Chapter Text
In the bloody and gruesome battle above the forested planet of Xibariz, Obi-wan Kenobi thought about his retirement.
Sure, he was only 32 in standard human years, decades away from hanging up his cloak, still a Jedi could dream. Most Jedi Elders went on to teaching younglings, passing knowledge to the next generation seemed like an appropriate way of concluding one's lifespan. While he did love teaching, he wonders if looking after Anakin after all these years exempted him from supervising any more hormonal teenagers.
Incoming fire hit the hull of the ship and Anakin swore, swerving just a little too close to the massive enemy ship, scraping off the newly-painted exterior in one fell swoop.
Obi-wan concurred with his previous thoughts.
"Master, we're supposed to land on the planet, not the ship!" Ahsoka, the young Togruta girl exclaimed, gritting her teeth as Anakin veered away from the ship. Several red lights blinked insistently throughout the cockpit. None of them looked serious...yet.
"I know that, Snips!"
Perhaps he could become a knowledge keeper? Learn more about the galaxy from inside the Temple walls. Surely that would compliment his Council duties. He would love to keep Master Nu company and browse through holocrons and well-kept prophecies.
That's if he lived long enough retire. Jedi were not known for their long lifespans and he imagined that statistic rose even higher when flying with his former apprentice.
"Master!" That was Anakin this time. Chiding himself for briefly losing focus, Obi-wan snapped back to the present. "The shields!" He quickly returned his concentration to the console in front of him, effortlessly switching on the rear deflectors.
"We're not going to make it past this blockade in one piece. Turn around!" Obi-wan's voiced over the sounds of laser cannons making the ship tremble. This was supposed to be a simple relief aid operation. Get the supplies through the blockade while the starships created a diversion. But with war, nothing was ever that simple. Correction: with Anakin, nothing was ever that simple.
"Everything's under control." The Jedi Knight's voice was strained with effort. Obi-wan shook his head and reached for his com link.
"Captain Rex, come in." Obi-wan spoke evenly into the device.
"Yes, General."
"Best call in Gold Squadron. Looks like we're going to need that back up after all." The Jedi Master gave a side-long glance to Anakin.
"Will do, sir."
Another blast hit the hull and Obi-wan felt the ship shake again, the ship reeling forwards into the atmosphere at a concerning angle.
"Snips! The acceleration stabilizer!"
"On it." Ahsoka groaned, holding onto her seat for stability as she reached under the console, pulling off the protective plate. "I miss Artoo." The little droid was still with Senator Amidala on Naboo, aiding with communication modernizations. Obi-wan was sure the droid would rather be here as well.
Obi-wan braced himself in his seat as the ship started ticking up speed, breaking the atmosphere of the planet. "I see your definition of under control is as reliable as ever,' the elder Jedi quipped. Ahsoka yelped as gravity tried to pull her across the ship, still picking away at the internal workings of the ship.
Anakin ignored him, his hands quickly flitting across the console in a futile attempt to slow their descent. Obi-wan heard the landing thrusters engage and he prepared himself for another case of whiplash.
"Got it!" At the padawan's cue, the ship evened out, the nose no longer plummeting to the earth and curving their descent, but not slowing it.
"See." Anakin laughed in relief, "under control!" Another two blasts to the hull. Obi-wan winced as more warnings lights flashed around them. Even Ahsoka couldn't work fast enough to fix them all in time, as talented as the young mechanic was.
"Then why are we still hurdling towards the earth, Anakin!"
"We need to get out of range of those vulture droids!" Ahsoka piped in.
"Working on it!" Another harsh swerve of the ship.
Obi-wan watched as they breached the clouds, the ship stuttering in the air as the repulsers struggled to keep the ship adrift. Anakin jerked the ship in the direction of a wooded area and Obi-wan reminded himself to get more motion sickness aids from the temple healers after this mission. His head felt light as the ground came up from below the ship, inviting them into a deadly embrace.
He reached into the Force to ease their landing somewhat, but the harsh impact still reverberated through his entire being, rattling his bones. The ship skidded to a halt, taking down nearby trees as collateral.
There was a brief moment where no one spoke, the silent pain and relief of surviving another one of Anakin's stunts as a common one. The cockpit was filed with heavy breathing as the Jedi tried to regain their bearings, but the silence was quickly broken by the sound of vulture droids swooping down towards them.
"Everyone out now!" Obi-wan sprinted to the door followed closely by his fellow Jedi. They weren't five feet away from the ship when the explosion rang and threw them off their feet. Obi-wan braced his falls with disarms, crawling back up to his feet with a groan.
So much for the supplies, Obi-wan thought soberly.
Obi-wan helped Ahsoka to their feet as they watching the Vulkers come around for another pass.
"Master, what now?" Ahsoka eyes widened as the ships neared once more.
"Run!"
The three Jedi ran towards the tree-line in a mad scramble for cover. Obi-wan heard the fighters near their targets and he realized they were out of time. He turned to face the incoming ships, igniting his saber in a desperate attempt to block the attacks, but they never came.
The three Jedi stopped in their tracks, watching as the two ships abruptly changed direction, heading back towards the mothership.
"Why did they stop?" Ahsoka asked.
Obi-wan scratched his beard in contemplation.
"Sir, the blockade is preparing to jump into hyperspace!" Cody spoke through his com. Anakin raised his eyebrows in surprise, sharing a look of confusion with Obi-wan.
"I do not know."
After reconvening on the Resolute, the trio stood in front of the bridge's holo-table. Anakin was restless, as usual as the Jedi council's holograms flickered across the board.
"This is the third blockade to retreat without provocation in the past week." Master Plo Koon voice reverberated through his metal mask. This was news to Obi-wan. He hadn't beeb able to attend as many council sessions as of late. Spearheading the many fronts of a war effort was no easy task.
"Troubling, is this news." Master Yoda spoke next.
"Perhaps they are planning something?" Anakin suggested, "a large scale attack on one of the core worlds?" Of course Anakin assumed a battlefront, ever the eager fighter. Obi-wan sensed this went deeper than a military campaign.
"The Separatist Alliance doesn't have the resources or the allies to accomplish such a feat. Not yet. Even with the added ships." Master Windu's face was tense with concentration. The other council members nodded in agreement.
"There's more," Obi-wan chimed in, pressing a button on the holotable to display a holographic map of the northern reaches of space. He felt the room collectively lean in. "We've managed to intercept communications with the ships before they retreated. It seems they are to be sent to every system on the edge of Separatist space."
Obi-wan maneuvered around the table, tapping on a particular area of the map. "There seems to be special consideration here, in the Daiyu system."
"Intriguing," Master Koth mused, "Whatever this is. It seems to be an internal matter."
"Civil rebellion?" Ahsoka wondered aloud.
"No, we would have heard of something of this scale." Anakin replied. Obi-wan agreed with him, scratching his beard as he thought. With the amount of ships they were re-directing, it would make it difficult to cross any trade routes along the area. Whatever they were planning, it would make moving freely almost impossible within those systems.
"Well whatever it is, it has the Separatists worried. That can only be good news for us." Anakin crossed his arms.
"We should send someone to investigate, perhaps?" Master Ki-Adi-Mundi added thoughtfully. "A reconnaissance mission, perhaps?"
"Daiyu isn't too far from your current location." Master Windu looked to Master Yoda for confirmation. A Nod. "Master Kenobi, would you be willing to take on this mission?" Anakin perked up with that, eyes locking with Obi-wan's.
"Of course." Obi-wan obliged.
"Wait, you're going to send him into Separatist occupied space? Alone?" Anakin spoke up again. Obi-wan felt his irritation spike through their old Padawan bond. "You've got to be kidding!"
Obi-wan sincerely wished he could get through one council meeting with Anakin without him having an outburst. The rest of the council chose to ignore it as they always did, Master Yoda choosing to re-direct the conversation.
"Take an unmarked ship, you will. Careful, we must be." Master Yoda's voice silenced all discussion, his voice marking the final word on this topic. "And unravel this mystery, we will."
~
It was days like these where she wished she picked somewhere warmer. And dryer. Rue pulled up her hood as the rain pelted down relentlessly from the sky above. Her hands were numb from the cold that night brought in. On Daiyu, the days were much shorter, lasting only a couple hours at most in the warmer cycles of the year. It was almost cliche that the nighttime planet was also home to the many night dwellers of the galaxy: smugglers, wanted criminals, cartels. All runaways from a higher order.
Like me.
Her hands gripped her pack tightly as she weaved through the diverse crowd, spotting her destination by the yellow muddied sign outside its post: Sol's Munitions. The door creaked upon her entry, cowlryshells clinking together to announce her arrival.
Sol's shop was small, but no space was left unused. The customer area was filled with armoury and illegally upgraded weaponry, from ion-disruptors to plasma grenades. Beyond was the front desk that separated the weapons stock from the workshop, where parts and mechanics were strewn about more leisurely.
Sol didn't look up from his work desk, his eyes trained solely on welding the blaster in front of him. Rue always warned him he should be wearing goggles when working with heat, but he never did listen, citing his species as being immune to heat. Rue found that hard to believe. Still, it was hard to boss around the boss, she supposed.
"You got 'em durasteel like I said?" His gruff voice echoed over the sound of his welding.
She didn't answer, pulling her bag off her back and dropped it onto the front desk. Sol put down the welder, turning to the front desk where Rue pulled out a handful small, but heavy cylinders of pure durasteel alloy.
"Dusty wasn't any trouble then? Didn't try to upsell ya?" Dusty was Sol's nickname for the local trade dealer, Dustil. He wasn't very intimidating, despite working with the Hutt clan, yet he could get pretty pushy with sales.
Rue had worked for Sol for almost two months now. After arriving on the planet, scared out of her mind, Sol had found her accidently picking a fight with a drunk Dug. She emphasized the 'accidental' part. Sol dragged her way from the Dug by the collar of her shirt and gave her a long 'don't talk to strangers' lecture after barely knowing her, before offering her to stay in his spare cot in exchange for work. They had been close ever since.
"It was nothing I couldn't handle." Rue grinned.
"Good girl," Sol laughed gruffly, giving her a pat on the back in return. He grabbed the alloy cylinders from the table and got back to work. "With the damned blockade, resources are running even slimmer than usual."
Rue grimaced at the reminder. The past few days, Separatist ships had been amassing around the planet. There was no word to as why, but she was not the only resident who felt uneasy about it. Almost every customer that walked in the past week had managed to bring up the 'Seppies' orbiting the criminal underworld. Smugglers were especially loud about it as they stared investigating and hailing shipments to and from the planet. She tried not to think about it.
"Now get over here. I need ya to clean the rest of them heater valves."
Rue eagerly hopped over the counter, grabbing her bag as she went. She strolled over to her station when her eyes caught sight of a small crystal charms hanging off the dryer rack.
"What's this?" Without thinking her fingers brushing over it and she was pulled in:
The first thing she felt was pain. Her right shoulder burned as if it was set on fire. This was nothing like the training droids at the Temple. It was unbearable. Ungodly pain. A blast blazing past her ear was enough to send her adrenaline running tenfold as she turned her attention elsewhere.
She was on a sandy planet. She'd seen this place before. The arena was filled with Jedi, their blazing weapons deflecting blaster fire from all directions. Horror filled her being as she looked around. Blaster fire filling the air and droids closed in on the Jedi around her.
The battle of Geonosis.
She heard the deep hum of ships approach, half a dozen Republic gunship landing all around her. A barricade against the barrage of separatist droids. Men in white armour, clones, provided cover as the Jedi remnants boarded the shuttles. Rue could only stand there, frozen in place. Fear filled her very being. She had never seen a battle like this from the inside.
There was one other Jedi who stood his ground, deflecting enemy fire to let his fellow Jedi escape. He was young, no older than twenty with a buzz cut and a long braid behind his ear. He shouted something to her that she didn't make out, the battle too deafening in itself. Still, she understood his intention. She needed to board a ship.
She managed to get her legs working again and towards a gunship, a clone reached up to help her up. She winced as it strained her injured shoulder, her body begging for rest as the ships stated to rise. The Jedi who saved her jumped on a ship last minute and they were away.
An explosion rocked her core as she was almost thrown off board, barely grabbing the side of the ship to steady herself. She scrambled to grab one of the handles above her when the ship was hit again, this time landing a direct hit. She didn't have time to react as the gunship lost all control, barreling downwards in a frightening pace. The lightsaber she didn't even realize was in her hand flew out of her grasp and down to the desert below. She would follow soon after.
"Mayday Mayday! Ship is going down!"
In a violent turn of the ship, her hands slipped from their purchase and she fell forwards, her body thrown from the ship and onto the harsh sand. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't see. She heard a distant explosion sound over the ringing of her ears.
She felt hands turn her over. Two clones stared back at her. She wasn't sure why they were staring, until she looked down to see blood soaking her robes. When did that happen?
Her feelings morphed into that of another, unfamiliar and painful. She didn't want to die. This was her first mission after Knighthood. How Master Zin would be disappointed in her. This couldn't be her end. Not with everything she did to get here. Eventually, her thoughts became fuzzier. Her body heavier.
Rue jolted away from the crystal as if it had burned her, hands retreating instantly. She held back a sob. She was okay. It wasn't real.
It wasn't real.
She was back in the workshop. She braced herself against the wall, trying to bring herself back fully.
Three doors.
Four walls. Two tables.
Her breath evened out.
This wasn't the first time she experienced these things. She was quite accustomed to the sudden jolt from one reality to another. When she was younger, it made her quite the detective. No prank could get past her. No lie could either. But in the past few months, the flashes started becoming darker, more violent. She wasn't sure what caused the shift: her or the world around her?
Probably both.
She turned her head to see Sol had barely noticed her little blip, continuing to talk amicably.
"So you're tuning me out now are ya?" He huffed, his back still turned away from her as he continued welding. "Ya know this is why I don't take in stray younglings. Always distracted, they are."
Rue struggled to find her voice.
"I'm not a youngling. I'm fifteen." She tried to find the snip in her usual tone, but it fell flat. It was unlike her.
Sol seemed to finally notice the shift in her behaviour, mumbling something to himself before continuing with his story. "Ahhh well...anyways Rallis and his buddy scavenged it back on that separatist planet in the outer rim. The one with that droid factory. What was it called again..."
"Geonosis." She kept her face as neutral as possible.
"Yes! That's the one! Anyways, they already sold the other bits and bobs to other sellers, karking rude if you ask me. A Jedi's saber sword sells for quite a salary. At least we got that Kyber though."
Rue tried not to let his insensitive language get to her. He meant well. She knew that.
"Lucky us." Rue mumbled, eyes trained solely on the crystal. She knew it was a lie, she had anything but luck.