A Young Girl’s War Between the Stars

  14

  Hyperspace, 42 BBY.

  “You’re distracted,” Obi commented as I was forced to duck away from a swing I had failed to parry, her blue blade passing through the air where my head had been.

  I rolled, swinging my silver-white blade at her ankles and forcing her to jump over, then dodge back as I followed up with a swipe at her knees with the blade in my other hand. “I’m thinking,” I admitted, snapping both blades into a cross-block to catch her overhand swing.

  Obi recovered quickly, pulling back and using her longer reach to probe my defenses. A little smirk pulled at her lips. “Yes, I could tell. You always get that constipated look when you do a big think.”

  “Consti-!” My eye twitched and I leapt at her, the older girl giggling as she batted away my blows, circling to the left as we moved around the ship’s small training space. “I do not.”

  “Sure, sure,” she agreed, nodding, radiating teasing as she did. “You want to talk about it, or do you want to keep going?”

  “Yes,” I grunted, snapping the ends of my lightsabers together and coming at her again as I worked my way through practicing with my tools. After all, what was the point of having different weapons for options if you never practiced with or used them? Obi didn’t mind at all, since it kept her own skills sharp against different weapon types than a standard lightsaber or sword equivalent.

  “Go on then,” she encouraged, kicking out and nearly catching my knee as I danced back, pulling her leg out of the way just before the white-silver blade would have hit.

  “What’s on your mind? Tell big sis!” I snorted softly and she let out a quiet, “Ufufu~,” once more reminding me why I called her Onee-san Kenobi in the privacy of my own mind sometimes. She was at that age where sometimes, her mood and the age gap between us left her acting in pretty much exactly that role… while other times, she could be an absolute gremlin and a troublemaker when she wanted attention.

  Moving in for another clash, I began speaking. “I’m still putting together my report on the data, but,” I slid under a swing, aiming for her waist, only for Obi to leap over me. I was forced to bring one of the saber blades around to protect the back of my head. “It looks like someone began preparing for this years ago. There are tunnels under every major city, leading below every governmental building or stronghold. New tunnels. Oh sure, they’re all labeled as things like ‘sewer maintenance access’ or ‘emergency evacuation route’ and the like, but none of them actually connect to the buildings they pass beneath or near. It’s like they were left intentionally unfinished. The walls are thin though.”

  Obi frowned as she came after me with a basic combination, swinging her saber in a very predictable pattern until the last second, when she changed the angle of her swing and I nearly missed a parry. “How thin?”

  “Thin enough that blasting charges could presumably breach them,” I answered, moving in close to try and get inside her reach. “Some of those tunnels are large enough to fit heavy equipment through. Others, big enough for people. Some just,” I twisted, letting a jab sail by to catch her on the wrist, bringing our score even again, “circle the building foundations, as though they were put there to make it easier to access the structural supports for quick demolition.”

  Obi pulled back, shutting off her lightsaber and, when I saw she was calling a halt to training and not just trying for a fakeout, I shut off my own and stowed them as she did likewise. She gestured for me to follow and I did as she led me to the small galley. The older girl poured us both a cup of cold water before we moved into the rec room and took seats on the couch there.

  “That explains why they wanted the data hidden,” she murmured, sipping at her drink.

  “No,” I shook my head, and she raised an eyebrow. “It’s certainly damning by itself,” I admitted, “but that’s not why they tried to hide it.” Seeing her expectant look and feeling the girl’s impatience, I drew it out just a bit, enjoying her frustration as I sipped at my own water. Finally, I lowered it to my lap and told her. “The job was big. Serenno isn’t the most developed planet, but it’s still too large a job for the local companies to handle. They had to call in contractors from off-planet.”

  “That makes sense,” the brunette nodded. “But I don’t follow. What do contractors have to do with a cover-up?”

  “Everything.” At her raised eyebrow, I asked, “Suppose you’re engaged in a conspiracy to engage in a hostile takeover, but it requires a lot of work that you’re just not prepared or equipped to do. You need to bring in outside help to get the job done. Who do you look towards to hire, to keep the work quiet?”

  “Wait, you’re saying… whoever is involved hired the people they’re working with?” Obi asked, a frown pulling at her lips as she did.

  “I think so. Who would be least likely to talk or leak the information, but someone invested in seeing the hostile takeover come to fruition? Someone already involved. With skin in the game, so to speak.”

  Nodding, she took another sip before asking, “Then you know who they are?”

  “Better.” I began ticking off points on my fingers. “I know who hired them. How much the contract was for—a lot, mind you. Something like five times market value, in fact. I know who owns those companies, and who owns them—or at least, who’s pulling the strings. Charitable donations, tax records, campaign contributions, these things are all publicly available information.”

  “Well, don’t keep me in suspense,” she huffed.

  “Several senators, all with ties to the Trade Federation and the Banking Clan. I have their names on my computer. The construction companies were used to launder money to fund their reelection campaigns, pay bribes, and the like.”

  Obi nodded, finishing off her water. “So now we know the senate, Trade Federation, and Banking Clan are involved in the events on Serenno. I’m sure the masters suspected. Is that what was troubling you?”

  I shook my head. “No, but I needed to lay the groundwork for the actual problem.”

  “Which is…?”

  “Why?”

  “Why?” Obi echoed curiously.

  “Why Serenno? It’s an Outer Rim planet with little in the way of value to the Trade Federation. They aren’t on the list of big exporters to the Core.” Sighing in frustration, I brought a hand up to scrub through my white hair. “Space combat isn’t like ground, sea, or air combat! Space is huge. You can’t just… pick a town along a major highway and turn it into a choke point, or set up a naval blockade of a river and cut off supplies to everything downstream, or just shoot everything flying down and claim air superiority allowing you to shoot at enemies on the ground and water with near impunity. If something’s in the way in space, you just go around it! And then there’s hyperspace! You can’t blockade hyperspace! It’s not possible—”

  “Uhh,” Obi murmured, and I blinked, pulled out of my building rant. “You’ve never heard of an interdictor then?”

  “…A what?” I asked, my gut twisting as my mind raced ahead, breaking down the root word. Interdictor. Interdiction. Interdict. To destroy, damage, or cut off, such as an enemy supply line, by means of firepower.

  “An interdictor is a kind of ship that produces an interdiction field. Clever name, right?” Obi chuckled. “They’re super illegal for anyone but the Republic Navy to own, because pirates use them to take over trade lanes and force ships to drop out of hyperspace. Not exactly sure how it works, but it trips the hyperdrive fail-safe to not, you know, fly into a planet or a star. It’s not exactly new technology either.”

  “Then… it’s possible to cut off a hyperspace lane?” When Obi nodded, I shot to my feet, dropping my cup on the table as I hurried into my room. She followed a moment later as I sat down in front of my computer.

  “What are you doing?” Obi asked, as I began putting in data requests.

  I answered as I worked, fingers flying over the keyboard. “Putting in a request for data. I need all of the planets the Trade Federation have blockaded.”

  “Why?”

  I held up a finger to indicate she should wait. Obi shrugged and moved away, dropping on my bed and looking around idly. Eventually, I finished what I was doing—now I just had to wait for the data to come back. Until then, I took what I had already—taking a galaxy map and dropping in the names of every planet I was aware of that the Trade Federation had blockaded, along with Serenno. My list wasn’t comprehensive or up to date—it was at least a year out of date, in fact. But it was a good start. Good enough to see the pattern starting to form.

  “They’ve taken planets on every major hyperspace lane leading into the Core.”

  Obi looked up from where she had grabbed my pillow and rolled onto her side, curling around it. “Yeah? I thought you said they were just following the money.”

  “Yes and no. They are, and that accounts for some of the worlds they’ve taken—but not all, and it always bugged me why they went after some seemingly inconsequential worlds. But if I’m right, they could choke off travel to and from the core. Blockade every major route with a fleet and interdictors and force everyone going through to pass through their checkpoint. Conduct inspections. Demand ‘fees’ to pass. Disallow certain things to go Coreward entirely. It wouldn’t completely cut off the Core, obviously. There are still several agri-worlds in the core, or very close to it, that are used to feed Coruscant and other planets entirely dependent upon imports. But it’d cause prices to skyrocket and limit the movement of troops and other goods. It would apply pressure.”

  Humming, Obi asked, “So, then the plan is to complete their droid army, and then what? Ransom the core?”

  “Maybe?” I shrugged. “I would need more information to ascertain their intentions. It will obviously become clearer the closer we come to the deadline, but by then, it will be too late. I’ll inform Masters Dooku, Dyas, and Qui-Gon of my suspicions when I brief them… which will need to be pushed back another day while I adjust for the new information.”

  Obi sighed and I could practically feel her eyes boring into my skull. “Don’t make me drag you out of this room because you got sucked in. Again.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I won’t forget to eat again. It was one time.”

  “Mhmm,” she hummed. “You’re not doing anything right now. Come meditate with me.”

  Nodding, I stood as she rolled off the bed and folded it into the wall. She left the room for a moment to go to her own room and I took that time to sit down and make myself comfortable, pulling my incomplete computation orb out and laying it in my lap. Obi returned with a set of candles and lit them, before shutting out the light and joining me on the rug, leaving the room lit only by the light of hyperspace coming in through the transparent metal windows and the candles.

  Obi relaxed beside me, her breathing going even and slow. Taking a breath, I opened myself and reached out, at the same time I focused on the orb and what I needed to do to make it work. Suggestions and impressions came, and the orb hovered just over my lap. I felt as the Force filled it, burning in tiny lines and other patterns in an almost microscopic level of detail, picking up from where I had left off last time.

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  I had no idea how long it was going to take to complete the orb, but I wasn’t going to rush it. I’d put in as much time as I could practically put in, between everything else I needed to do. It was just going to take as long as it was going to take.

  Which, considering I was using the Force to permanently bridge the gap between magic formulas and the nearest equivalent, what I believed was called Force Sorcery, to allow me to cast without having to do the conversions manually every time and instead allow the orb to do it, it would be worth the effort. I was effectively converting an engine (the orb) to run off of diesel fuel (the Force) when it took gasoline (mana), and I didn’t want the engine to fail, or explode, to take the metaphor to its fiery conclusion.

  I want to fly again…

  In orbit over Mandalore, 42 BBY.

  “…that’s where the battle space on and over Serenno stood, as of last month, which is the newest data we were able to get and the role I believe it plays in the enemy’s overall strategy.”

  “It doesn’t look good,” Master Dyas murmured, studying the holo screen in Master Dooku’s ship from where he sat on the couch.

  Beside him, Master Qui-Gon leaned forward, looking more closely at the hyperspace lane map before asking, “How sure of this are you?”

  “Are interdiction vessels a thing the enemy possibly has?” I asked, and the three took a moment to trade looks, before Qui-Gon nodded. “Then very. It makes sense, and it explains their movements over the last several years. They’ve been preparing for a while. I’m waiting on data to come back, but I might be able to get a list of ship classifications they’ve purchased. Does an interdiction field require a specific kind of vessel?”

  “Unfortunately, no,” Master Dyas shook his head. “To my knowledge, you could convert any cargo hauler into one. It’s the prime choice for pirates. Turn one of their less valuable ships into an interdictor, then swarm whatever drops out of hyperspace with their attack craft.”

  “So there’s little point trying to figure out which ones are being used as interdictors just from the records,” I murmured, nodding.

  “Were you able to determine who it was that ordered the new construction on Serenno?” Master Dooku asked, and I nodded.

  “Friends and allies to Ramil. Most likely at his direction.”

  The older Master sighed, before nodding once. “We suspected as much, but to have it confirmed…” He shook his head. “At least we know, going in, that Ramil is to blame for this and we can ignore any pleas of ignorance or innocence.”

  “On the brighter side,” Master Dyas tried, gesturing to the map of Serenno, “we’ve got an idea of where their ground forces are bunkered down.”

  “Bunkered being the key word,” Qui-Gon muttered. “Those structures are all highly defensible and meant to withstand orbital bombardment. If, or perhaps when, the fighting breaks out, their layout may force us to assault them head on, straight down the mouths of the choke points they’ve turned their entrances into.”

  “Bring up the schematics again please, padawan,” Master Dooku instructed and I did so. “They use a limited number of patterns in their construction, so assaulting one bunker should be little different from assaulting any others. Once we’ve worked out a proper plan of attack, it should be a simple matter of repeating it for each and keeping word from spreading of how we took the others.”

  Standing, Qui-Gon moved closer to the map and tapped at two different points. “The front entrance or the tunnels. Those are our only real options.”

  “Ah, Master?” Obi asked, and the man turned a smile on her. “What about the obvious third answer?”

  “The air duct?” Qui-Gon asked, and Obi nodded. “It’s too narrow for even you to fit through.”

  “I could fit,” I pointed out, and the Masters exchanged a look. “I am aware of the dangers involved. The ventilation shaft at the top connects with the rest of the base via the network of ducts. They’re all large enough that I could drop down the shaft then crawl my way to anywhere in the base. From there, we could coordinate an assault on either the front or rear entrance, or both simultaneously, and I could attack the defenders from behind while they’re distracted. Down the shaft, through the vents, start the assault, hit the front entrance, back into the vents while you move to clear the base, hit the rear entrance, join in the mop up.”

  “I don’t like it,” Master Qui-Gon shook his head.

  Master Dyas hummed, nodding in agreement with Master Qui-Gon. “Are you sure you could, Tanya?”

  “Positive. I have options available for stealth.” At their curious looks, I shrugged and activated an optical camouflage formula. “I can keep this running indefinitely,” I admitted, before shutting it off, just as Obi reached out to poke me.

  Master Dyas grinned, while Master Qui-Gon sent Master Dooku a curious look. “Did you know she could do that?”

  Master Dooku chuckled. “I saw her use it a time or two on Dathomir. I suspect it’s how she dealt with her assailants in the Chu'unthor?” the last he directed as a question at me, and I nodded.

  “I have to ask, since it’s been on the council’s minds for a while now and they’ve been wringing their hands about it,” Master Dyas began. When I nodded, he continued, “Where did you learn how to do that? Is that something they teach on Zeltros?”

  “And then there was what she did on Ilum,” Master Qui-Gon nodded, his attention shifting back to me. “Shielding herself from the wind, warming herself, and cutting down a beast attacking her with a single stroke cleaner than a lightsaber.”

  Obi joined in, narrowing her eyes at me. “She likes to make little shields sometimes if we’re sparring and she misses a block or parry, and can’t simply dodge away. It’s frustrating.”

  “My introduction to her was a breakdown of the economic factors that would lead to the coming war,” Master Dooku chuckled. “Something even the temple missed.”

  “It is not something I learned on Zeltros, no,” I murmured, shutting down my laptop connected to the holo display. I considered what to tell them as I busied my hands changing the display to show the planet below us. Should I make something up or tell the truth? Of course, there was a good chance that between three Jedi masters, they would quickly determine the truth of any statement I made. Perhaps I should just refuse to answer? Was that an option?

  “The Dathomir incident has the reactionaries on the High Council talking about removing her from the Order,” Master Dyas pointed out, to which Master Dooku nodded and Master Qui-Gon frowned. Focusing on me, he continued, “You could set them at ease with an answer.”

  “That seems a bit extreme.”

  “She dropped five bodies and didn’t blink,” Master Dyas shrugged. “That worries some people. I’m not one of them, but I can understand their concern.”

  “They would do well to remember their own teachings,” Master Dooku grumbled.

  “You obviously have a theory,” Master Qui-Gon turned to Master Dooku. “Care to share?”

  “Mm. I do,” Master Dooku confirmed. “But I would like to hear it from Tanya herself.”

  Taking a breath, I asked, “Are you aware of the theory of reincarnation? Living one life, only to be reborn into another.”

  “Ah,” Master Qui-Gon nodded. “That would explain it.”

  Obi looked between the three Masters and myself, wearing a confused look. “That can happen? It’s real?”

  “Yes. It’s actually not that uncommon,” Master Dyas chuckled. “Especially with those who are Force sensitive. Sometimes, we transcend the crude matter of our bodies into true luminous beings. Guardian spirits, Force apparitions, Force ghosts. Coming back isn’t as far fetched as you would think.”

  Master Dooku leaned forward on his seat, studying me intently. “It is as I suspected. You were a soldier, were you not?”

  I nodded once. “I was a normal person first, living a peaceful life on a relatively peaceful world. The second time, I was reborn before the start of a war that spread across the world and became a child soldier fighting to survive and defend my home. It was either volunteer or be drafted, so I volunteered, then quickly advanced into a leadership role using the experience from my first life. This is my third time.” Turning a look on Master Dyas, I admitted, “The ones on Dathomir weren’t my first. Officially, my confirmed kill count is in the triple digits. By the standards of my last life, they were… just a boring Tuesday. A footnote in an after action report.”

  Shifting my gaze to Master Dooku, I added, “It’s what convinced me to try to join the Republic Navy. That way, I could put my previous skills to use, while at the same time ensuring I was far from any conflict. Which led to investigating things, and the discoveries of the coming war… And suddenly, the Navy looked less and less viable for a choice of career path.”

  “I see,” Master Dyas murmured. Looking to Master Dooku, he said, “The High Council isn’t going to like it.”

  “Of those on the Council, only Master Yoda and Master Windu would truly take this revelation as anything other than a danger. Windu sees danger everywhere of course, but I believe that it would actually allay many of his concerns, knowing that he was dealing with a veteran of a war. Master Yoda would be concerned, but would not change his opinion. As for the rest…” Master Dooku trailed off and the other two masters frowned.

  “It would give the reactionaries all the more reason to have her removed,” Master Dyas said what they were all thinking. “The Traditionalists would side with them, since she’s rocked the boat a bit too much for their liking. That, and they don’t like that she’s not purely on the light side of the Force—which, given her past, I’m surprised it’s not worse.”

  “Removing her from the Order would be a mistake, and a loss,” Master Qui-Gon shook his head.

  Looking to the other two masters, Master Dooku asked, “Then we are in agreement?”

  Master Qui-Gon hummed, before a smile pulled at his lips. “I don’t know about the two of you, but I’m sure that between the coming conflict and my duties to my padawan, it’s possible I may forget this conversation even happened. I doubt I’ll remember it when it comes time to write my report on the events surrounding Mandalore and Serenno.”

  Nodding, Master Dyas grinned. “As for me, well, you know how it is. I sometimes get so lost in my visions that I forget what’s even real anymore. Perhaps I hallucinated this entire conversation.”

  Chuckling, Master Dooku turned a stern look on Obi and myself. “You are not to speak of this with anyone outside of this room going forward. Not until Tanya is a Master herself.”

  “Of course,” Obi nodded.

  “I wouldn’t have spoken of it at all, but you asked,” I pointed out, to which Master Dooku nodded. “If that’s all…?”

  The three masters traded looks before Master Dooku nodded. “It is. We should all get some rest. We’ll descend to the planet in a few hours, in time to coincide with the morning on the continent where this meeting is taking place. In the meantime, I will get in touch with our contacts on the surface and arrange for some things.”

  “I’ll speak with the leader of the New Mandalorians if you’ll contact the True Mandalorians,” Master Qui-Gon suggested as he and Master Dooku both stood.

  Master Dooku nodded in agreement and I tuned out their conversation as I left the room, collecting my laptop and heading for my bedroom. Putting the laptop on my desk, I was unsurprised when Obi joined me a few moments later, carrying her candles. Looking up, I found her smiling as she set them up and patted the rug beside her when she sat.

  I turned out the lights and took a seat as she lit the candles. “You don’t seem bothered,” I pointed out, taking off my computation orb and cradling it in my lap.

  “I knew you were a bit strange the moment I first saw you,” she giggled. “This just makes me more curious, not less. Will you tell me about it?”

  I considered for a few moments, before eventually nodding. “Not today.”

  “It doesn’t have to be today,” she agreed. “I can wait.” After a moment, she shook her head, “No, there is one thing I want to know!”

  “What’s that?”

  “You’re older than me?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Out of everything, that’s what you decide to focus on?”

  “It’s important!” Obi protested, and I sighed.

  “Yes. I was in my twenties the first time I died, then died around your age the second time. At minimum, I’d say I’m at least as old as Master Qui-Gon, mentally speaking.”

  “Mmm,” Obi hummed, studying me intensely. Finally, she shook her head and reached over, pulling me into a one-armed hug. “Nope! Can’t see it! You’re still just my cute Tanya!”

  “Are we going to meditate, or are you going to hug me?” I grumbled, only to let out an involuntary squawk as she pulled me into her lap and thumped her chin down on top of my head.

  “I can do both,” I heard the annoyingly smug grin in her answer as she squeezed me tightly.

  Repressing a sigh, I opened myself up and focused on the orb—only to immediately have to metaphysically smack away Obi’s curious fingers. “Hands off,” I warned. “It’s delicate.”

  “What is it?” she asked, reaching out and probing the computation orb. “It feels weird. Like, really strong in the Force, and… getting stronger?”

  “It’s starting to passively absorb and store Force, yes,” I confirmed. “My shields and other things run off of math. This is a physical calculator to do most of the math for me, so I can do more spells at the same time. When it’s finished…”

  “Yeah?” Obi radiated curiosity.

  “…I’ll be able to fly. Hopefully.”

  “Don’t you already know how to fly a ship?”

  I blinked, shifting in her arms a bit to look at her. “Not a ship. Under my own power.”

  “That’s not…” she trailed off when I raised an eyebrow. An incredulous look passed over her face, before she smirked. “Prove it.”

  “I will, when it’s finished. And for that, I need you to keep your grubby little fingers off of it while I work,” I groused, turning away and going back to my meditation.

  “No fun at all,” Obi pouted, but I felt her relax around me and settle into her own meditation.

  For some reason, the work seemed to go faster.

  “Are we sure we should be taking her into this?” Sifo-Dyas asked as he heard the door to Tanya’s quarters close.

  “She has experience,” Qui-Gon pointed out, and Master Dyas nodded.

  “Yes, but that’s not what I meant. I don’t agree with everything the High Council is worrying about, but I have to ask, is she going to be okay, psychologically speaking? She’s effectively stepping into a new war after a seven year break between now and the last one. And then there’s the question of how being in a child body affects an adult mind.”

  “I would think that her actions show she has a firm grasp on the situation,” Dooku chided.

  Sifo-Dyas sent Dooku a frustrated look. “I’m not saying she doesn’t. I’m questioning the wisdom of sending a child soldier war veteran into an active combat zone—one who happens to be a Jedi in training. Grown men have fallen from less mental stress.”

  “She won’t.”

  At the absolute surety in Dooku’s words, the other two masters sent him a curious look. Finally, Sifo-Dyas asked, “What makes you so sure?”

  “The prophecy?” Qui-Gon guessed. “The Traditionalists would likely call the thought heretical, but if someone were going to bring balance to the Force then it would stand to reason that they themselves be balanced in the Force—and as far as I can tell, she is almost directly in the center between light and dark.”

  “I sensed it when we first met,” Dooku admitted. “It felt like the hand of the Force guiding me to her. And yes,” he nodded to Qui-Gon, “the thought did cross my mind. I’m not certain, however. Master Dyas, your talents lie more in the realm of future sight. Can you give us any insight?”

  Sifo-Dyas shook his head. “No, that’s the weird thing. I felt it too, what you described,” he nodded to Dooku, “so I looked into it. Tried to see what the future looked like, centered on Tanya. It’s… blurry. Less certain than anything I’ve tried to view before. The coming war? That may as well be set in stone.” Frowning, he murmured, “There was one thing that bothered me. A vision of her a few years from now. Ten or so, at a guess. She was dressed all in black and using a red lightsaber.”

  “Sith?” Qui-Gon whispered, and Sifo-Dyas slowly shook his head.

  “I don’t think so. I’ve seen visions of Sith before. They always feel a certain way. Dark, evil. This was just… Tanya exactly as she is. It was more like,” he struggled for a moment to find the words to explain it. “It felt like she was wearing the uniform but not the enemy?”

  “That’s worrying,” Qui-Gon sighed. “What would necessitate dressing up like a Sith?”

  “Infiltration,” Dooku answered immediately. “But you said that vision was a decade off.”

  “Around that,” Sifo-Dyas nodded.

  “Then it’s a concern for another day. For now, let us worry about securing the aid of the Mandalorians and dealing with the situation on Serenno.” Master Dyas made to speak, but Dooku held up a hand. “If she were at all unsure about going into combat, I’m sure Tanya would have said so. I care for her well-being as well, but I will trust her judgment.”

  “Fine. I’ll agree, but consider it under protest,” Sifo-Dyas nodded. “We’ll keep an eye on her in the meantime.”

  “And with that, I believe we have some calls to make,” Qui-Gon turned and left for the airlock connecting their two ships.

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