Nominal completion of stage one proceeds to schedule. Exclusivity jeopardized. Send security, investigation, instruction.

Anakin's thorough about checking everything and locking in coordinates, increasing familiarity with piloting and a growing sense of calm helping her avoid trying to take short cuts.

(She's successfully tamped down her crush on her teacher into 'warm fuzzy feelings whenever she looks at or thinks about Elesse', too, so she doesn't even have that making her jittery, and it's not like she cares about the tense political atmosphere. Instead she's simply curious, and glad for a break in the monotony of their missions lately. This is interestingly weird, if nothing else.)

"So he didn't say what he was planning before he vanished?" she asks.

"No. He was always slightly... odd, in that way."

"Huh. Message gives me the feeling he expected someone to know what he was doing."

"Yes, it does have that feel. Though it is not exactly in his style. Strangely terse, as though the writer is not entirely comfortable with Basic."

"So someone could've stolen his codes? Or I guess he could be trying to be terse and vague, if he thinks his message could get intercepted..."

"It is highly unusual for a Jedi, especially a Master like Sifo-Dyas, to give up their codes under any circumstances. On the other hand, it is hard to imagine the circumstances that might have prompted him to write this. On the third hand, this is exceedingly undirected for a trap."

She nods. "It's weird for a trap, too. Someone could want any random Jedi to come to those coordinates, but... Why not send something simpler?"

Elesse nods. "Exactly. And the mention of a 'stage one' implies a project of some kind."

"Same with schedule, which was what made me think he thought someone knows what he's up to... Exclusivity - that's kind of a weird word to use, most cases, isn't it? I usually hear it for contracts, like for work, trade, or copyright..."

"Not exactly things Jedi tend to involve themselves in."

"Not at all." She furrows her brow, staring at the message again. "Also implies there's a second party involved somehow."

"You did say you wanted a more interesting mission next time..."

She laughs. "This's definitely that. I guess we still have to see if I need to be more careful what I wish for."

"I should think your experience on Duros would have made that amply apparent."

"Duros did at least make for a good story. In retrospect. Once I'd had a few showers."

Elesse chuckles. "Always look on the bright side."

Eeeeeee. (She needs to calm down about making Elesse laugh but it's nice.)

"I try to."

"Speaking of, we have a considerable time before we arrive. What would you like to practice?"

She hums. "I feel like I'm close on that most recent kata... I think at this point I'll get the most out of pushing at that a bit, and if I get stuck again... Fine manipulation with the Force or situational awareness, after."

"Very well." To the shuttle cargo bay/practice space.

Anakin still really enjoys fighting. Especially against Elesse. Even when she's working on a specific set of moves she's kind of stuck on getting exactly right.

It's a good way to pass the time, if nothing else, and Anakin's rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with in combat.

Elesse is pleased with her Padawan's progress. In terms of technical ability, she's on par with practically any Knight you'd care to name. All that's standing between Anakin and the Trials is a bit of wisdom and calm judgement. And she's been getting better at those too, over the years.

'Calm judgement' is probably a bit farther off than 'wisdom,' but Anakin seems to find them worth working on enough that she's actually getting somewhere.

After she's done with fighting, Anakin can working on juggling five small balls without touching them, eyes closed. Elesse will occasionally pose a philosophical, scientific, or historical question for her to answer, or throw something at her.

Hard philosophical questions seem to disrupt her the most, and questions in general disrupt her more than things thrown at her. Unlike when she was younger, she doesn't try to show off and incorporate the new items into her juggling, instead just nudging them away from hitting her or her balls.

After a sufficient amount of time thusly unwasted, it's time to prepare for their arrival at- whatever their destination turns out to be.

Problem with unknown destinations: you never know exactly what you should prepare for. Still, Anakin's learning general preparedness pretty well.

"Do we have a plan for how to start investigating?"

"It depends on what we find. A planet will require a different approach from a space station or a derelict craft. However, given the message was sent directly to the Temple, I do not think disguising our identity as Jedi will be worthwhile. If there are sapient beings present, their reaction to our arrival may tell us much. Let us not be hostile, but neither blindly trusting."

She nods. "Be polite, but keep our senses sharp."

"Just so." The hyperspace timer sounds.

Well, time to see what's there.

Anakin turns her attention to piloting.

It's not a battle or an asteroid field, so that's good news.

They've come out in orbit above a medium-sized planet. Initial scans reveal that more than 90% of its surface is ocean, with significant cloud cover and storm activity.

The ship is being hailed by Kamino Traffic Control.

Huh.

She accepts the hail.

"Unknown starship, please state your identification and origin."

She rattles the information off, honestly and succinctly.

There's a short pause, and then they're directed to land at Tipoca City. Coordinates and a suggested path to avoid the worst of the storms are transmitted.

She thanks them.

Everything looks legit so far from where she's sitting, so she starts heading for Tipoca City.

The storms really are quite rough. Must be why the place isn't on any charts. Fortunately, Tipoca City is in a relatively calmer patch at the moment. From above, it looks like a collection of low smooth domes. Color is hard to determine in the dark, but they all seem to be the same basic off-white. When an especially vigorous wave sloshes the water around, hints of larger constructions below the water can be seen. One of the smaller domes near the center cracks open to reveal a landing pad for their ship.

The architecture makes sense given their weather. She wonders if the locals are partially or wholly aquatic...

Fortunately, she's also a good pilot. She gets through the storms and lands without issue.

The dome closes back up over their ship and the collected water drains away. A tall, gracile alien emerges from the door to the rest of the building and stands patiently, waiting for them.

"Well, that's not Sifo-Dyas."

"Possibly a local..."

"Let's find out." Out of the ship to greet the welcoming committee.

     "Greetings, Master Jedi," the alien says, bowing. "I am Taun-We. Welcome to Kamino."

"Greetings," she says, trying to guess the appropriate depth of a return bow. (Manners: hard.) "Thank you for the welcome. I am Anakin Skywalker, a Padawan learner."

"And I am Elesse Vendar, Anakin's teacher."

The alien tilts their head atop its slender neck. "Is not Master Sifo-Dyas with you?"

"He was otherwise occupied. We were sent in his stead."

Large black eyes blink slowly. "Strange. He has always been very conscientious about his inspections. We approve of that in a client, especially as this is one of the largest orders we have ever received."

Anakin keeps her expression even and friendly, not letting on curiosity or confusion or that she's hearing anything strange.

"Conscientious is a good word for Sifo-Dyas," Elesse acknowledges. "When was his last inspection?"

     "Six months ago, galactic standard. You are right on schedule."

"Let us not break the record, then. Shall we proceed?"

     "Of course, Master Jedi. Follow me, please." Taun-We leads the way out of the hangar to an elevator, which they take downwards. The corridors are entirely bare, pearlescent white. "Has Master Sifo-Dyas fully briefed you?"

"Pretend that he has not," Elesse says. "We wish to gather the full perspective."

     "Very well. Since the project began five years ago, the course has gone very smoothly. The template was of excellent quality, necessitating very few adjustments. The first production batch of five hundred thousand, with associated equipment, will pass final inspection within the month. With production at full capacity, we anticipate no difficulties in delivering an additional million units every six months thereafter." The elevator stops. "To minimize transition losses and ensure even quality, we have broken the production batch into streams. Each sub-batch stays in its assigned stream for the entire development cycle. This level is devoted to Stream Aurek."

Outside is a hallway with large glass windows on either side. On the left are rows and rows of cylindrical tubes, roughly the size and shape of a bacta tank, though the inhabitants are smaller than typical. While they watch, they see a med-droid decanting one of the tubes, taking the baby revealed within and placing it in a floating bassinet.

On the right is a classroom full of identical students, apparently just a little older than Anakin. They seem to be studying weapons manufacture.

Neutral neutral neutral neutral, what the fuck, stay neutral and friendly and diplomatic, Anakin -

Her expression stays politely and calmly and diplomatically neutral. She does not demand to know what the actual fuck. She also does not punch anyone. Her hands don't even clench into fists.

(This does not look like something she'd be anything other than furious about, but getting furious won't help.)

"A large undertaking," she says, lightly. Then, tilting her head towards the classroom, "Your educational facilities seem efficient. Do the streams all learn the same things?"

It's also a large undertaking, she suspects distantly in the part of her brain she's letting fully process this, that she isn't as angry as she wants to be. Maybe later, for that.

"Base education is standardized. We find such common ground improves final unit cohesion. Advanced classes are assigned by demonstrated marginal aptitude. There are small but statistically significant variations in class distribution per stream."

"That must be complicated to manage."

"We pride ourselves on quality. Perfection is worth pursuing."

So they're all being taught things at least related enough to weapons manufacture for that to make sense as a specialization on top of base education...

...She shouldn't ask what happens to the imperfect, at least not while she needs to actively be neutral and friendly and calm. She's fairly sure she knows, anyways. She remembers being a slave.

Sifo-Dyas vanishes, twelve years ago. 'Project' begins seven years later. Sifo-Dyas, or someone claiming to be him, last interacts with project six months ago. Sifo-Dyas - or someone claiming to be him - sends message to the Jedi Order recently, asking for help.

Identical humans, older than her, based on a 'template'... Clones? Genetic engineering project? Organic-seeming droids? Some of those seem likelier than others. Five hundred thousand slaves ready in a month, a million every six months thereafter - five years to grow, growth staggered in six month batches... Probably nearly ten million or more currently alive, depending on how big later batches are supposed to be.

For what?

She remembers the Trade Federation's droids. Identical soldiers, at the cost of maneuverability and creativity. Would identical humans, raised identically, have those same problems? But her question didn't get details on the curriculum beyond what she can see, except that it's all the same - but there's no reason to make ten million identical engineers with 'unit cohesion.'

There's no reason to make ten million identical soldiers.

Or there shouldn't be. At least, not that involves the Jedi, keepers of peace, though Anakin's aware the Republic as a whole seems to be spiraling towards armed conflict.

(She keeps this calculation running in the back of her head.)

...Hm. She should try to tease out why they exist more... Not tipping her hand will be hard... What are some reasonable questions to ask, here, if she was fully informed and fully approving of whatever project?

"How do their classes balance unit cohesion and standardization with operational flexibility?" she asks, keeping her voice still idle. "After all, I don't think I've found two philosophers who agree on the ideal balance of creativity and predictability in any field, let alone this."

If Taun-We says something like 'oh, they run scenarios,' which seems likely given how little she seems inclined to elaborate, at least that gives Anakin an opening to ask what kind.

Whatever answer she's about to get is interrupted by a shout from behind. "Taun-We!" The shouter is an older version of the students, wearing grey armor with a hawk-bat sigil embossed on the left pauldron, and catches up to them quickly. "I thought I asked to be told when the Jedi got here."

Slow blink. "The Jedi are here."

"Yeah, I see that. Shoo, I wanna talk with them."

     "They are conducting an evaluation."

"I'll finish the tour." She makes a pushing motion. "Shoo."

     "Very well." The Kaminoan goes back to the elevator.

"Nice to meet you, Jedi. Kayra Fett. The original."

Well, great - they'd been getting somewhere, almost. She still manages neutrality, but she doesn't have to look happy about the interruption.

She inclines her head a bit. "I'm Anakin Skywalker, a padawan learner, and this is my teacher, Elesse Vendar. It's our pleasure. Is something urgently the matter?"

"Might be." She glances over her shoulder, and sees Taun-We getting in the elevator, door closing.

"Am I wrong or did you not know you were buying an army?"

She glances at Elesse, then, slowly, "I'm not sure we were." She refuses to - blatantly say she'd ever be involved in buying slaves even as a lie, even if she could pretend to go along with someone else's assumptions for a time.

"Were you the one who sent the distress signal?"

"Yep. The first of my girls are almost ready. Figured it was about time to let someone else know."

"How did you get Sifo-Dyas's key?"

"Man who hired me gave it to me. Called himself Tyrans."

"Has Tyrans been involved in any other part of - this?"

She shakes her head. "Not as far as I know. It's been someone else doing the inspections, and all the Kaminoans talk about is Sifo-Dyas."

Deep breath. Anakin's been maintaining - calm - so far. She needs to keep doing that.

"Do you know what this is all for?"

"To fight a war. No other reason to pick me."

She nods, expression tight, thinking of the tensions lately. This can't help. And even if war's inevitable... This isn't how to fight one.

"Thank you for - bringing our attention here."

"These girls didn't ask to be made. Someone needs to take responsibility for them. And I hear you've got a war brewing."

"People - should have choices about what they do with their lives. It's one thing if they want to fight. But - " She shakes her head. "And, yeah, someone needs to - help them, some way or another."

"They're as Mandalorian as I am. War's in their blood."

"And being a slave's in mine," she says, impulsively, then takes a deep breath.

"I'm not - technically a pacifist. It's good, if they can be Mandalorian and proud of that. But people should fundamentally have the right to get on a fast ship and fuck off if they want to."

"But I also suspect I'm not going to have much of a say in any particular decision about them."

"That's why the Jedi are worth fighting for."

She nods.

"What else do you know about what's going on - is there someone else trying to get a hold of your girls?"

"Your message mentioned something about exclusivity."

"I was just trying to get your attention. As far as I know, we're not involved in any other plots here."

"Simplifies things a bit, at least." If true.

"While still leaving them relatively complicated. I would like to continue the tour."

"Sure. Anything in particular you really want to see?"

She thinks.

"Different age groups. How they're treated. What their education is like, especially outside of military concerns. What medical facilities they have access to. What happens to girls the Kaminoans find imperfect."

She's pretty sure she can avoid getting too angry, without Taun-We in front of her to rage at. And it's important that she faces this. She knows it'll be upsetting - but it'll exist, regardless of whether she faces the scale of everything going on. She won't be able to make good decisions around it unless she knows. She doesn't have to let her fear of her own anger control her.

She glances at Elesse, then, once the spike of almost nauseous fury abates.

Elesse puts a hand on her shoulder and nods, exuding calmness and acceptance.

Small smile.

And, a bit belatedly: "Please."

Kayra takes the Jedi further into the production stream. It is hugely extensive and very linearly organized. Someone spent a lot of time looking at typical human development and thinking about streamlining before designing it. Caretaking and basic tasks are mostly done by droids, with the occasional Kaminoan overseer. Basic learning is done via flash-imprinting during sleep, and concepts are reinforced through group sessions during the day. These are usually led by an older girl.

The medical facilities are very cutting-edge, better even than most Coruscanti clinics. They mostly deal with injuries related to phyical activity, tendon strain, broken bones, and so forth, as well as courses of vaccination.

She pays careful attention.

"And - what about anyone deemed flawed?"

"The Kaminoans- mostly think about flaws in terms of genetics? And if a gene-pattern is too far out of line, they flush the tank."

She nods. "So they don't tend to see girls who have in-line gene patterns as flawed, even if they don't behave well or perform to standards?"

"That just means they need more training."

She nods.

That's still not ideal but is less an anger inducing humanitarian crisis. Though this whole mess is arguably an anger inducing humanitarian crisis.

Anakin isn't entirely fond of surprise big problems. Those aren't fun.

And she sighs.

"Thank you."

"Do you think we could inspect one of the combat exercises?"

"You wanna join one?"

"I wouldn't mind - though participating would get us different information than just observing."

"They'd enjoy the chance to fight a Jedi."

"I bet I'd enjoy fighting them." Being a Jedi usually involves a disappointingly high amount of being a reasonable adult and a disappointingly low amount of stabbing things, after all.

Off to a sparring room, then. The clones here look about eighteen, and are very excited to see Kayra. They're doing close combat drills with knives and practice sabers.

Anakin knows how to use and fight against both, fortunately.

(She seems more in her element now, too.)

The clones have some unique tricks in their collective repertoire. Their style isn't quite like anyone she's fought before.

The absolute best kind of style.

Anakin's still fast and vicious and adaptive, though, and not at all wedded to the idea of sticking to one formally defined style. Still, she specializes less in combat than the troopers do. Makes for a fun fight.

Partway through, Elesse's comm buzzes.

"Excuse me a moment," she says, stepping to the side.

Anakin tries to avoid letting her attention get split by curiosity about what message Elesse's receiving. Still, she's alert for a call to stop.

It seems to be a serious discussion, by the look of it. She glances up at the clones repeatedly.

Ominous.

Anakin's mood gets a tinge of worry, though she enjoys fighting enough that doesn't swamp her.

Still, she can't keep fighting forever, and she suspects neither can the clones. Eventually one side's going to get worn down, even if no one stops them first.

Elesse finishes the call and walks over to Kayra.

"Taun-We said that final inspection was in a month. How much can that be moved up?"

"It's mostly equipment checks at this point. Probably half the stuff's good to go."

"How quickly could a partially deployment be done?"

"Uh. Couple hours, maybe. Why?"

"Coruscant is under siege."

- Shit.

"By who?"

"The Separatists."

"Well. Shit."

"Ma'am." One of the clones speak up. "We're ready for action."

She really, really doesn't like this.

"What do we know about their army?"

"Very little, as of yet."

Nod. "We - should get moving, then."

They - should only take volunteers. She doesn't know if 'volunteers' is meaningful given the pressure and the conditioning - she doesn't know if asking each clone if they truly want to do this would cost time and lives. But reluctant soldiers also are unlikely to be good soldiers, even ignoring Anakin's qualms.

This mostly boils out to 'Anakin is very unhappy.'

" - How easily can we sort out anyone who doesn't want to deploy or feels unready?"

"We're all ready."

She takes a slow breath. 'If you say so' is rude.

"Alright," is what she reaches for.

"You'll need to tell the Kaminoans."

"Then let us go."

She falls in beside Elesse.

"Thank you for the spar," she says to the girls she was fighting before they leave. Then: to talk to the Kaminoans?

To the Kaminoans. The Jedi request is irregular, but as they have been such good customers, they'll do their best to accommodate it.

Thanks.

Where are Elesse and Anakin going to be while the partial deployment gets underway?

Conferring with clone leadership about the best tactics and approaches for when they get to Coruscant. They're the two people with the best knowledge of that space, and also have a line of communication with the defenders, if a low-bandwidth one.

She nods and sticks by Elesse's side.

Anakin also knows a lot about the sorts of ships the Republic can field around Coruscant and what their capabilities are. (She's wheedled her way into flying one or another class over the years, after all.)

The clones have relatively few starfighters, though close to a full complement of capital ships and ground assault equipment. With luck, there won't be a protracted space battle.

Especially not where any debris would fall to Coruscant.

Not the ground fighting will be any better. Coruscant is the worst of urban environments.

The clones are confident they can handle it.

"Civilian casualties might be harder to avoid if it gets to ground fighting."

They'll do the best possible. But they don't have the luxury of picking the battlefield.

Yeah. Not an ideal situation by any means.

On the other hand, they may have surprise on their side. It's unlikely this army is expected.

And they might be able to shape where the confrontation happens within the system, too, especially if they're quick on arrival.

That is to be hoped.

The transports are ready. Will the Jedi be joining them?

Anakin's assuming so.

Yes, that makes the most sense.

The clone ships are roughly triangular, two long sides coming to a point and a conning tower at the aft. In effect, it's a mobile base of operations, with communications equipment, a medbay, barracks for the troops, and storage for vehicles and equipment.

She tries to be helpful where she can, and stay out of the way where she can't be helpful. Still, she's assuming they'll have at least a short while before they get to Coruscant.

Some time to breathe. Meditate. Get her nerves under her control.

There are officer cabins. It's almost expected she gets one.

She'll retreat to one once she's no longer needed, then, and settle in to meditate.

After brief introduction to the unit that goes with the ship (the 501st), she's left alone until shortly before arrival.

She does try to get an impression of what the unit she's stationed with are like.

But mostly she centers herself, preparing for arrival.

She comes out of it enough before their scheduled arrival to get to the bridge and get settled.

"Sleep well, sir?"

She's not really a 'sir' but she's also never known how to handle people being polite at her and she doesn't want an argument right now over random honorifics. A lot of people are randomly polite at Jedi.

"Well enough. How are we doing on readiness?"

"Everything seems to be going smoothly. It's impressive."

She nods. "I noticed a lot of coordination and efficiency, yeah. Good for this type of thing."

"We shall see how well they handle things when introduced to factors outside their control."

"That'll be the deciding factor. Have we learned or figured out anything else about the situation we're going into?"

"They've been running simulations based on the final update about ship distributions and positions, but without knowing more about the enemy commander, tactics and goals, it's hard to fine-tune. They seem to have covered a good spread of possibilities."

"And we likely won't have much time to readjust our plans once we get there."

"We shall have to trust in the Force."

     "One minute to realspace," a clone calls.

She nods, centering herself and reaching out into the Force for an indication of what next.

She gets a brief flash of- the Temple gardens? and blasterfire and lightsabers winking out-

" - Chance there's or will be a ground assault on the Temple - " she says, voice distant from herself. She tries to reach for more - visions are frustrating, here and there and almost never exactly when she wants, but she gets them so easily - and she usually has a good sense of how they relate to her - is she in this vision? Is she present at the assault? What is the her in the vision feeling, that's a good hook - and Anakin almost never has visions she's not in - 

She's in a gunship, surrounded by armored clones. They leap out at her command, taking the attackers in the back-

And then it's gone.

Not much.

Still, it seems to be actually this engagement rather than some future one.

"Not getting much more."

The ship comes out of hyperspace. Before them hangs Coruscant, and the besieging fleet. The enemy is a hodgepodge of sorts of different shapes and sizes, mostly Outer Rim designs. As the IFF signals come online in the tac display, they're all carrying a Separtist label.

There are bright blooms of fire on the planet's surface.

"How soon until we're in landing distance, commander?" Elesse asks.

     "Ten minutes if nothing gets in our way, sir," one of the clones replies.

"See that it doesn't. And make sure the gunships are ready. We will be joining them."

     "Yes, sir!" The order is disseminated through the fleet, and the space ahead begins to fill with turbolaser bolts. The Separatist fleet begins to scatter and wheel to face the new arrivals, the response slow, uncoordinated.

She keeps an eye out, keeps calm, scans the displays - and keeps her mind open to nudges, to visions, to ideas...

Of course, even with time dragging like it is, they'll have to get in the gunships soon enough...

Are Anakin and Elesse going down together?

Yes.

The Senate Tower and the Jedi Temple are their two primary concerns, and both are under assault. The Senate Guard is holding for now, so the plan is to take the pressure off the Temple, then rescue the Senate.

She nods and gets ready.

Once a secure channel has been established, Elesse contacts the Jedi and lets them know to expect reinforcements. Then it's down to the hangar.

The clones who will be joining them are arrayed in ranks, white armor shining, helmets tucked under their arms. They come to attention and salute sharply, the uniform stomp of boots echoing in the bay.

She... Really does not like this military thing.

She keeps her expression blank, though, nodding to the clones.

Elesse nods at the lieutenant, and she snaps out a sharp command to board.

Into the shuttles.

Into the shuttles.

Anakin is - as ready as she can be, for whatever they'll face when they land.

The ride down is bumpy, but they survive it. Once they're low enough, the sides of the ship slide open, and they can get a view of what awaits them. There's a line of smoke trailing the route from the Jedi Temple to the Senate Dome.

"The planetary shields were raised in time to prevent a larger-scale landing. This is salvageable."

She nods.

Any indications of where the attackers' forces are currently concentrated?

Looks like they're currently making another push at the Temple.

She takes a deep breath, considers her troops and theirs - getting in behind the attackers should be possible -

She doesn't like the military aesthetic, but she has a keen mind for violence. Plans quickly slot into place in her mind - she can see, almost like it's happening in front of her, how the unit - as a whole, as individuals - is best placed, where she should be in this, what her opponents are likely doing given the information she has on their tactics from this distant view -

Humans are easy, though, limited in their capacity for war, most of them bound to narrow doctrine honed over millennia -

She starts relaying her ideas, voice firm, uncertainty gone as her focus narrows to the upcoming fight.

The clones seem ready to follow her ideas.

And when they land, they prove to be good ones. In the front of the battle, Jedi are falling slowly but steadily, lightsabers winking out like falling stars- But the clones crest over the enemy like a wave, and the tide begins to turn.

Anakin keeps to where she has a good view of the battle, but doesn't shy away from combat when it comes to her -

She's good. Vicious. Efficient.

(Enjoying herself, even. This - is a better focus than any meditation she's ever managed.)

She never stays under threat for long, and keeps her focus on the wider tides of battle, nudging this order here, that squad there - the only difficulty is in needing to use her words, she distantly feels like it should be possible to simply be the army, they're trained well enough as a unit - her light saber is an extension of her body and for a second it feels ridiculous that the entire battle might not be -

Still, she's prepared for when the enemy starts to regroup, anticipating their movements well ahead of time.

Elesse puts a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "They're retreating. We need to pause, take stock. Call them back."

She does, effortlessly.

( - But an enemy in rout is at their most vulnerable - )

Still, she listens to Elesse.

Yeah, they're going to have to have a talk about this.

"Yoda would like to speak with us. Let's go."

She nods, and falls in to follow her teacher.

Yoda is speaking with one of the clones they brought, a commander's red stripe on the left shoulder of her armor. Nearby, the dead are being sorted into piles. When their helmets are removed, it is clear the attackers are also clones, at least three distinct groups.

Yoda turns. "Master Vendar, Padawan Skywalker. Timely your arrival was, and welcome the aid you brought. More Jedi would we have lost, without them."

She nods, analyzing the scene - less surprised than she should be, at the dead attackers' faces.

Something - strange is going on.

"I doubt this mess is over just yet, though," she says, a bit quietly.

     "Over, it is not," Yoda agrees. "Deeper currents, there are. The leader of our foes, Yan Dooku is."

"-He retired," Elesse says.

Yoda frowns. "From the Jedi. Not done with politics yet, he is. And more, there is. A red lightsaber he displayed."

There's... A lot of political questions to ask about that, but the planet's still under threat.

"What are his goals here, do we know?"

"A message, he is sending. To the Republic, and to us. For the outlying sectors, he claims to speak. Tired they are of having no voice in the Senate. Expressing their displeasure, they are."

"And to the Jedi, he's saying the Sith are not gone."

"Yes," Yoda agrees. "To the Senate, the two of you must go. Master Windu, Master Piel, also. Lift the siege. Meditate I must, and find the truth behind this. When finished you have, speak again we will."

She nods, glancing at Elesse. "Time to regroup and get moving, then?"

"Yes. It will be a long way to the Senate Dome."

Especially against opposition...

She nods, and - it's easy, to mentally poll who of hers (the girls, she needs to remind herself they belong to themselves...) are injured, who are alive and in fighting condition, who are with their units or separated... Discovering the dead would be easy, too, probably, but right now's for the living.

Probably some of the tasks like gathering the dead and tending to the wounded can be left for emergency services and the Jedi themselves who're staying behind -

She idly relays to Elesse the - collective condition, really, of the girls on their side.

Elesse puts a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "Be mindful of your center. Don't lose your place."

"I'll be careful. I know who I am." She's more concerned about forgetting who everyone else is...

Squeeze.

"Good. Let's go save the day. Again."

Heeee.

"Let's."

It's even easier, the second time, to fall into that odd trance. She helps regroup the girls - not forcing anything, but giving them information and orders as needed. More information to the unit commanders - she's not quite capable (yet) of hooking other people into her system...

But she can give them exceptionally well coordinated soldiers, even remembering to keep a little mental distance.

With the help of Windu and the other Jedi Masters, they push to the Senate if not exactly easily, at least without much fuss.

The blue-armored Senate Guard greets them with cheers, as the last of the Separatists flee, their ships in space above also making the jump to hyperspace.

She paces herself, and her troops, paying keen attention to everyone's surroundings and status as well as the overall battle - it's the same thing, the same way a slight fatigue in a muscle is a part of her wider fight -

She adapts to using the - communication, not command - to protect her troops from serious injury, too, where she can without sacrificing the fight.

She's wrung out by the end of it, eyes dry, muscles tight, head throbbing lightly - like when she was first learning to fight.

"The Senate wants to meet their savior, if you're up for it," Elesse murmurs. "They're calling you the Hero of Coruscant."

"......I am pretty sure a lot more people were involved."

" - Any chance they'd give me a chance to speak and promptly derail the conversation to full citizenship for the clones?"

"I doubt it. I think the Chancellor just wants to shake your hand in front of a camera."

"I am definitely too tired for that."

"All right. Back to the Temple with you, then. I'll try to keep your statue to a reasonable size. Say, a hundred fifty meters."

She laughs. "As long as it's pretty."

"Aurodium-plated."

"I said pretty, not tacky."

"Politics is all about compromise."

"And charisma! Which I have in spades."

Elesse laughs.

"Go take your charisma to see if our rooms are still intact."

"Okay."

"I'll meet you there?"

"Yes. Once the Chancellor has had his fill of cameras."

She nods.

"I'll let you go then."

And off to face the politicians. Worse than a battlefield any day.

Anakin - doesn't actually go straight back to their rooms. She mostly stops to make sure the girls are all accounted for and okay, that there's nothing they critically need and the ones who do need critical care are getting it - 

She doesn't want them to fall through the cracks. (Slaves always do.)

But they look out for each other, too, and soon enough she's satisfied they'll be as okay as they can in the short term, and heads into the Temple to find her and Elesse's rooms and just... 

Collapse.

(She dreams every death on that battlefield.)

Elesse enters softly, a few hours later.

She stirs anyways.

"'lesse?"

"I'm here." She sits next to her Padawan.

She curls into her teacher a bit.

"Mmmm... Stuff okay?"

"More or less. The Chancellor does want to meet you at some point."

"And while the Senate was locked in, they voted in favor of creating a Republic military. They're asking the Jedi to lead it."

...That's not good.

She grumbles and curls into Elesse more.

"Are we gonna?"

"Given that we have recently come into possession of an army, it will be argued that we would be irresponsible not to."

She nods.

"Don't - want those girls to have to be soldiers. Don't want someone who doesn't care to lead them, either."

"They seem... enthusiastic about their intended job."

"They are." She's very confident of that. None of them shied away from her command, and she was far from the only one enjoying that battle. "Still should get citizenship and stuff. A - choice, technically, even if they don't take it."

"The Republic has, historically, not been good about clone rights. I will suggest we make this a condition of our acceptance."

"It should be. I'm fine fighting. Jedi shouldn't be - part of slavery, though."

"Your views will have weight, I think."

"Can do politics, if I have to. Can do people, if - if it'd help."

"We should see what Master Yoda wanted."

"Yeah."

She thinks she'd keep having the - nightmares, she guesses, though she doesn't feel bad in them - if she went back to sleep, anyways, and she feels more rested than she was.

Yoda is in his private meditation room, the half-shut blinds letting bars of light and shade fall across the room.

"A great darkness I sense," he says. "But clouded, the Force is." He opens his eyes. "Act upon what we know, we must. To Serenno the two of you will go. Investigate Dooku. Of his apparent fall, the truth we must learn."

She nods.

"What of the clones under our care?"

"With care that matter must be approached." He pokes at Anakin with his stick. "Strong feelings on the matter you have, young Skywalker?"

"As strong as on anything. But - the Republic doesn't have a track record I approve of with the rights of clones, or even with enforcing its anti-slavery laws. It's not a matter of emotion or not, to find an unaddressed problem that fits your own background, interests, knowledge, and abilities, and to then want to see it through - or at least see it handled by someone else to an extent you would be satisfied with."

"I believe I am well suited to - be in the clones' corner, as it were, and to advocate for them. I also don't presently have responsibilities beyond learning and assisting Elesse, so I don't have severe conflicts of interest or even a notable lack of spare time."

     "Created the clones were, for the Jedi yet without our knowledge. Why, we must ask. Master Vendar, what think you of this, hm?"

"I think it is the responsibility of the Jedi to protect the rights of all sentients. Whatever else the clones may be, they are at least that."

     "Correct you are. Ignore this matter, we cannot." Yoda, the little green gremlin that he is, chuckles. "To find these clones, you the Force sent. Trust your instincts about them, I will. While gone you are, to the Council I will speak, and then to the Senate."

She nods. "Thank you."

"Thank you, Master Yoda. Let's go, Anakin."

She follows Elesse out.

"Are you ready to leave?" she asks.

"Yeah. I got everything I'd want to get settled taken care of before sleeping."

"All right. Pack a bag for each of us, and meet me in the west hangar. I'll go set up our flight plan. It's going to require a bit of subtlety, I think."

"Probably, yeah."

She heads off to get their things ready - it doesn't take long, especially now that she's familiar with Elesse's things and habits.

She meets her as instructed.

Elesse has a small shuttle for them.

"Set course for Corellia," she says once they're in the air.

"Okay." She does so, easily. "What's our overall approach?"

"Three steps. First to Corellia, then we buy passage to Ord Mantell. We buy a ship there, and then to Serenno."

"To cover our trail, and make it less obvious where we're coming from?"

"And to give us a chance to select something with weapons without arousing suspicion, yes."

She nods, slowly. "Which we'd have if we left here with something like that, or if we found a ship with weapons immediately after leaving this one."

"Just so."

"Alright."

She hums, pulling her legs up into her seat so she can sit like a gremlin with terrible posture, turning the last - day, really - over in her head.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yeah."

"Both about the girls and how they'll be treated, and... About that thing I did with the battle. And probably also what it'll mean, if the Jedi lead an army."

"Well. It will be a long series of flights. Where do you want to start?"

"On the battle, I guess?"

"There is a very old Jedi technique called battle meditation. It is said to be- limited, temporary sort of Force bond across an entire army, mediated through the Jedi. A rare talent, and not one that has seen use in, oh, a thousand years or so."

"It - felt like that. Like a Force bond. It was... Actually really nice. I knew everyone's emotions, what they were doing, where they were - and I could protect and guide them the same way I can protect and guide myself."

"Battle meditation seems - too narrow a name for it."

"You think that's what I did?"

"I think that's the best reference I have for it."

Serious nod. "...A thousand years is a long time."

"Longer even than Yoda has been a Jedi."

"Do you know if there's - documentation, or something, on how it's been used before?"

"Nothing so convenient as a training manual. Outsider descriptions, one or two autobiographies. It is- was- a reminder of times the Jedi would prefer stayed in the past."

"So I'll have to mostly just - figure it out."

"Consider it a foretaste of your Knighthood. Most problems don't have a well-defined solution."

She smiles a little. "Makes it more fun."

"I may not be able to duplicate your feats, but I can still sense what you are doing. I will try to offer what help I can."

"Thanks. You're - really good at helping."

"You make me feel like I can do anything, eventually."

"I'm only pointing to the path."

"It's - more than that. I like working with you. Wanna find paths we can travel together."

Elesse smiles.

"I have been planning on recommending you for Knighthood soon. When we finish this mission, I think."

That quiets her mood, a bit.

"...I think I'm probably ready in general, but - "

She shrugs.

"I don't really want to - or maybe I'm not really ready to - take missions without you. Sounds... Lonely."

"I think we can still work together."

"I'd like that." Elesse is so good.

"...I feel really lonely in my head right now too, so I - might calm down eventually."

"'Lonely' without the battle meditation?"

"...I think so, yeah. It's - a sort of restless feeling I get a lot. It goes down when I'm floating in the Force, or when I'm around you, or when I'm touching someone... And it reduced a lot during the battle."

"Hm. I'm not sure I've run across something like that before."

"I don't think the battle meditation caused it, just that it made me notice it more. Might just be a - me thing."

"That would make sense. You're never content with the average."

"I like being a statistical anomaly, it's true."

"Most of what I say is true. It's one of my better qualities, according to most."

She laughs. "Then it must be impressive, given all your good qualities."

Elesse smiles.

She smiles back.

Then: "Hm... Where should I start, do you think? On figuring the battle meditation out? If that's even possible on this trip..."

"It might be difficult without a large body of people to coordinate. But you can practice reaching out to me, without leaning on our bond."

She nods. "Probably the girls wouldn't mind drilling with me, too, once we're done with this mission..."

"Is now okay for us to practice?"

"The ship can look after itself for a while."

"Alright."

She settles in to meditate.

Reaching for the battle meditation is - harder, when she's not being pressed. And it's hard not to reach for Elesse directly via their bond, but...

Anakin's done this once already. She knows what it feels like...

...What if she goes indirectly?

There's no one around them, but there could be - if Anakin floats into the Force first, then loops to connect to Elesse -

She's everyone and everything, she is the ship the void the stars they're passing the Force and the Force is everything and the Force is Elesse, and of course Elesse's right there, Elesse always is -

Her Force presence is warm and comforting as always, but beyond their bond Anakin can feel another side, the way her mind is always working, considering contingencies for Dooku, the clones, Anakin's training...

It's almost reflexive to offer her own thoughts on Elesse's considerations, sort of - bouncing them, giving Elesse all of Anakin's impressions and information and vaguely observed hints from the Force as easily if they were Elesse's own memories - mostly still clearly Anakin's, and not pressed forward, simply - there.

(She's less solely herself, right now, or perhaps less trapped inside her own skull, so she notices she's not getting enthralled with Elesse's thoughts and that she usually would be, but manages to acknowledge that as irrelevant to her meditation.)

She can see the way Elesse responds to the new information, the new currents and flows adapting easily to the additional perspective.

With the clones, it felt like she was doing some smoothing, but that doesn't seem necessary with Elesse.

(She gets a bit distracted over how nice this feels - Elesse's mind is wonderful - lets that push her a bit more into the floating mindset...)

Though without a concrete task it's - easy to get muddled, to be unsure what she's working on, to just float and think at Elesse - to keep getting distracted, really.

Elesse brings it to a halt after a while.

"I think that's enough for now."

"Mmmkay." She curls back into her own head, blinking.

"How do you feel?"

"Okay. That was really nice. A bit - kind of like I just woke up and don't want to get out of bed."

"Comfortable," she says.

"Yeah. Nice and cozy."

"That's good." She hums thoughtfully. "Your presence was not intrusive. The information was... smooth."

"Good. It - did feel a lot different than it did the first time? Less focused, and... I think I was sharing more information overall, it was less blendy, and I wasn't giving any - nudges? The first time... It felt like a mix of moving myself, just when there was a lot of myself spread around, and telling the girls where they'd do best?" She hums. "I might've felt like I was moving myself because of the - blending? I don't think I was controlling anyone... But us making decisions based on our information felt like - some bigger me making decisions?"

"That may be a function of the number of people involved, or that there were so many very similar minds."

"Also I wasn't really being - careful, and I think the blending increased over time and helped us fight?"

Elesse nods.

"I would like you to practice the mindfulness exercises during your meditations, with a focus on the distinction between the Living Force and the Unifying Force. Understand the division between self and other, find the line on an instinctual level so that you cross it for your purposes and only when it serves you."

"Alright - that makes sense, with what I was thinking... It'll help me define my core, too, so I can always come back."

"That is important."

She laughs, a bit. "It'd be a shame if I forgot who I was."

"And after all the work I've put into building you up."

She ducks her head, smiling, a warm glow in her chest. (Elesse's so pretty. And also great in a lot of other ways. But salient to Anakin's teenage brain right now is 'pretty.')

"I'll try not to make more work for you rebuilding me, then," she says, teasingly.

"Thank you, Padawan." She checks the chrono. "Not much longer to Corellia."

"Alright." She hums, mulling over what they've talked about.

Corellia's traffic control, when they get there, is reasonably efficient for such a busy planet, and they can dock on the surface in short order. The ship is left in the care of a contact who will see it returned to the Temple. Elesse and Anakin take public transport in the direction of the Jedi Enclave, a relic of a time when Corellians were more independently minded, even as Jedi, these days maintained as a haven for those who don't want to leave the Core Worlds but need a quieter place than Coruscant. Once Elesse determines no one is following them directly, they double back to the spaceport and buy tickets on a passenger liner to the Mid Rim whose stops include Ord Mantell. The accommodations are slightly cramped, but they still get a cabin to themselves.

Anakin keeps working on meditating, and defining herself, and reaching out in the Force then finding herself again. There's not a ton else to do. 

It's time to debark soon enough. Ord Mantell, like many Mid Rim planets, is an odd mix of industrial and pastoral. Factories cluster in large cities near the spaceports and transit centers to receive materials mined on-world, with the rest of the surface area given over to vast tracts of droid-worked farms in the arable regions or left untouched otherwise. Small villages are nonexistent outside the minimum necessary to support mining operations; you either live and work in a city or on an isolated farmstead, the only organics for a hundred kilometers. Provided you have local contacts, places like these are excellent waypoints for smugglers, and the used ship business is very brisk.

There are a few storefronts specializing in that within spitting distance of the spaceport they land at, so they have some choice in what to buy.

A bit fortunate, because Anakin has opinions about ships. (And a good sense of people - even without the Force, she can fairly reliably spot which sellers are trying to pull something on them.) She has fun haggling and gossiping and flirting with sellers, deftly avoiding giving anything concrete away about their own past or goals without actually offering offense or sounding like she's hiding more than most people here do. She picks up bits of miscellaneous gossip, too, a mixture of local and regional and farther out.

She's able to narrow down a seller and a ship fairly quickly.

And with Elesse handling the credits, they are soon the proud owners of an only-slightly-battered freighter with a respectable turn of speed, decent shielding, and a pair of guns.

"I'm not sure if I should count this as a birthday present," she says as they leave the shop.

"Dunno. It's not exactly a surprise... And I might not get to keep it."

"Enjoy it while you can, then. I'll think of something else."

"Now you've got me excited..."

Elesse allows a touch of her smugness to radiate.

She laughs, an answering warm glow in her chest.

Onward?

Onward to their new ship! They'll need to give it a quick once-over to make sure it doesn't have any hidden undisclosed problems. Or tracking bugs.

Anakin finds sweeping for trackers moderately entertaining, at least, and she's thorough and efficient about it and knowledgeable enough about ships to declare it problem-free.

Then there's nothing stopping them from taking off shortly. Which is a good thing, as they are still on somewhat of a timetable. The home planet of Yan Dooku, once and current Count, awaits.

Anakin keeps up her training on the way, quizzing Elesse some about the planet. She gets a bit quieter as they approach, more often a bit lost in thought.

Serreno is an old, old industrial center that has fallen in the wake of modern techniques and transportation infrastructure. Its easily accessible resources have been mined out, and it is no longer economically viable to keep the old factories running.

"Is everything all right?"

"I think so?" She shrugs. "Just - a bit uneasy, though I can't pin down why."

"Do you think it has more to do with our destination in particular or the situation in general?"

"Maybe everything in general?" Sigh. "Including our destination..."

"Best not to ignore your instincts. We should be cautious."

She nods. "Won't hurt, anyways..."

"Indeed not." They're granted clearance to land without too much trouble due to their ship's registration still being out of Ord Mantell. Which is slightly troubling, if even that Mid-Rim world is accounted close enough to an ally to permit their ships so easily.

Anakin nods, and tries to pay attention to her instincts, but - she doesn't have much to say, here. They've gone over the mission already...

"Do you want to take the west side or the east?"

"West," she says after a moment.

"All right." She taps her comm. "Check-ins on the hour, text only. Don't let anyone catch you taking notes."

She nods. "I'll be careful."

"Meet here in four hours if no events eventuate. May the Force be with you."

"I will. May the Force be with you, too."

And off to the city.

And Anakin heads for the west side, alert to any problems - and opportunities.

The first thing she notices- is that there are a lot of little groups of similar minds, and the groups differ from each other. These aren't visible from the street, but there are a numbered of armored personnel carriers rolling along.

She doesn't let her curiosity show on her face, or slow down her walk -

Gently, not really probing per se, she observes them in the Force.

They feel incomplete. Unfinished. Not like a child, but like part of their selves are missing.

...Unpleasant.

Cautiously, she spools a bit more of her awareness toward one. Can she - get an idea, of which part is missing?

No, just the sense that something is.

It makes her incredibly uneasy.

But - she's not sure she can risk poking closer right now...

She makes a mental note of all the different groups she's passing, keeping track of broader movements as much as she can - do they seem to be going to or from anywhere particular?