Chapter Text
The hologram floats in the center of the dark room, displaying the Thudratis system. “A few months ago the Tolan sisters, Amu and Rema, were sent on a mission to infiltrate a separatist ship. We lost contact with them, their last signal was in the Thudratis system, but we never found their crash location. However we recently received a delayed distress signal from the moon, Ollora, that matched their ship's code." Mace Windu pointed at the now larger hologram of Ollora. “Your goal is to attempt to recover their bodies for burial in the temple and, if you can find them, ensure their lightsabers do not fall into the wrong hands.”
Obi-wan steps forward to inspect the location on the hologram. “If the distress signal was sent now it is likely from scavengers discovering the ship, I'll need to leave soon so that the lightsabers aren't able to be sold off the planet before I arrive.”
Mace nods in agreement and dismisses the hologram, leaving the room oddly dark without its light. Obi-wan wastes no time preparing his ship for hyperspace and imputing the coordinates given to him by Master Windu. The ship enters the hyperspace ring and shoots off to Ollora, the viewport turning to vibrant blue streaks.
When he leaves hyperspace he sees the barren pale surface of Ollora, the moon is barely populated and is far a colder environment than its home planet Thudratis. He separates his ship from the hyperspace ring and begins his descent to the surface coordinates of the distress signal. As he approaches the surface he sees a small town in the area of the coordinates. If the lightsabers were being sold off it's likely to be here.
The town is so small it is unlikely to even be named, let alone have a specified landing pad. He flies his ship out of the way of the town and lands on the rock surface, kicking up a large plume of dust. He leaps out of his ship and lands on the pale ground, kicking up another cloud of dust. He starts heading to the larger building in the center of the town, the saloon, the best place to find rumors and information.
As he walks up to the saloon, the doors clunk open, scraping against the ungreased bearings. All heads turn towards him, eyeing him with suspicion, new people are definitely not common here. He ignores them and walks towards the bartender, an older togruta whose montrals are tall and crooked, he hands the drink he was making to a customer and sets his attention to obi-wan.
“We don't get visitors very often, so I'm assuming you're here for something specific?” The togruta turns to grab a dirty glass. Obi-wan nods with a friendly smile, trying to defuse the suspicion from the other patrons.
“You assume correctly, I am jedi master Obi-wan Kenobi, we rece-” "You're a jedi?” He turns sharply back to Obi-wan. “I hope you didn't bring your war with you master jedi.” he says in a low voice, his wrinkled brow furrowing.
Obi-wan shakes his head “I assure you I am only here on a reconnaissance mission” Obi-wan places his hands on the counter and leans closer, lowering his voice. ”A few months ago a ship belonging to two jedi knights crashed here, you wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you” he tilts his head inquisitively.
The togruta squints his eyes, "you're a bit late don't you think jedi?” he says, giving him an incredulous look. “But yes, I do remember that happening, it's not often that anything exciting happens here. I doubt you'll find anything in the ship though, the scavengers took apart that crash the second it came down.”
Obi-wan lets out a sigh, crossing his arms over his chest. “Do you happen to know where any of these scavengers might be living?”
The togruta shakes his head, contemplating. “No, most of them are hermits…” he looks up as he remembers something, “Except Amelia, she was the first one who got to the ship, bought the farm house north of here with the money she got from the scraps, she'll know what happened to the jedi.” He turns away again, clearly seeing the conversation as done. Obi-wan bows his head slightly, “Thank you for the information.” Obi-wan turns back to leave, everyone's heads following him as he walks by.
...
The farmhouse the bartender spoke of is easy to find, one of the only buildings to the north. As Obi-wan approaches it he sees no signs of movement within the house, only the slight swinging of the open barn door as the subtle breeze hits it. As he approaches the barn door he can feel a presence inside, waiting. He gently pulls the door open enough for him to enter, “Hello, is anyone here?” he calls, hoping they'll reveal themself. He takes measured steps, he can feel the presence around the corner, hear their shifting feet, waiting to strike. He unhooks his lightsaber from his belt, ready to defend, not strike.
A human woman leaps out from around the corner, immediately aiming her blaster rifle at Obi-wan. But by the time she aims he already has his lightsaber ignited, ready to deflect any blasts that come his way. Her violet eyes lock onto the lightsaber, shifting from intense to calm.
”A jedi?” she retracts her blaster, aiming it away and moving her finger off the trigger. Her brown hair is asymmetrical and layered with one side braided tight to her head. Her skin is covered in a layer of the same pale grey dust as outside, making her look inhumanly pale. “I thought you were a bandit, didn't recognise your voice.” Obi-wan extinguishes his blade, hooking it back to his belt.
“Amelia, I presume?” He asks calmly, as if her aiming her blaster at him never happened. She shifts to stand straight upon hearing her name, “Yeah thats me, I hope im not in any trouble?” she tilts her head defensively
“No trouble at all, I just had a few questions about that jedi ship you scavenged from a while ago.”
She lets out a huff of air, “why don't you come inside master…”
“Kenobi. Obi-wan Kenobi.” he finishes. She gives an acknowledging smile and slides open a small door on the nearby wall. It leads to the kitchen,it's befitting of a small town, old and cramped, the counters are scratched and dusty, the climate controller hums loudly with effort. She puts her blaster down, leaning it against the kitchen wall. She grabs an old metal tea set from the small table in the middle of the kitchen. “Forgive the mess, I wasn't expecting a guest.” She pours water and dried leaves into the teapot before setting it on a heating element.
“I apologize for arriving unannounced, but I heard you were the first to scavenge the ship when it crashed?”
“I was.” She turns back to face him, leaning on the counter. “I got lucky, biggest score of my life.” she says the words without much excitement.
“There were supposed to be two jedi on that ship, were either of them alive?” Obi-wan asks.
She turns her head away, “No…they were dead when I found them.”
Obi-wan crosses his arms, his face twists to sadness “That is disapointing…”
Amelia raises a brow in confusion, “did you expect them to be alive?” Obi-wan shrugs his shoulders, ”One can have hope.”
Amelia presses her lips into a tight line. “May I ask what you did with their bodies?” he asks. She nods and gestures to the front door before pushing off the counter to cross the kitchen. He follows behind her as she leads him through the door and down a small path, it's worn down like she makes this journey often. He sees where she is leading him; a small makeshift grave in the pale grey dirt.
“This is where I buried them.” She brushes settled dirt off the grave with one hand. Kenobi examines the grave, it's made of nailed together wood, at its base is a bundle of small flowers, too fresh to not have been placed there recently. “You have taken good care of their resting space.”
Amelia glances between Obi-wan and the grave, "I'm not heartless master jedi,” she speaks calmly, “If you want to dig up their bodies, you're free to, but I didn't have a coffin so I can't guarantee they'll be in the best condition.”
Obi-wan looks down at the slight raise in the ground's surface. “No, I won't disturb their rest, as long as they are together.” He says the words solemnly, he did not know the Tolan sisters personally but he feels that they would have wanted to be buried together.
“Thats probably for the best.” she agrees, turning back to the path to the house. Obi-wan turns as well, walking in front of her. He glances over his shoulder and notices her give a sidelong glance to the grave. Strange.
As they walk back into the house, Obi-wan is the first to speak. “Did you sell their lightsabers?” Amelia avoids his gaze and walks over to the now heated tea pot.
“Yes…I did.” She begins to pour the tea into the dented metal tea cups. “You can't blame me for doing so, Master Kenobi, they are worth a lot of credits.” she says defensively as she sets one of the cups on the table near Obi-wan. He strokes his beard thoughtfully. She's right, they are worth a lot, certainly worth more than this house.
“How much did you get for them?”
she opens her mouth for a few seconds before answering, “Fifteen thousand credits each.” she says, taking a sip of the tea. Obi-wan grabs the metal cup from the table.
“You definitely undersold them,” he smirks with a tilt of his head. “But that amount could have at least gotten you off this moon and to Thudratis, it's certainly more hospitable there.” She can feel the scrutiny in his gaze, and begins shifting uncomfortably on her feet.
“I…guess I just like the small town feel.” She grips her tea cup tighter.
“And what did the buyer look like?” He takes a sip of his tea confidently. Amelia swallows, her shoulders tense. “I-I-”
Before she can answer a loud bang rings out through the kitchen as the front door bursts open. A small Twi’lek girl rushes in a panic, running straight to Amelia and ignoring Obi-wan completely.
“Amelia! You have to come quick!” Amelia hastily discards the tea cup and crouches in front of the child.
“What is it, Kyra?" She gently grabs the child's shoulders.
“It's Gior! He was trying to ride the bantha, and the bull saw him and charged him! He's trapped!” Amelia shoots up from her position. “I told you both to stay away from their pens! You know how dangerous the bull is!” Amelia charges out of the front door, without a glance or word towards Obi-wan.
He follows the two as they charge towards the bantha pens. A child in danger takes far more precedence than missing lightsabers. Amelia reaches the pen first, locking eyes on Gior. Obi-wan sees the young human boy trapped beneath a tipped metal watering trough, and an angry bantha bull staring down the child. Obi-wan prepares to leap into action, his hand on his saber, Amelia holds out her arm blocking the front of him. “Dont, Master Kenobi, I know these creatures, you will only anger them.”
Amelia makes an agile leap over the fence towards the child. The bull huffs in challenge as he sees her approach. She stands between them, the bull shakes his head, scraping his feet against the ground. Pale dust plumes from the movement. He's going to charge. Obi-wan tenses, ready to leap in should Amelia fail to stop it. Amelia squares her shoulders digging her boots into the crusted dirt. The bull lowers his head and Amelia holds out her hand in front of her. She glares with conviction, not even flinching when the bull begins to charge. Obi-wan prepares to jump as the bull closes in quickly. The bull looks up from his charge skidding to a halt only a few inches from her hand.
Dust plumes fly up from its paws, the wake of wind flings the dust into her eyes. But she doesn't back down, she keeps her hand in front of her as she glowers at the large creature. The bantha glowers back, there's a few seconds of tension before it huffs with resignation and turns to run back to the herd. When he finally turns away, Amelia rushes over to Gior, lifting the trough off his leg with ease and scooping him into her arms. She leaps back over the fence before checking on Gior's leg.
“Im s-sorry miss Amelia!” Gior sobs out, “I just w-wanted to ride the banthas again..” Amelia places a hand on his cheek “It's alright Gior, you're safe now.”
Obi-wan sighs with relief when he sees the child is safe, but before he can check on him himself, Amelia scoops the child back into her arms and turns her attention to Obi-wan. “If you don't mind Kenobi, I have to get Gior back to his parents. Your questions will have to wait till I return.” She turns away from him before he can respond and walks with hurried steps, the child gripping onto her shoulders tightly. Obi-wan sighs reluctantly, his questions will have to wait but he hopes she doesn't simply run off before answering them. He notices movement out of the corner of his eye, he looks down to see the small twi'lek girl from earlier looking up at him curiously. He smiles and kneels down to her level.
“Hello there, little one. Are you not going to go with your friend to see if he's alright?” Kyra glances at Amelia then shakes her head with childish vigor. “If Miss Amelia is with him, he'll be fine.” she kicks a small rock in front of her, covering her boot in more dust. “I haven't seen you here before,” she turns and leans closer to him. “Are you one of the hermits my momma talks about?” she says it in a hushed voice as if she discovered his dark secret. Obi-wan chuckles at her innocent question.
“I am just a traveler from another world, I had some questions for Miss Amelia, that's all.” Kyra tilts her head thoughtfully, then spins on her heel to start walking back to Amelia's farmhouse.
She kicks the dirt from the ground with each step “Miss Amelia used to be a hermit too.” She clearly doesn't believe that Obi-wan isn't a hermit. “My mom says she never even talked to anyone in town until she bought her house.” Obi-wan follows behind the child, her kicked up dust clinging to his robes. If Amelia had been a hermit her whole life, how is she good enough with kids to befriend them?
“Amelia had never been seen in town before she bought this farmhouse?”
Kyra jumps onto a rock near the path, balancing atop it. “Yep! None of the hermits ever show themselves in town!” She turns to side eye him, “Usually.” He sighs with a smile.
“Thank you, little Kyra, you've helped me greatly.” Kyra smiles widely, jumping off the rock dramatically and running back towards town with a giggle.
Obi-wan walks back into the small kitchen of the farmhouse. This Amelia is definitely hiding something, her story doesn't line up, too convenient of a tale. He closes his eyes, reaching out with the force, feeling the way it flows throughout the house. He feels a sudden pull towards the archway on the other side of the kitchen.
Through it is an equally cramped living quarters. He scans the bedroom for something out of place, something that doesn't fit. His eyes land on one of the wall panels, it has shallow scrapes along its edges, too perfect to be an accident. He knocks his knuckle on it, the sound confirms the space behind is hollow. He presses his fingers to the edge of the panel, sliding them across where the scrapes indent the wall. One of the scrapes is just deep enough he can use his nail to pry the panel from the wall.
The panel falls perfectly into his hands. Like he suspected, a pair of two distinctive lightsabers sit in the hand-carved wall cavity. He lets out an amused hum, grabbing them from the cavity to hide them in his robe. He returns to the kitchen and sits at the small table once again. There's only one reason Amelia would lie about the lightsabers. Only one reason why there'd be only one grave that's so well maintained, one reason that she'd only appear after the ship crash.