Chapter 24: Chapter 24 – Reports, Resolutions & Recoveries
Harry Potter, The Jedi That Would Not Die
Chapter 24 – Reports, Resolutions & Recoveries
As they touched down at the Jedi Temple a fresh crew was waiting to take the ship away, apparently the Wayward Son was going to be taken on by a group of holding companies or something known collectively as the 'Republic Group'. Harry really did not pay much attention as he was busy mentally placing the memories of their journey back to Coruscant and his talks with both of the twi'leks in the deepest most secure parts of his mind; Aayla wanted as few people as possible to know so he was going to do his utmost to ensure that happened. He got so distracted relocating all his memories that he had not realised that the reception committee of the Ranger Captain, Master Koon, Master Piell & Master Windu had already started to lead the others back towards the Temple until Master Koon noticed and called out to him with his mind.
Padawan Potter? Are you not coming with us? he asked with a hint of amusement in his voice but with no hint of cruel sarcasm at his expense.
Master Plo Koon was a very wise Jedi, an ace fighter pilot, trained by a current member of the High Council and rumoured to be recommended to take over one of the seats next time one was available and despite his slightly scary and very alien appearance he was one of the most easy to talk to masters in the entire Temple.
Shaking his head Harry regained his composure and sped after them.
Yes Master, he replied I'm sorry, I was distracted.
There is no need to apologise young Padawan, he replied kindly. It was evident to me when the three of you stepped off the ship that something significant and disturbing had happened to you all during the mission and if I felt it I am sure that the others felt it too and will be gentle during the debriefing. But while your thoughts may be well protected you would do well to remember that your emotions and facial expressions can also give away more than you intend.
Thank you for telling me Master Koon.
Call me Plo young one.
It appeared to Harry that most of those who had been on the mission were present in the overcrowded High Council Chamber. Masters Windu and Piell gave their reports to the rest of the Council first so that they could take their places on it for the rest of the debriefing. It had gone unnoticed by Harry until that point that Master Coleman, Master Yaddle and Grand Master Yoda were not present. He mentally cursed himself for not paying attention, being that distracted that you could not notice the absence of your best friends Master, her mentor and the most important Jedi in the galaxy was not a good position to be in.
It seemed to Harry that Master Plo had been right, the other Masters, in fact all the other Jedi in the room seemed to realise that something was wrong with the three of them and with Aayla and himself specifically as he caught most of them at least once sending them quick, curious or worried glances. It seemed they were deliberately being left to last and after Master Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had given their reports and were dismissed only the Ranger Captain, who was staying so he could write up his own report for his superiors, and the three of them were left alone with the Council, but not before Obi-Wan sent his friend a worried glance as he left.
"Knight Secura, Padawan Potter, Alema Ani, please step forward," requested Master Windu, before turning his attention to Alema. "Miss Ani, it is highly unusual for anyone other than a Jedi, or in the case of this mission a Jedi or an Antarian Ranger to be permitted into this room and to attend a debriefing but Knight Secura sent us an initial report which led us to including you in this debriefing. Would you please tell us firstly how you came to be in the slave auction and what transpired up until the point where you were treated on Mandalore."
If the Council had not already been informed by Aayla initial report of the situation between Alema and Harry they might have been surprised when before she went to speak she looked to Harry for permission. Nodding his consent after realising she was waiting on him, she turned back to the Council and began.
"Of course Masters," she curtsied. "My previous Master had passed away shortly before the auction, he had no other family so his possessions were being sold off."
She paused briefly at Harry's light growl at her obvious inclusion of herself under the term 'possession' before continuing.
"I was given to the slavers to sell and they took me to the auction. While I was caged and waiting for my turn in the ring a pair of slavers started tormenting me and some of the other slaves with their whips. Normally I would not have objected to being punished by my Master but I had done nothing and as I had not been sold to the slavers, they were merely holding me to be sold they had no right to punish me so...So when one of them opened the door to get better access to me I saw my chance and forced him out of the way and ran, I did not get far before I ran into Master Harry who recaptured me. I know understand he did it to protect me from the other slavers wrath, once he had returned me to the cage and the other slavers had left he explained what he was there to do and why he had recaptured me. I only later discovered that he did not capture me so he could acquire me as a slave."
"Please pause for a moment Miss Ani," interrupted Master Rancisis, before her turned to Harry. "Padawan Potter."
Harry looked up, surprised at being individually addressed for the first time.
"You gave away details of an active mission that involved hundreds of people in multiple star systems to a person who at that time you did not know for more than a couple of minutes?"
"I did Master," he replied.
"Do you realise Padawan that that information could have compromised the entire operation?" asked Master Dooku.
"I do Master, but I acted on instinct when I recaptured her, I knew if I did not catch her the slavers would, I knew by catching her I could prevent her suffering punishment at their hands by providing a lesser punishment myself."
"Explain Padawan," gestured Master Windu, evidently concerned by the idea of him issuing a punishment.
"I used the modified collar on her, knowing that it would give out a much smaller charge than the slavers own."
"If I might interject Master Jedi," began the Ranger Captain from his standing position near the lift. "I spoke to Master Qui-Gon after the mission when one of my rangers briefed me on these events and we both agreed that although unpleasant for all parties it was the best way of protecting both the mission and Miss Ani."
Harry sent a grateful nod at the ranger.
"We have got off topic," resumed Master Dooku. "How does your recapture of Miss Ani relate to you revealing the details of the mission to the slaves Padawan Potter? One does not seem to be cause for the other."
"Many of the slaves saw me using what they believed was a full power shock collar on Alema, when our volunteers were distributing the transceivers they would have to tell the other slaves what was going on in order to get them to take them. If the slaves realised that I was one of those supposed to be rescuing them after I had just tortured one of their own they would not have trusted the volunteers."
"That is not the only reason...Is it Padawan?" stated Master Tiin.
Harry looked at the floor for a second and felt his Master's mind brush soothingly against his.
"No Master," he replied. "You know of my past and of my family. I would be lying if I said I was not affected by seeing hundreds of slaves waiting to be sold as property to others...and I knew when I was a slave for those years before I went to Hogwarts I would have given anything for just a ray of hope."
"May I add Masters," interjected Aayla, stepping forward to defend his actions. "That given the fact my Padawans past is known to you all, that by sending us on this mission you were exposing him to a situation that you should have known would affect him strongly, and if it was a trial you were trying to subject him to it was extremely premature given that he has only been studying under me for a few short years and most human padawans are in their late teens or early twenties before they are subjected to their fears or are forced to face any trials whether formal or otherwise."
The Masters exchanged looks and the talking to they had just received but did not reply as for a long minute they communicated mentally before Master Windu continued.
"Given your past circumstances Padawan Potter we can agree that your course of action was probably the best given the circumstances. Please continue Miss Ani."
Alema continued her explanation, informing them of the trip to the Mandalorian System, to the moon and of the rescue from her point of view, though she deliberately missed out the details of what happened during their stay at the hands of Death Watch. They then asked the same of Harry and he retold everything up until he was rendered unconscious. Then what they were dreading started, Aayla's debriefing.
She spoke relatively normally for most of her report, but all the Jedi were picking up one the emotions rolling off of her in larger and larger waves as she got closer and closer to discussing the events of what happened during her imprisonment before finally and much to Harry's relief, Master Gallia spoke up, unable to continue to subject the twi'lek to this much discomfort.
"Stop Aayla, we can all tell that you and your Padawan are very disturbed by what happened during the mission and we can see that you do not wish to retell it though you know you have to, as such would it be easier to omit this section of the debriefing and for us to just read it from your written report."
Looking around at the Master who sat on the opposite side of the room to where she had been facing she shook her head.
"I do not believe it will make it any easier for me Master," she replied shakily.
Thankfully for his Master, Harry then came up with a possible solution.
"May I offer a solution Masters?" he asked.
"Speak Padawan," gestured the Master of the Order much to the surprised look of his Master.
Nodding Harry turned to one of the other Masters.
"Master Tiin, am I correct in thinking that Iktotchi such as yourself are strongly telepathic?"
"That is correct," replied the imposing looking Master, sticking to his usual form of saying very little when he did deem to speak.
"Are you able to easily read memories from others minds?" he asked, remembering the research that he and Hermione had done on what wizards could do with their minds.
Behind him Aayla's eyes flashed open, thinking that he meant for him to read hers, which would be even worse for her than having to retell the events.
"I can, if the other person is willing."
"My Master told me of the events that transpired while I was on my way to rescue her. I think we would both prefer if you are agreeable to you reading my memory of that retelling so that my Master is not forced to relive what happened again but you can still know of the events that transpired so that you can then inform the rest of the Council."
The Master's exchanged looks and after receiving a nod from Master Windu, Master Tiin gestured him forward to kneel in front of him as he moved forward in his seat.
Kneeling in front of the imposing looking Master, Harry bowed his head and focused on the memory he wanted to move out of the deepest part of his mind.
He soon felt the strong and unusual presence of Master Tiin in his mind and lowered his outer defences to allow him in., but only far enough so that he could show the Master his memories of the events that unfolded. Even though he was a highly respected member of the Council Harry did not let just anyone into his mind unless he had to, only three people had ever been allowed near it; two Masters who specialised in teaching mental defence and who after quite a while of struggling only managed to penetrate as far as the inside of the Temple in his mind and his own Master who had of course received the full guided tour.
Harry waited in silence while the Master watched the scene unfold, feeling emotions flowing from the Master despite his apparent mental calm. After he had finished watching the memory he thanked Harry who felt a wave of empathy wash over him as the Master backed out of his mind and they both rejoined the others.
Standing from his kneeling position, his knees clicking in protest at having to sit in that position, Harry returned to his position with the others in the centre of the room and after sending a feeling of reassurance to his nervous Master returned to watching the Council who he could tell from the reactions and looks of anger crossing their faces were being told of what had happened by Master Tiin.
It took several minutes of silent mental conversation before a much softer sounding Master Windu addressed them again.
"We understand what you have gone through Aayla and we are truly sorry that the orders of this Council led to that state of events that occurred on Concordia. Neither of you will be given any new missions for the time being, you need time to recover from your ordeal, whether you choose to do so here on Coruscant or elsewhere is entirely up to you and we will make a ship available to you if you require it, though I would ask you both to see the Healers sooner rather than later, their expertise goes further than just physical injuries."
"Understood Master," Ayala replied.
"Before we adjourn there is one more matter that needs to be discussed," he said, turning more serious before looking over to the other twi'lek in the room, "And that is the issue of what to do regarding Miss Ani's attachment to Padawan Potter."
This was the conversation that Harry wanted them to get to as quickly as they could, the Masters would get him out of this.
"I just want to serve my Master," she stated boldly, stepping forward again.
"Slavery is highly disapproved off in the Republic and is illegal in almost all cases," replied Master Gallia. It did not surprise any there present that she was the one to speak up against this, she was well known for being against slavery in any form, she felt just as strongly against it as both Harry and Aayla.
"I am a legal slave," Alema replied, turning to face the Tholothian defiantly.
"Which means that you legally were someone's property and they could not be convicted for it, but then you were freed when your previous master was killed, you are a free woman."
"No, I was not freed," Alema returned firmly. "I just lost my master and was waiting for a new master to take me, Master Harry did that."
"Padawan Potter," she corrected, "Is a Jedi and is not allowed to own much more than the clothes he stands in and the weapons he wields."
"Master Harry, I have been told is an exception and is allowed to keep more possessions."
"Padawan Potter," Master Gallia emphasised again, her usual calm demeanour threatening to be broken by the young woman who refused to yield to her point. "Was allowed to keep some of his possessions from before he became a Jedi as they were in many cases unique in the Republic because of the scarcity of Earth artefacts and because he came to the Temple very late and it would be harder for him to adjust."
As the conversation continued to get heated Harry's head was ducking further and further into his neck, he hated being talked about like he was not there and was grateful when his Master put a comforting hand on his shoulder, this was not going as well as he had hoped.
"What is wrong with me being an additional possession of Master Harry's?"
"Potter has acquired no new possessions since he became a Jedi other than those I have already stated and no Jedi has had a slave in living memory, he will not be the one to change this."
"Stop," interrupted Master Windu who saw the argument beginning to escalate and decided to step in. "Miss Ani, Master Gallia is right, Padawan Potter is not allowed a slave and when he rescued you he freed you, he did not take over from your last master."
"If I am free then I choose to dedicate my life to serving Master Harry," she stated firmly and confidently.
"Mas... Padawan Potter cannot own any slaves and will not," replied Master Windu, getting annoyed at almost addressing the apprentice wrongly. Some of the other Masters including Master Dooku and Master Piell were, despite the serious nature of the conversation, getting quite amused by the fact that two of the most respected Jedi in the galaxy were getting flustered and out argued by a former slave girl.
"If I am free then it is my choice correct?"
"You do have a choice, bu-"
"Is it illegal for me to serve someone voluntarily?"
"No, b-"
"Then I choose to serve Master Harry for as long as I am able."
"You cannot do that," tried Master Gallia again.
"If I am free then it is my choice and you will be removing my choice by not allowing me to serve my Master. If I have no choice then I must be a slave and therefore belong to Master Harry."
The Council went silent for a minute, she had them pinned into a corner with that last sentence and none of them could think of a way out of it which was doing the headache that Harry was getting no good at all.
"May I make a suggestion Masters?" spoke Aayla, much to the relief of her padawan, his Master would get him out of this after all, he knew she would not let him down.
Her demeanour and emotion state was much better than it had been when discussing the previous topic but once her own issues had been gotten over and although she was far from alright Harry knew that one of the things that was guaranteed to firmly hold her attention was him being in any way distressed, that was something he definitely was now and he was definitely in need of her help getting himself out of this.
"Proceed Knight Secura," nodded Master Windu.
"After speaking to Alema on the ship and on Mandalore I began to understand her mindset and the very idea of being independent and free terrified her the same way that being a slave terrifies me. She even dropped to her knees and begged me to help her prevent it; she needs someone to be her 'guiding light' and her purpose for being or else she is lost; as a result of this she needs Harry as much as a Jedi needs the Force. We can agreed that she is now free then she cannot be considered as a slave any longer, therefore Harry would never own a slave and she would not be his property. If on the other hand she was treated as a servant of the Temple this would remove the ownership issue and allow her to fulfil her wish of serving."
The Master's exchanged looks, communicating mentally on the suggestion before Master Windu spoke again.
"This is a preferable suggestion, Miss Ani could perform duties around the Temple and the Temple Complex and be paid a wage for doing so. Miss Ani, how does this suggestion sit with you?"
"As long as I can serve my Master directly and go wherever he goes then I can agree to it Masters," she replied.
Harry's relief at a possible way out of this mess disappeared as soon as she said it, he should have known it would not be that easy.
"You would not be going where Padawan Potter was Miss Ani, you would be doing general duties around the Temple and would only occasionally be serving Padawan Potter. It would also be impossible for you to go with him; Knight Secura and Padawan Potter may spend much time, possibly several years at a time away from the Temple, and when they leave they will be on missions and you being with them would only slow them down and endanger yourself and them as you have no way of defending yourself."
"I must serve my Master," she stated firmly, refusing to back down despite the fact that she was confronting the most powerful group of Force users in the galaxy. "I will go where he goes if I have to chase him across half the galaxy."
"Might I offer a suggestion," came the unexpected voice of the Ranger Captain, who most had forgotten was even there.
"Proceed Captain," Master Windu gestured after a moment's pause.
"As you seem to be in an irresolvable situation, whereby Miss Alema wants to help Padawan Potter wherever he goes but does not have the abilities or the training to do so without being a hindrance or liability, I suggest she be given such training."
Harry mentally banged his head against his mental shields; the Captain was not helping, he wanted her to be convinced not to need to be around him, not for him to help her do it.
"How do you mean Captain?"
"I gather she is Force sensitive, she should be trained as a Jedi, then she could accompany them wherever they go."
"Impossible," spoke Master Dooku. "That would involve either Knight Secura taking a second apprentice which is forbidden by the Jedi code, a second knight to train her which would not satisfy Miss Ani's desire to serve as they would likely not be in the same locations or a second knight to permanently go around with them all the time which would waste resources and is not a viable solution."
"She is also too old to be trained," added Master Koth, "And does not want to be a Jedi, she just wants to serve her 'master'."
"Then I suggest," continued the Captain. "That she become an Antarian Ranger."
The sentence hung in the air for several long seconds before he continued.
"Wanting to serve and assist the Jedi Order is the remit of the Antarian Rangers, I would sponsor her admittance based on her loyalty to Padawan Potter, she is not too old to be trained, being a slave means she will already had a reasonable level of fitness already so her training will likely proceed faster and having the skills of a Ranger would allow her to assist the Padawan and his Master on most missions without being a hindrance."
The Council exchanged looks.
"It would allow for her to accompany them," commented Master Windu.
"And there is a precedence, long have Antarian Rangers travelled with the Jedi and on many occasions Jedi have chosen specific rangers to be there long term companions and assistance on missions."
Harry looked at the Jedi around him; they could not seriously be considering this.
"This is a possible solution," nodded Master Windu. "Miss Ani, how do you find this proposal?"
"I'm not sure I understand it Master," she replied uncertainly, to which the Captain replied:
"Simple put Miss Alema, the Rangers are a paramilitary group who aid the Jedi anyway we can, we do so voluntarily as we did on this mission. We are offering to train you as a Ranger which involves improving your fitness, teaching you to fight, to use weapons and to increase your education on matters relating to the Jedi as well as in other areas that might be useful and in situations you might find yourself in. After you are done you will be able to accompany Padawan Potter and assist him on most of his missions."
"How long would it take Sir?" she asked.
"Depending on how fast you pick things up, under a year to several years, but as you are rather motivated and also have some Force sensitivity to help you I think it won't be that many years."
"Would I be allowed to serve my Master whilst I train?" she asked.
"Some of your training could be done here at the Jedi Temple," he replied. "As long as the High Council agrees. Basic fitness is part of Jedi training too, though you would have to journey back with me in order to do the more advanced training; the Jedi Temple is not designed to teach the same things we will teach you."
"Is this the only way I can serve my Master?" she asked, turning to Master Windu..
"It is if you want to aid him the way you want to," he replied.
She thought about it for several long seconds while Harry secretly prayed that she would say no.
"Then I shall train to be an Antarian Ranger," she agreed, before turning to the Captain. "Thank you Sir."
Harry's head dropped to his chest, this was not what was supposed to happen, they Council were supposed to get him out of this, not to help her do what she wanted.
"As both Padawan Potter and his Master are not to be doing any sort of missions for a while I suggest that Miss Alema stay with them and train here until such time as they resume their missions."
"Agreed," nodded the Ranger Captain. "I look forward to seeing you again Explorer Ami."
She bowed in response before turning to Harry with a pleased smile on her face only for it to fall when she saw the defeated look on his face.
"Master, what's wrong?"
"I think he was hoping we were going to convince you not to be his sla...Ranger," replied Master Gallia who was clearly quite annoyed at the turn this situation had taken as well.
"Master," Alema said, dropping to her knees in front of him, which in itself made him wince, before looking up at him with kind and caring eyes. "Please don't be upset, I know you don't want me to do this but please accept that it is what I want and that I will try to make me as comfortable as possible with this arrangement...Please accept me?"
Harry sent sideways glances at Master Windu and Master Gallia whose seats were on each side of him. Master Gallia was looking annoyed and was almost scowling at the submissive woman in front of him whilst Master Windu sent him an expectant look, waiting for him to respond to her. It took a mental prod by his Master before he finally accepted defeat and answered.
"I...I accept you as my companion Antarian Ranger," he replied, barely had he finished the sentence when she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug only for her to jump back and apologise as soon as she had realised she had broken protocol.
"I...I'm sorry Master," she stuttered looking around at all the observers. "It won't happen again."
"It's alright Alema," he replied, before Master Windu spoke again.
"For the time being Explorer Ani, consider yourself an unofficial padawan of Knight Secura's she and Padawan Potter will train you to increase your physical fitness ready for when you leave to train with the other rangers. You will not be trained to utilise the Force in any way but your mind and your body will be more prepared when it is time for you to leave."
"Yes Master."
"Knight Secura, I suggest you put in a request for three berth accommodation, you should probably get Explorer Ani fitted out with some new clothes as well ready for her training to begin, she will likely gain much attention walking through the Temple as it is and we don't want her causing people to have accidents because of that outfit."
"Yes Master."
"Dismissed."
As they walked out of the lift at the bottom of the Tower, Aayla could not help but smile slightly as she observed Alema notice how Harry walked behind and to the side of her and then fell back to walk the same way in relation to him.
Unfortunately the interaction of both of her charges was not enough to distract her from what she had spent most of the last few days thinking about, it was times like this that she wished she was not a Twi'lek, if she was not she may not have been sent on the mission, she may not have been captured so quickly by the Death Watch and she definitely would not have to remember everything with such disturbing clarity and accuracy thanks to the way her lekku stored her memories.
She was a mess and she knew it, she needed to talk to someone but of the three people she could talk to about things like this; Harry was too young to understand and the others were likely off world, they usually were. Her faith in her life as a Jedi had genuinely been shaken by this, she was not sure that she could go on doing this for the next 'X' many years with the memories of this part of her past hanging over her, but for know she had a new charge to take care of and she was going to do just that.
She was going to take Alema to the quartermaster to be outfitted but thought she's not likely to want to wear jedi robes, besides it was not really appropriate for a non-jedi to wear them. As such she collected one of the speeders that the Temple kept for Jedi use and took the pair of them off towards the shopping district, she knew a good shop where Twi'leks could get native clothing which had the added advantages of being not only allowed at the Temple, but also suitable for training as it was almost exclusively tight fitting and easy to move in.
It took a while for Aayla to convince Alema that it was up to her what they bought, within reason of course, each jedi only had a certain amount of credit with the Temple accounts but they were unlikely to spend several thousand credits on a few items of clothing. Alema had originally started picking out things that would have been most suitable in her old job, i.e. lots of price and very little material, things that would likely cause many male Jedi as well as some female ones to end up walking into walls.
After she had explained again about wearing what she wanted Alema just about started doing so, though she felt the need to come to Aayla with each of her choices to get it approved. She had originally been going to Harry but he had barely spoken a single word since they left the Council Chambers and was looking even more down and defeated than Aayla had earlier.
Between Harry's sulking (it was a little bit cruel to call it as such especially as she knew the good reasons for his objections to the situation but that was basically what it had turned into after he had got through the depressed stage immediately after the Council meeting) and Alema's boisterous but uncertain attitude towards everything new, they were proving quite the distraction to Aayla and were keeping her from thinking about her recent experiences...but she knew it would not last long.
By the time they were finished Alema had plenty of new garments, the advantage of not being a jedi meant she did not have to stick to their dress code, though she would probably get given the distinctive brown jacket that most Antarian Rangers wore when she went to their base to be trained, but for now though she had contented herself with several sets of tops and lower garments similar in design to Aayla's own except they had less material and were more revealing. When looking at them later Aayla thought the best way to describe the garments was that they were half way between the clothes that Aayla usually wore and those she had been fitted with when disguised as a slave; still not a lot of material but these were not just either four small pieces of metal with straps or wafer thin almost transparent pieces of flowing cloth designed to make the blood boil. She actually had proper shorts even if they were VERY short shorts, she later heard Harry describe them as 'hot pants' whatever those were, and a rather revealing bikini top. The problem they encountered when getting her to choose clothes that were more conservative was that she had never worn clothes that concealed her form in her entire life, as such it seemed as weird to her as wearing a dress was to Aayla. Alema's new garments were made out of thicker tougher fabrics like Aayla's and were designed to be durable and strong and although Alema could not see why her chosen attire might still be a bit too revealing she did acquiesce to them getting her a cloak to wear as well as the revealing outfit, that way at least she would have the option of some thicker clothing. They also had problems when buying Alema footwear, all her previous Masters had let her walk around barefoot pretty much since birth so that when she first reluctantly tried on some boots she almost tripped over her own feet because of the unusual sensation and foot positioning. They had talked her into getting some but she still wanted to be bare foot as much as possible, it was just as well that most of the Republic did not require people to wear heels.
So when it was they returned to the Temple the Gate Keepers were quite surprised to see a Jedi, a Padawan and an attractive young twi'lek with bare feet wearing rather revealing attire even for a twi'lek, above that with a dark cloak over her shoulders but blowing behind her in the wind so that it was held away from her body revealing almost everything that was underneath.
As much as Aayla was amused by the reactions of the various Jedi around the Temple at her Padawan's new Ranger her good mood was almost gone now, a relatively quiet speeder ride is not good when you are trying not to think of things. By the time they made it back to their quarters she had sunk back into the depression that she was in when they arrived on the planet.
"These are our quarters," she explained to Alema, "We will be given new quarters soon with additional space for you to have your own room but for the time being you can sleep in Harry's room and he can sleep on the sofa."
He looked directly at her for the first time in several hours, a look of shocked outrage on his face, not so much because he was being relieved of his quarters but more because she had not even offered her own and she had not asked him if he minded.
"Consider it punishment for the sulking you were doing earlier," she stated in one of her rare moments of strict authority over her padawan. "And don't give me a look like that either; it's unbecoming of a Jedi to sulk."
He did not reply but merely went straight into the kitchen and started preparing dinner, only for him to have Alema follow immediately after him offering to help or to do all the cooking herself.
It was rare that Aayla had to tell her apprentice off or even act strict with him but this time he needed it, he could not go around the Temple sulking and it would only make Alema feel more unwelcome and uncomfortable which would put a strain on all three of them. She knew that once he had had a few hours to think about what had happened and the reasons that she had told him off that he would realise that he had been acting quite childishly. He would also not be as angry at her for telling him off as he was now; the rarity of the chastisement had only made it bite harder for him.
Right now both to them were mentally burdened and needed time to work through things in the minds, it might take a few weeks but he would begin to accept Alema in her new role in their lives, but it would probably take Aayla much longer to recover from her experience, things like this can shake a Jedi's faith so bad that they leave the order, she had seen it before. She really needed someone to talk to about this, someone who knew her.
Just as she thought that she felt a familiar presence close by, causing her to look up and then move quickly to the door, it could not be him.
Opening it revealed one of only two people in the world other than Harry who knew her well enough to help her with her pain.
"Master!"
It was a relieved Hermione who stepped off the cruiser at the landing platform outside the Jedi Temple, although the trip back from Alaris Prime was only a few days long thanks to the cruiser being much faster than the shuttle they had travelled to the moon in, it was probably one of the most nerve racking experiences of her life and all because of the other passengers.
The entire ship was full to the brim with Jedi, and not just ordinary Jedi, there were quite a few Masters not to mention three members of the High Council including the Grand Master himself onboard.
It was the same class of ship that had brought her and Harry from Earth the difference being that while that trip had been much longer there had only been twelve of them onboard whereas this ship had over twenty Jedi on it, she was not even sure of the exact number as to get them all in one room would have meant standing on tables.
What made it more daunting was that she was one of those few given a cabin by herself, despite how much she protested that she should be sleeping in the cargo bay with most of the others now that she was healed, particularly as she was the only padawan on board and therefore the lowest ranked Jedi and even more so when she considered that many of the Jedi on board were legends in the Order and not just those on the High Council.
It had got to the point where she felt nervous going into every single room on the ship except her own as that was the only one guaranteed not to have a powerful, famous or imposing Jedi Master in it either talking, sleeping, meditating or eating and without fail every time she went into a room at least one would turn to look at her in an odd way, it was one of the most unnerving things she had ever been through.
The most unnerving part of the whole trip though was when they exited the ship, the Grand Master and Master Yaddle leading the way followed immediately by her Master and herself ahead of the force of the remaining Jedi who all walked behind them. Hermione did not think she had ever put so much though into not tripping over her own feet.
It only got more embarrassing for her when the Masters in front of her stopped and she almost walked into the back of them. It was then she realised for the first time that not only was Master Windu waiting for them but with him were Supreme Chancellor Kalpana, several Senate Guards and his advisor Senator Valorum.
"Chancellor, pleased to see you again I am," greeted Yoda.
"As am I Master Yoda, I would like to thank and congratulate you on the success of your mission, you've managed to achieve in a few days what would likely have taken the Senate or the Courts months of debate."
"Little praise do we deserve, only assist at the end we did." Yoda replied, turning so that he was looking at those behind him and Hermione knew instantly what he was going to do. "Concluded the talks, Master Trebor it was. Padawan Granger the most praise deserves, almost single handedly save the colony and stop the Federation she did."
Hermione could literally feel her cheeks turning red as the most influential being in the galaxy turned to her.
"In that case I offer the two of you my thanks, with the prevention of the massacre on Alaris Prime by you young Padawan and by the negotiation skills of your Master the Trade Federation have conceded rights for seventy five percent of the moon to the Wookiees as well as agreeing to pay for all damages caused by their attack and agreeing to have the harvesting operation overseen by a group of Republic representatives."
"We were just doing our duty Chancellor," bowed Coleman, aware of his Padawan's nervousness around the powerful man.
With that they bowed and the Chancellor's party started to move off, but not before Senator Valorum remarked to Hermione:
"After this great start I look forward to seeing how your career progresses Padawan Granger."
"Thank you Senator," she managed through flaming cheeks as the party boarded the Chancellor's Eddicus-class shuttle.
As the shuttle departed the rest of the Jedi dispersed except for the members of the High Council and Hermione who headed straight for the High Council Chambers to be debriefed.
"Master," she asked. "Why did Senator Valorum seem interested in me?"
"Other than for your obvious skills you mean," he replied with a hint of amusement as his padawan's logic bypassed the obvious. "He's probably trying to work out who are good Jedi to be associated with and to request to send on missions. The Senator is the front runner to be the Chancellor's successor at the next election because of his involvement with the Stark Hyperspace War, his closeness to the current Chancellor and his supporters in the Senate Core Faction. Just remember Hermione that when it comes to politicians most of them only try to be your friends so that they can get close enough to you to stab you in the back."
Their debriefing has been much shorter than Harry's and Aayla's, firstly Masters Yoda and Yaddle had advised them what had happened once they arrived before Coleman began, it had proceeded quite normally until he paused near the end of his tale.
"Master Coleman, about something uncertain you are?"
"Yes Master, it's something that I have been thinking about since I escaped, little things that when put together don't seem to add up."
"Explain please," instructed Master Windu.
"The first thing was the large amount of resources that during the first negotiations the Trade Federation were willing to concede, it's almost as if they knew they would end up with more and so deliberately offered more to appease us. Then there was the fact that we didn't hear from the Trade Federation Viceroy during any point of the escape, I checked on the way back to Coruscant and there were no meetings of the Senate or any committees at that time. Also it seemed a bit odd that when the first officer took command of the ship he left my lightsaber in the Captain's Cabin where the Captain could have got a hold of it and used it to escape. Then there was the way the droids always seemed to prioritise me as a target over the Captain, those droids are very simple, their logic circuits are not that advanced and they would not do so unless they were programmed that way and it makes more sense to kill the Captain before me. Then there was what happened on the bridge, just as I was going to arrest the second in command the Captain killed him from over twenty feet away with a perfect shot to the head, up until that point he had been struggling to even hit the battle droids and lastly the way the first officer and the crew reacted when we forced our way onto the bridge, it wasn't one of fear that we had got in, it was confusion that we were the ones breaking in."
"What is you hypothesis Master Coleman?"
"I think that the second in command had nothing to do with the plot, I think it was entirely the Captains doing, the idea probably came from the Viceroy as a way to get all the resources off of the moon with the siphoning off of resources actually occurring between the Captain, the Commander and the Viceroy. The Captain seeing that it might not work came up with the contingency plan that he used in order to escape blame if something should go wrong. He projected himself into the talks so that I could not use any Force powers on him or detect any nervousness or deceit from him. When he heard of my escape he probably instructed a droid guarding his room to tie him up knowing that I would be coming for my lightsaber, that I would destroy the droids and that I would find him in the process making him look innocent, on our way to the bridge he killed as few droids as he could as he probably would have to pay for any he personally damaged, then when we had gained access to the bridge he deliberately killed the first officer so he could not contradict his story."
"Do you have any evidence of this?"
"Unfortunately not, the Captain planned it very well and as far as I can see there is no evidence of his involvement with the Trandoshan Commander other than what there was supposed to be as part of the legal harvesting operation. As for the Viceroy, we have no way of proving his involvement if any."
"That's regrettable," sighed Master Windu. "But as there is no evidence there is nothing we can do at this time. This is also not the first time that the Viceroy of the Trade Federation has appeared on our radar. We shall keep a record of your deduction in case anything should come up in the future involving either of them that could alert us to any further treachery."
Master Coleman bowed, before stepping aside to allow Hermione her chance to give her report. It proceeded as normal until they reached the scene on the bridge of the Core Ship.
"Hold on a minute Padawan Granger," interrupted Master Windu. "You say you used the Force Power known as Ionize, also known as Droid Disable?"
"Yes Master," she replied nervously, suddenly wondering if the Council would interpret her independent study as something other than a sensible precaution.
"How did you learn that particular Force technique?" asked Master Dooku.
Not answering, Hermione turned to Master Yaddle who spoke in her place.
"Instruction give her I did," she explained.
"When did you do this Master Yaddle?"
"Before the mission, after the briefing come and see me she did."
"How did you learn that technique so quickly?" Dooku continued.
"I practised the involved actions and focuses during meditation without actually trying to create it in the shuttle to the moon; I was hoping it would not be needed as I knew I would not have the time to actually practise on actual droids before we got to the moon, it was too dangerous to try inside the shuttle. When I realised I had to try it I just focused on what Master Yaddle had told me and what I had practiced and channelled as much energy as I could into it. Thankfully it worked."
The Masters exchanged concerned looks making Hermione begin to feel quite nervous.
"Padawan Granger, please remove your comlink," ordered Master Windu.
Confused she did so, only for the Master to stand up and move to a position about half way between her and the door before using the Force to move the comlink so that it was floating in the air about five feet from her.
"Please use Ionize now Padawan, and maintain it for as long as you are able or until I say otherwise."
Not quite understanding the reasons why she nonetheless turned and prepared herself, concentrating on what she had to do.
As the Masters watched with fascinated and concerned concentration purple lightning leapt from her fingertips and struck the floating comlink, instantly causing it to spark as its circuits were fried.
The chains of lightning continued and though she was having to concentrate hard in order to maintain the attack she was aware of Master Windu cautiously passing his hand through the strings of lightning several times before turning to her.
"Thank you Padawan, you can stop now."
With relief Hermione terminated the attack and breathed deeply, even though the attack only lasted a few seconds and was much lower in intensity than the previous time she had used Ionize it still took a lot out of her.
"I apologise Padawan Granger, we had to be sure," explained Master Windu, resuming his seat.
"Sure of what Master?" she asked confused.
"That is was Ionize rather than Force Lightning that you were using," replied Master Dooku, leaning forward in his seat. "You would not have been the first Jedi ever to have used a Sith ability by accident under stressful situations."
"Thankfully this is not the case," continued Master Windu. "It was Ionize that you used, we detected no emotions behind you when you used it just now, plus the distinctive colour of the ability and the fact that it did not affect me as I passed my hand through it prove that it was not Sith Lightning."
She nodded her head in understanding; it never even occurred to her that she might have cast Force Lightning by accident. That would explain why some of the Masters on the ship had looked at her so; they had been trying to work out if she was going dark.
The debriefing continued until she was finally dismissed, her Master remained to be brought up to speed on the events that had transpired during their absence. Hermione was quite proud as she left as part of Master Yaddle and Master Yoda's reports had included praise to the Council from Chewbacca and his father for her actions on their behalf which had left her blushing furiously.
After cleaning up, getting something to eat and changing Hermione decided to go and see if Harry was back from his mission as well, she guessed he probably was as Masters Windu and Piell were both back and knowing Harry the way she did meant she knew that Harry usually spend a couple of days catching up on sleep and his studies when he got back from a mission, his Master had finally managed to achieve what she had failed to do during their years at Hogwarts by getting him to do homework earlier than the day before it was due and no matter how quiet the mission there was always studying left over when it was concluded.
As she arrived outside his quarters she rang the chime and waited.
Ringing again this time she heard a crash from inside followed by the sound of someone hitting the floor.
Thinking that something bad was happening her hand went to her lightsaber and used the Force to open the door, only to freeze at the scene before her.
"Harry James Potter! What are you doing with that woman?"
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the delay in posting, I've been a bit busy of late. If anyone has any suggestions for missions with Alema please let me know.
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