Chapter 153: Padawans
Chapter 153: Padawans
- In Transit – 83 Days into the Clone Wars-
Ahsoka’s life had become very strange over the past month. Well, a bit over a month now, really. Though she supposed Master Ti hadn’t been too unusual before they’d reached Kashyyyk. Not unusual compared to the newer methods the Jedi Order had introduced, at least. The very methods that had, thankfully, spared her from being sent off to one of the service Corps. Not that she thought the Explorer Corps, in particular, would have been too bad. Not after having gotten to know some of the ones operating out of Tython and discovering they were pretty badass.
Still, her desire to be a Jedi Knight had never wavered.
It had, in fact, only gotten stronger in the last few years as the Jedi Order underwent changes that might have been shaky, uncertain and a little scary at times…but had honestly produce pretty awesome results in the whole! Seriously! A lot of Jedi had gotten away with running off to help take down the Hutts for good! Then even more had suddenly launched their own Crusade, of sorts, against corruption within the Republic itself. Something which Master Ti had explained was partly responsible for both the war being put off long enough for the Order to prepare…and for the Senate being less stubbornly resistant to change than it would have been.
Come to think of it, she supposed the last few years had been pretty wild.
Which didn’t change the fact that even all those changes, like getting the chance to fight Dark Side creatures on Tython as a ‘combat finishing school,’ still didn’t hold a candle to the weirdness since joining up with the League. Master Ti had lovers. More than one! All of which were really hot. Ahsoka had not known she had a bit of a thing for Twi’leks before seeing her Master kiss Master Aayla! Blushing for a moment at the memory, as well as several gained since then (Master Aayla and ‘shy’ didn’t belong in the same sentence!) Ahsoka quickly distracted herself with the even weirder thing that was happening right now.
“…and if you twist this little bit here, using a precise bit of the Force…there we go! One graffiti grenade! This precise alignment of the paint will splash League icons all over our targets! We have to let the Sanrafsixians know that we were the ones that liberated them! Just because we can’t openly encourage them to apply for League membership, doesn’t mean we can’t quietly prod them in the right direction! They’d be so much better off with Master, after all!”
Yeah, her. Zavra was…well, the only way that Ahsoka could describe her was ‘a hell of a trip.’ She’d been given the good pain meds once, when her montrals had been growing and the sheer overwhelming noise of Coruscant had become too much for her while she adjusted. That ‘trippy’ experience was the only thing she could compare the Sith woman showing her how to turn a thermal detonator into a weapon of mass paint propaganda.
Not that she wasn’t loving every minute of it. The Mashed Potato Rotary Cannon had been a work of art, and they’d barely even gotten a slap on the wrist for it! No, weird as life had gotten, and uncertain as she was about some of Master Ti’s teachings compared to what she’d grown up with, she couldn’t say she’d rather be anywhere else in the galaxy. Particularly since…
“What if we also used them to make crude depictions of how the Republic screwed over the Outer Rim? That would do almost as much good, right? Reminding them that going back to the Republic isn’t going to be great, if the past is an example?”
Instead of reprimanding her, Zavra beamed, always happy to actually listen to Ahsoka’s input.
“An excellent suggestion, young Padawan! Now, which do you think would be easier to make as a stencil. A Republic Seal that looks like a puckered Hutt asshole? Or a dildo-ship pegging a Wookiee? Everyone sane likes Wookiees, and everyone knows it was mostly the League that protected them!”
Shuddering at both mental images, Ahsoka wondered if maybe she hadn’t found a pathway to things some would consider…unnatural. Oh well, her mental and emotional trauma was for a good cause! Probably! Certainly, it was for a funny one, which would be nearly as good!
“Umm, do Hutts even have assholes? Maybe, a Neimoidian would be better? They are still pretty ugly and a lot of the Outer Rim got screwed by the Trade Federation. Plus, the Wookiee thing could be taken the wrong way, I think...”
… … …
- Coruscant – 85 Days into the Clone Wars-
Anakin normally hated the Halls of Healing, as any self-respecting Jedi should. He was, despite the recent loss of his hand when he barely survived his Blade being shot apart around him during a raid, having far more trouble with that state of mind than usual. Part of it was owed to the fact that brand new cybernetic technology, brought back from the League of Free Stars by Jedi after the Hutt Crusade, meant his new hand was basically indistinguishable from his original. All while having superior strength to said original. Honestly, Anakin was impressed with the tech and had been happily reading up on it while waiting out the installation and adaption period.
The majority of the reason that he kept making his appointments for the Halls on time, however, was the newly raised Jedi Knight that was handling his case. He’d recognized her, of course. Who in the entire galaxy wouldn’t recognize Barriss Offee after she’d outed a Sith Lord by punching him in the face with Force Light?! Well, not literally punching, of course. But effectively. Sure, Sovereign Midoriya had blurted out what he did, but it had been Padawan Offee who’d sealed the deal and been plastered as a Jedi Hero across the holonet for doing so! A title deserved twice over, for helping rescue so many Senators and civilians from the collapsing Senate Dome!
Honestly, he’d figured she was fighting on the Front Lines somewhere, and that he just hadn’t been on the same front as her.
He certainly hadn’t expected her to be serving as a newly raised Jedi Knight in the Healing Halls…but he couldn’t say she didn’t fit right in. She was practically glowing with joy as she helped people, and she’d gotten a wardrobe upgrade since her time as a Padawan. She’d kept the hood in tribute to her former Master, but shifted from robes to a fairly tight outfit he’d noticed more and more female Jedi wearing. It was, as he understood it, originally modeled off the undersuit of the armor Master Ti and former Jedi Knight Aayla Secura had begun popularizing. A number of other Jedi with connections to the League had managed to acquire versions of it, as well as started spreading it to other Jedi in the Order, though it seemed haphazard in adoption even by those on the front lines.
Here in the Healing Halls, he’d seen a surprising number of the female Jedi wearing the undersuits, and actually learned why when he’d been a tiny bit high on pain meds and complimented Barriss on it. Her blush had been quite pretty, and she’d stammered out the explanation. Apparently, the bodysuit was a lot cooler than robes, less prone to catching on the medical equipment, and fantastically easy to get blood out of due to its original design role.
Honestly, Anakin just appreciated the way it hugged Barriss’s figure. Who knew she’d been hiding abs like those, and more, under those ridiculously over-the-top frumpy robes her Master favored? He certainly hadn’t, and enjoying the view was a good chunk of what kept him coming back on time for every appointment…
… … …
- In Transit – 87 Days into the Clone Wars-
Shaak Ti blocked Ahsoka’s flurry of blades in rapid succession, before stepping just so into her guard and disrupting her balance with a quick kick to one knee that her Padawan mostly avoided. Ahsoka was forced into an awkward flip that she almost fumbled the landing on to do it. The partial hit likely still would have bruised a bit, if not for the very reason they were sparring in the first place. Instead of punishing her for the fumble, Shaak let her Padawan recover before reengaging and commenting.
“Good! But you haven’t quite compensated for the weight of the armor yet. It’s not much, and even for pure Ataru users like yourself and Aayla, the protection it offers is more than worth the slight increase in weight. We will continue with these sessions daily, two hours of sparring minimum, until we reach Sanrafsix. If you wish to take part in the fighting there, you need only adjust to the armor to my satisfaction within that time frame.”
Ahsoka brightened, even as she tried hard to disengage from the close exchange that Shaak had forced her into. Her new Padawan was unquestionably talented with her sabers, having taken to instruction by Aayla in the use of a second with a degree of raw promise that made Shaak want to wring the neck of the instructors whom had tried to suppress her use of Jar Kai. Yes, it was an unpopular ‘war-like’ addition to a lot of Jedi, but that should not have been enough to deny her student when she was so obviously inclined toward the style.
“You will not be allowed onto the battlefield until you have sufficient mastery of the armor. The sheer chaos of a full-scale battle strains even the best precognition, in ways you’ll need to survive several such engagements to truly adapt to. The armor can and will save your life from a stray blaster bolt not even meant for you. The phrik plates will outright stop even a lightsaber for quite a while, and even the bodysuit will resist fire from low-level small arms like a sidearm.”
Finally letting her Padawan disengage enough to return to her preferred forms, since this was supposed to be getting her used to moving through them in the same armor Shaak, Aayla, and Zavra all used, she was pleased when Ahsoka had the breath and focus to respond. Frequent sparring with her and her lovers, including Izuku the few times he could spare the time, had done wonders for her Padawan’s stamina. As had starting her on the basics form the Matukai used for conditioning. She was far from the master of those required for the benefits to really kick in, but her Padawan could fight as long with the armor as she was managing without it when Shaak had first taken her on. An excellent improvement for time invested so far.
“I think I like it, Master Ti! I’m surprised more Jedi don’t use armor like it…though the information overlay is still a bit much. At least in a fight. It will be pretty nice having the sensor information for scouting, I think.”
Shaak nodded at that observation, unsurprised.
“It can be overwhelming at first. I suggest paring the information displayed down to the bare minimum until you’re more experienced using it. The protection is more important for the moment than its other features, and you’ll eventually adapt to the extra information it provides. As for why more Jedi don’t use it…I suspect it will enjoy at least some level of additional adoption with the war on, but there is resistance from a lot of Jedi who don’t approve of our order being seen as ‘war-like.’”
Ahsoka winced at the acid in her Master’s tone with that last phrase. Though she couldn’t exactly disagree with the disdain. Not considering how long she’d struggled for recognition of and training with her dual-blade style. She knew exactly the sorts of ‘traditionalist’ Jedi Master Ti was referring to. An identity they didn’t even really deserve. A fact she’d come to realize since starting to work with one of the Shan family’s holocrons that Master Ti had ‘on lone.’ Those ‘traditionalist’ Jedi’s idea of ‘tradition’ was less than a thousand years old, while the Jedi Order’s history as a whole spanned twenty five times that.
The Jedi Order had a history of war, and while armor had never been universal, it had often been somewhat common among Jedi Guardians during wartime. Even a great many older styles of robes had apparently been reinforced with either armor panels or Force techniques that strengthened them to the point they might as well have been armor. Likewise, double-blade and dual blade styles had been far more common in the past. Virtually the entire Shan family had used double-bladed sabers, just as one example. Whereas these days it was a style restricted almost entirely to the Temple Guard, and Jar Kai was even rarer in total number of users.
She was very glad her Master was something of a reformist. Though she could have done without the teasing she’d experienced when Master Ti had first introduced her to the armor. At least she’d only had to wear the ‘bunny girl’ version a few times, as a ‘training set’ that was lighter and less armored, before graduating to the version her mentors used.
Admittedly, the fact that the armor had originally been a joke meant to mess with Padmé Amidala was pretty funny, though…
… … …
- Ord Mantell – 88 Days into the Clone Wars-
Jedi Padawan Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy was ecstatic at how well she was doing, as she and Master Kim fought their way through to the command post of the 2nd Droid Army of Ord Mantell. Shifts in the Republic’s fleet deployments had allowed more ground forces to land, even if the skies above the planet were still a source of ever-changing complication as ownership of the orbitals over any one section of the planet changed hourly, or even faster at times. Instead of reinforcing the Ord Mantell fleet, the CIS had chosen to open a new battle line at Gizer, attempting to bypass Lantillies. From what little Tallisbeth knew, that was turning into another slog. One that was unfortunately favoring the CIS, as Lantillies was being pressured by Admiral Trench as well and unable to help as a result.
Still, the failure of the CIS to reinforce here on Ord Mantell while the Republic had managed to bolster their own fleet meant their little aspect of the war was going better. Though, if she was pressed to admit it, Tallisibeth would reluctantly confess that she wasn’t so much committed to the war, as she was happy that she’d finally broken through some serious issues on her path to becoming a Jedi Knight. Something the was in firm evidence as she actually managed to use telekinesis in battle, flinging a Super Battle Droid into a group of B1s in order to breach a choke point.
Tallisibeth, better known to most as ‘Scout,’ had never had a particularly strong connection to the Force. It had very nearly prevented her from making it as a Padawan, in point of fact, and quite a few of her fellow initiates and all too many Knights had been shocked when Master Kim had chosen her. She had been grateful of course…but she had to admit that she was even more grateful that Master Yoda had suggested to Master Kim that both of them might benefit from visiting the Ossus Academy.
They hadn’t been the only ones to do so, of course. The Grandmaster had been quietly directing a fistful of both individual Jedi and Jedi-Padawan pairs to Ossus since his own first visit there, one of several initiatives intended to ease tensions between them and the Jedi Oder. Which, given that several of the founding instructors of the growing institution were either former Jedi, or else groups which had been either rejected or exiled from the Jedi Order, was probably wise of him.
Whatever the Grandmaster’s larger reasons, Scout herself might as well have found a personal paradise. She’d taken to Matukai training incredibly well. Discovering, as many had before her, that their training enhanced and developed otherwise weak connections to the Force into something significantly stronger. For the Matukai themselves, that mostly turned into incredible mastery of all physically-boosting aspects of the Force. For someone like Tallisibeth, who already had previous Jedi Training, though?
Well, she took a certain amount of glee in figuring out just how far she could make droid bodies bounce, if she nailed them just right with a telekinetic throw. Sure, it was never going to be her main means of fighting with the Force, but it was seriously satisfying after a decade and a half of barely being able to lift her own lightsaber with the Force. The fact that she’d gotten absolutely shredded while working out with the equally shredded and prone to frequently-working-out-topless Matukai eye-candy had been a nice bonus too…
… … …
- Coruscant – 95 Days into the Clone Wars-
Anakin gaped in shock at what the small grouping of Jedi High Councilors and his Master had just told him. There were only three Councilors present, the war demanding too much of their attention to allow the full High Council to convene for day-to-day affairs, leaving to such affairs to be handled by a triumvirate of Council Members most of the time. With that being the norm, now, and Anakin only barely off medical leave, he hadn’t expected much from the meeting. He certainly hadn’t been expecting to be offered his chance to undergo his Trails of Knighthood! Forcing himself passed his surprise, he finally managed to stammer an answer out, flushing a bit as he did so.
“Ah…if you believe I am ready, Masters? I would, of course, be honored…”
It was Master Kenobi, smiling widely, who answered for the group.
“You are more than ready, Anakin. You’ve come a long way in the last year and a half, with most of your missions for that time being effectively solo assignments. Both when you were helping develop the Blade, and now as you’ve taken a leadership role in the starfighter squadrons scouting and performing deep strike raids on CIS supply points. The mature way you’ve handled your recent injuries has only finalized a decision I was already near-certain of. Something which also, by-the-by, has negated the need for the Trial of Flesh. Your Trial of Skill and Trial of Courage have also both been marked as completed by your combat actions in the war so far. You will, of course, still need to take the Trials of Spirit and Insight…though we nearly waved the latter, given the skill you’ve shown with Force Navigation.”
Anakin laughed, he couldn’t help it. The thought that he’d nearly skipped everything but he Trial of Spirit, which was never skipped for any reason, outside of absurd circumstances like managing to fight off a Force Ghost or something, was just…bizarre. Given how far he’d come with seeing through illusions and other skills in Force sensing since first the scare with Palpatine and then the additional needs of Force Navigation they’d mentioned, he was certain he’d breeze through the Insight Trial as well. Which he suspected they knew but had wanted him to face more than one trial, at least. It was supposed be the Knighthood Trials after all, not the Knighthood Trial.
He just hoped he was ready to Face the Mirror, as it were, in the Trial of Spirit. It was always the most vital trial, the one most likely to reveal flaws in yourself, rather than in your training. Yet he would face it without hesitation, and despite some doubts he’d had after Palpatine had been revealed as a Sith. It was the way forward into making more of a difference in the galaxy, after all. If, perhaps, he also might have certain thoughts about also being an equal to a certain green-skinned healer he’d struck up a friendship with while in her halls…well, that was just a bonus. Though, hopefully a positive one.
“Thank you, Master. I will do my best to live up to your expectations. Yours as well, of course, Councilors.”
Master Kenobi’s smile was softer this time.
“You always have, Anakin. I don’t believe this will be any exception to that. Do your best, stay true to yourself, and I believe you will pass with flying colors.”
A warm feeling of accomplishment flared in Anakin’s chest. There was also a very faint and strange feeling as if, in some manner he didn’t understand, he’d somehow dodge a blaster bolt with his name on it. But for the life of him, he couldn’t quite pin the feeling down, or get any grasp on what might have changed. Pleased as he was, he didn’t bother to spend much time thinking on it…
... ... ... ... ... ... ...
A/N 1: An Ahsoka perspective! Finally! Her perspective won't be overly common, but it WAS what inspired me to make an entire chapter dedicated to useful perspectives from various Padawans around the galaxy.
A/N 2: Even if I don't care much for him, I know a lot of people always want to know what's going on with Anakin. So I figured this was a good time to peek in on him again. As you can see, he's doing MUCH better than in canon. The combination of less trauma (his mom is alive and he's been in regular contact with her for years), some reality checks (the security lectures and Palpatine getting outted), and not being prematurely knighted (he's a solid year and a half older with some useful additional perspectives having had influence on him), have all led to a much healthier-in-mind Anakin. To the point the Council is happy to knight him properly, rather than a battlefield promotion. He still lost a limb, though. He's a Force Sensitive Skywalker. It's tradition.
A/N 3: Barriss. While Barriss's canon storyline is honestly one of the better examples of the writers managing to capture the costs of the war for the Jedi, with someone who was naturally a healer being broken to the point they go crazy and flip to the darkside...I always wished for a better end for her. The fact she's actually right around Anakin's age, and there's a very good excuse for the Council to have smacked her Master on the head and told her to get on with Knighting her? Well, I felt it would work out nicely to set her and Anakin on a collision path. While still a Jedi, Barriss is actually a lot like Padme. An idealistic healer who CAN and WILL fight if she has to, but prefers diplomacy. I feel this version of her is honestly a good fit for him.
A/N 4: Tallisibeth is a canon (EU at least) character! Here she mostly served as a vector to highlight both the Republic's current battles...and some initiatives that Yoda put into place. Her weak connection to the Force is canon for her, so throwing her at Ossus, where that can be fixed? Good diplomacy on the sneaky Grandmaster's part!