#Because Ahsoka has popcorn ready for us and Tiny Satine and Tiny Obi-Wan are about to put on a show!

[fireflyfish]

Tano and Kenobi: The Duchess of Mandalore

After an exciting adventure out on the Outer Rim, Ahsoka Tano and Obi-Wan Kenobi return to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant with Master Sifo Dyas. Master Dyas believes the two have some kind of connection to the strange Force event that Ahsoka is convinced is related to Anakin Skywalker's birth. Back at the Temple, life continued on for our duo but Tano and Kenobi are soon called back into action by the Jedi Council and receive a new mission: Protect the Duchess of Mandalore, Satine Kryze.Previously on Tano and Kenobi...

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Mandalore.

They're sending us to Mandalore.

Ahsoka felt her mind go blank and the world around her fall away for one brief and blinding moment of panic.

They couldn't go to Mandalore now! Anakin was out there, somewhere. He needed to be found! He and his mother needed to be freed from slavery and he needed to be brought to the Temple where she and Obi-Wan could protect him from Palpatine and whatever other Sith Lords were running around the galaxy at the moment.

A brief memory flashed through Ahsoka’s mind, one where she, Rex, and Anakin were in a cantina waiting for an informant to make contact, back before the Battle of Mandalore.

“So who are we waiting for, Skyguy?” Ahsoka asked as she sipped at her Tarisian latte. “And when are they getting here?”

“I don’t know,” Anakin shrugged, finishing off his shot of Gingensu cactus liquor. “Obi-Wan just said that they would help us and to treat them as you would have the Duchess.”

“The Duchess?” Ahsoka frowned at that, exchanging a look with Rex. She glanced down at her hands, remembering how distraught Master Obi-Wan had been when he returned to the Temple. “Is he doing all right? I know he and the Duchess were very close.”

Anakin shrugged, his own gaze fixed on a distant point, his brows furrowed and eyes dark. “You know Obi-Wan. He could be bleeding to death and missing a limb and he would still insist that he was fine.”

Rex nodded, tossing back the last of his Dantooine beer. “Cody said the same thing. Said the General hasn’t mentioned it but he’s keeping a close eye on him all the same.”

Ahsoka sighed softly. “This must be so hard for him. To come back to Mandalore to face Maul? After everything that’s happened?”

There was silence between the three of them before Ahsoka spoke up. “How did Obi-Wan meet the Duchess? I don’t think I ever asked before. Do you know, Skyguy?”

“I don’t know much other than what Obi-Wan told me,” Anakin said, ordering a mug of caf. “He and Master Qui-Gon were assigned to protect the Duchess when Obi-Wan was a padawan and it was a year-long mission.”

“Wow!” Ahsoka murmured, almost unable to imagine being in one place for more than six weeks, let alone a year. “So what happened?”

Anakin thanked the bartender and paid for his caf before turning back to Ahsoka and Rex. “The Mandalorian Civil War ended and they went their separate ways.”

A year?

A year? We don’t have a year to spend on Mandalore! We have to find Anakin now!

“Knight Tano?” Master Ki-Adi-Mundi’s voice broke through Ahsoka’s panic, immediately dousing it with ice-cold water. “Is something wrong? Have you had a previous experience that would cause a conflict of interest on this mission? If that is the case, we can always assign it to another Jedi. Perhaps Knight Lia and Padawan Rast?”

As worried and anxious as Ahsoka was, the very idea that someone else would go on what the Force had apparently decreed to be Obi-Wan’s destined mission rubbed her the wrong way. The Duchess Satine was Master Obi-Wan’s dear friend and that made her family. Ahsoka couldn’t just abandon Satine to someone who didn’t know the amazing woman she was going to grow up into.

Who knows? Maybe we can negotiate some kind of peace with Deathwatch before it becomes Deathwatch. And just because it took a year with Qui-Gon doesn’t mean it’s going to take a year for me and Obi-Wan to complete this mission.

“No, nothing’s wrong,” Ahsoka said, making sure her voice was clear and strong. She turned to look at Obi-Wan, who was watching her with narrowed blue-grey eyes. “You ready to go to Mandalore, Padawan?”

Obi-Wan sent across the briefest swell of concern and anxiety over their bond before nodding. “I am looking forward to meeting my first real Mandalorian.”

Master Plo Koon chuckled softly at that. “Your good cheer and enthusiasm for your tasks is boundless, Padawan Kenobi. I sense it will serve you in good stead on this next mission.”

Stars above, I hope so, Ahsoka thought as she accepted the datapad from Master Mundi and they were both dismissed.

“Master?” Obi-Wan stuck his head out of his room into the joined living area of their suite of rooms. “Do we have enough time for me to visit the Archives? I would like to do some research on Mandalore before we go. Especially given our fractious history with them.”

Ahsoka looked up from the mission datapad, momentarily distracted from her inner fretting. “I think that would be a good idea. Grab anything you think will be useful on this trip. I have a feeling this mission is going to be more difficult than the Council realizes.”

Obi-Wan frowned and stepped fully out of his room, sitting down on the edge of the sofa. “What do you mean, Master? Have you had a vision? Should we go speak to Master Dyas?”

Smiling faintly, Ahsoka shook her head. “No. It’s not a vision it’s a… feeling. Mandalore is in the middle of a civil war and they’ve requested Jedi to protect their head of state? Doesn’t that seem strange to you? Given our history?”

Obi-Wan folded his arms over this chest, his hand covering his mouth as his gaze unfocused while in thought. Ahsoka watched him think, watched his brows draw together as he mulled over her statement.

And now that Ahsoka had mentioned it, why had the Mandalorians requested Jedi aid in this moment of crisis? Or had they simply requested aid from the Republic and the Senate had just passed it along to the Jedi? What exactly were they heading into?

“It does seem odd,” Obi-Wan finally agreed, his gaze focusing back on Ahsoka. “I’ll keep that in mind in the Archives. Master Plo gave me his master’s code so I should be able to get a full dossier for our mission. Is there anything in particular you’d like me to focus on?”

Ahsoka frowned, leaning back against the arm of the sofa. “Yes. I want you to include the outlying planets in the system, common hyperspace routes, and anything that might be useful.”

Obi-Wan gave his master a half-smile. “Worried we’ll be run off the planet by enraged Mandalorians?”

“I’ve been run out of nicer places than Mandalore,” Ahsoka chuckled. “I wouldn’t put anything past them. But I’m holding you up. Go on ahead and let me know what you find.”

Obi-Wan nodded and stood up, bowing his head to Ahsoka before he headed out the door. She watched him go with a tight feeling in her chest.

This is going to be really hard on you, Obi-Wan. I hope you’re ready for it.

I hope I’m ready for it.

Ahsoka walked back to her room and activated the data access panel, pulling up her personal database and searching for her notes on Mandalore, the Duchess Satine Kryze and Obi-Wan. After a few moments, her entries appeared before her, far too short for her liking.

Taking out an empty datapad, Ahsoka began to download the information.

While the download was processing, Ahsoka stood up and took a long look at her room, wondering what she needed to take with her on the trip. She had assumed, erroneously as it had turned out, that because Obi-Wan went to Mandalore with Qui-Gon that she and Obi-Wan weren’t going to be sent on that mission. 

After all, Qui-Gon’s reputation as a diplomat was well-earned and tales of his exploits often made the holo news. After Plo Koon and Adi Gallia’s investigation on Raxus came to an end, revealing the perpetrator of the bombing as a lone, insane radical, Qui-Gon had been dispatched to bring a resolution to the internecine strife of Acronae and Acromino. It had taken him two months but both parties seemed content, if not happy.

According to Temple rumors, a few particularly brave initiates had approached him to see if he would be willing to take them on as padawan learners but nothing had ever come from their attempts.

Ahsoka wished Qui-Gon would just move on and take a new padawan learner but there wasn’t anything she could really do about it. It wasn’t like she could make him take a padawan. She had already tried that and it hadn’t worked out very well.

“Mandalore,” Ahsoka murmured, gazing out her window at the bright blue sky of Coruscant, watching the speeders move overhead. She wrapped her arms around her waist and leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes.

For a long while, Ahsoka was silent, focusing on her breathing and letting the quiet stillness of the Temple seep down into her bones. It had been a long time since she had had to operate away from the comfort and support of the Temple, to be on her own with only her own smarts and wits to rely on. While Obi-Wan was going to be with her, he was still a teenager and she was responsible for him.

Ahsoka stepped away from the wall and walked back to her closet, opening the door and taking out a small pack and laying it down on the bed.

We’ll have to be prepared for anything. Even being cut off from the Temple. That’s the only reason I can think of that the mission took a whole year.

Turning back to her closet, Ahsoka pushed aside her winter-weight outer robe and an extra pair of robes to reveal the grey outfit she had on when she arrived in the past. Pulling them out of the closet, she looked down at the fabric and tan armor that made up her old outfit.

Fulcrum’s outfit.

It had been three years since she she had last worn the clothing and armor that she was carefully tucking into her bag. Three years of peace and growth under the protective shade of the Jedi Order. Three years spent teaching Obi-Wan how to become the best Jedi Knight he could be.

And now they were going to Mandalore, and their first real mission that had life or death consequences. It was the first step into the dangerous future that awaited both of them.

Mandalore was going to take them one step closer to Naboo, one step closer to Padme Amidala and the Trade Federation, and one step closer to Anakin Skywalker and the chaos and tumult that would turn the galaxy upside down.

Soon, Ahsoka’s time as Obi-Wan’s master would be up.

And there would be no more reasons to keep the truth from him.

The datapad at the terminal let out a chime and Ahsoka walked over to it, checking to make sure all of the relevant entries were included. She was reading through the list, opening each entry and article and closing it to make sure everything was there, when she felt the faintest tug on her awareness in the Force.

She skipped to the end of the list to an entry that included information on the Shadow Collective, the group of criminals and mercenaries that had invaded and taken over Mandalore towards the end of the Clone Wars. Maul had gone to all of the major crime syndicates, demanding their submission to his goal and as Ahsoka read over the entry, she noted that Maul had even tried to threaten the Hutts into giving into his demands.

“We’ll need to start training for him soon,” Ahsoka sighed, pulling a few more entries from her database onto the pad and a few from the Archive as well. Obi-Wan and Anakin’s future was barreling straight towards her and she had to make sure her padawan and his future padawan were ready for it.

“I will be your Temple contact for this mission,” Plo Koon said as he stood at the foot of the boarding ramp that led up into Ahsoka and Obi-Wan’s light cruiser. “If I am not available, Master Ti or Dyas will be your second contacts. One of us should be available for consultation at all time.”

Ahsoka nodded, handing off her go bag to the blue-suited mechanic who was doing the pre-flight checklist before she and Obi-Wan departed for Mandalore. “Thank you, Master Plo. I hope we won’t need to contact you but it’s good to know you’ll be here if we do.”

Obi-Wan stood next to his master, a heavy bag slung over one shoulder. Plo Koon glanced at it before turning his gaze back to Ahsoka. “Are you planning on a trip after Mandalore?”

“The mission parameters didn’t say how long we were going to be gone,” Ahsoka explained, meeting Obi-Wan’s eye. “So I figured we should be prepared for anything. You know what Master Yaddle says, the Force helps those who help themselves.”

If Plo Koon thought this odd or strange, he did not say, only reaching out to clasp Ahsoka and Obi-Wan on the shoulder and warmly bid them goodbye. “I have the utmost confidence in you both. Protect the Duchess, and may the Force be with you.”

“May the Force be with you, Master Plo,” Ahsoka and Obi-Wan intoned before they both boarded the ship.

Obi-Wan dropped his bag off in the small central living space as Ahsoka moved ahead to the cockpit to receive the checklist from the mechanic.

“She’s ready to fly, Knight Tano,” the mechanic said, pushing his hair out of his face. “She’s as good as new.”

“Glad to hear it, Koyle,” Ahsoka smiled. “Thank you. Obi-Wan and I will take it from here.”

“Good luck, Master Jedi!” Koyle called as he headed back to the boarding ramp and vanished back into the hustle and bustle of the Temple Hangar bay.

Obi-Wan pulled up the boarding ramp and set the mag locks before joining his master in the cockpit. He took a seat in the co-pilot’s chair and glanced over at his master. “Are we ready to go?”

Ahsoka took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes. And think this time I’ll let you handle the flying. It’s about time you go used to handling a ship.”

“Is this because of what I said on Commonenor?” Obi-Wan grinned, sliding over into the seat Ahsoka vacated. “You must admit, Master. You fly like all the kath hounds of Dantooine were chasing you.”

“I am an excellent pilot,” Ahsoka sniffed, settling herself into the co-pilot chair with a grin. “Trust me, Obi-Wan. One day you’ll see. I am one of the best pilots in the galaxy. Second only to Master Skywalker himself. And Master Plo.”

“Was Master Skywalker a better pilot than Master Plo?” Obi-Wan asked, curious as he took the handoff from the hangar bay control and gracefully guided their ship out into early morning Coruscant air traffic. “Somehow I never pictured your Outer Rim exploits involving dogfights between small fighters.”

“He was,” Ahsoka chuckled and decided to the end that particular strand of the conversation there. “So… did you bring your entire room or just most of it?”

“You told me to pack anything I felt might be useful, so I did,” Obi-Wan explained, shrugging as their ship climbed up into the atmosphere. “Although I don’t have an undercover civilian outfit like I saw you packing. We’ll need to purchase one for me when we get there.”

Ahsoka shook her head. “We’re not going undercover and besides, the best way for you to go undercover on Mandalore if you wanted to would be to get yourself some armor and a bucket to wear.”

“A bucket?” Obi-Wan asked, glancing over at his master. “I don’t understand.”

Wincing as Rex’s words slipped out of her mouth, Ahsoka waved off Obi-Wan’s confusion. “Sorry. It’s slang for helmet in some parts of the Rim. Usually referring to a Mandalorian helmet.”

“Oh!” Obi-Wan nodded as they cleared the atmosphere and were given permission by the Coruscant Planetary Authority to depart. “Did you encounter many Mandalorian bounty hunters on the Outer Rim?”

Ahsoka smiled to herself as memories of Rex and the rest of the 501st came to her mind, followed by Sabine, her brightly colored armor and rest of the Ghost crew. She settled back in her chair and nodded. “I knew a few. They were good people.”

“Well, that’s reassuring,” Obi-Wan replied and engaged the hyperdrive, vaulting them into the blue-white swirl of lightspeed.

Mandalore was a wasteland, dry, barren and dotted occasionally by domed cities that clung tenaciously to life.

Obi-Wan had never seen anything like it before.

Ahsoka took over piloting their ship once they dropped out of hyperspace. She had spent the majority of their travel reading through his datapad and one of her own, scribbling notes to herself when they weren’t debating over the exact nature of their mission orders.

He had argued that there was an unspoken mandate in the orders, to assist the Duchess in any way possible to bring peace to the wartorn Mandalorian people. His master had insisted that such diplomacy was simply not possible and that they were only there to protect the Duchess Satine as requested.

“But why send us if not to help?” Obi-Wan asked one night as a particularly heinous-looking pod race quietly roared in the background. “Why would the Republic send two Jedi to Mandalore of all places if they weren’t trying to force the Mandalorians to end their civil war?”

“I think whoever requested aid didn’t expect the Senate to send us,” Ahsoka sighed as she watched the pod race. “And I don’t think we should expect a warm welcome, either.”

“Sundari central control, this is Republic vessel 2378,” Ahsoka announced over the com. “Requesting permission and a landing vector.”

A cool, sharp voice returned his master’s request. “Republic vessel 2378 you are cleared for landing on pad 4017 and we are sending the vector now.”

Obi-Wan read the vector aloud as it came through and Ahsoka altered their course accordingly. They finished the rest of the flight in silence, both wrapped up in their own thoughts.

He knew something was bothering his master but he couldn’t divine what it was. Unlike her dark moods, when Obi-Wan could tell Ahsoka was tormenting herself with memories of her master, this was new and different. If he had to describe his master’s current behavior, he would have labeled it as nervous and worried.

What on Mandalore was causing his normally cheerful and unflappable master such anxiety?

After a perfect landing, Ahsoka took a deep breath and gave Obi-Wan a smile that looked more like a grimace. “We’re here!”

“Do you think the Duchess will come to meet us?” Obi-Wan asked, following Ahsoka back to the boarding ramp.

“Maybe?” Ahsoka shrugged, holding her hands up. “But I doubt it. Satine Kryze is the head of state. She’s probably too busy trying to run the government and fight a civil war to come greet us.”

As it turned out, there was a small greeting party of highly ranked Mandalorian nobles, one of them a tall blond man with a goatee and violet eyes. Ahsoka seemed to look over each of them before they stepped out from under their cruiser, Obi-Wan following close behind her.

“Welcome, Master Jedi,” one of the envoys said, stepping forward. The man was garbed in a grey and gold and he bowed low. “I am Tiberon Vizula, of House Vizula. Welcome to Mandalore.”

“We are honored to accept your invitation,” Ahsoka said, bowing to Tiberon Vizula and the other assembled dignitaries. “I am Knight Ahsoka Tano and this is my padawan learner, Obi-Wan Kenobi. We were sent by the Republic to help aid in the protection of the Duchess Satine Kryze?”

Tiberon nodded, his mouth pulled into a frown as he gestured for Ahsoka and Obi-Wan to follow him toward a waiting air skiff. “Yes, I know. I apologize for my bluntness, Knight Tano, but I do not think the Duchess will approve of your presence here. While the Duchess has the utmost faith in her House Guards, there are others in her court who are not so… idealistic. They were the ones who requested additional assistance.”

“And what are your views on our presence?” Ahsoka asked, just a blunt as Tiberon Vizula had been. Obi-Wan would have been shocked but he was used to his master’s unorthodox approaches to diplomacy. Knowledge of a culture and a people were good but following your gut and the will of the Force was better.

Tiberon shook his head and chuckled. “I told her that the Republic wouldn’t be foolish enough to send jetii to protect a Mandalorian duchess and yet here you are. And with a jetii adi’ka to boot.”

Obi-Wan wanted to bristle at being called a child but that would do them no good at the present moment. He took a deep breath and reminded himself that he could only control his reactions to Mandalorians and he was not going to let some tall blond man with impressive cheekbones make him feel like an initiate.

“Obi-Wan is quite capable of taking care of himself,” Ahsoka explained, glancing back at him with a warm expression on her face. The last of the welcoming group took a seat on the air skiff and they were off, being whisked away into the domed city of Sundari. “And he won’t stand out on Mandalore as much as I will.”

“Another reason to question the judgement of the Republic,” Tiberon pointed out with an arch look. “Knight Tano, I know you mean well but we’re more than capable of protecting our own.”

“I’m sure you are,” Ahsoka said, arms folded over her chest, her head tilted to the side. “But all the same, we would like to help in anyway we can. Even if it’s just to report back to the Senate that our assistance has been refused. I’m sure that will be a simple enough report to make.”

Obi-Wan glanced back at Tiberon Vizla, watching him lean back in his seat and turn his gaze to the grey-haired man sitting next to him. They began to have a conversation and Obi-Wan watched them as he sent a thought to his master.

What caused that reaction, Master?

The Republic doesn’t like it when its member systems rebuff its… overtures of assistance. Ahsoka explained, the faintest heat of annoyance in her mental voice. Mandalore and the Republic haven’t always gotten along but these New Mandalorians that have come into power place a new emphasis on getting along with the Republic. They know that turning down this generous offer of Jedi assistance might be viewed by the Senate as a slap in the face.

Obi-Wan nodded, glancing around at the assembled dignitaries. So if they let us help, the Duchess looks weak but if they don’t let us help, Mandalore looks ungrateful in the eyes of the larger galaxy.

Somebody wants to make the Duchess’s life very difficult, Ahsoka observed as their skiff flew further and further into Sundari.

After arriving at an elegantly but severely decorated complex that Tiberon explained was the seat of House Kryze, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan were shown into a bright and airy room ringed with windows and the ceiling made entirely of smaller windows framed with geometric designs. At the far end of the room was a raised dais with a chair on it and seated there, surrounded by an honor guard and her ruling council, was the Duchess Satine Kryze.

She was much younger and softer in the face than the last time Ahsoka saw her but that sharp piercing gaze was still there, as was the air of regal authority. To her right stood a younger girl, her hair a darker strawberry blonde in comparison to Satine’s platinum locks, and it took Ahsoka a moment to realize that it was Bo-Katan, who she had last seen as the leader of the Nite Owls.

Obi-Wan was surprised to see just how much younger the Duchess looked in person compared to the holos he had studied. She couldn’t have been any older than he was and the way her hands were curled up in her lap told him that she was far more worried about meeting them than they were of meeting her.

Tiberon Vizla stepped out from behind them both and announced their presence. “Your Grace? May I present Knight Ahsoka Tano and her Padawan Learner Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

“Come forward,” the Duchess commanded, her voice a little too sharp but not unpleasant as both Jedi slowly advanced toward her illuminated throne and came to a stop at a respectful distance.

Both bowed in unison as Ahsoka took the lead, using her warmest and kindest voice. “Duchess Satine Kryze, we have been sent by the Republic to assist your security forces in… ensuring your continued safety.”

Satine looked down at the two of them, her face impassive but her blue eyes burning a hole right between theirs. “I know why you are here and while I appreciate the Republic’s offer of assistance, I am confident in the ability of my guards to protect me. Surely there is some other crisis that requires your presence elsewhere?”

Ahsoka and Obi-Wan exchanged a look before Ahsoka responded. “Your Grace, my padawan and I are not here to replace your own House guards. We are here to supplement them, to work with you and your people to ensure your safety.”

“Tell me, Knight Tano,” Satine said, her chin held high as she clutched the arms of her throne, trying to mask her nervousness. “Why should I agree to your presence in my court? I believe in pacifism, in bringing an end to Mandalore’s violent history. You are Jedi, a group of people who have no problem resorting to violence in pursuit of your so-called peace.”

Ahsoka’s smile wavered for only a moment before she answered. “We are, of course, here at your pleasure, your Grace. If you wish us to leave you need only say so and Obi-Wan and I will report back to the Senate that our assistance was not required.”

Satine frowned and stood up from her chair. “Is that a threat, Knight Tano?”

Obi-Wan’s eyes widened in shock and affront. How dare this Mandalorian child ruler accuse his master of threatening her? Did she not understand that they were there to protect her? We are here as a courtesy!

“It is a statement of fact,” Ahsoka replied, holding her hands out. “Someone in your court requested our presence, your Grace. Perhaps you might employ us to discover who it was that went behind your back to make such a request.”

Obi-Wan watched as the Ruling Council and the assembled nobles inhaled sharply at his master’s observation. Ahsoka had subtly accused someone amongst them of, if not treason, then at least a lack of confidence in their fellow partisans which was almost as bad as overt treason.

Satine looked away and for a moment, Obi-Wan saw the facade of implacable durasteel drop, revealing a torn and scared young girl, unsure of what to do next. She met his eyes and he gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile.

“Duchess Satine,” Ahsoka spoke, take a few steps forwards, holding her arms open. “We’re here to help you. In any way that we can. We do not have loyalties or vendettas. There is no secret plan by the Republic to interfere in Mandalore’s ongoing conflict. We an impartial third party. We want to help you. Please, let us do our job and I promise you, you’ll barely notice us.”

Satine looked down at her hands and then took a deep breath. “Fine. I will accept your assistance for now, Knight Tano. Welcome to Mandalore.”