“But is it right, master? You must have seen some of the things on the holonets. What the Republic military has done to the old Hutt worlds, making it so people can’t even leave their planets for months. All those new terror laws passed by the Senate that let the soldiers just search them randomly and arrest them for up for a month without any evidence in former Hutt space…”

  “Even with all of those laws and regulations, the remaining Hutts underground still commit terror attacks against the Republic almost daily. Their hold over Hutt space is nearly fully shattered, but that doesn’t mean the threat from them is over yet. Besides, it’s up to the Republic to make these decisions. We are lucky that we and the rest of the Jedi were not called to combat with the Hutt forces considering it only took a few months for the true military action to be over,” Obi-wan replied thoughtfully.

  “But we’re supposed to defend justice in the Republic. How can we do that when the Republic won’t even free the slaves in Hutt space?”

  Obi-wan sighed. The crux of the matter.

  “No, the Republic hasn’t freed them yet. It’s a drastic change in an already unstable time. Slavery is outlawed in the Republic. After the last of the fighting is over, I’m sure that the Senate will see some reason and take the final step.”

  “But it’s already been almost a year since all of this started! Hasn’t it been long enough? Are we supposed to ignore it when the Senate does something that’s clearly unjust?”

  “Ahsoka,” Obi-wan replied sharply, “The Senators are duly elected from their worlds. I understand your frustration, but it is not the place of the Jedi to enforce our will on the Republic but the opposite. We may have a good cause now, but imagine if we were wrong and freeing all the slaves now only caused more chaos and loss of life rather than waiting another few months? It is not a black and white issue, and must be considered with care. The Senate will do what’s right with the Council’s encouragement given enough time.”

  “I know that, Master. I just… It feels wrong to do nothing when I read about these things on the holonet.”

  “I understand. It has been too long, I agree. But you’re not the only one that feels this way. I’m sure that soon all of this unpleasantness will end and Hutt space will be reintegrated fully into the Republic again. And the slaves freed as they always should have been once the last Hutt remnants are finally stamped out. The Council has told me that if the slaves' freedom is not passed within the month, then they will begin campaigning the senate to take proper action.”

  “Oh. It makes sense the Grandmasters would discuss things like that,” Ahsoka said, seeming a bit embarrassed by the revelation, “I thought that the Council wasn’t going to do anything. The Council has been so silent on what’s happening out there for so long so I just assumed…”

  “Now you know. Don’t go spreading it around though. Strictly speaking, I wasn’t supposed to tell you that. Now, are you ready for your newest mission?”

  “Kidnapped kid, right? Taken on level ten or so right? The parents want help with the ransom?”

  “Right. The parents have the money and a meeting place for the handoff. It’s our job to make sure things go smoothly and the boy isn’t hurt.”

  “What about the people that took him? We’re just going to let them go?”

  “Of course not. But getting the boy back is our first priority. I’ll be handling the gang afterwards. This mission will be far more dangerous than any of the others that we’ve done up to this point. Things may go wrong and even devolve into a larger battle if these people are involved with a larger gang. If I give you an order, even to leave me behind and flee then you must follow it. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Master,” Ahsoka unconsciously reached up and lightly rubbed the right side of her chest where she’d been shot with the blaster a year ago, before letting her hand fall back down to her side, “I understand.”

  “Excellent. Then let’s go. We have roughly an hour to get there, and we don’t want to be late.”

  “Of course, Master.”

  — — —

  Ahsoka held the five year old boy’s hand while carefully keeping her hand on her hip where one of her lightsaber’s sat. She and Obi-wan were slowly backing away, all of the gang members eying them warily as their leader held the briefcase filled with credits that her and her master had brought from the parents.

  Apparently they were very rich, and the ransom for the boy had been high.

  Ahsoka only let out a breath of relief as they left the doors of the dingy bar where the gang members remained unmoving.

  “Are you okay?” Ahsoka asked the boy who was staring up at her as she held his hand.

  “I-”

  There were screams from the crowd and Ahsoka looked to the side to see that Master Kenobi had ducked down and activated his lightsaber.

  Before Ahsoka could react, Master Kenobi moved his lightsaber twice to block something in front of him and Ahsoka saw two little bits of metal spark as her master’s lightsaber blocked them, and another pass by him right above his head before hitting the street behind them.

  Ahsoka brought out her own lightsaber, and felt a warning the Force screaming at her as something came streaking towards her. She moved her lightsaber to block, but just like last time it wasn’t fast enough. She’d been practicing, but she still wasn’t nearly good enough to block something this fast purely with her reflexes.

  Her heart pounded in her throat and she thought whatever was giving her such an intense sense of danger would actually hit her, but Master Kenobi dashed to the side with the Force and put his body between her and the projectile and smoothly blocked it with his own lightsaber.

  The boy who was holding Ahsoka’s hand screamed and fell back to the ground and made her squat down as he dragged her to the side slightly with his weight as his butt hit the street.

  There was the sound of thrusters and a man covered in shining beskar rose into the air on his jetpack and started flying away as Master Kenobi remained standing there unmoving.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Are you going to chase him, Master?”

  “No. There may be others. We won’t separate. I’m calling this in.”

  Master Kenobi took out his communicator and started rapidly speaking the Jedi temple and Republic intelligence to get people moving to try to catch the Mandalorian assassin fleeing on the jetpack even as Ahsoka watched.

  Master Kenobi glanced at Ahsoka and then down at the boy next to her. Ahsoka startled as she realized the boy was sitting there appearing traumatized and bawling his eyes out while she was distracted.

  “Uhm, it’s okay. You’re going home now, no need to cry. The bad man flew away…” Ahsoka began awkwardly as she tried to comfort the boy. With a grunt picked up the boy and carried him a few steps so Master Kenobi could talk over his communicator without the boy’s wailing drowning him out as much.

  No matter what she said, the boy only cried harder. What was she doing wrong? She thought that it would be fine…

  In the end, the boy was returned to his happy parents. Only a little traumatized, but safe home without even a scratch on him. The first projectile, which turned out to be a specialized type of metal dart, had been recovered from where it had shot at Master Kenobi and hit the street. Master had told her that it had contained a potent almost certainly lethal venom that it would have injected into them if it had hit them.

  Ahsoka would remain to train in the Jedi temple while Master Kenobi investigated the mercenary that tried to kill them both. He told her that he had a lead on the bounty hunter, but that it was too dangerous for her to go with him. The clue was from some planet where he had discovered the dart had been made? Kam- Kamino? Yes, Kamino. Ahsoka had never heard of it before, but Master Kenobi seemed to think that the bounty hunter must have bought the special darts there. Master Kenobi had left a few hours ago to investigate, flying off to Kamino on his own without her.

  Ahsoka took a deep breath. None of the other padawans ever worried about all of these big picture stuff. It was fun to brag a bit to them how important her master was and all the important things she did on the missions for him. But sometimes she wished she was able to just sit in the temple and practice her lightsaber forms like all of the other younger padawans her age seemed to do without worrying about the outside world in the slightest.

  — — —

  “A clone army? Ordered by Jedi Master Sifo Dias?” Obi-wan replied blankly, repeating after the Kaminoian President.

  “Of course Master Jedi. Ten years ago. You are here to check on their development, yes? I can confidently say that our gene donor for these clones is excellent. I think that your Jedi Council and the Jedi at large will be quite satisfied with our product. Perfect soldiers, and loyal to a fault to their commanders. Yet innovative enough to adapt to the chaotic situation of battle. Our first batch is fully ready for deployment, tens of thousands. And millions more on the way.”

  “Is that… so?” Obi-wan said slowly, “These soldiers, you meant that they are for the Republic of course? Not just the Jedi?”

  The Kaminoian President paused and gave Obi-wan an indecipherable look from the tiny head perched on the end of his long towering neck.

  “As you say, Master Jedi. These soldiers must be for the Republic if that’s what the Jedi wish to do with them.”

  “I see, I see,” Obi-wan said, mind still reeling from what he had learned. An army at massive sizes, just brewing here for over a decade with no one else aware of it. He had to report this to the Council and Republic with all haste. They had to determine where this Sifo-Dias was and why he had ordered the creation of this army. And how he had ordered it. There had been no discussion of payment, so Obi-wan assumed Sifo-Dias had somehow managed to pay upfront for the creation of all of these clones. Something that he obviously wouldn’t have been able to afford alone.

  The Kaminoian president took Obi-wan on a tour around their facilities and showed the training for the tens of thousands of identical human men in white gleaming armor. The Clone Army.

  At the end of the tour, Obi-wan politely thanked the Kaminoian president for his hospitality and left as soon as possible to return to his ship. He had to return to Coruscant at all costs to tell them what he had learned. An army like this could shake the galaxy…

  He climbed into his ship, and without interruption quickly left the atmosphere and after setting his course, jumped into hyperspace back to Coruscant.

  — — —

  “And so that’s what I’ve learned so far,” Obi-wan concluded, “I came here as soon as I could. I will inform Republic Intelligence next as soon as I discover who has the proper clearance to handle information of this importance…”

  “Now wait,” Grandmaster Windu said and raised his hand, “There is still much that we don’t know. Sifo-Dias disappeared more than four years ago on a mission. We thought him dead, but there is still a chance that he’s still alive. We still do not know the purpose of this army, or how Sifo-Dias managed to commission its construction. Nor do we know how the Republic will react once they discover something this galaxy shaking. We must be extremely cautious with this information.”

  “Agree with Windu, I do,” Grandmaster Yoda said sagely, “Too much unclear, there is. Not know the Republic’s response, we do. Excuse to delay freedom of the slaves in Hutt space, some in the Senate may use this new threat as.”

  “An excellent point,” Grandmaster Windu agreed and nodded, “We must wait at least a month or two for the declaration to pass without interruption. Our allied Senators almost have the votes needed to let it pass at the moment. We can’t disrupt their progress now, at the cusp of their victory.”

  “Investigate more of this situation, first, before telling the Republic, we must,” Grandmaster Yoda concluded, “Keep it secret, until more is known and the vote passes. Otherwise, Chaos only there will be.”

  “I understand the need for secrecy,” Obi-wan protested as the entire semi-circle of the Council turned to face him, “But isn’t it our duty to inform the Republic of this? Even if it’s only the Chancellor and those in the highest levels of government?”

  “You make a valid point,” Grandmaster Windu allowed, “We shall discuss as a Council on who in the Republic should be informed of this, and when, as well as send more of our own investigators to Kamino for more information. But until you are informed otherwise, keep anything you know of Kamino and this Clone army secret even from the Republic. We will inform you if we need your assistance with any of the investigations. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Master Kenobi, you have been a distinguished member of our order. And more than made up for your prior failure with this latest contribution to our Order.”

  “Failure?” Obi-wan said as his body stiffened despite keeping his expression placid.

  “Yes, with Padawan Skywalker,” Grandmaster Windu said casually, “For letting only a few months of absence from you turn him completely away from our order. Such things come from faulty teaching and poor development of one’s emotional control. But as I said, you’ve more than made up for anything in the past with this. And your newest padawan seems to have been doing rather well from what I’ve heard in the rumors. I’m sure that she will become an exemplary Jedi now that you’ve learned from your past mistakes from the boy.”

  Obi-wan opened and closed his mouth a few times, too stunned to form a coherent response at Grandmaster Windu’s audacity to say such things directly to his face.

  “Thank you for your praise, Grandmaster Windu,” Obi-wan eventually managed to say, “Will that be all?”

  Windu glanced at the other Grandmasters and after sensing the mood he looked back to Obi-wan and nodded.

  “Thank you for your time and information, Master Kenobi. You may leave this matter to us, and go back to your own business.”

  Obi-wan left the chamber perhaps a little quicker than was polite. He shouldn’t let Grandmaster Windu’s casual comments ruffle his cool so much. But to pretend that Obi-wan was the one entirely at fault for what had happened when it had been the Council that had driven him to leave…

  Perhaps it had been for the best that Anakin was out there, away from the Jedi and the Council, Obi-wan mused before quickly suppressing the rebellious thought once more.

  No use on focusing on the past. He should go see his current padawan. He had some ideas on how to help her learn how to properly blast blaster bolts when taken by surprise. That was two times now that she’d almost died because she hadn’t been able to block an incoming shot in time.

  What kind of master would he be if he let it happen a third time?