#oh its. its just linca

[fiannalover]

Ayesha, your longtime best friend forever is a trans man and one of the new friends you got is an agender lesbian who keeps getting feminized by her girlfriend against her will, you HAVE to learn how to make T!

[fireflyfish]

Tano and Kenobi: Boarding Party

Previously on Tano and Kenobi

After a terrorist bombing on Raxus, Ahsoka Tano and Obi-Wan Kenobi are sent on their way to Mirial to pick up a fellow Jedi before returning to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Everything seems to be returning to normal when their Republic cruiser receives a distress signal. Ordering their ship to drop out of hyperspace Ahsoka sees a familiar planet out of the cockpit window. 

The planet Florrum.  And a fleet of ships that may or may not be pirates.

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“Pirates?!”

Ahsoka frowned, her mouth pulled into a thin line as she stared at the small fleet of light freighters and Corona ships that floated in the void of space between her cruiser and the planet Florrum.

She couldn’t quite wrap her mind around the reality in front of her. The last time Ahsoka had been in this part of the galaxy she had been captured by Hondo Ohnaka’s motley crew of pirates, nearly sold into slavery, escaped, and been captured again only to end up facing off against General Grievous before escaping in a bounty hunter’s ship. To say Ahsoka had less than pleasant memories of this place would be an understatement.

Of course that was at least twenty years into the future that she had vowed to change.

“Master? Is that…?” Obi-Wan couldn’t manage to hide the nervous tremor in his voice as he glanced from the ships to Ahsoka and back. “Are they… pirates?”

“It certainly looks that way,” Ahsoka reluctantly said before turning to Captain Avett. “Open the comms. Maybe we can reason with them.”

“With pirates, Master Jedi?” he replied as the co-pilot got to work sending out the message on all known frequencies. “You can’t be serious! The Republic doesn’t bargain with pirates.”

“I don’t know about you, Captain,” Ahsoka shot back, her brows arched, “but I didn’t plan on getting blown out of the sky today. If there’s something we can trade for our freedom, then we give it to them.”

“What if they’re slavers?” came the captain’s bitter response and Obi-Wan’s eyes grew even more round and scared.

“Then you better hope our backup gets here before they ship us off to Hutt Space,” Ahsoka shot back, moving swiftly down the hallway to the comm panel. Obi-Wan hurried after her, his fear and worry radiating outward and she had to take a moment to center herself and prevent her padawan’s understandable fear from coloring her judgement.

“Obi-Wan?” Ahsoka sat down at the comm panel and watched him as he did the same, his hands curled into fists at his side. “I know you’re scared but I need you to focus now. Just like you did on Raxus. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master,” Obi-Wan swallowed a lump in his throat that was trying to cut off all the air to his lungs. He took a deep breath and nodded to his master, closing his eyes and retreating within himself to find his center.

Almost immediately the panic and fright started to clear out of the Force.

Ahsoka felt the vise on her lungs ease and she sent out a strong feeling of gratitude and pride to her padawan. Master Obi-Wan had been an expert in keeping his emotions under control during tense moments and while her Obi-Wan wasn’t quite there yet, he had already shown a natural gift for handling high-stress situations.

Still it would have been nice to have a longer break between crises. Ahsoka thought as she sent out her own coded message to any Jedi or Republic vessel in the area, asking for immediate assistance. Quite a few frequencies were being jammed by the pirates but thankfully there were still some that were known only to the Jedi and the highest levels of the Republic Security Forces and she focused her attention on those.

Hopefully, their cry for help would get back to the Temple as soon as possible and Master Plo or Master Gallia could be temporarily diverted to rescue them from whatever the pirates had planned.

Assuming they were pirates and not something worse.

“Master?” Obi-Wan spoke up next to her, his voice soft. “We’re being hailed.”

Ahsoka took a deep breath and flipped open the comm channel. “Captain? Put them through to me back here.”

“Yes, Master Jedi!”

Ahsoka sat up straighter and consciously relaxed her shoulders as she watched the blue-white hologram resolve itself into a familiar figure. Someone she hadn’t seen in years.

“Greetings, my Republican friends!” Hondo Ohnaka grinned into the holocamara, looking no older than twenty, if that.

He bowed a little, doffing his cap to his victims. “Welcome to Florrum! Home of the great pirate prince, Hondo Ohnaka! That’s me, in case the tales of my exploits have not made it to the Core yet.”

Ahsoka grit her teeth, telling herself not to roll her eyes or do anything that would imply she had knowledge of the Weequay pirate or somehow upset the delicate balance of the timeline she was on. Besides, the suspicious Captain Avett and co-pilot Lincae wouldn’t understand, to say nothing of Obi-Wan, who watched the holo with trepidation on his face.

Taking a page from Padme, Ahsoka decided to try and charm their way out of the situation they found themselves in, and plastered a cheerful smile to her face. The fastest way to Hondo’s heart is through his ego. Flattery will go a lot further than threats.

“Thank you for such a… warm reception,” Ahsoka breezed, staring down at the holographic pirate hovering over the projector in the comm panel. “Forgive us for our unexpected arrival but we’re here to answer a distress signal from a ship with a compromised hyperdrive. I don’t suppose you would know anything about that, would you, Hondo Ohnaka?”

“A distress signal, you say?” Hondo looked around, as if he were physically searching for the disabled ship itself. “I am mystified! As you can see, all of my friends’ ships are in perfect working order! In fact, we just had our one-hundred-thousand lightyear inspections done. Perhaps there is a problem with your communications array?”

“No, I’m pretty sure we received a distress signal, Hondo,” she shook her head. “But if there’s no one here in need of our help, then we’ll just be on our way.”

“Leaving so soon?” he grinned, a rather off-putting display of teeth and grey wrinkles. “But you just got here! Why don’t you come down and enjoy some of our famous Florrum hospitality?”

Ahsoka glanced off to the side, catching a glimpse of Obi-Wan’s face. His fear was the first thing she could sense in the Force but there was something else, something between confusion and awe, as he watched her converse with the pirate as if she was carrying on a conversation with Master Jinn.

“Well…” she sighed, turning her attention back to Hondo, “as much as I love exploring new worlds, we’re on a pretty tight schedule and I can’t afford to be late to our appointment on Mirial. Thank you for your offer. It was most generous.”

“Oh, no no!” Hondo persisted, leaning forward so that his face took up the whole of the holo projector. “You cannot leave so early! You only just got here! If you will not come down to Florrum then come to my ship! We will have some drinks a few light refreshments and then you can be on your way!”

Ahsoka reminded herself to smile as she politely but firmly refused his offer. “Thank you but I must decline. Republic business waits for no one.”

“Nonsense! There is no Republic business out here! Come, come! Join me on my ship,” Hondo smirked, his beady black eyes shining as his voice lost some of its warm charm. “I insist.”

And with a sharp gesture from Hondo, the signal was cut off and an alarm sounded from the cockpit. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan hurried back to the front of the ship.

“Master Jedi!” Lincae cried. “They’ve locked on to our ship with their targeting array! And they’ve launched tow cables!”

“It’s a boarding party,” Ahsoka spat as a warning siren went out through the ship as the cables and harpoons found their targets along the ship’s hull. “Send out an SOS on all frequencies! Keep broadcasting!”

“Shouldn’t we fire on them?” Captain Avett asked, disbelief clear in his voice. “We’re right on top of them! Surely one of them would be a direct hit!”

“There’s too many of them and we can’t risk making them angry,” Ahsoka shook her head. “I’m not needlessly throwing our lives away if I can help it. Obi-Wan? Follow me.”

Obi-Wan nodded, hot on Ahsoka’s tail as she ran toward the stern of the ship, where the airlock was located. There were yellow alarm lights flashing as they hurried through the hallways and a high-pitched klaxon sound that wasn’t helping Obi-Wan’s nerves.

“Master? What are we going to do?” Obi-Wan asked, his hands drifting to his belt to pull his lightsabers free. “Are we going to try to fight them off?”

Ahsoka took up a defensive position behind a bulkhead, listening to the buzzing sounds of the pirate ship trying to override the controls of the cruiser’s airlock. “Not if we don’t have to.”

Puzzled, Obi-Wan glanced up at her. “Then what is our plan?”

“We’re going to negotiate,” Ahsoka smirked and waited for the boarding party to break through, gesturing for him to take a position behind her.

Obi-Wan’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull in surprise as he did as she commanded. “Negotiate? With pirates? Master, how are we going to do that?”

“Watch and learn, little one,” Ahsoka explained as the airlock started to groan and the control panel flickered from red to green. “Here they come. And put those sabers away. You’ll know when we need them.”

Obi-Wan grumbled to himself but he returned his saber hilts to his belt, telling himself that Ahsoka was his master and she knew what was best. Surely she and Master Skywalker had encountered pirates before and survived.

It wasn’t his place to disagree with her even as a small part of him doubted the pirates would be receptive to any offer Ahsoka would make.

There was a loud grinding shriek of metal on metal and the sudden gasping pop of the seal on the air lock breaking, immediately followed by the sigh of air from the other ship flooding into the hallway. Ahsoka took a deep breath and closed her eyes, reaching out to touch the Force, to feel its choppy waves buffeting against the ship, against her senses.

If she wasn’t careful, things could change and turn from difficult to life-threatening in the blink of an eye. She hadn’t traveled through time and spent two years training Obi-Wan in the ways of the Force to lose him to Hondo Ohnaka, of all people.

They needed to find a way out of this mess with their skins intact.

What would Master Obi-Wan do? What would Padme do?

“Master Tano?” Lincae’s nervous voice crackled over the ship’s speakers. “They’re breaking through the airlock! What do we do?”

“Keep broadcasting!” Ahsoka answered, flicking off the comm as the airlock door finally slid free and the pirates, all Weequay and just as dishevelled as she remembered them, tumbled through the opening. Obi-Wan stepped closer to her, just barely peeking around her before darting back against the wall behind her. “Weequay! There must be a dozen or more!”

Ahsoka doubted that and she canted her head around the corner just enough to make out five, possibly six henchmen. Looking down at Obi-Wan, she raised her finger to her lips, telling him to be silent as she unsheathed her sabers. He went to pull his out but a quick shake of her head stopped him. Not yet, Obi-Wan.

Yes, Master.

I promise. You’ll get your chance to fight pirates if that’s what you really want. Ahsoka winked at him and then stepped out and through the bulkhead with a cheerful greeting. “Hello there!”

The pirates responded as she expected they would by immediately opening fire, sending Obi-Wan into a protective crouch behind the bulkhead, his hands covering his face as Ahsoka made short work of their shots, deflecting most of them but directing a few back at the pirates who either collapsed in an unconscious heap or let out a yelp and shouted for backup.

There wasn’t much to them, their defenses even more pathetic than Ahsoka remembered from the last time she had to deal with Hondo and his ilk.

Of course she had been no more than seventeen at the time and she had been trying to defend a much larger cruiser with six younglings and an ancient droid. Considering her handicaps at the time, Ahsoka had to admit to herself that she did a good job of protecting the younglings.

Master Obi-Wan had said as much once they were safe back in Republic Space.

“Master?” Obi-Wan’s voice broke through Ahsoka’s musing as she stood in the middle of the hallway, staring down at the groaning pirates in front of her. “Are you alright? Did you kill them?”

Ahsoka gave Obi-Wan a half-smile. “I’m fine. And they’ll be fine too. As soon as they send over Hondo Ohnaka so that we can start the negotiations.”

Obi-Wan slipped out from around the bulkhead, his eyes wide as he took in the damage at his master’s feet. Not a single man was left standing and not a one was dead, not even with a particularly serious injury. One of the pirates was slumped against the wall, gasping into a comm. “Boss! It’s a Jedi cruiser! The Jedi wants to talk to you. Says she wants to negotiate!”

Ahsoka waited, her arms folded over her chest. She glanced down at Obi-Wan, who met her gaze with an adoring nod.

His master did indeed have the situation well under control.

“Well, what does she want?” Hondo bellowed from the other end of the comm and Obi-Wan Ahsoka shared a look as they waited. “If it’s just one Jedi, what is taking you so long? Do not think that I will be kinder to you than my dear sainted mother! Excuses will not be tolerated!”

“May I?” Ahsoka sighed, shaking her head and plucking the comm from the pirate’s hand and pulling it to her with the Force. “Trying to board my ship isn’t exactly my idea of good hospitality, Hondo. Now how about we sit down and talk some business?”

“Business, you say?” Hondo’s voice was low, a sign that he was mulling over her offer. “I don’t usually do business with Jedi. Mama says you are all untrustworthy.”

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and Ahsoka shook her head in amusement at his clear disgust. “Are you going to let a little thing like a few Jedi keep you from a tidy profit?”

“Profit you say?” Hondo’s voice perked up at the mention of credits. “What kind of profit did you have in mind? I have heard those kyber crystals in your lightsabers are quite valuable.”

Again with the lightsabers! Ahsoka grumbled to herself as she took firm hold of her annoyance and flung it into the Force. “So I’ve heard. So why don’t you come over to my ship and we’ll see if we can make a deal.”

There was a long moment of silence as Ahsoka and Obi-Wan waited for a reply. And waited.

And waited.

“Hondo?” Ahsoka spoke into the comm, a chill running down her spine. She glanced down the hall that lead to the airlock and then up the central aisle way of the cruiser, trying to pin down what it was the Force was trying to tell her. Obi-Wan peered up at Ahsoka, his brow furrowed.

“Master? Something doesn’t feel right.”

“I know,” Ahsoka stepped in front of her padawan and with a long exhale she ignited one saber. “Stay behind me, Obi-Wan.”

“Yes, Master,” he nodded, trying hard to keep the fear and anxiety behind his shields as they waited for whatever it was that was coming for them. He felt the Force, tight and tense around them and something else. Like a faint shifting as if they were in a boat on water. There was a groan and they both realized at the same time.

“Master! I think there’s more--!”

“They’re coming through, Obi-Wan!” Ahsoka shouted as the hallway suddenly filled with blaster fire, too much for them to handle on their own. “Fall back to the hold!”

Obi-Wan did as he was told, both sabers out and ignited, as Ahsoka followed, the two ready to make a stand in the back hold of the ship as the pirates charged in with a raucous roar. With more room in the hold to maneuver, Ahsoka took the lead in deflecting the attack as Obi-Wan slipped around the side of the room to disarm those pirates who weren’t paying attention to his smaller form.

“Master!” Obi-Wan shouted as he ducked another wild swing and brought his elbow up into a pirate’s jaw. “What do we do?”

“Stay close to me!” Ahsoka fired back as she spun past one attacker and jumped over another blast, lashing out with a foot to take down another pirate who crashed backwards into his fellows.

Obi-Wan darted through the crowd, slicing through blaster barrels as he ran, trying not kill anyone as he hurried back to his master’s side. Once he was there, he took up a position at her back, protecting her as best he could, but more and more pirates kept coming through the hold doors.

“Whatever happens, Obi-Wan,” Ahsoka panted as the odds started to turn against them, “stay close to me.”

‘Yes, Master,” he answered with a grunt as another deflected blast rattled his arms and pushed him ever closer to exhaustion. “I don’t think the Force got our message, Master Ahsoka.”

“What message was that?” Ahsoka took another step backwards and found herself literally back to back with Obi-Wan, her eyes darting from pirate to pirate as they came to a stop, having fully encircled the Jedi.

Obi-Wan looked back over his shoulder at his master, too tired to be frightened. “That we didn’t want it to be pirates the first time out.”

Ahsoka shook her head, just as weary. “No. I don’t think it did.”

And then there was the faint whistling cry of a stun blast and Ahsoka and Obi-Wan knew no more after that.

“Ahsoka?”

“Snips, wake up!”

“Master!” Ahsoka cried out as she woke up in a sudden frantic rush, her eyes darting around the room, trying to place where and when she was. She couldn’t recognize the grey ceiling or the durasteel walls and there was the faint smell of stale ozone that was nothing like the air on the Resolute or the Ghost.

Where was she? Had she gone back to the future? Was everything just a dream?

“Master?”

Obi-Wan.

Focusing on her breathing, Ahsoka waited for her eyes to adjust to the dim overhead light and found Obi-Wan sitting cross-legged next to her. His hands were bound in front of him, loosely clasped, as he watched her wake up. “It’s all right, Master. Everyone is accounted for and uninjured.”

Ahsoka let out a sigh before rolling onto her side and discovering that her hands were bound as well. Pushing herself upright, she reached over to put a hand on Obi-Wan’s shoulder. “You’re okay? They didn’t hurt you?”

Obi-Wan shook his head. “No. I woke up a little bit before you. Captain Avett and Pilot Lincae are here as well.”

Peering over her padawan’s shoulder, Ahsoka could see the captain and the co-pilot slumped together against the far wall and across the hall was another occupied cell opposite theirs. “Who are they?”

“The source of the distress signal, as it turns out,” Obi-Wan explained, standing up and walking up to the cell bars that hummed dangerously.

Ahsoka realized they were in some kind of cell or holding unit, no doubt designed for live cargo.

Pointing with both hands, Obi-Wan introduced the crew of the ship that had sent out the call for help. “This is the crew of the Happy Gundark, Master, and her name is Captain Penyo.”

Ahsoka gave the other captain a weak smile. “Hello. I take it your were ambushed by Hondo Ohnaka too?”

“Yes, we thought we hit an asteroid or some planetary debris,” the captain sighed, shaking her head, the dark braids of her hair sliding over her shoulder as she frowned at the floor. “We are a survey ship, sent out by the Republic to conduct a census of the Sertar system. We had no idea there were pirates on Florrum.”

“Which is just the way they like it,” Ahsoka muttered as she stood up and examined their cell, which was no more than three meters square. It didn’t have ray shields, which would make their escape easier, and the restraints wouldn’t be difficult for her to break out of. Obi-Wan might have some trouble but that wasn’t what concerned her.

How was she going to get the civilians and her own captain and pilot to safety?

“Your padawan told us it was our distress signal that brought you here,” Captain Penyo said, looking up at Ahsoka, her lips quirked in apology. “I’m sorry we took you from your mission, Master Jedi, but I can’t say I’m not glad to see you.”

“It’s Ahsoka,” she explained, bowing her head to the crew of the destroyed ship. “Is this your entire crew over there?”

“Minus several hundred thousand credits worth of droids,” a Twi’Lek crewmember named Joti groused. “Those idiots could have sold those for millions on the black market! But instead they blew them sky-high when they fired on our ship.”

Ahsoka folded her arms over her chest as she paced from one end of their cell to the other. It took her no more than a handful of steps to make it to Obi-Wan’s side but the movement helped burn off a sense of agitation that was tickling the back of her mind.

“Did you check on Captain Avett and the pilot?” Ahsoka asked Obi-Wan as he watched her quietly.

Obi-Wan nodded. “Yes, Master. They’re fine. Just unconscious and Pilot Lincae might have a bruise come tomorrow morning but nothing serious.”

“So what’s the plan?” Captain Penyo asked, leaning forward so she could get a better look at Ahsoka in the dim light of their cells. “How are we getting out of here?”

Obi-Wan’s gaze shifted from the captain back to Ahsoka and she felt a sudden heavy weight of responsibility settle on her shoulders. It was up to her and her alone to get them out of this situation and while she had attempted to contact the Republic and the Jedi Order, there was no guarantee that the message had gone through. They had no weapons to speak of and she had no idea what ship they were on. If Hondo was still on the ship, Ahsoka was convinced she would be able to reason with him and they would be able to get out of this mess without any bloodshed but if Hondo had returned to the surface of Florrum and left an underling to dispose of them then things were going to get a bit more dangerous.

“Did they say what they were going to do with you when they captured you?” Ahsoka asked as she walked back to the corner she had woken up in, sinking down into a meditative pose with her legs crossed and hands resting in her lap. “Anything at all?”

“Yeah,” came a disgusted snort from the angry Twi’Lek. “They’re going to send us to Klatooine and sell us.”

Ahsoka was unable to control her eye roll of disgust. “Why am I not surprised? Obi-Wan? I want you to watch the door. Let me know as soon as you sense anyone approaching.”

“Yes, Master,” Obi-Wan bowed to her as he slid down against the wall and watched the far doorway. “Is that all?”

“And work on unlocking your cuffs,” Ahsoka raised her brows as she inclined her head towards his hands. “I know you’ve practiced that in class before. Now it’s time to put it into action.”

Obi-Wan nodded, pulling his knees up and flooding the Force around him with the bright, sharp light of his focus.

“And for those of us who aren’t Jedi?” came a dry request from Captain Penyo. “What should we do?”

“Rest,” Ahsoka replied with a calm expression, her eyes closed. “When we do make our play for freedom, it’s going to take all of our strength.”

There came a disbelieving grumble from the crew of the Happy Gundark but Ahsoka could sense no darker emotions coming from them, only fear, anxiety and exhaustion. She didn’t know how long the survey crew had been locked up in the hold but she could understand their simmering anger. While meditating and searching for a solution in the Force would be invaluable to their escape, it still looked to them like Ahsoka was flopping down for a little nap in the middle of the worst thing that had ever happened to Captain Penyo and her crew.

While she meditated, Obi-Wan continued to work on the lock that held his binders in place, not strong enough yet to simply pull them apart with the Force. He would take a moment every now and then to glance up at the door and make sure no one was coming before he would try to separate the two halves that made up his restraints. After the first few tries, the friction was starting to rub the skin on his wrists raw and he pulled the sleeves of his inner tunic down with his teeth so that they covered his hands up to his knuckles.

“Does that even work, kid?” the sullen russet Twi’Lek muttered as he took up guard duty for his crew. “I’ve seen it in holovids but never in real life.”

Shrugging, Obi-Wan tried again, letting out a heavy sigh when he failed. “Knights and masters are capable of simply opening them through sheer force of will. Padawans… we have to pick the lock.”

“That’s rough,” Joti replied, watching Obi-Wan work. “How does it work?”

“Locks, like doors, have two natural states,” Obi-Wan explained closing his eye and chewing on his lower lip as he concentrated. “Open and closed. A well-trained knight can easily identify what needs to change within the locking mechanism to switch from closed to… stang.”

Joti shook his head as Obi-Wan’s latest attempt failed. “Why don’t they just teach you how to use a lock pick?”

Obi-Wan blinked, surprised by the suggestion. “Why would I need a lockpick if I have the Force?”

“Cause it doesn’t look like the Force is really working for you at the moment,” Joti observed before he carefully reached through the bars and held out two lock picks. “Do you know how to use these?”

“I have a working understanding of them, yes,” Obi-Wan sniffed, sitting up a little more. “But I’ve never used them before.”

“Well there’s a first time for everything, right?”

Feeling a wave of defeat wash over him, Obi-Wan reached out with the Force to take the lock picks from Joti’s hand when he felt it all slip away, as if the Force itself were being dragged out to sea by a powerful riptide.

He gasped for air, sitting up straight and telling himself to breathe, to focus on a steady rhythm as his heart started pounding wildly in his chest.

What… what’s happening? Obi-Wan stared around his cell, seeing only the unconscious faces of Captin Avett and Pilot Lincae before he looked over to Ahsoka, whose brows were furrowed but she didn’t seem to have noticed anything amiss in her meditation. He was half tempted to chalk it up to his fear and anxiety when the Force came rushing back, a sudden tidal wave of energy, power and sensations washing over his mind, swamping his shielding and swallowing him whole.

For a moment, Obi-Wan thought he was drowning and he kicked and clawed frantically, trying to swim upwards against the overwhelming waves of the Force. They tossed him back and forth in a way he had never experienced before.

With a gasp, he broke the surface and felt air return to his lungs or remembered to breathe: Obi-Wan couldn’t be sure which, but he knew that he was caught in the ripples of something impossibly powerful in the Force.

He took another breath and another, focusing only on the inhale and exhale of his lungs before his awareness returned to the cell and Joti calling for his attention.

“Kid? Hey! Kid! You okay over there?”

Obi-Wan shook his head, trying to recall the details of what had just happened.

There was something warm and light in his chest, filling up an aching void he hadn’t even known was there. It was as if someone had taken a small star and placed it within his rib cage, a small flickering ball of light that radiated warmth and happiness.

It felt alive, whatever it was.

Wonderfully, amazingly, joyously alive.

“What’s wrong?” Joti asked. “Where did you go?”

“I don’t…” Obi-Wan looked up, confused. “I don’t know.”

Ahsoka was working through their escape plan when her inner world exploded with starlight. The black void of her meditation lit up with a galaxy of burning points of light as the Force sang with such joy that it nearly made her weep in empathy. She felt the buffeting sensation of the Force against her spirit, delight and love and something so pure and vital she didn’t have the words to describe it.

What happened? What was that? Ahsoka wondered as she quickly surfaced from her meditation. She opened her eyes with an inhale and gazed over at Obi-Wan who was marveling at his binders, opening and closing them with a simple wave of two fingers. There was a dazed smile on his lips as he worked and there was something different about his face, something she couldn’t quite place in the low light.

“Obi-Wan? Are you alright?” Ahsoka got up from her spot in the corner and crept over to sit next to her Padawan, stunned to find tears on his cheeks. “Obi-Wan! What happened? Why are you crying?”

Obi-Wan looked up at Ahsoka, his eyes round and his expression confused. “I don’t really know why, Master. I was going to use the Force when something… something happened! Something wonderful, I think. I don’t know. I’m having trouble remembering.”

Ahsoka broke the locks on her binders and put an arm around Obi-Wan, touching two fingers to his forehead.

A simple scan of Obi-Wan told Ahsoka that nothing was physically wrong with her padawan but he was right.

Something had changed.

There was a new brightness to his spirit, a faint but steady flicker of something glowing within. Ahsoka reached out to it, gentle and kind, and felt the spark grow brighter, felt it dance and weave in an invisible wind thrown up by the Force and leap from Obi-Wan to Ahsoka, returning to where it belonged.

Completing the circle.

“Master…” Obi-Wan spoke up, drawing Ahsoka’s attention back into the physical world. “I don’t feel injured. If anything I feel… happy. Like when I found out you chose me to be your Padawan. It feels like… joy. Does that… does that make any sense?”

Ahsoka looked within her own spirit and found that she agreed with Obi-Wan. “It does. You’re right. I don’t sense any pain or anger only… happiness. It feels like…”

It felt like when Anakin accepted her as his padawan.

When they were reunited after that nightmare on the moon of Trandosha.

When he told her how proud he was of her on Mandalore.

Ahsoka turned to her padawan, suddenly struggling with crude, abstract concepts like time and numbers. “Obi-Wan? How old are you?”

“Fifteen standard years, Master,” he answered, confused. “I’ll be sixteen in a few months.”

Everything snapped into place, like the most perfect Telladorian mosaic.

Anakin.

It felt like Anakin.

[crystalelemental]

Atelier Ayesha Plus Opinions

Those who remember my rankings will probably have noticed that I am a Dusk Trilogy fanboy.  The Arland trilogy got me into the series, and I greatly enjoy all of those games to a high degree, but the Dusk games are just on an entirely different level for me.  Ayesha is our starting point, and in terms of the number of times I shouted something like "Oh my god, this is so much better," I don't think any game has outdone it ever.  The improvements are many and significant, and if it weren’t for a few areas that I think Escha & Logy really got right, Ayesha would be the uncontested favorite.

CHARACTERS Ayesha has, in my humble opinion, the greatest cast of characters in the series I have experienced thus far.  Out of the entire cast, it says a lot that the only one I can think of that I dislike is at least treated like a goon.  I have a flat 0 complaints about the cast of this game.  Also, I don’t think any cast of playable characters has ever felt so relatable to me...

Ayesha - Ayesha is the best alchemist.  She can be a little spacey, but is good at her craft, sometimes a bit overly humble, but feels very...real?  Something about her opening cinematic being trying to juggle three responsibilities and trying her hardest to eat while synthesizing and commenting in a calm tone that no, she's about to freak out and break down is just...super relatable. And that's retained the entire game. She presents as a fairly composed individual, and it makes the moments of her expressing strong emotions stand out.  She also is an atypical alchemist, in that she doesn’t really identify as one at all.  She’s an apothecary who creates medicines, and just happens to use alchemy techniques to do so.  Also, fun fact: it took me forever to realize the weird hair curl above her right eye wasn't her eyebrow, so for the longest time I thought she just had this kinda smug "everyone is an idiot" look going on in every cutscene.  I’m kinda disappointed that this wasn’t the case, honestly.

Regina - Regina is a good.  I don't have strong feelings about her character, but she's a good friend, and a little silly, which does well when she's interacting with Ayesha.  She also stands out as someone who wants to get things done in her personal questlines, and seems to take her job seriously.  Being a mix between "would kick your ass" and "highly maternal in her own way" is a nice trait combination, and it makes her character feel more developed.

Wilbell - This game's best (human) girl.  Wilbell is a witch, and in this universe, witches are akin to alchemists.  Wilbell insists that alchemists are just ripping off what witches do, but they're essentially the same.  Her occupation makes for some interesting worldbuilding, and the idea that there are related crafts to alchemy is neat. Wilbell herself is very high-energy and childish, but is very eager to prove herself to her grandmother that she's a full-fledged witch.  She's endearing and fun, and a great addition to the cast.

Linca - Oh man, Linca.  So close to taking over for Wilbell.  Linca is...hard to explain.  She's stoic and strong, but also a complete dork.  She has no idea what to do in social situations, and just wants to stick with Marion, despite being frustrated by the things Marion will constantly ask her to do (example: make 100 friends, please take a regular bath, etc).  Her character is delightfully quirky, and has some interesting history as...some kind of clone?  It's hard to tell.  All we know is there are several Lincas, and she's one that was rescued by Marion.

Marion - I want you all to take a moment and acknowledge how every character so far is listed in recruitment order, and they’re all excellent female characters.  You can only bring three in a party at a time.  Do you see my frustration?  They’re all so good, and Marion is another excellent addition to an already unbelievable playable cast.  Marion is Linca's supervisor, but also a close friend. Marion is a high-strung working woman who just wants to catch a break. I...definitely feel that one.  She has a lot of contempt for "Central," basically the command center of the organization she works for, and feels things would run more smoothly if the smaller groups were able to run themselves effectively.

Juris - Juris is a hunter-man I expected to not care much for, but he winds up being pretty endearing in his own way.  He's very serious and down to earth, but in that kind of relatable way where he's laid-back and easy to get along with.  I have no strong love of this guy either, but he'sgood .

Odelia - Actual best girl, no contest.  Odelia is an automaton who watches over the cradle of knowledge; a storehouse of books from throughout the centuries, stockpiled here to preserve in the event of catastrophe.  Despite being a robot, Odelia does that excellent thing where her mannerisms and quirks feel very human, and she presents as more emotional than you may expect.  I mentioned before that people not understanding their own emotions was a character trait I adored. Robots who understand and learn feelings are the only trait on par.  I love that, and that's Odelia, essentially.

Nio - Nio is Ayesha’s sister, and is kind of a quirky goon.  I love it.  She’s a great source of entertainment, and has an excellent dynamic going with Ayesha.

There are several of the side-characters who wind up being great.  Harry is a delight in his antics, Ernie is a kindly friend for Ayesha, and even Ranun, who I generally dislike, gets a pass because everyone tells him to stop being a bum and get a real job.  Everyone in this game is great, which leads into the final piece...

Keithgriff - the teacher.  Keithgriff comes across as highly abrasive, much like Astrid.  He can come across as a bit of a dick, and I strongly disagree with his notion that knowledge should always be self-made (educating others is a valuable method of keeping humans advancing), but his stance is based on the idea that knowledge in the wrong hands is dangerous, and direct experience from someone with a good mindset is more critical than ensuring knowledge is spread for free.  Again, I don’t entirely agree, but it’s a fair stance, he just comes across as a grumpy old man about it.  It feels very different from Astrid, who is an asshole for no reason all the time, and in a way that makes him more likeable.  He's also a hugely important character, in terms of developing the world around you.  More on that in a bit. STORY The surface story is that Ayesha’s sister, Nio, went missing a while back and is presumed dead.  When you visit her grave, Nio suddenly appears, and a man named Keithgriff appears to explain that Nio is still alive, but only has about three years before she will definitely die.  You, Ayesha, must learn the secrets of the flowers scattered throughout the world, and unlock the secrets of alchemy in order to save her.  Much like Totori, it’s a fairly strong motivator, but it’s more consistent throughout the story.  There’s a frequent reminder that Nio is out there and what your goal is supposed to be, with a lot more emphasis placed on both Ayesha’s desperation to save her sister, and the need for alchemy specifically to be what saves her.  But as I said, this is the surface story.  There’s a lot going on in the background that is just a delight.

SETTING The setting for Ayesha is, I would argue, its strongest point.  The background story of this game is about the world itself, and focuses heavily on the impacts that alchemy has had on the environment.  There are small scenes throughout, such as Keith explaining how alchemy once turned an ocean into the barren wastelands to the west.  Keith’s emphasis on alchemists needing to seek their own knowledge, and his belief that knowledge in improper hands will result in catastrophe, which is why he’s gone out of his way to destroy relics of the past to erase easy access to knowledge some people shouldn’t have.  As for the impact it had, that would be what they call the Dusk.

The Dusk, at this point, is ill-defined, but you can get an understanding of roughly how it works.  It’s an environmental problem on a global scale.  Because of misuse of alchemy in the past, the environment has suffered tremendously, and while it can heal, the cinematic in Vierzeburg upon arrival comments that the city has survived many Dusks, which means this is a recurring cycle.  The problems in the environment aren’t going away, and they’re a massive problem for humans.  Significant enough that a location like the Zweiteturm exists.

The Zweiteturm is, bar none, the coolest place in all of Atelier thus far.  It’s a giant library filled with the collected knowledge of all humanity.  Its existence is just a neat thing at first, but you later learn that its presence is entirely as a safeguard.  If the Dusk happens, and for some reason humans can’t weather the problem and are largely wiped out, their collected knowledge will at least remain, potentially to be used again one day.  The being that captured Nio is the guardian of the other cradle: the Cradle of Life, which is designed to house all forms of life within itself for the same purpose.  If the Dusk wipes things out, at least the cradle of life will have a backup to be used when a solution is found.  The impact and significance of the Dusk is portrayed wonderfully through the various settings in this world, and I absolutely adore how well you get a sense for the severity of this phenomenon.  Keith’s storyline also adequately demonstrates how these crises are human-made, and adds a level of significance to the act of performing alchemy that wasn’t present in previous games.  In particularly, it presents the things that alchemy has made, which in this game, includes Slags and Homunculi. 

Slags are your primary enemies in this game, and the implication is that they were created for manual labor to help humans.  They work in the Zweiteturm, and are generally helpful until a malfunction causes them all to go haywire and they attack people.  You also have the Slag Dragon thing in Keith’s quest, which suggests that some Slags were created more as weapons, and exist to destroy, with an almost escalation of arms by creating stronger and stronger Slags.  With the implication that the ancient civilizations were in conflict with one another, this well may be the case.

The other is Homunculi, and they are more ambiguous.  They’re these adorable, friendly creatures that absolutely love “Sparkles.”  Sparkles are candy.  They just love it.  They’re also effectively immortal.  They die periodically, but are instantly brought back to life somehow, creating a sort of automatic reincarnation cycle.  There’s a small village of these things off to the west, but ultimately they don’t seem to impact the plot much.  They’re just around, and implied to be a creation of alchemy rather than a natural species. And because of their seemingly eternal nature, it doesn’t seem like they reproduce, and the ones that exist may well have been made centuries ago.  It’s an interesting race to introduce, considering that these were created for a purpose, certainly, but with the loss of the ancient civilization, likely due to the Dusk, the Homunculi are roaming free and still built their own society.  It’s pretty interesting to see how these created races have developed throughout time and what they do without their creators.

ALCHEMY SYSTEM Ayesha’s system is very different from the Arland games.  You get a few alchemy skills, which can be interesting to use, but don’t add a ton.  One of your skills is being able to transfer properties, something you did for free in previous games, so I’m not as big a fan.  You can use each skill only once during alchemy, so use them wisely.  You also have another major change, in that ingredients have static properties.  Gone are the days of randomized properties on everything.  On the one hand, this is kinda nice.  If you need a property, you know exactly where to get it, and the rest is figuring out the synthesis chain that will get it where it needs to go.  On the other hand, it can make some things really difficult, as you’re no longer able to rely on having a billion items to work with all having different properties, so one of them must go right into the synthesis you want.  It requires a lot more synthesis chaining than previous games as a result, I feel.  This is far from a bad thing, but it is a significant change.

The exploration items are back, including the ability to travel faster, hold more items, etc.  I’m really glad to see these things make a return, because I love using these kinds of items.  Having them carried over in NG+ is also just a huge benefit.

BATTLE SYSTEM Now here we have a Totori-esque setup, in that enemies are tough, and you will be relying on items pretty much forever.  Ayesha is a healer by trade, which is a facet I adore.  I love playing as the healer, and having Ayesha’s main role being to use healing items for others is a blessing.  Equipment has significance, but again, it’s like Totori in that the significance is minor.  You can make equipment significant, in that you can boost skill damage to ludicrous amounts, but that’s about it.  The real interesting thing is the superbosses.  Skills do not damage them much, regardless of the power you pack, and they often have their own skills that can blast your party into powder.  So what’s the way to win?  Stall battle.  Honestly, it’s not a ton of fun, but conceptually, it’s beautiful.  Ayesha’s a healer, so the way to win against these impossible odds is to simply have the strongest healing potential you can.  Your skills will make shorter work of the fight, but each superboss takes 30 minutes to an hour to beat, because you deal so little and they have so much going on.  Unlimited healing is your only way to win, which is conceptually fantastic.  The problem is, these enemies tend to have methods that will still wipe your party if you’re not careful or are unlucky.  That’s what I take issue with more than anything.  If my answer is a stall battle that will take 45 minutes per boss, at least have the decency to make sure I will not lose if I’ve set everything up properly so this doesn’t get annoying.  Shortening the fights would also help...

Battle is also altered, in that there’s a circle formation around enemies now, instead of going face to face.  This allows for things like back attacks, and positioning your allies to either set up follow-up attacks, or spreading out so that enemies with smaller AoE attacks can’t hit everyone at once.  It’s a neat system, though I can’t say I used it all that often to its proper effect.

Now, the real big change is in how you make equipment.  Instead of forging them, you use whetstones for weapons you find, and dyes for armors.  That’s right, find.  Weapons and armors drop from enemies, with higher-level enemies dropping higher-level gear.  You can apply the whetstones or dyes to them in order to transfer properties, or to improve quality to the level of the item applied.  These items are also fabulously cheap by comparison, and you can synthesize several at once.  What this results in is a delightful shift away from picking two other characters and rocking that party all game to avoid bankruptcy, into being able to apply a cheap whetstone to everyone so the whole party is outfitted, and can be used in combat interchangeably.  This makes it a lot easier to test out party members to find out which ones you like best, and gives you the ability to build friendship ratings much more easily because everyone is combat viable now.  It’s a very welcome and wonderful change, with the only real issue being obtaining the items in the first place.  Thankfully, late game, a high-level enemy that’s easy to beat shows up as a group, and you can easily farm the best weapons and armor sets in about 20-30 minutes, no issue.

OTHER MECHANICS Ayesha has a memory system that allows you to spend accumulated points from major plot events, completed requests, and just talking to people, on gaining specific bonuses.  Some bonuses will be stats, others will be in getting additional synthesis items, etc.  There are a lot of great benefits, but you generally can’t afford much until later in the game, so you have to be rather selective at first.

The only other thing I can think to mention is requests.  Random people in different towns will ask you for things, and you get a time limit to complete them.  Completing them in that time nets you the rewards, but taking too long results in losing out on at least parts of rewards.  You can stall the timer, though, by not talking to people.  So it becomes this interesting game of whether or not you feel like you’re in a position to fill the next request these people might ask for.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS I am in no position to really talk about art direction in an intelligent way, because I know virtually nothing of art theory, but the change in artistic style in the Dusk trilogy is fantastic and I adore it.

Also this may be something unique to me, but the Notes system outright lied to me.  I had to find one more flower to finish the hunt for Nio, and I could not for the life of my find it.  I checked notes, and all it said for flowers was to check the temples.  So that’s what I did.  It wasn’t there.  I later stumbled upon the correct path by accident, but how bad is it that your hints are lying to you?  For a while, this game ranked below a few Arland games because of this, as it has a very strong Totori-vibe in the negative sense.  Fortunately, I found it in my heart to forgive, in part because I would’ve found the flower easily if I hadn’t completely forgotten to explore a segment of the map.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS Atelier Ayesha is amazing.  This game is such a drastic change from the Arland setup, and I feel like it’s improved in every way.  The biggest adjustment is, by far, an emphasis on the location you live in as well as the over-arching theme of seeking the truth and the inherent dangers of misusing the powers of alchemy.  It’s the level of heavy backstory against a fairly upbeat cast that really hooks me.  I love Atelier Ayesha so much, and this game got me so hyped up for the Dusk trilogy it’s unreal.  I have not often gotten this excited about games, but wow did this one ever captivate me.

If you enjoyed this (for some reason), consider checking out the write-ups for the other games in the series as well!

Atelier Rorona Plus Atelier Totori Plus Atelier Meruru Plus Atelier Ayesha Plus Atelier Escha and Logy Plus Atelier Shallie Plus Atelier Sophie Atelier Firis