of it raised up higher than the other. "Can I try? Maybe I won't butcher the words as badly."

The four fell silent then, and Kenobi picked up the tense sensation of their minute preparations echoing through the Force. He raised one auburn eyebrow at the Master Chief, who simply shrugged after a few moments. "Worth a try."

"What was?"

"It's a test for listening devices, a weak one." 104 supplied, his brown eyes flicking over to the Jedi Knight. "If these Mandalorians are listening in, it was worth getting ribbed for his mispronunciation if we could anger them enough to correct him and give themselves away."

"Didn't really think it would work, anyways." 117 gestured in 127's direction, and the Spartan saboteur got up and began to look for any spy bugs the old fashioned way, setting her helmet on a nearby table. While she was occupied doing that, the remaining Spartan-IIs started to check over their armor and their weapons, even if they hadn't been in any fight, well established habits were hard to break.

Obi-Wan took the time his companions were occupied to meditate on what he had learned so far, from 127's ability to disappear from sight to the news that Sifo-Dyas had commissioned a clone army for the Republic seemingly at the same time of his death. It was a good hour before the Master Chief's voice roused him again.

"What do you want us to do about tomorrow?"

"Ah, that is a good question." Kenobi looked over the four soldiers looking at him and tugged on his short beard. "I told them you are here to test these Clone Troopers, so I would assume they will expect some testing."

"One-two-seven, how do they look?"

The ice blue armored female looked up quickly from her field stripped assault rifle at the question, and her gray eyes locked onto the Master Chief. "Like a group of identical twins times a few thousand. They move like green recruits, without that edge of battle honed responses." She tilted her magazine, pouring out another rush of water from the storm she had scouted around in before continuing. "I'd say they would match up to green ODST at the very least."

104 rubbed the side of his thumb against the scar across his nose. "So if we're testing new recruits, it'd be marksmanship, hand to hand combat, and... what?"

"I can handle the combat," 117 looked from between the Spartans he had, "one-zero-four can handle the weapon ranges." His blue eyes inspected the two females that made up the rest of the squad. "One-two-seven, if they catch you, you're a part of the test as well, catching infiltrators. Zero-eight-seven, if we can find one, either an obstacle course or a speed race. Endurance, in other words."

The saboteur raised a finger, catching the other Spartan-IIs' attention for a moment. "They don't have anything like our armor, sir. Wouldn't this be cheating?"

John looked down to inspect his own armor, and the armor the other Spartans were wearing. The mark V version of the MJOLINER armor gave them an additional fourth of a meter in height, and was significantly less bulky than the mark IVs, but wasn't anything that could be copied without the augments the Spartans had been subjected to without killing the operators. But Ash was right, the added strength and speed the armor provided would be more than anyone would be expected to deal with, even cloned humans. "I don't like the idea of taking off the armor here, there's nowhere to secure it."

"I am sure the Kaminoians would not object to sparing you some type of container for your armor." Kenobi put forth, glancing between the four soldiers arrayed around him. "Or at the very least, you can have one-two-seven stand guard somewhere nearby until your done."

A quick internal discussion between Cortana and the Master Chief ended when he gave a sharp nod to the four looking at him expectantly. "Fine then, one-two-seven, you'll either hang around to watch the armor until after we're done with the testing or booby trap it so we know if someone is trying to tamper with it. Get some rest; you'll take the last guard shift."

Slipping on her helmet again, the ice blue Spartan-II got up to her feet, saluted him, and snatched up the pieces of her rifle to assemble before she tried for sleep.

"I'll take first crack, sir." 087 offered, but 117 shook his head at her.

"I'll take it; you two go get some sleep as well."

The gray female and the green and silver painted male reassembled their rifles and picked up their helmets before giving him a salute and following after the saboteur. After the door slid shut behind them, the Master Chief tilted his helmet enough to catch the Jedi's attention. "Well?"

"Technically, it isn't a trap." Obi-Wan pointed out calmly. "We are sitting in the middle of the web, but nothing has come out to eat us yet."

The drab green Spartan-II snorted at him. "I'll bet you... well, something, that one or two of us will end up getting shot at tomorrow."

127 had slipped out of the suit the moment someone had been sent in with what passed as breakfast for Obi-Wan Kenobi and his supposedly three guards. She had rousted the Master Chief and 104 before taking her leave, letting 087 get a few more moments of sleep since she was the one the saboteur had relieved from guard duty earlier that morning.

By the time the Jedi Knight had reached the doorway, with the three Spartan-IIs tagging behind him like an honor guard, Prime Minister Lama Su and Taun We were waiting for them. Kenobi folded his hands into his sleeves and gave the two a bow in greeting. "If it wouldn't trouble you, can my three soldiers appropriate someplace to store their armor? They cannot adequately test your clones with it on."

The towering Kaminoians both nodded at his request, Taun smiled at the three silent figures standing at the Jedi's back, pleased that they were honest enough to want to level the field between them and her charges. "Follow me, and I will show you where you can store it for a short while."

Obi-Wan gestured them on when they looked back at him for orders, then looked to the Prime Minister. "I take it you're ready for an inspection now?"

"Yes, and you have our sincere apologies for not being ready when you arrived." The Kaminoian male led the Jedi farther into the complex, where great expanses of glass showed a number of people, who like 127 said, all looked eerily alike were working steadily. "We modified their genetic structure to make them less independent than their original host. As a result, they are totally obedient, taking orders without question."

The current window that the two males were looking through showed a number of clones with some type of helmet working at computer banks. All of them had the same face, the same blue uniform, and only the differentiating movements convinced the watching Jedi that they were singular individuals.

As the two moved on from them, Kenobi gave his guide his full attention. "Who was the original host?"

"A bounty hunter called Jango Fett."

That meshed with what the Master Chief had told him last night, but the Jedi Knight kept any suspicion from his expression and simply nodded. "Where is this bounty hunter now?"

Lama Su tuned his long neck to look at the human following him. "Oh, we keep him here." The Prime Minister led the Jedi to the next bank of windows, which gave a glimpse into the cloning facility, where a thousand of the Fett clones were at the stage of infants in their tanks, stacked on top of one another from the floor to the ceiling. When they were grown, they probably would comprise another whole unit of clone troopers. "Apart from his pay, which is considerable, Fett demanded only one thing – an unaltered clone for himself. Curious, isn't it?"

"Unaltered?" That had caught Obi-Wan's attention. 117 had mentioned something about a son, but neither he nor 127 had said anything about the son being cloned, so the surprise in his voice was genuine.

"Pure genetic replication." The Kaminoian male explained, giving Taun We a nod as the female rejoined the two. "No tampering with the structure to make it more docile... and no growth acceleration."

The Jedi Knight tucked his hands into the sleeves of his over robe, blue eyes flicking from one Kaminoian to the other. "I would like to meet this Jango Fett."

"I would be happy to arrange it for you." Taun answered as the three wandered to the last window down that hallway, which overlooked the opened sky parade grounds.

"Magnificent, aren't they?" Lama Su boasted as Kenobi looked over the completed Clone Troopers assembled for his 'guards' test.

There was three regiments of Troopers assembled, standing stock still with their blaster rifles held over one shoulder even as the storm overhead dumped buckets of cold water over them. All of them were in white armor, which looked quite similar to Mandalorian styled armor to the Jedi Knight.

Obi-Wan's sharp blue eyes caught sight of movement on the far side of the parade grounds. Two individuals in Mandalorian armor, colored in Mandalorian tradition, easily stood out against the pure white armor of the Clones, and three tall, unarmored figures in full body suits followed them as they moved to the front of the assembled Troopers. The Jedi assumed the three unarmored figures would be the Spartans he had brought with him.

Taun We leaned forward to catch Kenobi's attention. "Your soldiers have requested a firing range, a training room for sparing, and a five hundred meter track. If you wish to watch, we will need to move to the appropriate training halls, Master Jedi."

Obi-Wan unraveled a hand from his robes and tugged on his beard for a moment. "They will need some time to set up. May I meet with this Jango Fett while they prepare?"

Taun We had led the three Spartan-IIs into an office like room after they had left the Jedi Knight with the Kaminoian Prime Minister. She had to consult a computer about where the soldiers with her could store their full body armor and their odd rifles, seeing as even the Mandalorians that Jango Fett had hired didn't seem to use armor as thick as the three guards the Jedi Knight had brought.

The three that followed her were a bit unnerving, they would inspect wherever she brought them for a few moments before fixing their attention back on her without pause. What that meant, even the Kaminoian clone psychologist was unsure of, but it was starting to bother her.

She led them out of her office and down a number of hallways, seeking out one of the Cuy'val Dar's locker room for the soldiers still following her.

The door she finally opened for her guests held two of the Mandalorians on Kamino. A Rev Bralor, sitting next to Kal Skirata, shot the door and the people coming through it a quick look from her seat near on of the tables, where she was servicing her blaster pistols.

Her attention was snagged fast, and her brown eyebrows rose sharply at the sight of the three fully armored figures behind the familiar figure of Taun We. "Kandosii." The two in the front would tower over her even if she slapped on the rest of her own beskar'gam and buy'ce. The one in the back, who looked female only because of the contours of her armor plates, seemed to be of her own height when she was fully kitted out.

Kal gave the newcomers a measuring look at his fellow's quietly muttered praise. "Verd ori'shya beskar'gam."

His comment drew a snort from Rev, and the older Mando'ad had to grin. The three following Taun We did look like verd he would trust at his back. Their armor was pitted and marred from previous battles, and they all had the same shifty way of looking around that spoke of being cautious even in what was supposedly friendly territory. He supposed he would ignore the fact they were not Mando'ad like it seemed his fellow Cuy'val Dar sergeant had. "Problem, Taun?"

"Oh, no. Simply showing these soldiers that the Jedi Master Obi-Wan brought with him, where to store their armor while they test the troops." The Kaminoian female started picking through the lockers set up against the wall, looking for three close together that would suffice.

While Kal got up to help the Kaminoian, Rev was absently watching the three while she reassembled her blaster pistols. The largest, painted a drab green gave some slight motion to the two following him, and all three started to strip out of their armor.

Green and silver seemed like he was infantry, at least he had the scars for it. He stripped down with an economy of movement, piling up his beskar'gam on one of the benches, then turned to assist the gray female figure at his back with her chest plates. She seemed like a scout, faster than she should be but not as controlled, the marks of a verd sent into enemy territory a lot. The one that seemed to be their al'verde was slower than them both, but he seemed more interested in keeping their armor together in separate piles to keep from confusing them later on.

Blue eyes suddenly locked with hers, and Rev had to grin. He wasn't all that bad, for someone that wasn't a Mando'ad.

"Ma'am," the al'verde addressed Taun, now stripped of his encompassing armor and left in a form fitting suit that left literally nothing to the imagination, "we need a few things, if we are to test your soldiers correctly."

"Ah..." The Kaminoian sounded surprised, not at all inconceivable since the three had to be the tallest humans she had ever seen. Taun We blinked at him, taking in the military straight posture and the way he was looking at her in the eyes, not looking around the room or at her neck like most humans that were not used to Kaminoians and their height. "Um... yes, what are you looking for, uh...?"

"One-one-seven, ma'am," he responded promptly, "or you can call me the Master Chief. I need a firing range, someplace for sparring, and a track or obstacle course, if you have one."

Rev almost dropped her pistols at the man's matter of fact tone of voice. That had to be the weirdest name she had ever heard. It seemed like Kal agreed, he was scrutinizing the other male, almost like he wanted to accuse him of lying, but not entirely sure if he was.

Taun We took the unusual name in stride, unlike the Mandalorians in the room. "We have a sparring ring in the south side training halls, and a number of tracks of different lengths both indoor and out. The firing range is and indoor affair. What length would you like for the track?"

He looked back to the scout, and she gave the Kaminoian a lopsided smile. "The longest you have that doesn't loop."

"Very well then." She inclined her head to them, a motion that made her neck ripple and caught the attention of all of the humans in the room, before turning to Kal. "Can you escort them to the parade field? I will clear the required facilities and locations before returning to the Prime Minister."

"Sure thing, Taun." The older Mando'ad was still looking all three of their guests over, but gave her a nod of his own at her question. "Re'turcye mhi."

She smiled at the familiar farewell, she had ten years to get used to the Mandalorians and their ways, and swept out of the room.

"So, one-one-seven, care to introduce your fellows?" Kal stated as he opened the three lockers that he and the Kaminoian had located for them.

The scout flashed him a grin as she gathered up her gray armor, almost as if she knew what was bothering the older man. "We can introduce ourselves. I'm zero-eight-seven, nice to meet you, sir." She gave him a strange salute with one hand before stacking up her beskar'gam in the opened locker.

"My number is one-zero-four," the silver and black headed male answered next, giving the female with them a sideways glance as he followed her lead with the armor, "and you can ignore her."

She was about to shove her elbow into his side, but the Master Chief stopped them both with a glare. "Enough." The scout smoothed her expression as she took a step back from the bank of lockers so the men could store their armor. "Sir? When you're ready."

Kal blinked at the three bemusedly at them for a moment, finally shaking his head and motioning them to follow. "Then follow me, verde, and I'll show you the way."

Chapter Text

Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi followed the towering form of Taun We, the administrative aide to the Prime Minister, down the hallways linking from the main training halls of Tipoca City to the living units set aside for the Cuy'val Dar instructors. The training facilities for the clone troopers were located in the center of the city, with the laboratories located in the lower levels, the space port set at the western most edge of the city, and the living units and barracks ringing the main training halls. Even as he made his way through it all, Obi-Wan stopped periodically to listen in on the lessons in session, watch the various training exercises, or to inspect the odd soldier or two that made their way past him. The two of them had already made their way through several halls that opened or looked out into various classrooms and occupied parade fields as the normal day training continued even with the visit of the long awaited Jedi Master happening at that very moment.

The Jedi kept note of where he was in relation to the main section of the floating city as he followed his Kaminoian guide, constructing a mental map of the labyrinth like city to keep him orientated just in case he had to come back this way in a hurry.

He was brought back to the situation at hand when the female Kaminoian knocked on one of the marked doors, inclining her head down to the young child that had opened the door a moment later. "Boba, is your father here?" Taun We asked kindly to the cloned child staring up at her, whose eyes flickered to the robed Jedi next to her. "May we see him?"

"Sure." Boba Fett smiled politely at the strange man next to the familiar sight of the Kaminoian before leaving the open door and taking a few steps into the main room to call for his father. "Dad! Taun We's here!"

Inspecting the back of the child as both he and Taun We followed him into the living room of the suite, Kenobi had to admit that the cloned child before him was obviously just that, a clone. Boba had wavy brown hair and dark eyes, with tan skin that spoke more of genetic influence than exposure to the system's primary star. He did bear a striking resemblance to the clones the Jedi had already seen, but the older man, the 'genetic template', who had entered the living room at the child's call, was obviously more similar to the clones he had already inspected. Most likely due to closer ages, Kenobi admitted to himself, as he looked the newcomer to the room over.

Jango Fett had close cropped his hair, still dark even with the age the man obviously had seen already, with the start of a beard shadowing his square jaw. Dark eyes, the same all of the clones Obi-Wan had seen shared, were more piercing than any of the others who had the same eyes. Jango had walked out of what the Jedi figured was his personal room, and as he took a few steps to the side to clearly see the older man, a set of invisible hands caught him and steered him closer to the wall as he caught sight of something rippling in the air out of the corner of his eyes.

Kenobi blew out a silent breath, wondering for a moment just what it was that 127 was doing here with him instead of the other Spartans before concentrating back on the conversation happening before him.

"Welcome back, Jango. Was your trip productive?" Taun inquired politely to the man striding to the middle of the room to see his visitors.

"Fairly." The bounty hunter grated out, dark eyes inspecting the Jedi that had followed the Kaminoian into his living space.

Catching on to the man's uneasiness at the unknown presence, Taun tried to set his mind at ease about the visitor she had brought with her. "This is Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. He's come to check on our progress." After another moment when it was clear that the two men were not about to start whatever human tradition went on when two males initially meet, the Kaminoian administrative aide retreated out of the room to wait in the hall.

Kenobi broke the silence after a moment of mutual staring and visual measuring between the two men. "Your clones are very impressive." He watched for any overt movement from the other man, silently thanking the Spartan in the room for her reassuring presence as he started testing the Mandalorian's resistance to influence from the Force. "You must be very proud."

"I'm just a simple man, trying to make my way in the universe." Jango gave him an insincere smile as the Jedi wandered a bit closer to the rain streaked window that looked out over the city.

Catching a glimpse into the dark room the bounty hunter had just emerged from, and the armor that looked faintly familiar to him in a not so good way sitting out in the dim light from the room behind him, Obi-Wan tried a stab in the not-so-dark past of the man standing before him. He was nearly sure that was the armor he was looking for; making this man the one he had seen with Anakin Skywalker on Corruscant. "Ever make your way as far into the Interior Corridor as Coruscant?"

"Once or twice." Jango shot back shortly, still warily watching the newcomer to his home.

"Then you must know Master Sifo-Dyas?"

The shallow smile slid off the bounty hunter's face as he stared hard at the other man, searching for whatever reason he had for the line of questioning. "Boba, close the door." Jango studied the Jedi standing next to the window as he stepped closer to him. The rain streaked window only gave off a watery amount of dismal light, highlighting the man looking back at him out of the corner of his eye. "Master Who?"

Kenobi turned enough to face the Mandalorian at the other side of the window. "Sifo-Dyas. Isn't he the Jedi who hired you for this job?"

Visibly hesitating at the question, Jango gave the Jedi a strange look for his random track of inquiry. "Never heard of him. I was recruited by a man called Tyranus on one of the moons of Bogden."

"Curious..." Tucking in his hands into his robes, Obi-Wan let the line of questioning die as the Mandalorian tried to reroute the conversation back to what the Jedi was supposedly here for, a much safer topic to the bounty hunter.

"Do you like your army? They'll do their job well, I'll guarantee that."

"I look forward to seeing them in action. In fact, I have a number of soldiers here just for testing purposes." With that jab, the Jedi turned to leave, sliding open the door the cloned child had closed and noting the slight pressure that gripped his left shoulder before leaving. He hoped that meant 127 had decided to remain to keep an eye on the Mandalorian and his child. "Thanks for your time, Jango."

The older Fett gave the robed man leaving a short bow. "Always a pleasure to meet a Jedi."

Kenobi smiled at Boba, who had copied what the elder had done and bowed at both him and Taun We as he left the living unit. As the door closed behind him, the Jedi turned to the Kaminoian who had led him here. "I have a brief message to send off to my superiors, but I trust I will see you when my soldiers start their testing in earnest?"

"Of course. I wouldn't miss seeing how our creations do against the best the Republic can train." Taun gave him another wavy incline of her neck as the two of them split up.

Despite the fact Fred could not see her when he was facing the firing range they had borrowed from the Kaminoians, he knew Kelly was smirking at his back as he looked over the rifle he had been given for the accuracy testing, the first of four tests, one of which would not be spoken of until later.

The two Spartans were in what amounted to an indoor firing range, shielded from the wind and rain that swept the city near constantly, waiting for the Master Chief and the Mandalorian Cuy'val Dar sergeant who had introduced himself as Kal Skirata to finish setting the rules for the accuracy test. 104 was in the middle of field stripping what had been called a blaster rifle when it had been shoved at him for the fourth time in a row.

It weighed a bit more than the rifles they had with them, he was thinking it weighed about a pound more if that, and there were a few things that seemed out of place to the two UNSC soldiers at the first glance they took. In his first careful exploration of the odd looking weapon, the male Spartan had found what seemed to be the magazine for the rifle in the butt stock, what looked like a magnetic system where the barrel was, and some old school iron sights on the top of the weapon. Consecutive strips revealed more and more differences with the weapons and rifles he was more familiar with, but by the third time he had gone over the odd rifle, he was sure he at least understood what the weapon was designed to do.

Fred figured that firing the blaster rifle was going to be interesting, to say the least.

Looking out over the firing range cleared for their purposes, 087 paced back and forth as she waited for Rev Bralor to return with the selection of clone troopers that were being picked at random out of the units and battalions already completed and awaiting deployment. The tough looking woman had promised to return quickly, and had made mention that she was going to see if she could snag a few other Mando'ad Cuy'val Dar sergeants if she could. Kelly had no idea what a 'Mando'ad' was, but she nodded politely and filed the word away to look up later.

Just before 104 could snap at the other Spartan for pacing around him, 117 returned with the grizzled sergeant in tow. "Well, one-zero-four?"

"Need to zero in with this rifle, before we start anything here, sir." Fred got to his feet, snapping the last few pieces of the nearly reassembled rifle back together as he turned to face the two who had just arrived, thanking whoever had designed the weapon for the old style iron sights. "Fifteen minutes, give or take another five for that. You want to set up while I'm working on the minor details?"

"You should give the poor troops a handicap, one-zero-four." 087 turned to the three males with a smirk on her lips. "You're ranked as the second best marksman we have, and that is a high bar to measure these kids by."

The Master Chief inclined his head to her as he thought her suggestion through, but eventually shook it at her idea. "The aim of these tests is not to match us, but give them a goal to work to if they can see it is possible. We're just measuring them against the Marines we know, not to our fellow Spartans."

"You sound sure of that, Master Chief." Kal bristled slightly at the unintentional slight to the troops he had been training for the last few years. "How are you so certain the outcome will be in your favor?"

"Because no matter how skilled they are, or who they are cloned from, they are still purely human." Kelly quipped on her way past the three males, still pacing around the small accessible part of the firing range.

Skirata was about to ask 'and your not?', but the arrival of a number of white armored clones proceeded by Rev Bralor and Mij Gilamar, another of the Cuy'val Dar sergeants in sandy gold beskar'gam.

Rev wiggled her fingers at the other female in the room before turning to the Master Chief. "Thirty ge'verd to start with, ten for each of you. One from each of the akaata we have ready. Figured we can start with this, and Vau is currently gathering the next group together for after you're done with these."

John gave her a sharp nod. "Front and center, Spartans." Both Kelly and Fred moved in the blink of an eye to stand in front of him, and the Master Chief looked both of them over before issuing his marching orders. "Zero-eight-seven, take your ten and Bralor to the course you've picked out. Let them watch you run the route first, then take it a second time with them; you know what to watch them for. One-zero-four, zero in your sights, then whichever firing sequence you want to use, stick with it." Both of them saluted and spun around, Kelly heading for the Mando'ad woman and Fred for the first firing lane.

Kal watched the three split up, then glanced from 117 to 104's back. "I think I will remain here, to watch the troops. Gilamar, go with the Master Chief. There is more risk of injury with what he intends to test."

Mij raised an eyebrow, wondering exactly how much work the others were expecting for him, but nodded his acceptance when the older Mandalorian shot him a hard glare.

Pulling his hood up to keep the rain from blowing into his face, Obi-Wan strolled quickly to the waterlogged landing pad where the Spartans had left their Pelican and his droid had landed his ship. The drum of rain hitting metal was all the Jedi could hear as he manipulated the controls like he had been taught before the four Spartans had accompanied him down here, and the hatch of the ship opened smoothly at his prompting and shielding him from the worst of the rain so he could lower his hood. R4-D2 whistled a greeting when she caught sight of her master, soaked or not she was happy to see him.

Kenobi spared a grin for his faithful droid before launching into what he had ventured out into the space port for. "Ar-four, relay this. 'Scramble code five' to Corruscant – care of the old folks home." He paused for the droid to connect and transmit the message, then took a deep breath, and started his report as the holographic display started to flicker the images of two of the Jedi Masters. "I have successfully made contact with the Prime Minister of Kamino. They are using a bounty hunter by the name of Jango Fett to create a clone army for the Republic. I have a strong feeling that this bounty hunter is the assassin we are looking for."

Mace Windu sat up straighter in his holographic chair at the Jedi Knight's report. "Do you think these clones are involved in the plot to assassinate Senator Amidala?"

"No, Master. There appears to be no motive."

The blue image of Master Yoda stroked his knobby chin in thought. "Do not assume anything, Obi-Wan. Clear, your mind must be if you are to discover the real villain behind this plot."

"Yes, Master." With the main reason for calling out of the way, the younger Jedi started in on the information he wanted clarification on immediately, instead of when he returned to the Temple. "They say a Sifo-Dyas placed the order for the clones almost ten years ago. I was under the impression he was killed before that. Did the Council ever authorize the creation of a clone army?"

"No." Windu laced his transparent fingers together as he considered the Knight before him. "Whoever placed that order did not have authorization of the Jedi Council."

"Into custody, take this Jango Fett. Bring him here. Question him, we will."

"Yes, Masters." As the images of the Jedi Masters faded, Kenobi blew out a sigh. "It's just as well one-two-seven stuck around with the Fetts, then."

Five minutes before Jedi Knight Kenobi contacted the Jedi Council:

Jango Fett studied the closed door, thinking through everything the Jetii had said to him. He had a pang of unease when the robed man had question him, and he was unwilling to ignore what might turn out to be important just because he was somewhere that had been safe for both himself and his son. The Jetii's questioning of his travels, and the remark about Corruscant sparked minuet flair of recognition in blue eyes. Flatting his lips in an attempt to control a scowl, the bounty hunter looked at his ten year old son.

Boba was young, but he also was his father's child. He recognized the set of his father figure's face. "What is it, dad?"

"Pack your things, we're leaving." With that short sentence, the younger Fett jumped for his room, almost hitting the concealed Spartan still hanging around the room.

Ash remained in the shadowy corners of the living unit, watching the two males efficiently go through their belongings with a minimum of fuss and bother. Unwilling to risk the older Mandalorian catching sight of the ripple pattern the optical camouflage her version of the MJOLINER armor gave off at close inspection, the Spartan female was restricted to the less traveled paths in the living room, merely watching everything and regulated to a support role unless the Jedi came back and showed or told her otherwise.

In less time than she had figured on, the two of them were heading out of the flat. Jango was dressed in what she assumed was his armor, and young Boba almost forgot to close the door behind him. That allowed the Spartan tailing them both to slide out into the hall without having to wait for them to get far enough along so they wouldn't notice the door opening again.

'So, why are we doing this?' Cortana echoed from her space in the back of 127's mind.

"Curiosity, mostly." The Spartan whispered back, slinking down the corridors behind the two as quietly as she could. "Sides, I have all of another two hours before I'm slated to start with my little test; and you have to admit he is hot, for whatever he is."

She could almost feel the AI's disbelief at her comment. 'Organic attraction? Considering the fact I am nothing more than a digital entity, I no longer have the chemical relays required to feel even familiar attraction to either a physical form or ideal of organic beauty.'

"Wet blanket, much?" Ash muttered disgustedly to the AI in her head. "It's just an observation, Cortana. Besides, Kenobi was interested in him, and he's trying to run. That's enough for any saboteur worth their salt to follow and see what he's up to, thank you very much."

'Far be it for me to interfere with the all mighty saboteur, then.'

The remark made the Spartan smirk behind her faceplate as she tailed the small family of two. It was a rare thing when the AI became catty, and Ash loved hearing it on the rare times she worked with the Master Chief. John was less amused when Cortana did it to him, and the AI was more than aware that any abbreviation out of the normal allowances would have her inspected for rampancy. Her thoughts slid from the AI's peculiar personality to the subject she was following as the two entered the space port of the floating city.

Ash considered this both a good thing and a bad thing. Good: Obi-Wan should be nearby if he was going to follow through with his plan to contact his superiors today, after his meeting with the Kaminoians. Bad: the Fetts might actually get off the water world without immediate interference. Dithering over what she was expected to do, this scenario had never been presented to her in her training back on Reach, she caught the welcome sight of brown robes down another hall.

There was only one person she had seen so far in the city that wore that.

Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi caught sight of vaguely familiar armored figure disappearing out the corner of his eye, and cursed spectacularly in the privacy of his mind. He immediately chased after the armored figure, using his diplomatic orientated skills in the Force to redirect the attention of the Kaminoians nearby to ignore him running through their halls. He had to remain out of view, ducking around corners to see where the Fetts were before following after they had left the current corridor. Luckily they remained in the space port, the younger Fett splitting off to a open sky landing pad that held another ship, the older and armored Fett stopping at a console, supposedly to clear their leaving with the Kaminoians' traffic control towers.

Taking a moment to recover his bearings, and his breath, in the shadowed part of the hallway, Obi-Wan almost jumped out of his skin when a cheerful but quiet voice spoke up next to him.

"I was wondering when you would get here. I have no orders to cover this, what do you want me to do?"

The faint feeling of 127's life force behind him was a welcome reassurance, even if the Jedi struggled with the impulse that wanted him to throttle the woman behind it for her continued attempts to frighten him. "One-two-seven, one of these days I'm going to stick a bell where you won't be able to get it off." He ignored the faint sound of a snicker coming from behind even as he leaned out to check on the progress of the Mandalorian he was targeting. "What can you do?"

"Hmm," Ash considered the question posed to her seriously, "I could take out Jango before he gets on that ship of his. I could even attempt to sabotage said ship, but I don't know if I can do enough damage to ground it in time, or if I would be able to get back without the water giving me away when I come back. We could also stick Cortana on it to control the ship's computer systems, but the Master Chief would be less than pleased with us for losing his AI support if the worst happens."

Jango Fett had finished with what he needed with the console and had started to help his cloned child in stocking supplies and their things in the ship, which meant the Jedi and Spartan had less time than Kenobi would have like to plan out how to stop them. "I would like to try and talk to him, but if he proves hostile, disable him, don't kill him because I need him for questioning, however you can."

"Understood."

With a nod more for himself than the Spartan waiting for him to move, Obi-Wan crossed the remaining distance to the end of the covered section of the space port, striking out into the rain drenched dark to close the distance between the bounty hunter and himself. Carefully coming closer, Boba spotted him before he had gotten as close as he would have liked and the youngster called an alarm to his father before the Jedi was ready.

"Dad! LOOK!"

Jango twisted around, twin blaster pistols gripped in his hands and fired at the Jedi stalking closer to him. Obi-Wan had grabbed hold of his light saber prior to striking out of the space port, and activated it to deflect the blaster bolts fired in his direction by the Mandalorian. Activating his jet pack, the older Fett attempted to escape the Jedi's reach even as Kenobi worked his way closer.

Boba frantically looked around for something so he could help his father, his eyes eventually landed on the controls for the ship's armament. He twisted around to reach for them and aim them at the Jetii fighting his dad, only to be lifted off the ground by someone's armored arm under his stomach. "Now, now, let's not be hasty." Whoever it was sounded female, and held him securely even when he tried to wiggle free. A tired sounding huff reached his ears as the person holding him shifted her grip. "Well, if you insist on being difficult, we can fix that easily enough."

Having worked himself close enough, deflecting blaster pistol bolts every step he took, Obi-Wan kicked the left handed blaster out of the elder Fett's grip, only for the Mandalorian to punch him on the jaw in retaliation with his now free hand. The force of the blow caused him to lose his grip on his light saber, which had been steadily growing slicker in the rain even with the energy blade evaporating all of the water that it came in contact with, and it skittered across the waterlogged landing pad. With a punch of his own to the helmet, he caused the Mandalorian to lose his grip on the other blaster pistol and dove for his deactivated light saber. Recovering in time to catch on to the Jedi's plan, Jango shot his automated lasso to catch Kenobi's hands before he reached the weapon and could rearm himself. Activating his jet pack again, the bounty hunter dragged the Jedi away from the weapon and towards the edge of the landing pad, intending to drop the robed man off the side of the floating city.

Concentrating on keeping himself steady in the water whipped wind that raked over the outer edges of the city, Jango never noticed the apparition outlined only by the rain that bounced off its form that appeared from the ramp of his own ship. Ash sprinted the distance between the combatants and the hold of the Mandalorian's ship easily enough. Then she dove for the line the bounty hunter was using to drag the Jedi along. Her sudden weight added to the line caused Fett to lose control and crash into the ground a split second before the cable snapped from the sudden tension between the Mandalorian's jet pack pulling and the drag caused by half a ton of Spartan and Jedi combined.

Scrambling to his feet Kenobi got all of a step to the fallen figure before 127's watery outline shot upright and bolted over to the prone bounty hunter before the elder Fett could get back to his own feet. Ash landed heavily on top of Jango, not at all concerned by any complications the sudden addition of her armored weight would cause the man beneath her. Before the bounty hunter could even jerk from the unexpected pressure of something unseen but heavy landing on him, a fist smashed into the faceplate of his helmet, cracking the visor and knocked him out.

Ash slowly got back to her feet again, letting Cortana power down her stealth system as she shook her right hand as it tingled. "Damn, I felt that! What's his armor made of?"

The Jedi Knight almost gapped at the ice blue Spartan he could now see before he remembered his dropped light saber. Retracing his unwilling path back to where he had spotted his deactivated hilt last, he called out over his shoulder, "You would have to ask him, but I believe Mandalorians have a special metal they make armor out of. Beskar, I believe they call it."

Slinging the unconscious form of Jango Fett across her shoulder with a grunt, in full armor the Mandalorian was heavier than she had thought; the Spartan female followed the Jedi's path to where he was standing. "Well, whatever it is, I want a piece. Is this the end of whatever it is you needed to do here?" She paused in her stroll to where Kenobi was and picked up the snapped length of cable.

"Yes. Masters Yoda and Windu want a word with mister Fett, and since he can no longer complain, I believe we are done here." Snatching up his light saber hilt, Obi-Wan attached it back to his belt underneath his robes and turned to watch the form of 127 draw closer. "Well, after you and your fellows are done finishing fleshing out our cover story."

"What about the kid?" When Kenobi blinked at her, the saboteur huffed as she shifted the armored Mandalorian over her shoulder. "Jango's kid. Boba? You know, the cloned child?"

"Oh," the Jedi turned to peer into the ship's hold, and caught sight of the child the Spartan was talking about. Sometime in the fight, 127 had gotten hold of the child and had tied him up using the rope he had been using to secure the crates and barrels to the deck. Two brown eyes glared at him from under an unruly mop of hair. "Oh dear, we should take him with us."

"You don't say." Ash gave another sigh and waved the Jedi Knight on with her free hand. "I'll secure them and keep the Kaminoians from questioning what happened. You go and put in an appearance around the others. We can't have your alibi tarnished by questionable disappearances now, can we? Remember to tell the others when I'm starting with my test."

Fred watched the third group of clone troopers he was testing qualify on the range. He had taken two attempts to zero in his sights on the blaster rifle he had been given, and to get used to the kick as the energy weapon fired, the rifle kicked like a mule, then went on to demonstrate the firing sequence to his first batch of troopers, hitting all of the targets in whichever method he had called out before hand. It was repetitive in the extreme, but reminded the Spartan of the days in his training that concentrated mainly on marksmanship and weapon drills.

By the time the second batch of troops took up their positions at the range to qualify with the rifles, Kal had accepted the bare truth of what the female verd had flatly told him. The akaatae he had helped train were good, the verd he was with admitted that easily enough, but none of them had been anywhere near good enough to challenge the 'second best marksman' these Spartans had.

Now, as the two of them watched the third group of ge'verde finish up and receive their ratings, Fred turned his head to regard the Mandalorian Cuy'val Dar sergeant standing next to him. "We'll do another two groups, I think. That would give us a pool of fifty for judging the average trooper you've got here."

Skirata gave the other man a wry grimace. "I can work with that." The two spent the rest of the time the third group used to clean and inspect their weapons in silence, and when the last trooper filed out to return to their sections for the day, the grizzly Mandalorian posed a question. "How long have you worked on your skills? You're more than just good with a blaster."

"Actually," one-zero-four frowned at the rifle he was still holding, then looked over to the range's doors where the fourth group was filing in, "this is the first time I've ever held or used a blaster. Used quite a few rifles, but this has been the only blaster I've ever touched." Fred clapped the surprised Kal on the shoulder before he started for the new group waiting for instruction and the Cuy'val Dar sergeant in black that was waiting for him to pass on how many more he wanted.

Trying to decide between being disgusted and envious at the speed and energy the other woman had, Rev watched the verd and ten of the clone troopers run the water washed obstacle course in the heavy rain. This was the female's sixth lap around, and each time she ran it alone she found a way to shave seconds off her previous time, but kept pace with the troopers running it with her.

Bralor sighed as she watched the timer she held lap the verd's previous time, when the clones were about at the mid way point of the course. If 087 hadn't told her she was looking for more than just time for completion, the Mandalorian would have been very worried about how the ge'verde she had helped train were measuring up.

The sound of a leather boot scraping across the ground had the woman twisting around, catching sight of the Jetii the three verde reported to. "Master... err... Kenobi?"

"That would be me." The Jedi Knight came to stand next to the Mandalorian woman to watch 087 pacing the clone troopers around the track. "How are they doing?"

"She keeps telling me they're doing fine, but watching this is almost depressing." Rev turned back to watch as the group reached the last quarter of the course. "Where did you find them?"

Obi-Wan gave a laugh. "Well, to be completely honest, they found me." Tucking his hands into his still wet robes, the Jedi smiled as the group hit the sprinting section of the track and started to pick up a good deal more speed. "I take it your impressed?"

Snorting, the Mandalorian stopped the timer when the last clone crossed the finish line. "There's a word for it."

Kelly bounced over to them, still humming with energy even after her latest lap around. "Well?" The clone troopers behind her were in various stages of cooling down, all of whom looked rather overworked at the moment.

"Five seconds slower than the last group you took around." Bralor eyed the brunette scout with a decent amount of skepticism. "How are you still going?"

087 gave them both a sly grin. "I'm built for this. Literally." Catching sight of the clones behind her getting back into their white armor, she had let each of the groups have the option of stripping out of it for the run, Kelly waved at them. "You're all dismissed back to where you're supposed to be. Results will be announced later." She sucked in a large breath as the next group filed in behind a black armored Cuy'val Dar sergeant. "Do you have a mess hall? We could announce how well they do during dinner time chow."

Rev blinked as the brunette started walking to the starting line again. "Yeah, most of the ge'verde eat at the same time unless they have an aka that's conducted in the ca."

"One of these days I'm going to get a translation for all the words you keep using, then I'll get some other language that you can't understand and talk to you using it." Kelly winked at her before cutting her eyes over to the Jedi standing next to her 'escort'. "Think you can tell the others, sir?"

"It would be my pleasure." The Spartan snickered at him as he bowed to her with a smile. Kenobi inclined his head to the Mandalorian next to him and left 087 to explaining what she was looking for to her fourth group of troops.

Before he got too far away, he heard the Cuy'val Dar sergeant laugh at the Spartan, "Looking forward to it, mir'sheb."

Flipping the latest clone trooper he was sparring with over one shoulder, John frowned as he thumped to the ground and tapped out of the spar as he gasped for breath from the impact with the mat. That was the second time that had happened, much to the Master Chief's annoyance. The clones were good; just not up for more than a few rounds him. With a sigh, he helped the trooper up and looked him over for any obvious injuries before Mij could reach them. Not seeing anything worse than a few new bruises, he clapped the clone on the back as they left the sparring ring for the group of battered clones waiting for them. "Not bad," he told the younger trooper, "not all that good, mind you, but not that horrible, either."

Gilamar snorted at him as he checked over the latest victim of the Master Chief, he had caught what the al'verde had told the clone. "You said that to your last opponent as well. At least three-three-eight-six actually managed a whole ten seconds longer than any of the others that got thrown to your tender mercy."

The trooper between them gave a snort of his own as he held still for the medical instructor's impromptu checkup. "You're just happy it was one of your baar'ure, and not one of the other ge'verde, that lasted as long as I did."

The Spartan had to admit the clone had a point. The head medical instructor of the Cuy'val Dar looked rather pleased with himself as he started rounding up the rest of the fourth group that had passed through the sparring room he was using to test the clone troopers. CC-3386 was one of his medics, and apparently not all that bad in a fight as well.

The sound of the door opening up caused the Master Chief to look up, and John gave the Jedi who entered a wry grin. "Having fun, Master Kenobi?"

"Between zero-eight-seven running her groups ragged, one-zero-four out shooting his and you beating the spines out of yours, I wonder how our last test is going?" Obi-Wan grinned at the suddenly wary look that crossed the face of the Cuy'val Darsergeant next to the Spartan. "Any guesses?"

Mij looked between them as the Master Chief's face smoothed into non-expression after his lips tried to twitch up. "There's another test? What else are you looking for?"

117 merely looked at him levelly before turning back to the Jedi, ignoring the suddenly intently listening clones slowly working themselves back into their armor. "I take it it's time for knowledge of that test to get out, sir?"

"Well, she's had almost three hours now to run around without tripping over any alarms, and it's the agreed upon time." Kenobi crossed his arms across his chest as he tried not to smile at the increase of attention coming from where the clones were standing.

"I suppose you're right, sir." John gave the Jedi Knight a nod, and then turned to the confused Mandalorian next to him. "There are four of us here for testing purposes. The last of my Spartans is a saboteur specialist. She's currently loose in your AO. This is your official warning; you have less than an hour to catch her by any means. When, or if, you catch her, she'll give you her roster number, and you have to report it to any one of the three you know the location of within the time limit to pass this last test." He smirked as the medic went pale under his tan and gave a sharp gesture to the clone troopers still in the room. They filed out quickly, and the rush of booted feet rang down the corridor even as their voices raised an alarm.

Walon Vau stormed into the room, looking between the three men in the room to see where the panic was originating from even as the last group of clone troops filed in behind him, trying vainly not to crane their helmeted heads to see what the fuss was about.

Rubbing the back of his head, Gilamar gave his fellow Cuy'val Dar sergeant a wry look as he tried to keep his own lips from twitching. "They have a saboteur here."

Forty-six minutes later found the three Spartans and one Jedi sitting in what amounted to the clone trooper's mess hall, comparing notes on what they had noticed during their now completed tests. Each Spartan admitted that the clone troopers were significantly more skilled than what they were used to working with, not up to their own standards, but definitely better than the average UNSC marine was. Fred and John were trying to decide if they were a match for the Helljumpers they had worked with.

Kelly was staring at the digital clock over the doors, running through isometric muscle drills to keep herself from bouncing in place. "They got less than fifteen minutes left."

"Maybe a single hour was a bit too harsh for these clones, Chief." 104 cast a sideways glance at the Spartan standing next to the Jedi Knight. "This is herwe're talking about. I think only one-four-four was good enough to play hide and seek with her back on Reach."

John shook his head at his fellow Spartans. "They've done fine so far; give them some credit, one-zero-four. They did well enough with us."

"Is she in armor, or did she decide to take it off?" Kenobi asked as he returned his hands to his sleeves.

"They didn't even notice she was here for the time she was running around in armor, so this hour was intended to be without." 087 shot the Jedi a grin from her position at the table the four were sitting around. "She had already taken our armor and secured it in the Pelican without being noticed, I think she was planning on visiting every lab in the city before this hour started, and at the moment I think her plan is to work her way through the parts of the city that the clones are trained in while they look for her."

Fred shot a look at the clock they were watching. "Twelve minutes left. Wonder if they are going to be able to do it?"

Clone troopers CC-2224 and CC-7567 had been tasked with searching and patrolling the barracks while the other battalions turned out in their areas of responsibility to find the rumored saboteur that was loose in the facilities of the city. The two clones had heard about the three verde the Jetii had brought with to evaluate the clone troopers, and 2224 even had been in one of the groups that went through the hand to hand combat testing with the al'verde that was referred to as the Master Chief. As the two checked through the empty buildings again, 2224 was filling in 7567 in on his experience in the sparring room.

"Everything I tried, he just shook off and kept coming. I almost convinced myself there was no way to take that verd down."

7567 gave his fellow clone trooper a wry grin as they let themselves into the barracks for the clone technicians. "Excuses, excuses." He ducked the half-hearted punch aimed in his direction as they started checking the bunks of their fellow clones. "I wonder if there really is a saboteur on the loose? And why only an hour?"

"Who knows? Maybe it's a test to see if we can check over every inch of the city before-." 2224 stiffened as a shadow slid across the other side of the room, "-the time is up." He got 7567's attention and pointed to the other end of the room and spoke lowly, "Prudii."

His fellow clone gave a sharp nod and motioned him to block the room's only exit as he calmly made his way to the other end of the room, continuing his checks of the empty bunks. "Well, we've got less time left than I'd like for this, I hope the others-" 7567 lunged for the flicker of the shadow 2224 had spotted when whoever it was tried to slide out of the way of his inspection, crashing into a strangely outfitted female and taking her to the floor.

The bark of laughter caught him off guard as he sat up to see who he'd caught clearly. "Okay, soldier. You caught me." Two strong hands peeled him off and shifted him to the side with effortless grace and he caught sight of the red headed female he had tackled. "Good thing too, considering the time limit is almost up."

2224 cautiously came closer to see what the other clone had caught. "Now what?"

"You're supposed to report in to your instructor with the roster number sierra-one-two-seven." The red head grinned at them as she sat up, wicked amusement in her gray eyes. "I'd suggest you do it now, you've got less than five minutes left to report me in."

7567 scrambled to his feet and made a dash to the comm panel on the barrack wall. 127 grinned at the retreating back of the clone, then turned her attention to the clone still standing before her. "I'd assume you need to pull guard on me until it's confirmed, then we go to where the Master Chief has set up with the others. Good work, by the way."

"Thanks, I think." 2224 inspected the female verd he and his fellow clone had cornered as he waited for 7567 to return.

Rev managed to rattle off 127's roster number to the Master Chief with two minutes to spare. "Sierra-one-two-seven is your ala verd; she got caught in the barracks during a routine patrol."

"That takes care of the last benchmark we have for you." John nodded to her when a relieved expression crossed the Mandalorian's face. "One-zero-four almost thought this last test would have been too hard for your troops."

The Cuy'val Dar sergeant blew out a sigh as she slumped into a nearby chair, next to Kelly. "Mar'e. I'm tempted to agree with him. Whose idea was it to include a saboteur of all things?"

087 grinned up at her. "It was a last minute change. We picked her up just before we met up with Master Kenobi, and figured a comprehensive test would benefit you all better than just a check for the usual competence."

Bralor grimaced back at her. "So, just a happy addition?"

"Considering one-two-seven is the only eternally peppy saboteur that I know, that's an understatement." Snickering at the incredulous look the Cuy'val Dar sergeant shot her; Kelly laced her fingers together and shot a grin to the Master Chief. "They passed, right?"

He gave a sharp nod in reply. "Yes."

It wasn't until the four Spartans and the Jedi were situating themselves in the Pelican, after the brief announcement held in the clone troopers' mess hall and all four of them had finished getting back into their armor, that Obi-Wan remembered the true reason behind his visit to Kamino. He looked around, but there was no place that the ice blue Spartan could have hidden two Mandalorians, even if one was still a child. "One-two-seven, where are the Fetts?"

The saboteur was idly inspecting the astromech's preparations for take-off as she responded absently. "In that ship, the Slave I with Cortana controlling the helm. I couldn't leave the ship on the landing pad without the Kaminoians becoming suspicious, so I bundled them both up in the cargo bay and hooked the Master Chief's AI into the ship's computer. Cortana also found a few things you may wish to see when we get back to the Valiant."

"Is there room in the landing bay for another ship?" Fred looked between his fellow Spartans in the hold, his visor glinting in the dim light. Kelly had gone to the cockpit to pilot the Pelican back to the frigate just outside of the planet's atmosphere, which left only 117 and 127 with himself and the Jedi.

"There is." John answered the question as he finished with tightening his restraints. "Between where Master Kenobi's star fighter was last parked and the start of where we have the three Longswords. They lost a Scorpion tank out of the bay not too long ago; it was returned for a refit just before the ship was deployed for Spartan pickup duty." He knocked on the cockpit's door to let 087 know that all passengers were secured.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at that bit of information. "You're not assigned to the ship?"

"We're normally assigned ground missions, and board ships only for travel between the odd space missions." Ash considered her past missions for a moment before continuing. "I usually get sent somewhere in a drop pod, and actual pickups are rather rare for me. I normally have to arrange my own transportation off whichever planet I get sent to."

"Sucks to be you." 104 grinned concealed behind his visor at the rude gesture shot at him from the saboteur. "My own experiences are about the same, except for the arrangements for leaving. I usually get picked up."

The Pelican rocked suddenly as the ship took off under Kelly's steady hands, and all four in the passenger compartment shifted themselves to brace against the ship's motion. The conversation dropped off into an easy silence as the Jedi considered the Spartans and what he had observed of their actions since landing.

They had been markedly absent around the ship for the passage to Kamino, but had loosened up slightly around him during the time they had been on the planet's surface. Some of their facial expressions were hard for him to catch; they either didn't believe in using more muscles than necessary or had been taught not to let their feelings be expressed visibly. They had conformed well to the rather unusual alteration of the expectations the Jedi had for his visit to the planet, working rapidly to plan a rather comprehensive test of the cloned troopers being trained and performing admirably in their adopted roles.

127's assistance with the fight he had with Jango and 087's teasing distraction of the Cuy'val Dar sergeants marked an intentional assistance with keeping the Jedi Knight's true intent on the planet hidden, and 117's and 104's brisk, business like approach kept the same instructors from suspecting any cover up by the female Spartans. Once they had reequipped their armor, the easy socializing that they had adopted out of the armor around the Cuy'val Dar sergeants had tapered off into the nearly stoic silence they had displayed before leaving the Valliant, with only a few more comments given to the Jedi's various questions than before.

In short, he knew they were competent, efficient, and able to conform in with whatever expectations were demanded from them even with little to no warning, but he'd learned almost nothing that had to do with them personally. They were a puzzle, and Obi-Wan was determined to find what he could to solve the questions he had.

Once Kelly had maneuvered the Pelican back into it's spot in the landing bay of the UNSC Valiant, and R-4 replaced the Jedi's star fighter in the spot she had moved it from, John led the five of them off and to where Cortana had situated the Slave I. Saluting the Chief Engineer, who had been called in simply to ensure that there had been enough room in the landing bay, 117 moved to the back of the strangely configured ship with 127.

"I tied them both up, after I removed Jango's armor." The saboteur informed the Master Chief as the ramp opened up under Cortana's prompting.

'The older Fett is still unconscious, Ash. I think you hit him too hard.' The AI's voice sounded amused, even over the Spartan's build in comms. She had access to the ship's broadcasting equipment from where 127 had plugged her in, and she was going through the ship's logs as she waited for the Master Chief to retrieve her.

Entering the ship's cargo hold, John snorted at the sight of the younger Fett glaring at them from where 127 had bundled him up. "You can take the kid, I'll get Jango."

"Where are we putting them?" Ash called at his retreating back as she pulled a combat knife from behind her shin armor and cut the bindings on the child, grabbing a hold of him before he could bolt and pinning him against her chest plates.

"There should be some unoccupied quarters that are in good repair, given how many personnel we lost recently. We'll stick them in there until Master Kenobi can take them to his Temple." With Cortana's AI cube in hand, 117 strode back into the cargo hold as he slotted the cube back into the slot at the back of his neck. He paused only long enough to ensure Cortana was back where she preferred to be before grabbing the elder Fett's unarmored form and slinging him across his shoulder much like the saboteur had done to get him in the ship.

Kelly had heard the Master Chief's decision and had left the bay to ensure there was a room for the Mandalorian and his kid, which just left Obi-Wan, Fred, and Grall to see the two newest passengers on the Valiant. The Chief Engineer gave the two a quick look over before distracting himself with the odd ship the AI had brought in, not all too concerned with them and more interested in the differences between the ship he worked on and the new one in the bay. Fred simply stood at attention, waiting for either more orders or a dismissal.

Kenobi tucked his hands into his sleeves as he watched the two Spartans leave the Slave I. "One-two-seven, you said Cortana had some information for me? I would like to see it before sending another message to the Jedi Masters."

"There's a meeting room on the third deck, one-zero-four can take you there." John motioned to his fellow Spartan, who saluted and gestured for the Jedi Knight to follow him. "We'll be there once we've secured your 'guests'."

With Ash standing guard over the two Mandalorians, Kelly and Grall performing post-flight checks on the Pelican, John informed Fred that he would be relieving 127 of her guard duty and sent the Spartan off for his down time before his guard shift in six hours as he entered the meeting room Obi-Wan was waiting for Cortana's report in, 104 having station himself outside of the room to wait the Master Chief's return.

Captain Sully had ordered the UNSC Valliant's helmsman to get the ship outside of the star system's gravity well once all passengers were back aboard, and the ship was now moving steadily on her way out of the system. The few remaining engineers had concentrated their repairs to the ship's drives while she was parked above Kamino's atmosphere, and the ship was moving faster than she had on her way into the system. Once the Valiant reached the outer edges of the star's gravity well, Lieutenant Wills would have to know where to steer the ship, but Cortana was sure that some of the information she had uncovered would change the Jedi Knight's travel plans slightly.

117 stepped into the room and gave the amused Jedi a salute as he pulled Cortana's cube from his neck and slotted her into the meeting room's holographic display console. "Master Kenobi."

"Master Chief." When Cortana's glowing blue avatar appeared, Obi-Wan inclined his head to her as well. "Cortana."

The AI flashed him a smile. "Master Jedi." Her grin grew as the robed man laughed, then she grew serious and folded her arms behind her transparent form. "While I was connected to the Slave I's navigational computer for transporting the Fetts here, I came across some interesting information you might be interested in. The ship's last five destinations, marked in the ship's automated recording log, included the planet Corruscant. However, the next destination logged into the auto pilot had the coordinates for a planet called Geonosis. Cross referencing those coordinates with previous entries of other destinations, I had concluded that the Slave I had traveled to Geonosis just before it made its way to Corruscant, and after a week stay there it returned to the same planet before journeying to Kamino."

Kenobi crossed his arms in front of him as he meditated on Cortana's information. Taken with what he knew of the situation and timing around the assassination attempts against Senator Amidala, it was conceivable that whoever had ordered the assassination might still be on the planet, or at least the Jedi might be able to figure out who had set the assassins after the Senator in the first place if the party responsible was no longer there. "Did you get the exact coordinates for where the ship had been on Geonosis, and any transmissions to and from the planet?"

"The coordinates correspond with the location of Geonosis' planetary capital, and there are a few transmissions to and from the planet's traffic control towers." The AI responded promptly, having expected the inquiry and had displayed the relevant information on the screens easily viewed from the Jedi's position. "We need to pass that system anyways, on our way to the Corellian Run trade route, the path that would take us to Corruscant." She pulled up the galaxy map she had copied for the Valiant's helmsman and highlighted the path that had been calculated for the slipspace jumps needed to deliver the Jedi Knight and the two Mandalorians to the Jedi Temple as per Kenobi's orders. "A detour would take less than a day, depending on the situation on the planet."

"It would be advisable to investigate the planet before we leave that part of the galaxy, seeing as it will take five days in slipspace to get you to Corruscant, and however long it would take you to return may allow the people you are looking for time to cover their tracks if they get suspicious of Fett's absence." 117 offered, thinking through what would be required for another planetary investigation. "If you so choose, two of us could accompany you to this planet, with two left behind to continue guarding your unwilling guests."

Obi-Wan flushed at the mild dig, wondering what the Spartans thought of his actions, ordered by the Jedi Council or not it was still a little out of the normal range of duties a Jedi Knight got. They had taken the apprehension of the two Fetts in stride, given that Kenobi was looking for assassins they probably didn't think that taking a bounty hunter into custody for questioning was too far out of the question. The comment also got the Jedi to thinking what the normal duties of a Spartan consisted of, if they were offering to continue assisting him in his investigation. Well aware of the possible limitation of this aspect of inquiry, Kenobi finally nodded in acceptance of Cortana's and the Master Chief's proposed alteration to the itinerary of the Valiant. "That would be appreciated, if you don't mind sparing me one-two-seven for sure."

"One-two-seven? Why her?" The helmet 117 wore concealed his raised eyebrow, but the mild confusion coloring his voice got through his armor's speakers well enough.

"I would assume she can get around any security system that may be in place, and report back any relevant findings without being spotted by any native or not inhabitant of Geonosis." The Jedi gave the two a smile as Cortana smirked and John nodded at his reasoning. "This way, I may not have to risk the investigation with my own attempt at subterfuge. I've been told I'm not very good."

The AI laughed at the rueful tone Obi-Wan used. "Then I'll inform the Captain we have another stop on our way."

Chapter Text

Ash dumped the Mandalorian's armor off in a spare weapons locker in her claimed room and returning to where she had left her fellow female Spartan, throwing a grin over to Kelly, who was inventorying everything they took off Jango Fett to give back eventually or turn over to whoever it was Obi-Wan reported to, once she was in range. "I still think he's cute."

Her fellow Spartan rolled her eyes at the statement, marking off the last piece of armor and various weapons they had found so far. "I heard, one-two-seven. In detail, from Cortana. And?"

"I don't know, I suppose that was it." Ash shrugged, double checking that the two of them had finished tallying everything the pair of Mandalorians had other than clothes. Jango had a lot of miscellaneous items stashed all over his armor, something the Spartan saboteur could appreciate for the inventiveness, even if it did make for a longer process to inventory his junk than it needed to be. "You're relieving me from guard duty, right?"

"In two hours' time." Kelly gave her fellow Spartan a short wave as she pinned the data pad she had worked on under her arm to give to the Jedi Knight on board. "Have fun staring at a wall."

"Oh, so cruel. So cruel I think I may even pout about the unfairness of it all." Ash even sniffed audibly a few times for effect, making the scout shake her head in exasperation and leave the stretch of hallway they had used for laying out the Mandalorian's armor.

Once the other Spartan had left, there really wasn't anything for the saboteur to do but stare at walls for the rest of her guard shift. Both Jango and Bobba Fett were locked in the room behind her, and the Spartans had picked an unoccupied section of the UNSC frigate to stick the two in. She had already searched the room for anything she could have used to escape, and she and Fred had welded up the vents and control panels while Kelly all but physically sat on Bobba near his father to keep him from running.

The Master Chief and Cortana were on the bridge with the Valiant's captain and the Jedi Knight, Fred was helping to comb the ship with the off-duty engineers for any other survivors from the black hole aided slipspace jump, and Kelly was on her way to the bridge with the results of their work.

She really didn't mind having nothing but maintenance of her own armor and weapons to do, stars knew they needed it with the amount of trouble she normally got into on her own, but even checking her complicated armor for any damage or malfunctions couldn't keep all of her attention at once, and Ash hated to be idle even for a few minutes without a good reason for it.

Checking her helmet for any updates from the other Spartans, she noted that Cortana had included a vocabulary list for Mando'a, and mentally grinned to herself gleefully. Languages were always fun to play with, and she had overheard Kelly's quip to her Cuy'val Dar liaison on Kamino.

Annoying was her middle name, as far as she was concerned, and if speaking the language could annoy a Spartan, she was sure it would annoy some less stoic creature, like say a normal human, perhaps.

The Valiant slid out of slipspace in the Arkanis sector, carefully navigating through the planetary systems that also surrounded Geonosis' star on its way to the arid planet.

Obi-Wan spent the time explaining everything he knew of the planet and its inhabitants to the Master Chief and Cortana as they waited to get in range to board a Pelican and leave for the planet's surface. "Geonosisan are an insectoid race, renowned for both their technical prowess as for their ruthlessness. In most corners of the galaxy they're considered barbaric, their favored form of entertainment are brutal gladiator games where the victims are thrown to wild predators. Their home planet reflects their personalities; it's a harsh, nearly barren world with high radiation and a slightly lighter gravity than what your ship maintains."

"And the cities?" Questioned the larger Spartan, turning from Wills view screen of spatial obstacles he had to pilot the ship around as they closed in on the planet that looked like it had Saturn like rings around it.

"Hive like. The most important structures are the farthest underground, and everything is built to last."

Cortana activated the ship's shields for stealth reason and gave them her attention then, looking to where the Jedi Knight was standing with her Spartan. "Will one-two-seven be able to hack any hive layouts while down there, or will she need me?"

"The Geonosisans have their own writing systems, and unless one-two-seven knows it, she may require some help."

"Uh… Obi-Wan? I have a number of ships on screen... a lot of them." Staffers called them over to her position, not even flinching when the Jedi leaned over her shoulder to see what she called his attention to. "I can't identify any of them, so I hope you know what they are."

Kenobi spoke after spending a few minutes figuring out what he was looking at on the unfamiliar display. "That is an unusual concentration of Confederate ships. Wills, I would avoid them if I were you."

The pilot nodded to confirm he heard the advice even as he slightly altered the Valiant's trajectory. "Yes sir."

"Confederate?" Both Cortana and Sully demanded of him.

"The Confederation of Independent Systems. The members of which are called the Separatists, made up of large corporations and some planetary and sectoral governments that have declared their intentions to leave the Galactic Republic." Obi-Wan turned back to the view screens that were still displaying the collection of ships in Geonosis' orbit. "They claim that both the Republic and the Senate have become too corrupt to save, the heavy taxes to the Outer Rim territories too steep, and tensions between the Republic I serve and these Separatists are rather tense at the moment. I would rather not give them cause to start a war."

The Captain grimaced at the news, sinking back in his chair with a sour look to approximately where the ships were in relation to the readout he had on the arm of his chair. "Just lovely."

"With any luck, this will only be a simple scouting mission."

"Spartans make their own luck." John looked at his AI, who nodded to let him know she had passed the Jedi's information on to Ash. "Wills, how long until we can drop a Pelican?"

"Half an hour at the earliest, Master Chief."

"Captain, any other orders for us?"

Sully awarded him a dry look for the courtesy. "Don't annoy the people with the rather large collection of armament out there, please. And remember to play nice with the others, or don't play at all."

Kenobi was close enough to hear the Master Chief's soft snort as the Spartan took Cortana's cube out of the system she had occupied since they went to the bridge to await their arrival to Geonosis. Suppressing a grin of his own, the Jedi Knight followed the larger armored soldier out of the bridge and down to the hanger.

127 trotted up to them in her ice blue armor once they reached the cavernous space in the lower belly of the ship, with her helmet in one hand, her rifle in the other, and a wide, for a Spartan, grin on her face that even the Jedi could see. "Ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amur."

"Ori'jate. Su cuy'gar, solus-t'ad-e'tad." Obi-Wan spoke back to her as he nodded to the saboteur when she reached the two males standing next to the Pelican they were going to use. "How much of that language can you now speak?"

"Mhi hibirar iviin'yc. Mando'a jate bah kar'taylir be." She switched back to Galactic Standard, not having much more vocabulary in that language yet other than some more common phrases and words. "Besides, I can probably annoy the hell out of someone with it, and that's good enough to keep me interested in it."

The Master Chief shook his helm over her antics and motioned for her to take the back seat as he piloted the Pelican, even as Obi-Wan smiled at the saboteur as they picked out seats in the back of the drop ship. "That should have been Mando'a jate bah cuyir kar'tayl, and I would have to agree."

"What's the difference?"

"Kar'tayl means to know, kar'taylir means to be aware, to hold in your heart. It's a more formal, or personal, verb use, although I don't think a Mandalorian would argue with the usage you have." Kenobi, now used to the smaller ship's movements, braced himself, if not as expertly as the Spartan across from him then well enough not to be buffeted roughly by the ship's movement out of the frigate's hanger and artificial gravity. "Try this one, mishuk gotal'u meshuroke, pako kyore."

Ash repeated it back flawlessly, inquiring what the phrase meant when she was done, as the words were well beyond her so far minor translation skills.

"Pressure makes gems, ease makes decay. It's a Mandalorian saying for favoring being thorough over being fast."

"What about being both?"

They traded a few more words and sayings as the Pelican made its way to the surface, the ice blue Spartan picking it up fast enough that the Jedi in the hold was impressed with the leaps and bounds the woman made in the militaristic type language. By the time the drop ship reached the ground, with a sharper than before bump, Ash was picking up speed in her replies to the questions Kenobi asked of her.

The Master Chief walked back into the hold in the middle of an exchange, mildly amused when the saboteur managed to trip the Jedi up on his use of a Mandalorian curse phrase in the stead of a similar sounding beginning of another common saying. "One-two-seven, if you're done?"

The other Spartan slapped on her helmet, checking first to ensure it was on correctly, grabbed her rifle, then saluted the larger Spartan. "Elek, alor. Ke'gycese?"

Blinking, as Cortana was snickering in the back of his helmet over the saboteur's continued use of the language even as she gave the translation, John gave her a brief frown, and the female Spartan repeated what she had said in Galactic Basic.

"Yes, Master Chief. Orders?"

"Follow the Jedi Knight around, and keep him out of trouble." 117 also reached to the back of his neck to remove Cortana's AI cube from his armor and handed it over. "Conduct whatever investigations he deems required, and keep yourself and him out of sight. We don't want to annoy the bigger ships up there. Suvarir?"

Ash drew two fingers down her face plate in a Spartan's 'smile' for a response and saluted him again with the same hand, then turned to the Jedi watching the two of them. "Are you ready, sir?"

Obi-Wan checked his own equipment before nodding at her and pulling his outer robe's hood up to shield his head from the harsh sunlight and radiation that baked the planet outside of the ship's bay. "Does Cortana have the location we need to go to?"

"Yep, she has the directions we need, and I even have a compass built in, but it'll be a few hours before we get anywhere." Ash spoke to him as she toggled the rear hatch to open so they could get out. Looking around once in the open, she was amused to note that John had a bit of a rough time finding a relativity flat spot to park the Pelican, as they were at the foot of a mountain range near Geonosis' capital, the Stalgasin hive, that was noted in Jango's ship's navigational systems.

Since they had a bit of trekking through rough terrain to go before they would reach the city that looked like a large termite mound the AI had noted was their destination, the ice blue Spartan remained visible, presenting a bigger target on the planet of mostly orange and red terrain than her brown robed Jedi companion. Her caution was rewarded when one of the native species, or something that had been imported and let loose to become wild, tried rushing her when the two of them were on a narrow ledge just outside of visual range of the city.

The scaled, four legged beast lunged at her neck, correctly assuming in its simple but cunning predator's mind that it had to be the least armored part of her it could reach. But the Spartan snapped out the butt stock of her rifle and impacted the creature on the right most forward shoulder, knocking it off course and careening over the ledge it had intended to throw her off of.

It screeched as it tumbled over the side of the cliff the two humans were on and started bouncing down the canyon side with a sickening crack, causing the Jedi to look over as well to see if the creature would survive its foolhardy attack on his Spartan companion. "Well, a wild Massiff. Interesting."

"It's dead now, so it's just a bit less interesting than it was before." Ash looked over her armor for any scratches caused by the massive lizard's claws before continuing pass Kenobi. "Come on, I think I see our target."

What 127 had spotted was the spires that funneled the smoke and smog out of the planet's capital hive city, spewing out more chemicals and waste into the already hazy and murky skies. The Jedi Knight took the opportunity to rest then, since it seemed the ice blue Spartan he was with had the same store of energy that let 087 run circles around her Clone Troopers back on Kamino. Taking a pair of high powered binoculars from his belt, he trained them on the city simply to see if he could pick out a less than obvious way into the busy hive.

As he was looking, a light blue finger directed his attention to the flat space just before the city. "What are those?"

Obi-Wan focused where she was pointing, finding rows of gleaming metal spheres sitting just outside the main towers of the hive city above the tip of her armored finger. "Oh, dear. They're starship cores. But why-"

Sudden activity from the planet's surface near the city's curving walls attracted his attention closer, and as sections of the ground disappeared only to be replaced by countless battalions of battle droids, the Jedi sounded out a Mando'a curse that had Cortana cackling in the back of Ash's mind. "They're mobilizing an army."

127 looked from the visage of the now marching lines of droids to the Jedi besides her. "Your Separatists are building a droid army, and somehow your Republic has a clone army in its possession." Ash shook her helmeted head as she started looking for the best path down the rocky side of the mountain they were on. "Suspicious much? I'm thinking someone's playing a game of chess with your Republic and these Separatists."

Obi-Wan stroked his short beard with one hand and returned his binoculars to his belt with the other. "You know, I think I have to agree with you." Although he had no idea what chess was, he was certain from the way the term had been used, that it was a type of strategy game.

Kelly looked up from the magazines she was reloading with ammo when a few muffled sounds reached her from her spot sitting in front of the door they had stuck the two Fetts. She cast a glance backwards at the gray painted automatic door her back was up against, and then over to the other Spartan who was servicing his rifle across from her since it was only a few more minutes before he relived her from guard duty. "Jango's awake."

Fred raised an eyebrow at her, and she gave him a slight grin.

"I can hear him cursing. Well, it sounds like cursing. It certainly has enough venom to it."

104 snorted and went back to cleaning out the carbon from his rifle's barrel. After a few more moments of listening in to what sounded like that thrice blasted Mando'a the Mandalorians liked to use to confuse the hell out of her, 087 went back to what she was doing as well, figuring that she would have to learn that language simply in self-defense.

Ash carefully led Obi-Wan through the bowls of the droid factory, stopping every now and again so Cortana could hack the specs of the droids out of the computers that automated the whole process. With the Jedi Knight watching the droid production and the Spartan keeping an eye on everything else, it didn't surprise Kenobi when the ice blue armored figure suddenly disappeared out of sight and he felt invisible metal hands guide him out of sight behind an outcropping of raw rock.

A few seconds later, he also could hear why it was 127 hid them so quickly.

"Now, we must persuade the Commerce Guild and the Corporate Alliance to sign the treaty." Obi-Wan stiffened as he recognized the sound of the voice as that of the ex-Jedi who was known as Count Dooku.

"And what about the Senator from Naboo? Is she dead yet?" That one he knew rather well, and intimately. It seemed as though the Viceroy of the Trade Federation, a Neimoidian named Nute Gunray, could not keep out of trouble. "I'm not signing your treaty until I have her head on my desk."

"I am a man of my word, Viceroy." Count Dooku stated as he lead the party of representatives up a staircase carved from the rocks.

"Now what? Do we follow, or do you want me to gather what I can?"

"We follow. That human male was once a Jedi like myself, and I will not ask you to face him alone if he discovers you spying." Kenobi returned as he carefully made his way to the same staircase the ex-Jedi had disappeared up.

With 127's help, she was able to keep the small group of humanoid creatures farther in her sights than Obi-Wan could, he could follow close enough not to risk being seen and still keep within hearing distance of Dooku's voice. She eventually found them a dark niche, somewhere the Jedi could hide and still clearly hear what was going on even without Cortana recording the entire conversation for review later.

"Now is the time, my friends. This is the moment when you have to decide between the Republic or the Confederacy of Independent Systems. A thousand more systems will rally to our cause with your support, gentlemen. And let me remind you of our absolute commitment to capitalism…" The human male wordlessly invited his guests to sit at a conference table, taking a seat of his own at the round, equally spaced, slab of rock carved from the same material as the floor and inlayed with white stone imported off planet. "… Of the lower taxes, the reduced tariffs, and the eventual abolition of all trade barriers. Signing this treaty will bring profits beyond your wildest imagination. What we are proposing is completely free trade." The salt and pepper haired ex-Jedi leaned forward, and Ash finally got a good look at his aged lined face. "Our friends in the Trade Federations have pledged their support. When their battle droids are combined with yours, we shall have an army greater than anything in the galaxy. The Republic will be overwhelmed."

The bat like, furred creature spoke up next, sitting next to a purple robed, taupe skinned creature like the one that had been talking to the human earlier, and the Spartan made sure Cortana got pictures of everyone, and everything, there for the Jedi to identify later. "The Commerce Guilds do not at this time wish to become openly involved. But we shall support you in secret – and look forward to doing business with you."

The saboteur quietly snorted and spoke softly so only Kenobi and Cortana could hear her. "Hut'uunla shabuir."

Some green skinned creature spoke up next, and Ash wondered if he and the similar but tan skinned creature behind it were part plant, for the twisted horns growing out of their heads that matched their skin color. "I am authorized by the Corporate Alliance to sign the treaty."

Count Dooku leaned back in his chair. "We are most grateful for your cooperation."

Obi-Wan laid a hand on the blurry mess that he assumed was the Spartan saboteur he had infiltrated the factory part of the hive city with, leaning in once he contacted the no longer sun warmed metal of her armor to speak low enough so he wouldn't be overheard. "I've seen enough to know… this is bad news. I need to report this to the Jedi Council."

A cool metal hand patted his, and the Spartan started pulling away from the group of creatures, taking him along as she guided him out of the dim recess in the rock back to the factory that they had explored most of. The Jedi kept hold of her, because she would freeze up when a patrolling droid came close enough for either her or Cortana to pick up on whatever sensors the armor she was wearing had, and guide them both out of the automation's patrol pattern.

Three times he nearly got them all caught before they had escaped the factory part of the hive, once 127 had to physically keep him from tripping a security sensor on the vents they used to get in, and once the two of them had gotten far enough from the city so Kenobi didn't feel as if he had to remain silent so their escape would not be noticed, he wryly grinned over to his now visible and armored companion. "I told your Master Chief that my sneaking skills probably weren't up to the challenge."

"K'uur. Mhi nu'utrel'a su."

The Jedi blinked, having gotten used to the Spartan using Galactic Basic for the mission rather than the sharp sounding Mando'a. He mentally translated that comment after his initial moment of surprise. "Megin bic?"

Ash had to get Cortana to give her the word for what was following them, as she hadn't thought of looking it up before their mission. "Beskar'ade bal Geonosisans. The Master Chief has been alerted, he'll snipe them before we reach the Pelican."

"That will alert whoever is watching the feeds that we are not simply tourists to this planet." That actually got the Spartan to chance a glance back at him, and the Jedi shrugged his robed shoulders. "There are rather well known gladiator arenas in the hive cities. They are the Geonosisans' primary form of entertainment."

"Talyc."

"Very."

"So what do you want us to do about it?"

"Nothing for now. We'll see if they attack us first."

Since the Jedi Knight wanted to report what he and 127 had found to the Jedi Council before they left the planet, Cortana had to figure out a way to use the rather limited, to Obi-Wan's point of view, communications the Pelican had to contact someone the Jedi trusted. Kenobi gave the AI his young apprentice's tracking signal, hoping that Naboo wouldn't be too far out of the drop ship's range.

As it turned out, the AI didn't have to see if the Pelican's communications array, or the Valiant's array for that matter, would reach the Chommel Sector. Anakin's signal was just a star system away from where they were.

The Jedi seated himself in the co-pilot's chair with his hands tucked into his brown over robe. "That's Anakin's tracking signal alright. But it's coming from Tatooine. What in the blazes is he doing there? I told him to stay on Naboo."

Neither the Spartans nor Cortana answered him, which only made the auburn haired man sigh.

"All right, are we set? We haven't got much time."

Cortana inclined her glowing blue head to him in acknowledgement. "I am ready when you are, Master Kenobi."

Obi-Wan straightened up and looked straight where 127 had indicated there was a camera for recording. "Anakin? Anakin, do you copy? This is Obi-Wan Kenobi."

As intent on getting a hold of his apprentice as he was, he missed the saboteur checking one of the other display screens and slip out the back of the cockpit. He might have missed the movement, but the Master Chief in the pilot's chair next to him didn't miss the female Spartan's movement nor the slight shake of her head to indicate trouble, and the larger male Spartan ensured his rifle was nearby.

An astromech's identifying series of sounds coming through the cockpit's speakers alerted Kenobi that R2-D2 was on the other end of the connection, and changed his form of address to the droid. "Record this message and take it to your mistress Padme… and the Jedi Skywalker…"

R2-D2 first ensured that the caller was indeed the Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi by using a voice analysis program installed to help him screen callers to Senator Padme, giving the open comm line an affirmative tweet once he was sure that the Jedi was who he claimed to be.

"Anakin, I don't have access to my long-range transmitter at the moment, so I need you to retransmit this message to Coruscant, and return there as fast as you can."

Ash scowled safely behind her helmet's visor at what had arrayed itself outside of the Pelican. Two of what the Jedi Knight had named for her droidekas and a Geonosisan from the warrior caste were watching the drop ship closely. Also, from what her armor's Covert Operations programs could figure out from the transmissions being sent from the three, someone, or something, was trying to hack Cortana's opened comm line.

She mentally wished whoever it was luck, as she didn't really think the AI could be hacked even if she was unaware of any attempts, and nonverbally reported back to the Master Chief by flicking her red warning lights three times indicating that there were three hostiles outside of the ship so her transmission wouldn't be intercepted by whoever was hacking. She got a flick of the amber acknowledgment light back, telling her to wait.

Doing as ordered, as she was sure if she tried to take them all on in a straight up fight something critical might become damaged, she instead examined the droidekas and how they moved for any weaknesses. They stood on a tripod configuration, and seemed to move in a turret like way when standing on all three spike like 'feet'. She could also damn near swear they were looking for her.

They kept swinging their turrets around, giving her a good idea of how they moved and the limitations of it, almost like they were searching for something that the Geonosisan with them didn't care about.

She slowly moved until she had a hand in the air, and jerked back down it when the rounded head of the droideka was swinging past her position. It snapped it's sensor like protrusions onto the spot to scan the spot her hand had been closely. Alarmed, she opened a comm line to the Master Chief. "Sir? I think these things might be able to see me if I move with any amount of speed."

Cortana, who overheard on John's end of the link, searched through her recently acquired databank of droid information. "Droidekas, they don't see with photoreceptors, that type uses a radiation sensor for sight. I theorize that one-two-seven's energy signature isn't as well concealed here as in our home galaxy, Master Chief."

Flicking three red lights to the saboteur to make her fall back and hide, the large Spartan turned to the Jedi Knight, who had only recently noticed the female wasn't with them still. "We have a welcoming committee."

"I see that." Obi-Wan stroked his just recently graying beard with one hand; inspecting the view the AI was supplying the both of them from the Pelican's external cameras. "I suppose the only proper thing to do is go out and greet them. I would suggest you hide your armor, no telling where it might end up if you wore it and it was stripped from you."

The Master Chief snorted dryly to the comment. "I'd like to see them try. Cortana, mind the ship."

"If I may, sir. I have a better idea." The lines of code that made up the AI's avatar sped up momentarily. "Call one-two-seven back here."

Ash moved as slowly as she could, circling around the droidekas with both Cortana's AI cube and the Pelican's AI interface in her hands. The Geonosisan warrior was still busy with the dummy transmission Cortana had set up before being removed from the drop ship's computers, and didn't even look up to see what the battle droids he was with were looking at.

Since the saboteur was moving slowly, the AI had concluded that the radiation sensors on the droids though her dissipated energy signal was simply a moving piece of irradiated rock, and as such the female Spartan would be the only one to get close enough for attaching the Pelican's cannibalized AI interface, and by default Cortana's cube, so the AI could hack the droidekas directly and have them report what she wanted them to if they did report to something instead of being independent like the Jedi Knight thought they might be.

Cortana did not like the idea of the process of 'slaving' a series of droids to a controlling central computer, but had to admit that it had both its own strengths and weaknesses to it. Obi-Wan was relatively sure that the heavy battle droids were not slaved but operating independently, and the AI had to base her plan off the Jedi Knight's information since she was not familiar with droids or their uses.

Getting as low to the ground as she could, Ash carefully, and slowly, moved the connections in place where Cortana had shown her on several diagrams before the two of them left the Pelican to implement her plan and held her breath.

The other droideka suddenly spun to its now hacked fellow and shot its computing core out, missing clipping the Spartan and the AI equipment she held by a very small margin.

Blowing out a relieved sigh, that was closer than she had ever wanted to get to being shot by something that powerful, the saboteur carefully backed up with Cortana's equipment in hand even as the Geonosisan warrior screeched at the supposedly 'malfunctioning' battle droid that had just taken out the other.

As the insect like creature inspected the ruined droid to see if it was salvageable, Ash crept over to the only remaining droideka and hoped this one didn't have a self-destruct protocol for being hacked. Even more carefully than she had the first time, she repeated the same connections on this one to let Cortana hack it.

The droid remained as it was, and the AI transmitted back to both 127 and 117. 'I have it. Tell the Jedi he was right, John, it is operating independently.'

Ash got up and stretched out her legs, now that she didn't have to move slowly to avoid the droid's sensors.

"Take out the Geonosisan, and we'll see what happens then, Cortana."

Heeding the Master Chief's order, the droideka turned it's turret like body to face the sentient insect and shot the warrior through the head, causing a splatter of gore to paint the rocks and destroyed droid behind the Geonosisan.

It was a few minutes later when the droid Cortana had hijacked was given new orders. 'This thing is being told to return, John. I think the controllers, or handlers in this case, think this unit is malfunctioning.'

The larger Spartan stepped out of the hold to look at both the AI hacked droid and his saboteur sitting behind it. "Then let's get the hell out of here. We still have to see what Obi-Wan's report has generated."

Having gotten the retransmitted message from Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi from Jedi Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi Master Mace Windu and Yoda took the information to Chancellor Palpatine's office, where a number of other Republic Senators of the Loyalist Committee had gathered to discuss the latest session of the Galactic Senate. Bail Prestor Organa, the male human Senator from the Alderaan Sector, Ask Moe, the Malastare Gran male who represented the Gran Protectorate, Mas Amedda, the Chagrian male who was the Vice Chancellor of the Senate, as well as the Junior Representative of the Gungans, Jar Jar Binks, standing in for Senator Padme.

The various members of the Senate were rather disgusted and shocked to learn of the information the Jedi Knight had reported.

"The Commerce Guilds are preparing for war…" The Alderaan Senator stated as he turned to the Chancellor. "There can be no doubt of that."

The elder human remained stoic in the face of the information. "Count Dooku must have made a treaty with them." He already knew his apprentice had intended just that, but the Sith Lord was a little alarmed that the Jedi had found out so fast.

"We must stop them before they are ready."

"Excueeze me, yousa Honorable Supreme Chancellor, sir." Jar Jar interrupted Organa before the human could start another round of discussion. "Maybe deessen Jedi stoppen the Rebel Army."

Palpatine turned to the short, green Jedi Master standing in his office, thinking he already knew the answer to the question. "Master Yoda, how many Jedi are available to go to Geonosis?"

"Throughout the galaxy, thousands of Jedi there are. To send on a special mission, only two hundred are available."

The Alderaan Senator turned to the Jedi. "With all respect to the Jedi Order, that doesn't sound like enough."

"Through negotiation the Jedi maintain peace. To start war, we do not intend." Yoda told him, then turned to the Chancellor. "Others, there may be."

Palpatine felt his eyes nearly widen at the news, only keeping his calm by sheer force of will and years of training as a politician. As far as he knew, there were no other military units or assets far enough in the Outer Rim Territories to threaten Geonosis, he had made sure of that personally before letting Count Dooku start acquiring signatures to his treaty. "Would you trust them with something so important?"

"Carried out two missions for Obi-Wan already, they have. Trust in them, the Jedi Knight does, so do we." The stout little Jedi Master stated firmly, clawed hands gripping his staff. "An excellent judge of character, Kenobi is."

Moe, the three stalk-eyed Gran, turned from the view outside of the Chancellor's office. "And what do we do if they fail?"

The younger human in the room turned to his fellow Senator. "What else would you suggest?"

"That clone army the Jedi Knight found on Kamino. We need them here, in case this factory on Geonosis isn't the only one the Separatists have."

Organa shook his head at the Gran. "The Senate will never approve the use of the clones before the Separatists can attack."

"See if other options work first, let us." Yoda interjected before anything hasty was said. He could literally feel the near panic in the room from the Senators through his connection with the Force, and sought for a way to defuse it before things could get out of hand. "Then for an army, match an army."

Palpatine placed his steepled fingers before his lips, wracking his considerable knowledge of the more militaristic forces in the galaxy for anything that the Jedi Knight Kenobi could have found on his way to Kamino. He was drawing a blank, though, and that alarmed the Sith Lord more than the idea that there was something in place to threaten Darth Tyranus and his droid army. "We will trust in the Jedi Order." For now, he tacked on in his mind, intending to send a transmission to his apprentice in order to warn him of the impending attack once the other Senators and the Jedi Masters left his office.

On the trip back up to the Valiant, Cortana, with Ash as her hands, disabled the droideka's tracking chip, wiped the programming out of its processors after making a copy for the AI to study more in depth later, and started reprogramming the droid to only obey either the Spartans or the crew members of the frigate.

"You know," mused the blue glowing avatar who had been replaced in the newly reattached AI interface, "I could probably control multiple droids if need be. It was surprisingly simple to find a way into its programming from a physical junction."

"That is because the only ones supposed to be able to get that close are the owners." Obi-Wan pointed out as the ice blue Spartan started storing pieces away so she could easily move the powered down droideka to the engineering bays for the actual engineers to work on. "I highly doubt you would have an even easier time of hacking through it in a transmitted method."

"Oh, I'm sure it won't be easy, but the reason this droid shot the other was because I failed to key in some security frequency before trying to control it." Cortana informed them as the Master Chief set the Pelican down in the Valiant's hanger bay without a bump. "I'm positive I can do it, now that I know what went wrong."

"Of that I have no doubt, gayi'kaab dala, but those are my fingers you're betting on." Ash spoke as she put away the last of the tools she had borrowed from the locker that was there in case of emergency. "Can we find you a better method of hacking these things, or at least get another way to approach these droids that wouldn't risk my sensitive digits?"

The AI shot the Spartan maneuvering the droid a smirk even as her avatar fizzled out of the Jedi's view of the cockpit. Obi-Wan knew that meant the Master Chief was ready to leave, and with the saboteur muscling the rather large battle droid about, he toggled the hatch's controls to open for the Spartans, having seen it done enough to be confident in his button pressing.

127 inclined her helmeted head to him in thanks as she passed, nearly coming to a stop as she noticed that both Grall and Kujiki, two of the three engineers that survived the hazardous black hole assisted slipspace jump, were all but salivating over the mass of metal and wires she had perched on an armored shoulder. "Where do you want me to put this?"

"The engineering deck, definitely the engineering deck." Lily spoke even as she started to make note of how the droid was built as the ice blue Spartan moved past her. "I can't wait to pick this thing apart."

Jordan nodded his agreement, already making notes on a random piece of paper he had fished out of his coveralls.

The two of them followed the saboteur out of the hanger, and the Master Chief shook his head at the engineers' antics as he turned to the Jedi. "How long until your Jedi Council gets back to you? I'm sure the Captain is already tired of hanging around with those ships on the sensor grid."

Obi-Wan turned his head to his star fighter, and caught sight of R-4's optical light blinking that he had a transmission on hold. "Right now, I believe. Would you please wait, one-one-seven, while I find out what my Masters have to say?"

The larger Spartan nodded and took off his helmet, taking up a relaxed position next to the well-used Pelican they had used for landing on both Kamino and Geonosis, noting that it could use a wash since it had a layer of partially melted sand stuck to parts of its armor plating.

Walking over to his fighter, the Jedi Knight tucked his hands into his robe and asked for the transmission to start.

The tiny form of Mace Windu and the even smaller form of Grand Master Yoda appeared on the edge of the wing, both looking even graver than the last time Kenobi talked to them. "Jedi Knight, we need your opinion on the soldiers you found. Would they be able to destroy the droid factory on Geonosis without incurring a large loss of life?"

"I… believe so." Obi-Wan thought seriously about the skill sets he had already seen from the Spartans, from 087's speed to 127's ability to sneak up even on him. "The question would be are they willing. I am hesitant to ask more of them, for I have only promised the suggestion of aid when we finally get to Coruscant and this is taking much longer than I am comfortable with."

John, who had been eavesdropping only because he had underestimated the range the ship could emit, stepped forward until he was behind the Jedi Knight in the Master's view. Windu jerked back in alarm at the sudden arrival of the massive and armored male humanoid, but Yoda merely raise one wrinkled brow at the large warrior standing behind Kenobi. "Then ask, we shall. Help us in this will you, Master Chief?"

117 had to think about it for all of a split second. "As long as you can promise us some assistance when we finally get to your temple, then my soldiers, and their skills, are at your disposal."

"Access to the Jedi Archives, you will have." The stout green Grand Master raised one of his three fingers in warning. "Massive, they are."

"If its computer based, I have a way to cheat."

"Agreed, are we?"

John nodded to the odd looking alien. "The destruction of Geonosis' droid factories, with minimal loss of life. Understood."

"If you can get most of the droids they have completed already, we would appreciate it." Jedi Master Windu added, wondering where in the entire galaxy the human looking male was from. He was towering over the image of the Jedi Knight, knowing that Obi-Wan was of similar size to himself meaning the Master Chief would be at least a foot or so taller than he was.

"Yes, sir. Give us a few hours, and we'll report back." John saluted the two of them, simply out of his military force of habit, and left the hanger to recollect his saboteur from the engineers.

"Unusual, these soldiers. Confident in them, are you?"

"I am, Master Yoda." Obi-Wan gave the two Masters a wry grin. "I've seen them in action, against the best clones the Kaminoians could create and against a pair of droidekas. I am confident they can do what they have promised."

"Then may the Force be with you, and your allies, Jedi Knight. We will await your transmission." Windu reached to disconnect the long range comm channel, and turned to the pondering Grand Master. "What do you think?"

"Strong in the Force, this Master Chief is. Unusual, indeed." The much older Jedi Master nodded to himself. "More confident in success, am I."

Ash was already on her way back to the hanger when John caught sight of her.

The saboteur saluted the Master Chief as they went back to where they had left the Jedi still taking with his Masters. "Cortana informed me of what you want me to do. Are you sure about this? It's a lot of work for only a promise."

"At the very least it'll give us some allies out here, and we're rather short of them at the moment, one-two-seven." John motioned to the obviously repaired sections of the frigate's hull. "And at the very least, we should get some badly needed repairs done. We can't ask miracles out of the last engineers we have left."

He opened the hanger doors again for the female Spartan, who shot him a dubious look but nodded her willingness to complete the new mission. "If you're sure, Master Chief. I suppose I need some serious explosives, or at least Cortana's help identifying things that go boom."

John wordlessly handed over the AI's cube, well aware that the saboteur might not be operating at full capacity at the moment, after two treks through a mountain range and infiltrating an alien base with someone that needed his back watched had to be a little draining even for a Spartan, and was asking for the AI as backup at the very least. "Zero-eight-seven should be available, if you think you need her."

"I work best alone, and we're going to need my best, sir." Ash shook her head at the idea, arming herself with a few more magazines of ammunition from the hanger's weapon lockers. "All of the Covert Operatives are at their best when working alone, less to watch out for. I'll be fine. And it's easier to hide one where two or three might be noticed."

The Master Chief nodded to her, returning the salute the ice blue Spartan gave to him right before setting her helm in place again.

"Good luck, one-two-seven. May the Force be with you."

Turning her helm to the Jedi that had spoken, even Obi-Wan could hear the amusement in her armor filtered voice as she reentered the Pelican and repeated a few things that had been said to him earlier that same day. "Spartans make their own luck, but I don't know about any Force. Like I said before, ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amu."

Kenobi couldn't argue with that, seeing as the only other option would be to ask for her death.

Now alone, if you discounted the AI that would be going in at the back of her neck in the few minutes between leaving the Valiant and arriving on the planet's surface, Ash got some needed sleep in while Cortana piloted the drop ship back to the surface of the planet. The AI picked a different landing spot, since there were Geonosisians at the last landing sight the Spartans had used, and a level grade out of the landing zone was no longer needed for the Jedi to maneuver.

The ship touched down with only a slight bump, but it was enough to wake the lightly dozing saboteur. Ash grabbed both Cortana and her rifle, slotting the AI into the interface at the back of her armored neck and setting the rifle on the magnetic strips on her back. She used some of her Spartan augmented strength to cover the Pelican in enough nearby loose rock to look like some of the cliff had crumbled rather than the parking spot for a large troop carrier.

Taking off from the landing point at a fast clip, the saboteur only occasionally looked at the geographical display the AI had superimposed over her HUD, already knowing the way since the first time she and Obi-Wan had took the route.

She had to slow down at the hive like city, as the missing droideka, the other destroyed battle droid, and the dead warrior caste they had left behind in the first visit to the planet was causing a stir at the more popular entrances to the city, leaving the lesser used paths more frequented than Ash wanted to risk that soon into her mission.

She eventually chose to use the towering smoke stacks to enter undetected, Cortana having calculated that her armor should take the heat as long as she didn't go far. Checking her vents, seals, and ensuring her supply of oxygen would last her long enough for the decent, the saboteur scaled up the sides of the hive easily enough. But before she even got close to the opening to the smaller smoke stacks that ringed the fortified city, she found a badly repaired vent that gave her a less risky entrance, and minimal effort was expended in the process.

With the AI clucking about Spartans and their version of luck in the back of her mind, Ash slipped into what looked like the living section of the worker class Geonosisans and out of it in rapid succession. Making her way down to the droid factory was easy enough from there, and she eventually slipped into the same part of the factory she had visited with the Jedi. "Now then, how to make it all go boom. Any ideas, Cortana?"

The AI was silent for a moment, and eternity to the digital being that thought nearly as fast as the speed of light, looking and examining everything in the Spartan's field of view. 'You could always use what they have. These droids have weapons crafted for them here."

Ash pursed her lips and backtracked the conveyer belts to earlier in the process of assembling a B2 super battle droid until the two of them reached the assembly process of the droids' armatures. "Ooh… lasers."

'Have fun, Ash.' Cortana's voice in the back of her head sounded wryly amused.

"Oh, I shall have fun." The saboteur replied with a wide smile, already looking for the main holding unit that dealt out the finicky parts for the unassembled lasers. She didn't find that as it was probably farther down the line, but she did find a large amount of barrels containing liquid that was obviously labeled as explosive, due to the mushroom cloud printed on one side. "Actually, I think I just found something even better."

'That will have to be timed carefully. We don't want to get caught in the blast.'

"I know. Hey, how long does a laser have to burn before it can cut through this metal?"

Cortana crunched the numbers for her, eventually replying, 'Not long enough.'

"What about setting a laser to activate when we're far enough away?"

The AI sighed, running the new data through her processors. 'Fine, let me at it.'

Ash gleefully let herself into the command room of the factory, easily enough slipping by the few Geonosisans on duty and the few guard droids, who relied on optical vision so she was safe to go as fast as she normally could, and settling herself behind a massive computer bank.

Once situated, the AI carefully started hacking her way into the servers that controlled the factory, ensuring that the triggers she had tripped with the droidekas before wasn't alerted to her this time. Picking her way past the firewalls, Cortana slipped in something that would later look like a simple computer error that wasn't caught in time into the control programming for the welding torches that attached the lasers to the droids being assembled. It would make the torches slightly off center, and would trigger the lasers that pointed in the direction of the barrels the saboteur had found, and repositioned to what she thought was a better location for them, in ten minutes.

Cortana also took the opportunity to add in a trigger for the factory's alarms in five, just enough time for workers to get out but not enough for anyone but another AI to do anything about her changes to the programming.

Obi-Wan was waiting for it with the Master Chief on the bridge, but he was still surprised when the first indications of what 127 was doing on the planet reached them. A large amount of rather annoyed shipping captains started complaining to Geonosis' space command about not being allowed to land their cargos of raw material, escalating to panicked reports that filtered up from the surface of the planet about a large explosion that had suddenly erupted from underground path ways that lead to the factories.

The bridge crew, and they were listening in only because Cortana had compiled a translation program for them when she had nothing else to do with the time she had piloting the Valiant, started grinning when the first confirmed report that the droid factory in the Stalgasin hive city had been destroyed by a terrible malfunction that rocked the hive, but no important deaths had been noted. That was quickly followed by reports of another explosion, this one suspicious by virtue of happening so close to the last one, on the field that Kenobi knew held starship cores.

It seemed that the deployed Spartan was taking care of what she had noted first with the Jedi Knight, and following the increased security to the other locations.

By the end of 127's controlled rampage on the planet, less than ten thousand Geonosisians had been killed due to the sabotage, a number that impressed Kenobi when he took in the number of targets the Spartan had hit, and billions of billions in Aurodium ingots and nova crystals in what she had destroyed of her nonliving casualties.

John turned his head to the Jedi Knight when it seemed that the report would simply repeat itself again. "Will this satisfy your Jedi Council?"

"I believe so." Obi-Wan stroked his short beard with the hand not tucked into his belt. "I would even go as far as to say they will be impressed. I know I am, and slightly terrified of what one-two-seven could have done had she been without orders to leave most of them alive."

Sully snorted behind the two of them. "You and me both, Jedi."

"Then you should report back to them now. As soon as one-two-seven gets back here, we'll be ready to leave."

"Amen to that." The Captain gave the agitated ships on Staffer's view screens a distrustful look. "Let's get out of here before they track that Spartan back here."

In Chancellor Palpatine's office, the Dark Lord of the Sith listened to Count Dooku's report of the wholesale destruction of the factory beneath the Stalgasin hive and several other nearby targets. Since the losses only amounted to a third of the droid forces the Separatists had, Palpatine wasn't concerned that the war he had been carefully cultivating would be halted for very long, but he was annoyed that some military force had come to be such a threat without him knowing anything of it.

With the Jedi Council backing whoever it was, and the Chancellor was even willing to entertain it was an unlikely group of Mandalorians trying to reclaim their glory days, the Sith Lord would be unable to directly interfere with them. Until something happened to drop the newcomers out of favor with the Jedi, he could only wait and act like the Supreme Chancellor he had taken the role of to engineer this conflict of interests.

So with most of his more favored ways of dealing with annoyances out of the question for the time being, he turned to the Jedi Council to keep him informed.

Master Windu answered his call, launching into a report of the destruction well before Palpatine could ask. "You'll be pleased to hear Jedi Knight Kenobi and his soldiers were successful in destroying the droid factories on Geonosis, Chancellor. We just received a call from Obi-Wan about the matter."

"You have the Republic's thanks, Jedi Master Windu." The Sith Lord spoke, masterfully keeping himself from gritting his teeth together at being forced to say such a thing, especially since it was a report about how some of his plans had been set back. "I hope this buys us the time we need."

"You and us both, Chancellor. We regret the loss of life that was incurred as well, but anything else would have been asking too much from these soldiers."

Wondering if he could somehow leak the information to the Separatists without having it traced back to him, the older man inclined his graying head as if in thanks. "You have put my mind at ease… although I would very much like to meet these soldiers of Kenobi's."

"From the Jedi Knight's report, they should be here at the end of four days at the very least."

"Thank you. Have a good day, Master Windu." Palpatine kept up his professional smile for the Jedi Master until the other man disconnected them. Now frowning thoughtfully, he started to look for anything he could use against the unknown soldiers the Jedi were bringing to Coruscant in the Republic's massive amount of laws.

He figured with four days of time to work with, and to acquire more information in, there had to be something seemingly innocent he could use.

Chapter Text

Fred looked up sharply from his disassembled rifle when the tone of someone beating on metal changed to someone actually breaking metal. He cast a suspicious look back at the room he had been tasked to guard, picking up his helmet to contact the Master Chief. "Sir? I think we have a jail break."

"Explain."

"I've been hearing clanging sounds coming from the room we stashed the Fetts in since I took over for zero-eight-seven. It's just changed to smashing sounds."

"Can you tell where it's coming from?"

The UNSC soldier hesitated, listening hard. "Back of the room, I believe."

"Understood. I'll wake one-two-seven."

"Be careful, sir." Fred grimaced as he cut the connection. Waking a saboteur was never a good thing, and Ash would not be in any pleasant mood to be kicked awake after her extended mission on Geonosis.

He dearly hoped it was Boba, because he didn't even think that how attractive the saboteur thought the elder Fett was would save him from the wrath of a sleep deprived soldier.

John regarded the closed doors to the room the Spartans had taken for their own warily.

Ash was in there, had been ever since she returned with the Pelican and Cortana after completing what the Jedi Council had requested in return for assistance. She had been short and to the point in reporting everything she had done on the planet's surface, a sign she was reaching the end of her rope in terms of energy and patience, and had taken to the order to get some rest with nearly visible enthusiasm.

That had been four hours ago. John didn't know Ash the Spartan that well, nor how long it took her to recharge whatever powered her ability to be either slightly annoying or supremely helpful depending on the situation.

He did know her when she was Ashely-127, the young street rat from Earth that liked to steal things and always had some encouragement to give out at the worst times, but that was back on Reach, and there was a lot of time between then and now for that girl thief he remembered to turn into a lethal Spartan for the UNSC.

Steeling himself to wake the tired saboteur, the Master Chief opened the automatic doors, noting that they had started sticking and would be another thing that would require maintenance, and stepped into the dim, four man room.

His eye's adjusted to the light faster than any other human's, but even he had trouble following the blur of shadow-black body suit and blood-red hair that was Ash flinging herself off the narrow cot she slept on and snatching up her rifle to point in the open door's direction as her instincts registered something that shouldn't be moving near her moving.

The female blearily blinked a few times, lowering the rifle when it became apparent who was standing in the doorway, backlit from the hallway lights. "Haar'chak… Master Chief. Can I help you, sir?"

"I'm sorry to wake you, but we seem to have a small problem with the Fetts." John took a few steps inside the room when Ash nodded tiredly at the news and set the rifle back down next to her neatly stacked armor. "Fred heard what sounded like metal breaking, and since you were the one to look over the room we stuck the two of them in, can you tell me what it was?"

The saboteur rubbed her face as she answered to wake herself up, muffling some of what she said. "… vents, most likely. They're the thinnest parts of the ceiling, and if Jango could break the legs of the cot bolted to the floor in there, he could use that both as a step ladder and as a rather unwieldy club." She rolled her neck, wincing at the loud cracking sounds as her spine loosened up, and saluted the Master Chief more sharply than she had moved the entire time he had been in the room. "I'll get 'em."

"You can return to sleep-"

"It has to be someone slighter than you or Fred, sir." Giving him a wry grin, the Spartan female shook her head at the suggestion. "You and him wouldn't fit through half of the openings you would need to climb through to get to where I think they are. Kelly might be able to do it, but she probably doesn't know the way like I do."

"We'll tack on another two hours of down time, as well as however long it takes you to track which, or both, Fetts down then."

"Understood." Ash cast a glance to where her armor was, and simply grabbed a belt as she shrugged at him on her way out of the room. "It'll be easier unarmored. I'll be back shortly, sir."

John watched her go with a slight frown. Seeing as she was sort of amiable at being woken up, if he discounted having her rifle trained on his head for startling her, he started to wonder how much rest other Spartans had got between missions if she was used to less than four hours of down time.

Ash hoisted herself up a maintenance duct quietly cursing out whichever Fett it was she was now chasing down, amusing herself by thinking up Mando'a curses to add to her mental list of obscenities.

From where she was now, and where she figured the break in the vents had occurred, she had another few junctions to go before cornering whoever it was up there with her in the vents. A few clinks of metal on metal and the whisper of someone breathing guided her unerringly to where the escapee was trying to work loose a ceiling panel that wasn't designed to be taken down.

Boba scowled at the mess of wires he had made. There was no sense to how they were laid out, and without knowing which ones went where; he couldn't disable the security alarm that blocked the way through the vent his father had smashed open to escape.

Frustrated, but mindful of his father's Mando'ad teachings, the cloned child carefully separated the mess again to see if he could figure out which wire lead to the sensors up ahead.

"Try the red one."

Boba jumped as his hand slipped and he cut himself on the sharp metal, looking behind him to see a red headed dalyc sitting calmly at the hatch like door he had tried to open before but couldn't muster the strength to budge.

The woman sighed, extending her hand for his. "You really have to be careful up here. There are a lot of things that can kill you if you don't know what you're doing." She wiggled her fingers, prompting him to give over his wounded hand. "Come on; let's see if my meager medical skills can patch you up."

"How do I know this isn't a trick?"

She raised an amused eyebrow at him. "You're already caught, kin verd. You can't go back because I'm here, and you can't go forward because the sensor you spotted activates a grate up ahead that'll close off the only path out of this section."

Boba flushed at her patient tone, handing over his injured limb wordlessly and watching as she took a tiny bottle of some liquid and a length of cloth out of her belt. She cleaned his cut by dumping the bottle's contents over it, smirking faintly at his wince as it stung, and bound it up in the bandage.

"There. That's as far as my baar'urcy skills go." She released his hand and got up as far as she could in the cramped quarters. "Now, let's get you back before either one of us gets in trouble."

The cloned child frantically cast around for something to delay her, finally spotting the red wire she had suggested he pull and grabbed it. "What does this one do?"

Yanking on the wire, he blinked when the lights in the small space winked out in response to what he had done.

"Disrupts the connections the lights work off of." Boba flushed again at her amused voice. "Now then, if you're done?"

"Yeah." Since he could no longer see enough to work more on getting himself and his father free, he felt his way back to where he had saw the dalyc sitting before.

A large hand scooped him up and pinned him against a warm body, the red head he had seen obviously not wanting to waste any time. She took them both back through the way she had come; and as they got back to the lighted parts Boba carefully memorized the way just in case he ever got up there again.

She dropped them both down a vertical part of the service hatch, hitting the floor with her feet lightly before navigating the drab gray halls back to where two others who looked like verdes waited. "Got him."

The other dalyc took one look at him and nodded to the others, leaving them for somewhere else.

The jagyc, the scarred one, got up from where he had been sitting on the floor with a disassembled rifle and typed some command into the control outside the door they seemed to have been guarding.

Boba found out why when it slid open at the scarred one's prompting and he caught sight of his father. The dalyc holding him sounded amused again as she sat him down just within in the room. "I think you're missing something, Fett. I wouldn't do that again, no telling what part of the ship might kill him." Saluting the both of them with a grin, she hit the control panel and shut the doors.

The clone turned to his father with trepidation. "Sorry dad. She caught me before I could get very far."

Scowling at where the red head had disappeared to, the older man just nodded to his son. "I figured that. No shame in it, for she was simply better than you."

"She speaks Mando'a, too." Boba climbed onto the broken cot that his father sat on. "She called me little warrior."

Jango gave his son a sideways look. "I doubt she's Mando'ad. She was out of her armor."

Fett the younger simply shrugged. "Then why does she speak it?"

They only saw the red head a few more times over the next few days, occasionally she or the other dalyci brought in meals, when the door was opened for whatever reason, or when the red head brought them something to do, so they wouldn't search for an escape route simply because there was nothing else to occupy their time with.

Every time Boba saw her, he tried to strike up a conversation in Mando'a, most of which she would only smirk at. The few times she responded the same way had his father's eyebrows rising.

Three days after Jango woke up, something seemed to be happening.

Four fully armored figures showed up and escorted the both of them out of the room they had been shoved into, along with the robed form of the Jetii that had been on Kamino.

Jango ignored the verdes, more interested in the Jetii and his reasons for taking him and his son. "I hope you have a good explanation for this, kin jag."

The light blue female armored figure ignored the conversation and wiggled her fingers in Boba's direction to get him to walk over to her, a movement that forcibly reminded the young clone of the red head.

As the Jedi Knight started to tell Jango why he had been taken into custody, the ice blue Spartan knelt down to Boba to address him directly, cementing in his mind that it was the dalyc he thought it was. "Stay next to me, kin verd. I'm sure you're buir will be annoyed with me if I let you wander off."

Fett the younger nodded to her; at least these verdes were sticking him with someone he sort of knew, and stood next to her as they both listened in to the Jetii.

"… and you have been linked to the assassination attempts on Senator Padme's life. My Masters would like to question you, although I already know who ordered the assassination. How this ends is completely up to you, if you cooperate I'm sure the Masters will have some lighter sentence for your transgressions against the Republic."

Jango's expression didn't change from the sour scowl he had worn since the armored figures had shown up, casting searching glances at the verdes to see if he could take one or two of them down and escape. After a moment, both when he noticed where his son was standing and the size of the two jagcy verdes, he nodded sharply to the Jetii.

Obi-Wan turned to the massive male to his right. "When you are ready, Master Chief."

The grayish green armored verd nodded to him, turned his visor to look straight at the ice blue female standing with Boba. Both Mandalorians were interested to note some kind of conversation took place over their heads, culminating in the female saluting the al'verde in response. They had no time to ask, though, because as soon as the female nodded the larger verd turned and lead the way for the rest of them.

The trip to what turned out to be some kind of hanger was done in silence, not even the ice blue female would respond when Boba asked her a question. Jango noted that his ship was present, along with a star fighter and a number of other ships he couldn't identify.

The seven of them approached one of the ships the elder Fett could not place, the gray female figure opening the back hatch to let the rest of them through. Other than some quiet instructions to Fett the younger about how to strap himself in, the verdes continued to be silent as they split up. The gray one leapt into the ship and headed for a doorway that seemed to lead into the cockpit, the drab green one and the ice blue verdes took seats next to the hatch after closing it, and the dark green and gray striped verd sat in the chair closest to where the gray female disappeared to.

With his hands tucked in his robes, Kenobi didn't look too concerned by their quiet presence as he settled himself in the seat across from Fett the elder.

Jango felt the corners of his lips trying to twitch upwards, noting with a healthy dose of wry respect that the distribution of personnel made it nearly impossible to try to escape before the strange ship could reach its destination.

A few rocks of the ship signified it was taking off, and a somewhat violent lurch told the Mandalorians that it had left the artificial gravity of where they had been held. Boba started to get nervous, not really understanding why they were being held prisoner even if the red head had made it seem less like they were prisoners and more like they were simply taking a trip.

Nearly a good half hour later, the ship hit ground with a soft bump. The armored figure named the Master Chief hit the controls again as the rest of his verdes got up and moving, the armored red head to Boba's side and the jagcy verd over to Fett the elder's.

The Jetii left them in the verdes' hands, following the Master Chief out of the drop ship too ensure that 087 had followed the proper procedure for landing in Coruscant's space port. Since the only person waiting for them was the Jedi Master of the Order, Mace Windu, who was looking up at the towering form of the fully armored Master Chief, Kenobi chose to address the Master instead of checking 087's work. "Master Windu, this is the Master Chief, the leader of the soldiers that I came across in the Wild Space."

"Welcome to Galactic City, then." Mace responded, watching as the armored soldier simply nodded to him and stepped out of the way for another three armored soldiers and the two Mandalorians the Jedi Knight had taken into custody. "Jango Fett, have the charges against you been explained to your satisfaction?"

"Yes." The bounty hunter grated out.

"Then follow me to the Jedi Temple." Windu took one last glance at the four soldiers Kenobi had found before leading them out of the space port.

The Spartans didn't attract as much attention as John had figured, as the core world had many as oddly looking aliens and sights that drew either the same or more attention than four armored Spartans with two well-known Jedi. They also didn't get far out of the space port on their way to the Jedi Temple before being approached by someone else, an important looking someone else with a number of guards.

"Master Windu, Jedi Knight Kenobi." Chancellor Palpatine calmly greeted the two Jedis in front of the procession as if it wasn't an unusual sight. "I take it these are the soldiers that assisted the Republic out of a tight spot with the Separatists?"

"Yes, Supreme Chancellor. This is the Master Chief, their leader." Obi-Wan indicated the drab green armored figure to his left, who simply nodded to the elder man.

"And dose he respond to anything else?"

"One-one-seven, sir." John answered for himself, causing everyone that didn't know the Spartans responded to a series of three numbers in place of names to look at him sharply. "The two with me are zero-eight-seven… and one-zero-four."

The Spartans numbers both made some motion to let the Chancellor know who was who. Obi-Wan's brow furrowed and he chanced a look back to where the saboteur had been before, only to notice she was no longer there, and neither was Boba.

Windu also noticed the missing soldier and child, but forbade bringing it up at the moment. Chancellor Palpatine nodded to them after getting over his surprise, looking over the number in the group closely. "You have the Republic's thanks, Master Chief. Is there anything you may require as a reward?"

"Repairs."

Since it seemed like the Spartans had reverted to the rather abrupt way they conducted themselves before the stint on Kamino with him, Obi-Wan clarified for them. "Their ship needs some work done on the hull, Chancellor."

"You will see to it that the required repairs are done then, Master Kenobi? On my credit, of course."

"Of course, sir."

"Then welcome to Coruscant, all of you." The elder man flicked his eyes over the group one last time as he gave them a slight bow, mimicked by the Jedi only, and left with the guards he had shown up with.

Once he was out of hearing range, Obi-Wan turned to John. "Where is one-two-seven and Boba?"

"They'll catch up."

Windu blinked, still surprised at the method of address the soldiers used. "One-one-seven? One-two-seven?"

The drab green soldier turned his helm to him and nodded. "Yes sir."

"That's… unusual. Do you have a proper name?"

"No."

Jango bit his lip to keep from laughing. Kenobi looked to the older Jedi with a shrug. "I haven't heard them use any other names, Master Windu."

Mace shook his head over that strange detail even as he turned to lead them on to the Temple.

At the gate of the massive complex, they spotted an ice blue armored woman sitting next to the walls with a younger version of the man they had in custody.

127 rose up and saluted the Master Chief as Boba ran over to his father's side.

The lead Spartan merely looked at her. "Explain."

"He was looking for us." The female flicked her fingers in the direction the Chancellor had walked off in, alerting the Jedi and the elder Fett that she had probably stuck around to see what would go on. "And even for security, that was too many guards for a simple walk around the city. The whole thing just rubbed me the wrong way, sir."

After a moment the Spartan nodded to the saboteur, and she fell back in position behind Kelly. Windu frowned, reviewing the incident in question himself before turning back to the ice blue armor clad soldier. "How do you know that?"

She turned her visor to look straight at him. "Long experience with being looked for. Besides, how many times do you have to look through a small group until you know who is all there?" She tilted her helm to exaggerate the movement of turning to the Jedi Knight. "How did he know me and Boba would be here as well?"

The auburn haired Jedi stroked his beard at her question. "I have no idea. Traffic cameras, I would have to guess. But I didn't tell anyone who all I was bringing back."

"Suspicious much?"

"I am aware of your views on why we seem to possess an army to match the Separatists, one-two-seven."

She shrugged at him, taking up a silent stance like the other Spartans surrounding Jango.

The elder Fett studied her closely as the group started moving through the Temple. "Vor entye."

Only slightly moving her helm to him to show that she heard, although she was still silent for most of the trip through the main halls until they reached a lift. "Nayc entye par ba'slan shev'la, ni vaabir bic par ner borarir."

Boba grinned to himself, having overheard short exchange. It was the first time the red head had responded at any length in Mando'a to his father.

The lift doors opened on a wide room near the top of one of the Temple's towers, circled by floor to ceiling windows and with a number of throne like chairs facing the center. Only a few were occupied, Grand Master Yoda, Jedi Council Members Ki-Ad-Mundi and Saesee Tiin, the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Senator Padme Amidala were the only others there.

As Windu walked across the room to seat himself, Obi-Wan addressed the room at large. "This is Jango Fett. Mandalorian bounty hunter and the template used for the clone troopers on Kamino. I believe he is the one who accepted the contract on Senator Amidala on orders of Count Dooku on Nute Gunray's behalf."

"Jedi Masters, a trial is no place for a child." Padme spoke up before anyone else, brown eyes locked on Boba's small form.

The Master Chief looked back at the saboteur, who gave him a salute and clicked her metal clad fingers in the cloned child's direction. "Come on, we'll go play tourist."

"Not too far, one-two-seven."

"Yes, sir. Give me the fall back sign when you want us back."

"But-"

"I'll keep you informed." Ash guided the child to the lifts again, and the room turned to the Master Chief.

"One-two-seven?" Anakin frowned as he questioned the group of three armored soldiers that were left behind his old master's position.

"Leave it be, Skywalker. We're here to see what Jango Fett has to say for himself, not question a group that has given us aid." Mace folded his hands together as he settled into his chair. "Well?"

The Mandalorian twisted his lips in a scowl, glaring at the collection of Jetii before him.

Yoda turned to the Jedi Knight when it was apparent that the elder Fett would say nothing. "What evidence, Obi-Wan?"

Kenobi turned to the Master Chief, who nodded to the unspoken request. Cortana hacked her way into the room's holographic emitters at John's order, showing herself in her blue avatar form at approximately the normal height for a human female.

Now visible to others, she addressed the room at large with what files she had recorded when operating with 127. "While on the world designated Kamino located outside the Abrion Sector, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and the four Spartan soldiers, the Master Chief, one-zero-four, zero-eight-seven, and one-two-seven, they came across a number of conflicting information about the clone trooper's creation. The Prime Minister of Kamino claimed the order had come from the Jedi Council, by a member identified as Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas, but Jango Fett made clear from further questioning that he had been approached by a man he claimed was called Tyranus on one of the moons of a planet named Bogden."

Cortana called up the file in question, recorded by Ash when she was in the living quarters of the two Fetts with Obi-Wan, letting the Jedi Masters and the others in the council room see for themselves.

"After being ordered to take Jango Fett into custody, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, with Spartan one-two-seven as back up, approached and took both Jango and Boba Fett along with their means of transportation and I was attached to the ship, the Slave I, in order to keep any suspicion from being cast on our purpose on the planet. While piloting the ship to our frigate's hangar, I came across the ship's travel logs and noted the locations it had been previously and where the Fetts had intended to go."

The AI called that up as well to show what she was talking about, and Anakin broke in for a moment. "The dates for his visit here match the attempt on Senator Padme's life, Masters."

"Indeed, young Skywalker. Conclusive, this seems to be. But more to see, there is." Yoda answered him, still watching the digital form of code that made up the blue lady in the middle of the room. "Continue, please."

"Overlooking the destinations, the coordinates for Geonosis came to attention. Kenobi decided that a brief stop would be called for to see if the individual Jango answered to could be found. While on the planet's surface, he made the discovery of the droid production and starship core factories, and further investigations into the reasons were conducted."

Instead of continuing the report herself, the digital being called up the video and audio files recorded by Ash-127's helmet and let those speak for her.

When the recording was done, just before the Jedi and Spartan left the factories, Cortana called up the images of several individuals who seemed to be the leaders of the Separatists movement.

"So it's Nute Gunray that wants me dead. I'm not surprised." Amidala spoke, glaring at the image of the Neimoidian in question. "He has wanted me dead ever since I refused to give in to him and his demands during the Invasion of Naboo."

"Thank you, Cortana." Obi-Wan addressed the AI, who looked back at him briefly before letting her link with the holo emitters go, but leaving the images she had called up in place. "From this, I had to conclude that Jango, on Dooku's orders for Gunray, was the one who killed the assassin myself and Skywalker confronted in the CoCo District to cover up his own involvement."

Windu sighed, shaking his bald head. "There isn't enough evidence to link the elder Fett, Kenobi. Although we can safely say Gunray and Dooku are behind the assassination attempts, we can't convict Jango for it on so little evidence; we can only arrest him for murder of a criminal who was wanted on attempted manslaughter charges, and even then it would be little more than a slap on the wrists."

Yoda turned to the Mandalorian bounty hunter. "For yourself, anything to say, Jango Fett?"

"… I'll trade you information for a lesser sentence."

"Speak, then."

Jango nodded to the image of Count Dooku, since his hands were manacled behind him and had been since the Spartans had entered his room on their ship. "That is the man I know as Tyranus. I've done a few jobs for him, both before the clones and during their training."

Ki-Adi-Mundi leaned forward, suddenly intent on the Mandalorian. "Do you mean to tell us that Dooku and Darth Tyranus are the same man?"

Jango shrugged. "I can only tell you what I know, Jetii."

"Appreciated, your information is." Yoda nodded to Obi-Wan, who gestured to the Mandalorian to proceed to the lifts. "Taken into account, it is."

"Wait." Resisting the attempts to guide him out of the council room, the elder Fett planted his feet. "If you send me to a security center, I'll be killed. I claim asylum."

Master Windu scowled, but grudgingly nodded to him. "Fine. You can-"

"Not with you, Jetii." Jango gave them all a lopsided smirk and jerked his head back to indicate the soldiers in the room. "With them."

Kelly and Fred looked to each other in surprise, then to the Master Chief. John frowned thoughtfully behind his helmet's visor and addressed Cortana aloud. "Can he do that?"

Cortana took a visible form again, also frowning at Jango Fett. "I suppose, under the Xeno Orders and the Articles of War, he can. However, Master Fett," she continued when the Mandalorian looked smug, "piracy is a death sentence offence in the UNSC."

Jango eyed the digital lady. "I'm not accused of piracy."

"I'm sure I can dig something up." Cortana countered, visibly annoyed with the bounty hunter. "If you refuse to corporate willingly in any way while you're with us, we'll dump you in the nearest penal colony with a list of offences linked to your name or any others I can tie to you."

The Mandalorian nodded to show he understood, and the Master Chief made a gesture to Fred and Kelly. "Take him back. One-two-seven will be waiting for you at the Pelican with young Boba."

The other male Spartan nodded, taking Jango's arm when the scout moved to unlock his cuffs.

The Mandalorian looked back to the gray verd as she did so. "Don't think I'll run?"

"I dare you to try." Kelly shot back, shoving him lightly to get him moving. "I'm not called the fastest Spartan in the ranks for nothing."

Obi-Wan watched the three of them go. "Well, that was interesting."

Cortana turned her frown to him. "I can't wait for the Captain's complaints about this one." She stated wryly as she turned her avatar to look at the Jedi Council. "If you no longer have need of us, um… gentlemen, can you direct us to your Archives?"

Yoda nodded, taking in the looks on the other Masters present. "Much to think about, we have. With our thanks, go. Obi-Wan, Skywalker?"

The two Jedi named bowed to the Council, and Senator Amidala mimicked the farewell as she followed the men into the lifts.

John stood at the back of it, letting the three go through their greetings as the older Jedi Knight keyed the lift to take them all to the Jedi Archives.

"Anakin, can I ask why it was we found you on Tatooine rather than Naboo?"

"I am sorry Master, but-"

"I insisted." Padme interrupted, giving the Jedi Knight an apologetic smile. "Master Skywalker had a disturbing vision, and I suggested we both go so he would not disobey his mandate."

Obi-Wan raised an auburn eyebrow at her, but let the topic drop at Anakin's conflicted expression. Obviously it was something important, for he had never seen the younger Jedi so torn before over the results of his unique interpretations of orders. "Very well. It turned out to be a rather advantageous decision of yours, so I suppose everything turned out for the best."

"So," Amidala turned to the massive armored figure at the back of the lift, "I suppose I have you to thank that we can prosecute the person behind the killers of my handmaidens."

John looked down at her, then to Obi-Wan, before back to her. "I suppose…"

Skywalker now frowned, now having the attention to spare for what his old master had brought back with him and not wanting to dwell on his mother's death. "What are you? I've never seen someone so large before."

Kenobi started to chuckle as the larger male turned his visored gaze on his old apprentice. "I am a Spartan."

Blinking, the younger Jedi turned to the older one, suspicious of the elder's amusement.

"You won't get much more out of them, I'm afraid." Obi-Wan informed Anakin as the lift doors opened to the floor the Jedi Archives were on. "I haven't gotten much more either, so don't feel too bad."

The four, five if you counted Cortana, exited the lift and into the vaulted halls of the digital library. As John was looking around, the Jedi Knight pointed out the main servers for the Archives to him. "That is where we store every bit of knowledge that the Jedi find. If it isn't here, it most likely doesn't exist." Kenobi paused, and then amended that statement with a wry grin. "Probably doesn't exist. I have to have a talk with Master Jocacta Nu about the tampering that went on to delete the Kaminoians and their planet from the archives."

The Master Chief nodded to him, walking over to the computer bank indicated. As the Jedi Knight went off in search for the Chief Librarian, Skywalker and Amidala followed the Spartan, curious to see what he wanted to know.

Reaching into the back of his neck, John drew out Cortana's AI cube from the interface there and set it into a recess on the control panel. Cortana's avatar appeared on the main screen and she started rapidly sifting through the information contained in the Archives, making the screen she was using flicker with all the information she accessed. "This will take a few minutes, Master Chief. Grand Master Yoda, the small green Jedi that gave us the order to sabotage Geonosis, was right in saying it is massive."

"Wait, you're hacking the archives? I thought that was impossible?" Padme turned to Anakin, alarmed.

"From an outside source, yes. There are shields built into the walls that prevent someone from transmitting into the Archives. But there are not enough guarding them from within, it seems."

"Relax; I'm not stealing anything, simply looking." Responded the blue lady on the view screen absently. "I'm trying to see if I can find a certain pattern of stars… or most of a pattern, as the case may be."

Skywalker looked up at the silent armored figure. "What are you looking for?"

The Master Chief racked his mind for a colony world that had been already destroyed, so he wouldn't violate the Cole Protocol. "Troy, a colony world in the Hellespont System."

"I've never heard of it."

John turned his visor to take in both the younger man's clothes and the hilt of a light saber at his belt. "Somehow, I am not surprised. I hadn't heard of Jedi until we ended up here, so I guess we're even."

"Hadn't heard of Jedi? You must have come from the very outer edges of the galaxy then."

"Sir?" Cortana's frustrated voice cut the Senator off before she could continue her speculation on where he was from. "I cannot find anything remotely matching our last known coordinates. While I was wrong in how much of their galaxy they have recorded, not even a partial match to a system in my navigational data can correlate with the systems shown in these Archives."

"Meaning?"

"I cannot find us a way back, even with the information stored in this Archive."

"Understood. Brace yourself." John reached over and pulled Cortana's AI cube from the slot he had placed her in.

Padme looked rather intrigued at where the Spartan had placed his AI's crystal chipped cube. "Is she a holocron?"

Replacing Cortana into the interface at the back of his neck, the Master Chief held still as the digital entity integrated herself back into his armor before looking at the woman who had spoken. "Cortana is my AI, but what is a holocron?"

"Parts of the knowledge of the Jedi and Sith that have been lost to time." Answered an older lady walking up to the small group with Obi-Wan. "How did you receive her? She may very well be a holocron if she could navigate the Archives without being forced out by the firewalls."

"I've had Cortana since just after her creation two years ago, ma'am."

'What firewalls? There was next to nothing in my way.' The AI in question asked from the back of John's mind, already sifting through the copies of information she had taken from the Archive's Records for what her Spartans needed and what would have to be shown to the purely human crew of the Valiant.

Jocacta Nu scowled at the armored figure. "She did not destroy anything within the servers, did she? We are already dealing with one act of sabotage, we do not need another."

Bristling her coded avatar, which translated into a prickling sensation in the back of John's head, Cortana muttered darkly to herself at the accusation.

"I could almost swear it looked like one of the cubed holocrons, Masters." Anakin folded his hands into his robes much like his old Master had. "Just smaller than any other I've seen."

Obi-Wan furrowed his brow, looking over to the Master Chief curiously. "Did you two find anything in the Archives?"

At the seeming change to the conversation topic, Cortana hijacked the MJOLINER armor's speaker system to respond to the question before John could. "Nothing, well… nothing familiar. I did find some partial matches, which might mean we came from another galaxy entirely. But I cannot find any positive matches in the star charts filed in these Archives."

"Curious." Kenobi stroked his short beard, taking in the full sight of the armored Spartan. "Have you considered an alternative reason for your presence here? The Force does work in mysterious ways."

"We've heard how you view the universe, Master Kenobi, but we do not believe in any Force." Responded the AI, mildly amused.

"Then how do you account for your presence here? Something had to have happened, if you can no longer find your way home."

Cortana hesitated, which was enough to have John raising an eyebrow at her behind the safety of his helmet. She caught the electrical impulses to the movement and translated the proper expression from it, pulling a face back at him from his mind even as she answered the Jedi. "A black hole. Logs indicate that pilot Wills directed the Valiant into the event horizon of the anomaly when being chased by three Covenant warships. Not your Force, simply an unexplainable phenomenon that occurred."

The Jedi Knight smirked. "How did you ever come across a black hole?"

"… I do not have that data…"

"Then it's something to think about, I'm sure. Are you and the others staying on Coruscant, or leaving?"

Cortana released the armor's speakers to John, so he could answer the Jedi. "That has not been decided. Repairs need to be seen to first, then the Captain will make that decision."

"I gave Cortana my contact information; I would like to hear what you decide before you leave, Master Chief." Obi-Wan smiled up at the armored figure. "Other than that, I am glad I met you when I did."

John hesitated, then tacked on a reply before taking his leave from the Jedi Temple. "Thank you for the assistance, Master Kenobi."

"Can he do that?"

Kelly shrugged at Ash as the saboteur helped Boba strap himself in. "Cortana said he could… although what the Captain will say to this is another thing entirely."

Jango scowled at the two dalycs, irritated at being ignored. "I would like to be returned to Kamino, if you verdes have no further use for me."

"Why?" Asked Fred, who was seated across from the Mandalorian.

"I have a job to do. I was hired for it, and I intend to see it through."

Ash threw herself into the seat across from the cloned child, next to Jango, taking off her helmet to look at the bounty hunter squarely. "Are you going to continue trying to kill Senator Amidala?"

Jango turned his glare to her. "I wasn't convicted of that."

"We can't let you go, then." The ice blue Spartan parried with a smirk. "Our ijaat is at stake on your future actions."

Fred turned to Kelly. "What did she say?"

As the Spartan and Mandalorian started to argue in Mando'a, the scout turned to her fellow confused Spartan. "I have no idea."

"She said ijaat, it means honor." Boba piped up helpfully, following along with his father's argument with the red head easily enough.

The two of them were still arguing when the Master Chief returned to the Pelican with a few additional things in hand. John looked between the two arguing, waiting for Cortana to catch up with enough of the conversation to provide a translation through what the other Spartans' helmets had recorded.

Once he understood, John snorted and handed over the transparent device over to Kelly. "This contains the dockyard we're supposed to go for repairs, see to it that Wills gets it when I debrief the Captain. Get us moving."

The scout saluted him sharply as she took the offered device with her other hand, getting up she made for the cockpit of the drop ship without even a backward glance.

Fred turned to John. "They're not going to argue the entire way back, are they?"

Just as he asked that, Ash asked something pointed that Jango could not summon an easy reply to. Waiting for Cortana's translation, the two male Spartans were amused to note the Mandalorian was trying to ignore the saboteur.

'Ash had asked what kind of example he was setting for his son; and her last comment was what his mentor would think about him and his ways now.' Cortana sounded just as confused as the two Spartans were felling at the moment. 'I have no information as to why that would have worked on this man.'

The Master Chief clicked his comm line once. Ash's sensitive hearing noticed the sound even with her helmet in her lap, and once she identified it she replaced her helmet to see what he wanted.

Once she was situated, John asked his question over their comm lines, keeping both Fett the elder and younger out of the conversation. "What did you mean by that?"

"He started getting defensive over the values he was establishing in his son, so I went out on an limb and stabbed in the dark. I think the Jango of before the clones was a lot nobler than the Jango we have now." The saboteur raised her shoulders slightly, a move that only Jango and the Spartans caught on to. "We are sort of responsible for his actions, if he is claiming asylum with us."

'Which means we can't just let him loose, especially if we want to keep in the Jedi's good graces.' Cortana added wryly.

"Where do we put him then?" Fred asked of the others, still staring at the bounty hunter. "He's not technically a prisoner of war anymore."

"Restrict him to the lower decks, until we, or the Captain, feels he can be trusted." Offered Kelly from the cockpit, carefully maneuvering the Pelican into the aerial traffic overhead. "That's all we really can do, if you think about it. Unless you want to stick him back on his ship, but I don't know how well Cortana has that locked down."

John suddenly turned his visor to look at the saboteur as the drop ship got close enough to the Valiant. "One-two-seven, take them back to the room they were in." He added another order over the comm lines, not wanting to start another round of questions. "We'll move you to a room close by. That would keep us from startling you, and since you speak their language you can guide them about for the first few days."

As the Pelican hit the deck of the hanger with a bump, Ash saluted the Master Chief and crooked her fingers at the two Fetts. "Come on. Back to the bowls of the ship we go."

Jango looked like he wanted to protest; either on the red head's involvement or on general principle, but Boba unbuckled himself and got up with a grin to follow the ice blue Spartan, so he followed along silently.

Fred clapped the Master Chief on the shoulder as both he and Kelly exited the Pelican after the two Fetts. John snorted at Cortana's soft giggle, as the motion also could be translated into a Spartan signal for 'relax'.

To say the Captain wasn't pleased by the events that happened on Coruscant was putting it mildly. The news of the asylum was easy enough for the Navy officer to get over, it happened from now and again with the insurgents of the colony world rebellions, and a Mandalorian asylum seeker couldn't be that hard to sort out even if they were dealing with another culture entirely.

But it was Cortana's news of where they seemed to be now was more disturbing to the UNSC Frigate Captain. "Nothing? Are you sure?"

Since some humans required repetition of facts to learn, Cortana didn't take it personally. "Yes, Captain. I searched through both the spectral analysis of the stars that made an even incomplete match and the planetary bodies that orbited them. There was no positive match, not even in the outer most reaches of this galaxy that only had droid made reports on the systems in question."

Sully groaned, running a hand over his tired eyes. With so many personnel missing from the frigate, everyone was pulling double or triple shifts just to make sure the Valiant reached her destination. Even he had taken a turn at the navigational station when Staffers needed sleep. And Cortana's news would not be encouraging, once it managed to circulate from the bridge crew to the engineers left. "Now what? There is no way back to base, or at least it's one we can't find. And I won't run this ship and her crew ragged looking on the outer edges of this fucking galaxy for a maybe."

"We need a method to support ourselves, until a way can be found." The Master Chief offered. "We can try to stay here and see if Kenobi's Jedi Council has use for us, or we can try returning to Kamino and retracing our last steps to see if there is anything to be found."

Ron snorted, dropping his hands to glare at the Spartan. "Perfectly peachy options. Either beg or run back with our tails between our legs. Before we go anywhere, the ship needs repairs."

"The Supreme Chancellor has offered to pay for repair costs." Cortana chipped in. "Although I would not suggest you inform him of anything vital to the ship's operation. One-two-seven does not seem to like him."

"Can you start that? The less time we have to scramble to conduct key repairs the better I like it."

"I will contact Jedi Knight Obi-Wan about our repairs, Captain. I will also take over the bridge, if you would like to take the opportunity to rest."

The career naval officer nodded to her as he got up. "You have the bridge, Cortana."

"I have the bridge, Captain." The AI repeated faithfully to the formula of transferring command held up since the human's canvas ship era back on Earth.

Once the older officer was on his way to the Captain's cabin, John turned to the AI. "Where are the others?"

"One-zero-four is with the engineers again, looking over the droideka. Zero-eight-seven is with Petty Officer Staffers in the mess hall, and it seems as though one-two-seven is arguing again with Jango Fett. Boba seems to be asleep." The Master Chief nodded, but Cortana continued. "John, what are we going to do?"

"First duty of any stranded soldier is to survive. The only thing the ship will not produce is food, and that means we need some type of employment."

Chapter Text

Lieutenant Wills, using the guideline Cortana had pulled for him on starship docking procedures for Coruscant's orbital shipyard, carefully maneuvered the Valiant into position given to the Captain from Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi. With less than a bump, the frigate set her bulk down on the mooring jetties so work crews could get around the hull for the repairs.

Looking back at the Captain, the pilot saluted as he set the ship to hold her position. "We're here, sir."

"Let's hope 'here' isn't a bad idea." Sully responded dryly, watching the blips of life on Staffer's screens encircle his ship to start fixing the temporary patch job holding the hull together.

Cortana just raised a digital eyebrow at the comment, locking down everything that was not essential to keeping the crew alive and the ship in place.

The dark skinned woman shrugged as if to covey the question of what other choice they had through the simple gesture. "We don't have the supplies to conduct the repairs ourselves, and we've overtasked the engineers we still have well beyond their limits, sir. If the Spartans hadn't conducted the bulk of the repairs they could when they woke, I highly doubt we would have made it this far under our own steam."

Ron sighed heavily, rubbing at his forehead with one hand. "Wills, you're on watch first, right?"

"Yes sir, with Kojak."

The Captain blinked, looking over to the pilot. "Does Kojak have a last name?"

"Sethi." The AI supplied, still concentrating on the proper procedure of shutting down nonessential parts of the frigate.

"Really?" Kailie asked, twisting around from watching the dockyard workers examine the ship to her fellow bridge crew. "Where is he from, anyways?"

Sully looked up the technician's file when all Victor could do was shrug and Cortana ignored the question as non-relevant. "Huh. Alright then, Wills, you have the bridge. Come on, Staffers, you have some down time due as well."

"I have the bridge, Captain." The pilot blinked as he responded to the change in control, then twisted around his swivel chair to look after his superior officer. "So where is he from?"

"Ask him yourself." Ron shot back before the automatic doors to the bridge slid closed.

Fred-104 was helping the engineers out with the droideka Cortana had hijacked from the Geonosians. With his extra strength it was simply easier to let the Spartan handle dismantling and putting the droid back together as Grall and Kujiki took careful notes on what went where and what operated what. Kojak was assisting when needed with replacing or removing wires, or when Fred simply needed an extra hand.

So the Spartan was a bit annoyed when the technician had to leave to watch the ship with Wills on the bridge, and the other two decided to stop for the rest of the shift with their third unavailable.

As he replaced the droid in the far corner it sat in when not being tinkered with, Cortana activated the intercom system to talk with him. "Why not continue on your own?"

"I don't understand half of what it's designed to do, and I'll probably break it if I tried." Fred responded shortly, setting the tools he had used where Lily could easily find them for cleaning later. "Without Grall or Kujiki here to tell me what goes where, I couldn't even begin to guess."

Cortana considered that, well aware that the Spartans needed something to do other than servicing their own equipment. After the fiftieth time, even that could become rather more mind numbing than the critical, careful systems check it should be.

Ash-127 had her Mando'a, which she was using to argue or talk with the two Mandalorians on the ship with some limited success, John-117 had his Spartans to worry over and the problem of getting them back to the UNSC, and Kelly was exploring the ship's mess since there wasn't a cook anymore. Fred was the only one that had not found something diverting to do yet, and the AI had hopes for his association with the three surviving engineers.

"There are programs on file about engineering, both from the UNSC, to be used as reference by the crew, and some I took from both Kamino and Geonosis, one-zero-four. If it would interest you to understand more of what you are currently doing, I can have them routed to the computer stations in the engineering decks for your use."

Fred paused, looking at the blue light on the far wall that indicated Cortana's presence. "How extensive are these files?"

"The ones from Kamino and Geonosis are rather extensive, and far more comprehensive than the ones this ship has, and I calculate that a normal human would need months if not at least half a year to read through them. Understanding them would be another matter."

The scarred Spartan straightened up and pinned the blue light with a stern look. "And what about one of us?"

Cortana smirked in the safety of the frigate's computer banks and baited the Spartan. "I calculate it would take you at least three months to make sense of the material."

Fred snorted at the obvious ploy the AI was trying, nettled at the dig even with knowing full well what she was trying to do. "Give them to me then." He figured it would make him feel less like an inept assistant to the engineers at the very least.

Heeding the demand, the digital entity uploaded the information she had stored in the Valiant's computer banks to the computer equipment in the bay the Spartan male was in. With Fred at least somewhat interested in something other than cleaning his rifle for the umpteenth time, Cortana searched out the other members of the frigate's crew while keeping her sensors on the repair crew patching the hull.

John was asleep for once and Ash was prowling around the lower decks again for some reason only known to her. Ron had retired to the Captain's cabin, and by the log reports from his computer terminal was updating his record of the day's events. Grall was back in the main engineering bay, checking over everything to ensure it wouldn't blow up anytime soon, and Kujiki was in the crew women's washroom, obviously preparing to get some rest herself. Leaving Kelly in the mess, and Staffers about to meet up with the Spartan scout.

087 was still poking around the kitchen area, examining some of the cookware curiously and checking the amount of foodstuff the ship still had that wasn't foreign to her when the navigational officer let herself into the mess. The darker skinned woman blinked at the sight of the taller brunette who had jerked stiffly upright at the sound of the doors opening.

"Oh!" Kailie peered at the other woman; sure it was one of the two female Spartans on the ship and hoping desperately she was guessing which one it was correctly, since she hadn't seen either of them out of their armor enough to notice any physical differences. She wasn't sure if there was some Spartan/Navel procedure to what would happen if she called the Spartan by the wrong number. "Umm… zero-eight-seven? Are you hungry?"

"No ma'am."

Staffers hesitated; a bit nonplussed on how to tell the other woman she was in the way. "Well, I was going to make something. Are you sure you don't want any?"

The scout looked around the kitchen area she was in. "I can make you something, ma'am, if you'd rather."

"You can cook?" The navigator blessed her dark skin when she flushed after blurting out the rather rude question and the amused look she received from blue eyes. "I mean, um… sure?"

"I actually learned from the Master Chief, ma'am." Kelly's lips actually quirked a small bit, taking some pans down from where they had been secured to the walls and double checking that she had the ingredients she thought she had.

"One-one-seven can cook?" Kailie took a seat where she could watch the Spartan move about the kitchen and see what it was she intended to make. "Can all of you?"

"Oh, no ma'am. One-two-seven is rather hopeless at it, although she can just about eat anything without getting sick from it. One-zero-four can grill, but he can't make anything else edible."

Since it seemed the soldier was putting together an omelet, Staffers started watching the Spartan instead of what she was doing. "How did you learn?"

"Survival training." Kelly deftly put the omelet on a plate; collected some utensils with her other hand, and took it over to the Petty Officer. "You learn real quick how to not burn what you're going to eat that way, or to let the others that can't cook take KP duties the day they're supposed to."

"Sit. You can call me Staffers, you know. Or Kailie." The dark skinned woman took a careful bite, as it was still hot, and slid a sly glance over to the Spartan that had gingerly sat across from her. "You were the one cooking those casseroles on the way here, weren't you?"

"Uh… yes ma'am." Kelly actually acquired a bit of a blush under the navigator's scrutiny. "Should I not have?"

"Oh hell no. Keep it up, please. I can't even begin to guess the time you saved me."

Confident that all of the crewmembers of the Valiant were either usefully engaged in something or resting, Cortana returned the core of her attention to the repair crews working on the frigate's hull.

Obi-Wan smirked at Anakin's expression when the younger Jedi caught sight of the Valiant's outer hull. "Looks rather bad, doesn't it?"

"That's… one way of putting it, Master." Skywalker winced in sympathy when one of the temporary patches done to the inside of the ship was removed and the full extent of the gash was revealed. "What were they fighting against?"

"They called them the Covenant, but anything else about that I do not know."

As the lift they were on came to a stop, the younger Jedi cast a guarded look to his old master. "You don't seem to know very much about them, Obi-Wan."

"Well, since for all they knew I was some traveling vagabond telling them tall tales, I think I learned a great deal." Kenobi replied philosophically, taking the marked tunnel that lead to the frigate's assigned docking moor.

Anakin rolled his eyes, but had to grin fondly over his Master's way of looking at things.

There was some confusion as to why there were two Jedi on the docks, but Obi-Wan got the both of them through with little trouble. Gaining access to the Valiant was even easier; since Cortana had probably watched the both of them walk up to the moorings of the frigate and opened up a path for them.

"Now, there is something you should know, Anakin, about the residents of this ship."

"Yes Master?"

"One of the Spartans, one-two-seven, likes to-"

"Su cuy'gar, Jetii."

Kenobi stiffened, and turned to the red head standing down another hallway. "Likes to sneak up on you if she can."

"I'm still waiting on that bell, Master Kenobi." Ash grinned at both of them, not missing the younger Jedi's motion to grab his lighsaber's hilt and mentally tallying him as someone to surprise when standing far enough away that she'd have the time to dodge if needed.

"Yes, well. That is one oversight I should correct." The Jedi Knight gave the saboteur a less than amused look for her little stunt. "Skywalker, this is one-two-seven, their saboteur. She was the one that did the damage to Geonosis' droid production factories and starship part factories."

Anakin's eyebrows rose up, glancing from the Spartan's gray eyes to his Master's blue-gray ones. "Alone?"

"I had Cortana to help, but that still counts as mostly alone, so yeah." Ash shrugged, dismissing the mission. "Not the worst task I've ever been assigned."

"All I did was reprogram a few things, you're the one that wanted to play with the explosive chemicals, one-two-seven." Cortana's amused voice drifted to them from an intercom on the deck's walls before she greeted the two Jedi. "Master Kenobi, Master Skywalker. Can I ask what brings you to the ship?"

"I have a request from the Jedi Council that I need to discuss with both Captain Sully and the Master Chief, Cortana." The Jedi Knight answered her. "I can wait if need be."

"You're in luck, Obi-Wan. Both requested members of the crew are on the bridge. You will need to take the auxiliary route up, but one-two-seven can guide you."

The numbered Spartan crooked her finger in their direction and started walking deeper into the ship.

The older Jedi followed along, used to the look of the frigate's decks, but Anakin looked around curiously. "Where are you keeping the Fetts?"

"Two decks up. They've been restricted to that one until we figure out what to do with them." Ash answered as she pried open one of the doors along the wall. "You've got a bit of a climb, but this will avoid the decks that are opened to space at the moment."

"Thank you, one-two-seven."

The Spartan saboteur saluted the both of them before wandering off back to what she had been doing.

Since there were about twenty decks to the frigate, and they had arrived on the fifteenth, it wasn't as bad of a climb as some of the missions both Jedi had conducted for the Council before. That, and as Jedi they kept themselves in good physical condition, so neither man was out of breath by the time they reached the top deck where the bridge was.

Now orientated as to where he was, Obi-Wan led his companion to the ship's main control center.

Both an unarmored Master Chief and the Captain of the ship looked to him when he entered; neither surprised at their entrance for Cortana had alerted them to their visitors.

"Master Kenobi," greeted Sully, putting down the data pad he was holding on the different fuels available and their chemical makeup, "what brings you back?"

'The Council has a request for you, Captain."

"Oh?"

"The Republic does not wish to start a war, but we also need to investigate the Separatists' actions. Using one of our own warships to do so would simply be painting a target on our backs, so the Council wishes to know if we can hire you and your ship for the purpose of investigating."

Ron leaned back in his chair, glancing to the stoic form of the Master Chief. They hadn't told the Jedi what the real purpose of the ship was actually for, other than ferrying troops from point A to point B. But the Valiant, which was a Paris-class heavy frigate, was normally intended to shore up the gaps in ship-to-ship battles, boasting both heavier armor plating and larger point defense guns. "I don't have the crew to support anything long term, Obi-Wan."

"I gave the same fact to the Council, and they suggested taking on a crew of clones for the time we would require your services."

Ron glanced over to the Master Chief again; John just shrugged to say he had no objections to that plan of action, and then looked to the pad of fuel comparisons he had been struggling through. "We need deuterium to fuel the ship, but if you can find it, the Valiant is at your disposal, Jedi."

Obi-Wan blinked, not having expected the easy compliance given that they had just figured out they were not where they were supposed to be. "Ah… deuterium?"

"A stable hydrogen isotope." The AI supplied when the Captain had to dig through his notes to find out. "How many Jedi does your Council intend to send along?"

"One of the Masters from the Temple, a few other Knights, Anakin, and myself, Cortana."

"Repairs are calculated out to take at the very least another standard Corruscant day, if you can handle the resupply we will be ready to depart at the local sunset, Obi-Wan. Where is our first destination?"

"Well, after Kamino it would be Geonosis. Master Unduli has decided that Count Dooku would be a viable source of information, willingly or not."

"Understood."

Ron shot a look to the male Spartan that had been helping him figure out what to use in the ship's repairs. "Master Chief?"

"I'll alert the others, sir." The nearly seven foot tall Spartan got up, stacking what he had been working on in a neat pile, and nodded to the two Jedi as he left the Bridge.

Although Skywalker moved to follow the Spartan out, Kenobi hesitated and looked to the Captain with a question. "I was expecting more resistance to any suggestion, given the recent news you just found out."

Sully snorted, turning his attention back to figuring out what was going where in the repairs, but Cortana smiled and answered him. "As the Master Chief has stated, the first duty of any stranded UNSC soldier is to survive and find a way back to the main unit. We cannot survive without some type of income, and since the Jedi Temple and your Masters have assisted us, we shall assist you while figuring it out."

Obi-Wan bowed to the two and led Anakin out of the bridge. "Now, where to find a stable hydrogen isotope?"

"The Kerdos Company's recycling plant? They might be able to make some for us."

Palpatine looked over the repair estimation the space dock had sent him, looking for any information about the ship or the crew he could use. He had paid extra for one of the workers to note down everything he could when within the ship, but the report was still frustratingly vague.

They had refused any internal repairs beyond fixing the decks that had been damaged, or to let any technicians board the ship to inspect the hyper core or any related systems, and the one time his informant had managed to sneak away into the ship he had been politely but firmly redirected by both an AI and a red headed human of the crew.

Even if he hadn't gotten much on the internals of the so called frigate, he did have a comprehensive look at what the ship mounted in weaponry and armor. Two feet of medium grade armor plating, some of which had been gouged out by some kind of battle and was the reason the ship required repair, forty missile pods, twelve turrets, two larger turrets situated on both the forward and rear sections of the ship, and some kind of cannon built down the length of the frigate, opening up at the very tip of the ship.

He couldn't even begin to guess what it was all intended for, or how it became so damaged in the first place, but it probably had enough firepower to take on much larger ships and destroy them. But he did managed to ensure he would know where the ship would be at any given time, considering that he couldn't rely on the usual methods for where the strange ship appeared.

His attempt to keep Jango Fett from assisting the crew or the Jedi had failed even before it could begin, when he couldn't locate the cloned child Boba Fett and take him into custody. Looking over the security cams' feeds later the other day he had located the fourth Spartan, the ice blue one, taking the cloned child another direction when he had approached them. How she knew he had another purpose to meeting up them with he couldn't even begin to guess, but he decided she was the most annoying out of the four armored figures so far.

Figuring his Sith apprentice would at least deserve a warning of what the Jedi were intending to do, he contacted Darth Tyranus and sent him the information he had on the four 'Spartans' and the heavily armed ship the Jedi Council was sending his way, again.

Since Cortana was correct in her estimation of when repairs were due to be complete, the other Jedi that followed Kenobi and Skywalker to the ship the next evening had a much more complete fist look at the frigate than the other two.

Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, the overseeing Master for the Council's investigation, took in her first look of the formidable ship with a frown. "It is very… strong looking."

Her old Padawan Barriss Offee, who had volunteered in her capacity of Jedi Healer to the likely long term mission, looked to where her fellow Mirialan was staring. "This is the Valiant? I was expecting something smaller when you said frigate, Obi-Wan."

"I haven't quite gotten to find out what the ship was intended for, but she is obviously a type of warship." Obi-Wan backtracked a bit to where the Master and Knight were standing to see what they saw.

Without the patched up scores down the hull, and a fresh coat of paint covering the repaired sections of the ship, the Valiant cut an impressive figure against the backlights of the jetties, even if the Jedi Knight knew it was mostly empty inside without the original crew present.

Anakin had stated he thought the ship looked like it was built around something when the two of them left the previous day, and with the new angle to look at, it did almost look like a geometric blaster rifle suspended in space. Painted gray instead of left with bare metal, there were a number of weapons that bristled down the length of the ship, and four massive guns mounted fore and aft that none of the Jedi standing with him wanted to see in action.

The rest of their number, the Knights Aayla Secura and Kento Marek, waited politely for the Jedi Consular to stop examining their transportation.

"Now then, as I've warned Skywalker, a few of the residents are a little…"

"Strange?" Anakin spoke up when his old master seemed to hesitate for a polite word to use.

Kenobi gave his old apprentice a sideways look. "Strange." He agreed wryly, leading the rest of the way when Unduli motioned for him to continue. "Four of them only respond to a series of three numbers, although one-one-seven will also answer to the title of 'Master Chief'. You will not need to worry about remembering who's number is who's, they are rather... easy to tell apart after a while."

"Numbers? Why in the Force would they choose to use numbers?" Barriss asked as the group entered the ship through a hatch docked to the jetty.

"That is how they were addressed since the approximate age of five." Cortana supplied, closing the docking hatch behind them once the last Jedi had made it through. "They are used to it. Welcome to the Valiant, Jedi. I am Cortana, the Master Chief's AI."

Obi-Wan introduced his fellow Jedi as he took them to the main lift, tacking on a question once he was done. "Where is-?"

The lift doors opened before he could finish his question, and Ash smirked at him from within. "Is one-two-seven? Why, right here, Master Kenobi. Can't you see me?"

The Jedi Knight pointed a finger in her face, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "I have that bell, somewhere."

"And I look forward to you trying to attach it." The saboteur shot back, hitting the button for the eleventh deck once all the robed people, and the blue skinned alien woman in leather, had gotten on with her, ignoring the stares. "This was originally intended for the officers of the troops assigned to the ship, but since we don't have any it's been cleared for your use. I'm two decks down with the Fetts; the other Spartans are on the deck between us, the mess is on the fifth, engineering on seventh, the bridge is up top, and if you go straight down it's the hangar."

Obi-Wan stayed with the Spartan as the other Jedi split up to either explore the deck they would be living on or to find a quiet place to meditate. "Same layout as the others?"

"Not quite. There's a meeting room in the middle of the deck, one-one-seven thought you might have need of it." Ash tilted her head as her ears picked up the faint sound of the thrusters starting to warm up. "We've got about an hour before we leave the docks, so I'd suggest you settle in for now."

Kenobi gave her a short bow before walking off to join his fellow Jedi.

127 then hit the button for the deck she had been moved to. She had another task to do that day.

Boba greeted her happily enough, but the older Fett tried to ignore her when she wandered into the gym that level had for the troops the ship transported. Ash figured he was still a bit sore about her below the belt hit in their last argument, and proceeded to do what she normally did when she actually managed to hurt someone's feelings. She ignored that he was ignoring her.

"I've got some good news, some interesting news, and some bad news. What do you two want first?"

The ten year old cloned child looked up at his father, who had been playing with the weights in a bored manner. Jango figured she wasn't going away without an answer, and gave a short reply to hasten her departure. "Surprise me."

"We're on our way back to Kamino, to pick up a crew out of the clones you trained for an investigation the Jedi Council wants done." That had the Mandalorian's attention squarely on the red head, who arched an eyebrow at his sudden shift of focus. "There's also a small number of Jetti on the ship, two decks up. And… if you really want to be dumped on Kamino again, the Captain's all for it since we're on the way there."

The bounty hunter straightened up and glared at the woman. "What was the bad news?"

"If you leave the ship on Kamino, you're not coming with us to see how your soldiers do in any combat situations we get into."

Jango rocked back on his heels, giving the verd a searching look. That was one hell of a piece of bait to dangle in front of him, since it was the validation of ten years of his life's work she was referring to.

Giving his son another look, he pressed his lips together and thought hard. He was well aware the woman across from him had taken to teaching Boba a few of her own skills, probably out of boredom. Another of them, the scarred one, had started teaching the young clone the proper way to hold an older type rifle when the two of them made their way to the frigate's mock firing range.

He was all for multiple teachers for the proper development of skills, that was why he had formed the Cuy'val Dar in the first place. What worked for one may not work for another, after all was said and done.

"Fine. It seems we're going to be staying a while longer." He rolled his eyes at Boba's cheer and frowned over at the verd. "Can I get my armor back, at the very least?"

Ash smirked at him as she turned around to leave. "I'll see what I can do. No promises."

Since some of the Jedi had not worked together before, other than the Masters and their ex-Padawans, Master Unduli gathered them in the meeting room Obi-Wan directed them into for a pre mission briefing after the frigate left the space dock and started its way out of the planet's star system. It was starkly furnished, just like the rest of the deck they were on, but that did not bother any of the Jedi Knights with her.

She addressed them all with her hands folded into her dark robes and a frown on her tattooed face. "We have been directed by the Council to investigate the military buildup of the Separatists, with the assistance and support of the crew of this ship and a number of the clones that Jango Fett has trained for us. We will go to Geonosis after picking up the rest of the crew, and begin our investigation there by seeking out the ex-Jedi Master known now as Count Dooku."

"Are all of us really necessary, Master?" Aayla asked, gesturing to her fellow Knights. "I understand sending a Master to seek out information, but why so many in addition?"

The Mirialan turned to Kenobi to answer the Twi'lek's question. "In my investigation of the assassin sent after Senator Amidala, I reached Geonosis with the Spartans only to note the large number of Confederate ships in system. One-two-seven went with me to the surface, and we found several droid production facilities operating at full capacity as well as a number of starship part factories."

"And then she destroyed them." Anakin added wryly to his old master's report, causing Marek to try and hide a smirk.

"The Council believes the Separatists are nearly ready to begin open warfare against the Republic. We are being sent to try and sooth the turmoil so less of the galaxy will become embroiled in the actions of a few warmongers as well as to try to defuse the situation before open warfare is declared." Luminara then turned to the Jedi Knight more familiar with the ship than any of the others. "I heard some manner of sabotage was involved in your last mission, but I did not get to hear the full report."

Obi-Wan nodded to the unspoken question, and he raised his voice to address the AI he was sure was listening in. "Cortana? Can I have the files on the Geonosis mission?"

"Of course, Master Kenobi. To which part are you referring to?"

"The initial approach to the Stalgasin hive, as well as one-two-seven's targets on the planet's surface."

Cortana displayed the requested information using the meeting room's tactical display, with images taken from 127's helmet and the approximate locations the saboteur had visited before leaving the second time.

"Anything else, Obi-Wan?"

"No, thank you Cortana."

"One of them did all that?" Barriss asked; the healer in her appalled over the number dead in the wake of the saboteur's actions.

"They are very competent soldiers. I would advise you not to ask something of them lightly." Kenobi sated, looking over the same information the other Knight was. "But that was on the Council's request, to buy us the time to try and complete this mission."

"I was aware of that, Barriss. I was part of the Council that asked this of them." Luminara told her old Padawan, calming the younger Mirialan in her concerns. "Although the loss of life was regrettable, we did request speed over care and must live with the consequences."

Neither Skywalker nor Kento seemed too upset over the destruction's' toll on the population, but the Jedi Master figured that was because the both of them were Guardians and more prone to using strong arm solutions in facing problems, rather than being dismissive over the loss of life.

Looking around the table at the five Jedi Knights with her, Unduli laced her fingers together within her dark robes. "We will reach Geonosis within two weeks, and we must be careful to not spark any conflict early during this mission. The Republic is counting on us."

"Ah," reminded of another issue, Obi-Wan addressed both his fellow Jedi and the AI listening in, "their method of travel is a little harsh on those sensitive to the Force. Cortana, a warning before your slipspace jump, please?"

"Acknowledged."

After the rather jarring jump to slipspace, Barriss left her quarters to explore more of the ship the Jedi had hired to escort them. The empty halls were unnerving, as it seemed the frigate was intended to support a number of crew other than what was required to support its operation.

Picking another deck at random, the Mirialan followed the faint humming sounds she could hear on that deck to a larger than normal door.

There was four individuals within, taking apart the lower chassis of a droideka and examining the three legs it stood on before the engines, which had caught her attention. Her entrance attracted the other's attention, and all four of them looked over to her.

"Um… hello?" The smallest of their number greeted a little awkwardly, straightening up from the disassembled battle droid and smiling weakly. "You're one of the Jedi we acquired recently, right?"

The Jedi Knight inclined her cowled head to her. "I am Barriss Offee, miss."

Her smile turned a touch more welcoming and the other three went back to what they were doing, leaving it to the smaller woman to introduce them. "I'm Lily Kujiki. The bear of a man behind me is Jordan Grall, the other is Kojak Sethi. And the Spartan helping us out is one-zero-four."

Once named, each of them looked over to the Jedi and nodded to her, but the scarred Spartan just cut his eyes over to her for a moment, and then turned back to what he was doing.

Interested now that she knew one of the Spartans was there, the Jedi took a seat to watch them work.

Lily just shrugged at her action and went back to arguing with Kojak about the droid's method of conveyance. "I think it needs another leg. How in the world would it get up a flight of stairs?"

"As a wheel, I would think." The technician pointed to the severed part of the droid they weren't working on, the part that had the sensors and the blasters. "If it got enough momentum it could probably jump whatever was in its way."

"And on unlevel ground or tight spaces?" Kujiki asked tartly, taking one of the legs the Spartan passed on to her and looking it over to see what would be needed to make a new one.

Sethi opened his mouth to protest, paused, and then frowned after he could find nothing to argue with her. "Well… damn. Why build it this way then?"

"The Colicoids built those droids in their own image, but they have a fourth leg they stand on as well." Barriss offered from her spot to the question.

Grall looked from the Spartan's work to her in confusion. "What are they then, bugs?"

"Well… yes."

"I do believe the proper term would then be insectoid, sir." Lily scolded as she manipulated the leg given to her.

The Chief Engineer rolled his eyes at her and continued planning out how they were going to attach a fourth leg. "Would still explain why there are so many freaking problems with the design."

"That would just mean it works for these Colicoids fine as is, just not as well as everyone else, sir." 104 offered as he and Kojak finished detaching the upper chassis from the lower mobility unit, raising a dark eyebrow at the insides of the part they had just removed and turning to the Jedi Knight watching them. "Are these Colicoids also thinking with their rears?"

Since he tilted the part so she could see, the Mirialan could only shrug. "I do not know, they have a head like any other sentient creature I've ever seen, so I thought they had a similar location for their brain as any other creature."

"That really doesn't mean much." Grall mused thoughtfully, looking at the same computing core as the Jedi. "You can take off the head of a cockroach and the damned thing will still run around for a while."

"You can do the same thing with a chicken, but that doesn't mean you didn't take the brain out with the rest of the head." Sethi argued, still inspecting the attachments from the unit he and the Spartan had uncovered to the rest of the unit.

Lily looked up from her measurement taking to the others in the bay. "Didn't the old Brontosauruses have a second brain in the tail section?"

"The genus of dinosaur you're looking for is Apatosaurus, and no. That idea was discarded in the late twenty first century by paleontologists, Miss Kujiki." Cortana informed them all from the speaker on the wall.

104 blinked at the tiny engineer, who huffed at his patiently amused look and hefted the droid leg given to her to copy. "I'm well aware that was way off topic, leave me alone." She stuck her nose in the air and left the bay for the machinist's corner in the next one, where any needed fabrication took place.

Offee also got up to leave, assuming that the engineers were done with what they had to do. Her movement caught the eye of the soldier helping them out, and he offered to show her more of the ship so she could navigate around better.

Obi-Wan Kenobi showed the Jedi Master Luminara Unduli to the bridge to meet with the Captain of the ship. He introduced the Mirialan woman to both the bridge crew and the Master Chief, who was again standing by at the AI interface where Cortana's cube was housed. "Master Unduli, this is Captain Ronald Sully, the pilot Victor Will, the navigator Kailie Staffers, and the Master Chief."

The Captain took one good look at the blue eyed, yellowish green skinned black robed woman with the tattoos over her chin and suppressed the initial question that rose to mind with the image she presented. "We'll be at Kamino before the end of the week, ma'am."

"Why are you dressed like a nun?" Apparently, Victor didn't quite have the Captain's sense of tactful topics.

"All Mirialans dress like this, for our home world is far colder than normal." Luminara looked down at her elaborate, for a Jedi, robes, then back up to the pilot in confusion. "What is a nun?"

Kailie turned around and glared at Wills, answering the question only when the pilot ducked his head and went back to what he had been doing. "A type of religious woman who has taken vows for a purpose. Either chastity, poverty, or to meditate on their religious views. They're best known for wearing a cowl similar to yours and a floor length black dress."

"I took my vows at the Temple, but the Jedi only practice the Force not religion, unless the individual wishes to continue whatever practice their race has."

"Oh." Staffers blinked, surprised. "Well… then I guess you could be called a nun... in a very loose sense of the word."

Cortana activated her avatar to join in the conversation, grinning broadly at the organic crew. "Wouldn't that make Master Kenobi a monk?"

"Right." John tapped the display that was showing Cortana's digital form. "Let's go before this gets any stranger."

Obi-Wan raised a sleeve to hide his grin until he could control his impulse to smile at the Master Chief's disinclination to continue the conversation, moving out of the way so the unarmored soldier could leave with Cortana's cube.

Ron rolled his eyes at the Spartan's manners, turning back to the pilot now that human interaction was required to steer the ship. "Wills?"

"Cortana's got us on course, sir. There's really little more to be done, except to keep an eye on the ship's trajectory and pull us out of slipspace once we're there." Wills turned around to the others on the bridge with a grin pulling the corners of his lips up. "So, about that nun thing…"

"Don't even." Kailie pointed a finger in his face, scowling. "There's not enough liquor on this ship to get even one of us through that discussion."

"There had better not be any liquor on this ship." Sully stated forcefully to the both of them, frowning himself at the current topic.

Staffers nodded firmly as she pushed herself up from her station. "My point exactly, sir."

The Captain rolled his eyes again as he got up as well. "You have the bridge, Wills."

"I have the bridge, Captain."

"Master Kenobi, Master Jedi, a moment if you will."

Surprised, the robed man nodded to the commanding officer of the frigate. Ron motioned for both of the Jedi to follow him and his Petty Officer out of the bridge, and he waved the darker skinned woman on when she asked if she could get them anything from the mess.

The older man lead the two of them to his ready room, the office attached to the Captain's quarters. "I have a question about the clones we're going to take on."

"Do you have concerns about their capability to run a ship this size?" The male Jedi asked as he took one of the seats the Captain waved them both to.

Unduli tucked her slim hands into her dark sleeves and furrowed her brow. "Isn't it a bit late to have reservations about taking on the clones as crew?"

"I have no reservations. The Spartans have been exceptional in helping us keep the ship running, and I have no doubt they can get whatever clones we get up to speed on how things work on board." Ron shook his head at her. "The issue I have is one of conflicting orders. By law, I'm not to share technology the UNSC has declared classified to anything not validated by command as at least an asset. However, I can't get orders clarified or cut from high at the moment; if I could we wouldn't be having this particular problem with the missing crew."

Kenobi put all of his diplomatic training to use trying to find a way for the man across the desk from him to avoid violating some of his government's laws. "Could you not just keep running the ship with the crew you have, and use what clones you need for minor tasks?"

"Not really. We're already stretched rather thin at the moment. I'm already running the engineering crew ragged in keeping the slipspace drives running as long as I have. Spartan one-zero-four's been a blessing in disguise, because he's been pitching in every now and again when needed. And with Cortana on board, there really isn't a need for a crew, but she's attached to the Master Chief's field equipment and won't always be available to shore up the gaps in personnel."

"What are the consequences of violating your law?" Luminara asked, for she could see no way for the Captain to both uphold his law and keep the ship running if he was already straining his crew.

"Since we are, or were if it's all over now, at war, it could be a capital offense." Sully grinned grimly at the two alarmed Jedi he had before him. "Given the circumstances though, I would say the worst I could get if the death penalty isn't what command goes for would be a court martial, the best would be if some General understood the only other option would be to abandon the Valiant, and any possible way to get home, and just gives me a slap on the wrist."

Shaking his head, the Jedi Knight refocused on the other man's question and not his probable fate. "What was your question, Captain?"

"Given that I'm going to get in trouble either way, the clones I'm going to have to get trained in the more sensitive equipment on board, could I keep them?"

The Jedi Master blinked at the change of topic. "I'm sorry, what do you mean by keep them?"

"I mean keep them on board even after your mission is done." Ron put his folded hands on his desk, staring at the two Jedi intently. "It'll only mitigate some the damage I have to do, but if I still have the additional personnel, or at least can honestly report their demise to my superiors, I might get out of the worst of it."

Unduli nodded gravely to his request. "Given what you are risking to aid us, that is the very least of what we can do. I'll inform the other Masters of this, they will see to it you will not get in more trouble than you wish to."

"Then that's all I had for you two. It's going to be a rather boring week, so try to amuse yourselves."

Obi-Wan nodded to him and got up to leave, but the Mirialan held up one hand to prevent the military man from leaving just yet. "If I may, Captain. Where are the Spartans now?"

Ron rubbed one hand over his shaved chin as he gave the question some thought. "Given that one-one-seven took Cortana with him, I'd guess he and zero-eight-seven are in the hanger doing checks on the ships stored there. One-two-seven usually keeps to the lower decks where the Fetts are, and one-zero-four is usually with the engineers if he isn't obsessively maintaining his equipment again."

Luminara inclined her head to him in thanks as she got up to join her fellow Jedi in leaving the Captain's Quarters.

Sully watched them leave, remarking to himself once the two of them were safely far enough away, "Damnably odd people."

As the Captain had guessed, Kelly was in the hangar waiting on Cortana and the Master Chief to help her with the system checks on the Pelicans and Longswords stored there. She had started the first one, the Pelican they had used in the Jedi Knight's mission to Kamino and Geonosis' surface, by the time the hanger's lift doors opened again.

Checking to see who it was; she was a little surprised to see one of the Jedi they had picked up recently wandering in the direction of R-4 and Kenobi's star fighter. Unsure if she should stop him or not, not knowing what Obi-Wan would want in this event, Kelly hesitated long enough for the Jedi to notice her in the rear hatch of the Pelican.

Anakin looked sharply to his left when he became aware that someone was looking at him, catching sight of the tall brunette woman standing in the opened section of one of the oddly built ships. "Oh… uh… hi?"

The Spartan frowned at him curiously, not really seeming annoyed at the interruption. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to see Arfour and see if she needs any repairs done." The Jedi took in the ship the woman was in, from the geometric design to the stubby wings. "What are you doing?"

"Running diagnostics." Since the man knew the name of the Jedi Knight's droid, the Spartan assumed he was allowed to do so and went back to what she had been doing, checking the levels of fluid in the Pelican's engines.

Skywalker looked from the ship the obviously a Spartan woman was working on to his Master's star fighter. R-4 was a known element; the other ship was new to him and a bit exotic looking. "Do you need any help?"

Kelly raised a dark eyebrow in his direction, studying the Jedi Knight standing in the open hatch of the Pelican. "It'll be tedious. There are a lot of Pelicans to service."

"I'm used to it. I keep both Master Obi-Wan's and my own star fighters in good repair."

The Spartan rolled her eyes, but motioned for the younger man to enter the drop ship. "Fine. Come here and see how this is done."

Anakin moved to where he could see what she was doing leaning slightly over her shoulder to get a good view. That was how the Master Chief found them, and instead of interrupting he just continued on to the next ship down the line so Cortana could get the diagnostic data out of it.

Since they really didn't have anywhere to be like the others, Aayla Secura and Kento Marek opted to wander around the lower decks. The Twi'lek was in the lead, since it had been her idea to explore.

Rounding a corner, the two Jedi came to a halt when they found an older male with what looked like his son walking down the same corridor.

Jango scowled at the two of them, correctly identifying them and why they were down there. "Perfect. Usenye Jetti."

Marek stiffened at the insult and glared at the older man. "Excuse you?"

"You heard me." The bounty hunter sneered back, irritable since he couldn't find one annoying red headed woman about the issue of his armor. "Usenye. I've got better things to do than waste time with you."

Aayla pressed back against the Jedi Knight behind her, forcibly reminding him that there were others about. "We do not mean to disturb you, we were only passing through. Let's go Marek."

The older Fett rolled his eyes at the Rutian Twi'lek and curled his lip in the younger man's direction as the two of them passed him. "Di'kut."

Kento whirled around to face the Mandalorian, but he and the older man was pushed back against the wall by light blue armored hands.

"Jango, stop trying to pick a fight." The slightly muffled voice of the woman made the bounty hunter stiffen and glare at the armored woman.

Boba, who had been resigned to his father irritating the Jetti into something he could vent his frustration on, perked up at the sight of the Spartan. "One-two-seven, why are you in armor?"

Ash released the Jedi Knight and removed her helmet so she could grin down at the younger Fett. "Had to go outside for a bit and check something over. What are you and your father doing?"

The young clone answered her before his father could stop him. "Looking for you. Are you free right now?"

"I will be in a bit." The saboteur ruffled the clone's curly hair, pinning the two Jedi with a stern look. "I'm not all too sure how you got on this deck, but you're not supposed to be here, for obvious reasons. We don't like letting him out for social occasions."

"I can see that." Secura masterfully hid her smirk and grabbed her fellow Jedi's arm. "We'll be going now."

Ash cheerfully waved as the two of them disappeared back down the hall that lead to the lifts, giving Jango an exasperated look once they were gone. "You know, if you can't behave yourself, the Captain's never going to trust you armored, much less armed."

Ignoring the slight reprimand, even if she was right, the Mandalorian crossed his arms and glared straight at her. "Where have you been?"

"Here and there." The saboteur shrugged as she started walking down to her quarters, stripping off her armored gloves as she walked.

Boba followed his favorite verd on the ship without question, and Jango had to follow just to keep an eye on his son, who was asking the Spartan questions. "What were you doing outside? Isn't it impossible to be outside the ship and travel like this at the same time?"

"Yes, but Cortana knew where I was, so I was in no real danger." Ash tossed her gloves on her berth, raising one boot on the edge of the cot so she could take off her greaves. "And I got back inside before she took us into slipspace."

"What were you looking for?" The bounty hunter demanded behind her, having turned his back when it became apparent the verd was stripping out of her armor.

127 turned her head to answer him, pausing when his position and the reason for it became apparent. "I've got my under suit on, Jango. And I don't know, you tell me."

She placed something on his shoulder before unlatching her chest plates, and the Mandalorian reached up a hand to see what it was.

Turning around, the older man rolled the device around his fingers. "It's a tracking chip."

"That's what Cortana thought it was when she sent me out." Stripping off the last pieces of her armor, the Spartan secured it so Boba wouldn't play with the systems that might pulverize his bones. She turned around and took the device from the Mandalorian. "So then, for the million credit question. Who put it there?"

"The dockworkers, the Jetti, some official attached to the space docks, any mercenary group that may know of you, and that's just off the top of my head." Jango frowned as the woman shook her red head at him. "What?"

"Very few people knew we were on Coruscant, or even who we are. The High Chancellor, the Jedi Council, a few other Jedi Masters and Knights, and maybe a handful more than that depending on how much the Jedi and the High Chancellor tend to talk. The dock workers weren't allowed on board, so they wouldn't know who we are…"

"So someone's being naughty?" Boba asked of her when the Spartan trailed off while looking at the transmitter.

Ash tossed the small device up in the air and caught it squarely in her palm. "Apparently. Excuse me, boys. I have to go talk to the Master Chief and the Captain." She interjected another comment before the Mandalorian could ask. "I'll ask about your armor, Jango, but no promises."