Chapter 2
Ahsoka overslept something fierce and found Padmé reading at a table by the window. She scanned a datapad with a look of intense concentration and dissatisfaction that signalled clearly how something was bothering her. Ahsoka blinked and crawled to sit more upright.
"Hey."
"Hi, Ahsoka, good morning…" Padmé said almost absently.
"What's happened?" Ahsoka nodded towards the datapad.
"Nothing, I'm just going over the case against you again."
"Why?"
"I can't stop thinking about it. I keep wondering if there is something I should have paid more attention to, some detail I missed that could have helped you, or helped Anakin earlier and prevented this from happening to you."
"Padmé, don't assume responsibility for how the jedi council acted. That was not on you."
"They shouldn't have given up on you so easily! What kind of loyalty is that supposed to inspire?! If that is the 'no attachments' rule at it's finest then it kriffin'
sickens me and Barriss isn't the only one who has strayed too far."
She was so riled up that it took Ahsoka by surprise.
"Ahsoka, there is one thing I want to ask you. You and Ventress went to that factory together where you were later attacked by Barriss with Ventress' sabers and helmet."
"Yes."
"Had she followed you there?"
"No, or at least I don't think so. I made contact with Barriss using a holo terminal on site."
"You
what?"
"I thought she would be helping me."
"And why the
hell did you not tell me about it?! That could have exposed Barriss earlier or at the very least been a major point in your defence when the case against you rested largely on you being alone on every alleged crime scene and operating alone."
"I'm…I'm not sure. Maybe I thought it wasn't that important?" Ahsoka mumbled rather feebly.
Padmé did not buy the explanation.
"
Not that important? Are you out of your kriffing mind?"
"I…" Ahsoka searched for words. Actually, she searched for an actual answer. "I guess I just wanted to protect Barriss. I didn't want her involved in any way."
Padmé looked at her intensely and slowly nodded. "You went through a lot together."
Ahsoka didn't say anything. A hundred memories of Barriss rushed by in front of her; happy, sad, ugly, beautiful memories. Hard days. Better days.
"And then she betrayed you like this." Padmé sounded disgusted. "How freaking low."
The day passed with Padmé having to go away to attend meetings and the other things a senator needed to be present for. Ahsoka did more or less nothing. She read and watched news on the holonet and felt too tired and emotionally exhausted, and quite frankly lost, to do anything more.
Nothing she tried would bring her any peace of mind.
When Padmé returned in time for dinner Ahsoka stuck by her, and it turned out she was not alone it feeling the need to unburden herself. Padmé shared a good deal of anecdotes and sharp wit about the comings and goings of the republic senate which were both amusing and saddening. Beneath the laughable examples of incompetence and stupidity were after all very real opportunities lost and dire consequences for lots of people. Padmé unreservedly admitted that the people of the republic deserved a better senate at times.
There were some lights in the dark. Padmé mentioned some names that Ahsoka knew, Bail Organa and Riyo Chuchi and some others that she regarded as examples of reason and integrity.
Despite all other things on her mind, it was Padmé who first returned to their previous discussion.
"…I have been unable to wrap my head around one thing." Padmé explained while they were moving to her sofa with a – thankfully not gilded – cup of tea each. "Why did Barriss choose to come clean and confess everything like she did?"
"Master Skywalker caught her in the act and exposed her." Ahsoka answered reflexively.
"He exposed that Barriss was in possession of Assajj Ventress' red lightsabers. By threatening her with a drawn saber of his own…" She shook her head and mumbled something Ahsoka could not discern but sounded very much like "Typical Anakin…"
"Would it have been any point in denying things by then?"
"If she wanted to escape, yes! I mean, what did Anakin have on her, really, except two red sabers and the witness statements of you and Ventress? Not exactly a prime case considering the senate's opinion of the two of you. And even if Barriss could have been proven to be your attacker, why would that have been enough to connect her to the bombings? She could have just claimed to have had some ill-fated idea of capturing you on her own, or a Force vision guiding her or whatever."
Ahsoka fidgeted a bit with her cup at that detail. It wasn't
really like that. Not anyone could waltz up to the jedi council and blame the Force for just about any far-fetched ideas. But…perhaps you could say that the jedi in general were inclined to believe more of such things than the average person.
"But would Barriss have thought of these things?" Ahsoka wondered.
"You're the one who knows her, you tell me."
Barriss Offee was the perfect padawan who could memorize complex blueprints of hundreds of rooms without difficulty and who were always prepared beyond the point of thoroughness. But she was not the best at adapting when the plan failed. She could become unbalanced and discomforted by the smallest of things sometimes.
"She would have thought things through, very much, I think." Ahsoka reasoned out loud. "But if something went wrong, which clearly it did in some way, she would have had more difficulty than many others to keep a level head."
"And maybe she just lost it at that moment and let it all out but I have learned to be wary of convenient turns of events. It seems to me that Barriss changed course somehow. She went to all this trouble to frame you and then stepped in to take the blame and hold a speech where she just about took full responsibility. She didn't even attempt to make you appear as her accomplice or the driving force behind it or anything, which certain parts of the senate and Tarkin especially would have been very eager to swallow whole."
"I thought she was sincere. When she said those things at the trial, it was as if she looked at me one time, and just…I don't know. But if that was her plan from the start – to make that kind of statement I mean – why did she not do it earlier instead of all these schemes to frame me?"
"She could have been looking for the right moment, with the right audience, and her appearance at your trial provided her with such."
"You don't believe that."
"No, I don't."
"Then what do you believe?"
"I believe that it is very hazardous to speculate with insufficient information, and that the case of Barriss Offee's is not nearly as clear cut as her confession would make anyone assume at first glance. I believe that we are still in the dark about a significant part of her plans and her motivations and I also believe that something happened along the way that upset them, whatever they may have been."
"Then there could be more things that aren't what they seem."
"Possibly." Padmé spoke the word reluctantly, maybe even warningly. "Ahsoka, I don't know how to say this without a great risk of sounding patronizing but I promise that I at least don't want to. I don't hold anything you have said or done against you and you're frankly holding togther much better than I think I would manage. But I think we are at great risk of speculating now and know too little, and maybe it is simply wisest to let the matter be until we know more for sure. That goes for myself just as much."
Ahsoka nodded quietly. It was hard to think straight and Padmé was most probably right. Perhaps they would get more answers at some point in the future. Some point.
"Could you…act as Barriss' defender?"
"Her legal counsel? No, I wouldn't be impartial after having represented you, and if I pressed the issue it would undermine all I had to say for Barriss' sake."
"I understand."
Padmé looked very thoughtfully at her but didn't say anything. Ahsoka felt uncomfortable under her steady gaze. Padmé was not a judgemental person, but she often managed to give Ahsoka the impression of noticing a little too much. Like Master Plo Koon.
"What's going to happen to Barriss?" Ahsoka asked, and did not know what she felt about her question or any kind of answer to it. She could see that Padmé noticed it.
"I am not sure. I think it is likeliest that they will execute her. But you were regarded as a lone jedi traitor while Barriss has had more people around her, so there is some incentive to keep her alive for information. For a while at least." Padmé added rather darkly. "There is also the fact that she made a very public statement that is bad enough without making her a full-fledged martyr on top of everything. But people are rarely smart enough to keep such things in mind when they are busy screaming for blood."
Ahsoka stared dully ahead at nothing at all. It could have been her. It very nearly had.
Because of Barriss. But not only. Ahsoka could have been given a fair chance to explain herself. She could have been offered the benefit of doubt.
Would Barriss?
"For now I think there will be some hearings and questionings but kept under a lid. But a lot of people will want to spin this whole thing into something that suits them, so for that reason if nothing else I hope some discretion could be maintained. Whenever she is tried I doubt it will be a very large affair. She wanted to make a statement and at least the majority of the senate would not want to accommodate her on that point."
They sat quietly until it was getting late. None could think of anything more to say. Padmé tentatively put her hand a little closer to Ahsoka with the palm up, and after a little while Ahsoka put hers next to it. When Padmé took it she sank back with her eyes closed.
Padmés hand was a steady thing in her whirling storm of thoughts.
***
The next day Padmé came home earlier, while Ahsoka was on her way to completing a slightly toned down training regime indoors. It would very much not do to accidentally nick or break any valuable piece in the senatorial apartment so she was kept on her toes even throughout this routine exercise.
"I have something that is yours." Padmé handed her a nondescript box in standardized dull grey.
Ahsoka frowned and opened it. Inside were two unassuming short metal rods with scratches and dents here and there and gripcord that needed to be replaced. And they were Ahsoka's most precious things.
"My sabers…"
"Since you were turned over to the republic military for sentencing – or to "stand trial" – so was every item considered evidence in the case. And with your acquittal, personal effects are to be returned to the person they were confiscated from. Technically I still counted as your advocate and representative and could therefore receive such items on your behalf." Padmé actually sounded rather smug.
"But, what about the jedi order?"
"Much to learn about republic bureaucracy the jedi order still has." Padmé declaimed. "They have apparently not worked out much of a routine for turning their backs upon their own padawans and dealing with the resulting formalities. How embarrassing.
How embarrassing. Now, the order may have been able to lay some kind of claim to your sabers in accordance with it's internal rules but since you have left the order and only after that come into possession of these items again, they are not in a position to do much about it. Unless they wish to plead their case against citizen Tano in a republic court and argue for their right to any current or future lightsabers in your possession whatsoever, in which case I will insist on representing you. But I am positive the jedi order realises that it is not in it's political interest to be seen as a petty laughing stock of the entirety of Coruscant at this particular time."
Ahsoka had come to smile more and more as Padmé went on with biting eloquence. She was a senator to the very bone, and in Ahsoka's mind what a senator should be like. If the republic was ruled by Chancellor Amidala, they wouldn't be having this worthless war.
"Padmé…thanks. It means a lot to me."
"A jedi's sabers are deeply personal items, correct?"
"The kyber crystals within are. The other components are very basic, but everyone has their own style and taste."
"A blaster is ten times deadlier in the hands of anyone except a jedi. It would make no sense to allow you to arm yourself to the teeth with anything
except lightsabers. And more to the point, these are yours. Your own property, that you may now learn to grow attached to." Padmé winked.
"You didn't happen to get my belt too?"
Padmé produced Ahsoka's slightly worn utility belt from a pocket.
"There's a stain at the back." she pointed out impolitely.
"Hush."
"So! Ready to rip ears off gundarks again and other things you adventurous heroes do. Although I've never understood why you should be doing something like that to the poor gundark, it's evil! And if the gundark attacks you there has to be way more effective means of defending than jumping for it's head and starting to tug at the ears."
Ahsoka had to force herself not to laugh out loud.
"Now that you've completed this basic exercise of attachment, here is a harder one of unattachment for civilians. And bear in mind that you have slept on my couch for two nights and it would be very impolite to reward me with refusing to accept a simple gift, correct?"
"I…I guess so. Not that the jedi order is very experienced with accepting gifts."
"Then say after me: 'Thanks Padmé, I will make good use of it'."
"Thanks Padmé, I wi-" Before Ahsoka could protest Padmé had pressed a bag of credit chips into her hand. "No way!"
"Too late, gift accepted. Now be reasonable, Ahsoka. You are a war hero who has sacrificed years to keep the rest of us safe from separatist invasions and if it weren't for your order's principles you would have earned a fortune."
"But…you…"
"Senators have salaries too. This is from me so don't think about pulling something about mismanaging official finances on me."
Ahsoka was at loss for what to say. She had been a jedi youngling and padawan for as long as she could remember. Now she was none of that, nobody. She couldn't own a fortune in republic credits.
"You've known no other life than that of a jedi and republic soldier, Ahsoka." Padmé said with unexpected gentleness. "You deserve to have a real choice, for once."
"I'll pay you back. Once I've found something to do."
"Ahsoka, you need to get used to accepting credits if you're going to make a living, you know." Padmé said meaningfully. "If it makes you feel better, and if you need something to occupy yourself, I have a couple of things you could help me with. Your first civilian job?"
"Yes, tell me what needs doing!" Ahsoka answered immediately. If she could help Padmé with something ever so small, she would.
"Alright, but let's have lunch first. I don't want my contractors grumpy from lack of sustenance."
Half an hour later Ahsoka was on her way to the lower levels of Coruscant with the comforting presence of her lightsabers dangling against her sides and a smile on her lips.
***
Ahsoka quickly learned that the occasions which had brought her to the light-deprived slums beneath the rich and influential were far too few to have given her a true feeling of the places. With her mind firmly on the missions, with the ever-present knowledge that she had the jedi order and the republic military at her back, the naked poverty and neglect did not move her as deeply as it did now, when she had the time to look. And sense.
It was appalling, both the noises that nearly made her montrals hurt and Ahsoka question how anyone could live close by without going crazy, and what she sensed through the Force. The ever-present fear from some direction, the hopelessness and stifling monotony of constantly being on ones guard, Ahsoka could not honestly say she had felt what it was
truly like any time before. Maybe she didn't right now either, when she was armed with her sabers and her knowledge of the Force, and had the warm home of a caring senator to return to.
A trail of questions and modest tips – Ahsoka was not greedy but she wanted to show Padmé she could spend her credits responsibly – had led her to blue block 65, level 2, street 21. Only there was not a blue building in sight anywhere she could see and the sign with the street number had been replaced with a lop-sided one depicting a rodian with a crown and scepter of some kind and informing visitors that this was in fact the 'rOOyal ZtrEEt' and nothing else. It looked as if another sublime artist had incorporated the double 'o' into the upper body of a sultry Twi'lek woman but the paint had faded to be almost unrecognizable. Ahsoka still considered the rebellious redecoration to be an improvement.
Padmé obtained a great deal of information from a wide variety of sources. Some were official and well known. Others less so. She used what she received to bring other senators' attention to problems, as political arguments and political leverage. Being able to stun the opposing side with detailed knowledge of obscure and covered up details of how things really were was always a respected ability.
Ahsoka did not know the details of what Padmés current source intended to deliver except that it was a package of some kind and that the man had gone into hiding instead of fulfilling his part of the agreement. She had however received a message where he stated his willingness to honour the bargain but that he was forced to go into hiding and would meet Padmés representative at a certain time and place. Which Ahsoka had now checked out and found empty, and was therefore methodically circling while throwing out a casual question here and there about anyone matching the human man's description.
Ahsoka's efforts were rewarded when a series of crashes and ruckus brought her attention from the small passage between two buildings she was currently investigating, and braving the rancid smell of. Outside she could see a man hurrying down the street, stumbling on something and getting back up again while looking frantically all around.
The reason for his hurry became apparent when a dark red blur descended from a nearby emergency stair in quick jumps. The human, in worn and rugged clothes that matched his surroundings, startled and redoubled his efforts, but just as Ahsoka made it out onto the street his escape was cut short when a blue armoured figure suddenly stepped out into his path and put out it's leg and tripped him.
The hunted man hurled forward and tumbled in a painful-looking way until he finally skidded to a halt and let out a loud groan.
The blue figure knelt beside him and Ahsoka saw to her surprise that it was a woman in Mandalorian heavy armour, painted deep blue with silver lining and details. Her face was invisible behind the characteristic T-shaped visor but she did not appear overly aggressive when she rolled her quarry onto his back.
"Gyle, Gyle, don't run off again like that. Look at yourself."
That settled it. That was the name Ahsoka had been given and the description fit well enough.
The other pursuer was nearing, and on closer inspection the red blur proved to be another apparently female Mandalorian, but with her armour in red and black. While the helmet was near identical, her body armour was a little tighter and sleeker, showing more black armourweave that accentuated the red. She carried a blaster that she just holstered and Ahsoka had the distinct impression that she was walking with something of a swagger despite the serious occasion.
"Playing hard to get, handsome?" she asked with such amusement that not even the helmet could distort completely.
Ahsoka stepped out in full sight and tried to come up with a smooth solution to the problem before her. Unfortunately she could only think of a blunt solution.
"I fear you are about to make a serious mistake, madams." She tried to sound as polite and assured as she could while she focused her will on making her words seem plausible. "This is not the man you are looking for."
Two sleek expressionless helmets turned to her.
"Sorry to say that it is, girl. But if you know of a better catch I'm all ears for some relationship advice later." the red one answered.
"This is
not the man you are looking for." Ahsoka waved her hand slightly and concentrated hard but her suggestion fell on deaf ears, or helmet sides in these cases.
"Fancying yourself some sort of jedi?" the blue one asked dryly.
Ahsoka summoned her main saber to her hand with the Force and ignited it. She rose to her full height and looked down at them imperiously like Master Shaak Ti used to do but never admitted doing.
"Woah! Careful what you wish for, Scallywag!" the red one exclaimed and jumped to her feet.
"Don't call me that in public… And I did not
wish for her." To Ahsoka it sounded like the blue Mandalorian spoke through her clenched teeth. "Look, do you mean to tell me that the jedi order is actually interested in this lowlife?"
"He is of interest to me." Ahsoka simply answered. It was true after all.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
"Blue, we're not getting paid enough to tangle with jedi, cute though she may be…" Ahsoka had to steel herself to maintain her composure. Who the heck called a jedi 'cute' when they pointed a lightsaber in your general direction?
"Agreed. This job is starting to stink." The blue Mandalorian nodded to Ahsoka. "This man is Gyle Uefer. He is wanted for a great deal of shady business that I assume you are aware of if you're laying claim like this. But confronting jedi was not part of the deal and we have no quarrel with your order. He's all yours."
Ahsoka nodded, and tried to stop herself from looking too grateful. She would absolutely not have wanted this to spiral out of control. Not least since either of these bounty hunters seemed unfazed by the prospect of actually confronting her if it would come down to it, they simply considered the payment insufficient.
Blue had knelt down again and swiftly rolled up one of Gyle's sleeves to uncover a nasty looking bruise where he must have scraped against something sharp. She had picked out something from a compartment on her leg armour.
"What are you doing?" Ahsoka asked warily.
"Just a little bacta gel." Red answered in her stead. "No need to be unsportsmanlike" she shrugged when Ahsoka couldn't hide her surprise. "Gyle, you need to work on your stamina and be a
little bit tactical. That was some nice climbing back there but running along the street in a straight line like this? Come on, man."
Blue had been swift in applying the bacta gel and make a smart field dressing over the wound.
"So it seems you're off the hook for the time being then, Gyle. Or on a worse one, what do I know? Don't let me catch you here again, until you have a reliable bounty on you that is…"
"Yeah, whatever…" Gyle muttered. He peered at Ahsoka and seemed to debate whether to be relieved or worried by the new development.
When Red and Blue had marched off Ahsoka heard him out.
It turned out that Gyle had indeed Padmés package of information but not on him. Naturally. Instead Ahsoka could find it in a room at a certain bar with a sort of hostel upstairs with rented rooms. He described the place and handed Ahsoka a keycard for the door.
"…and why can't you collect it on your own? Or together with me?"
"You kidding? I'm not setting my foot near that hole now! You go ahead…I'm out of here…"
There was no arguing with him, and Ahsoka had no right to detain him or force him to do anything at all, despite what impression she may have given off to a certain pair of bounty hunters. Being on her own and not with the authority of the republic military behind her was an uncomfortably new experience to her.
Finding the Spicy Hot Bar was easier said than done, and much easier said from a local with little grasp of cartography and describing the way to newcomers in an easy to follow manner, than done. Ahsoka spent at least two hours wishing for the next concrete-and-steel corner to reveal the place before her until finally locating it, only one city level above the location described by Gyle. Here the surrounding were in considerably better shape and the constant sense of fear was less prevalent. People who inhabited this level had
something rather than nothing. The blatant stratification of Coruscant's population that revealed itself was almost parodical, but Ahsoka could keep herself from laughing.
Spicy Hot was a long room that was divided into a small maze of booths on one end and an open, rowdier area by the actual bar. A stair and back door was there too and Ahsoka followed the stair up like she had a reason to be there.
Room 5 by the left was at least correct. It had a few personal effects left by it's owner and Ahsoka tried not to pry too much while she looked through the wall boards under the bed and found the loose one and the hidden package behind. It was…none too clean.
After brushing herself off and finding a restroom which was mercifully functional, Ahsoka went down and turned the keycard over to the bartender.
"Hey, this looked like it belonged to room 5 upstairs, the owner must have dropped it or something…" she said casually and turned around without waiting for an answer.
She came face to face with a Mandalorian bounty hunter in red armour.
Ahsoka prided herself (even if a jedi really shouldn't do that) on having pretty fast reflexes but she hadn't so much as blinked before Red had taken her neck in an iron grip and half shoved and half lead her towards the far end of the room. Ahsoka was almost about to use the Force to push her away or draw one of her sabers, but she had a familiar sinking feeling that she was not in any physical danger, but rather in for the kind of talking to that left your montrals nearly shouted off your head.
"Look what the krayt dragged in…" she could hear Red growl when they reached one of the furthest booths and Ahsoka was almost hurled down onto the rounded seat. She blessed whoever had invented padding on those.
"Well, if it isn't our esteemed malefactor." an icy voice noted. Ahsoka took in a tall human woman with pale blonde hair and eyes that were as icily blue as her imposing armour. Blue, but with her helmet removed. Ahsoka shrunk beneath her gaze.
"He – Hello there." she tried. Master Kenobi had always managed to make that simple line work.
She was looking at a group of for people. Red, Blue, a pantoran in his thirties or forties and a zeltron perhaps a decade younger. They looked both rougher and tamer than the Mandalorian humans at the same time. The pantoran was wearing a studded leather jacket, well-worn and form-fitting like only long use could make them. His face was worn but still hard, with short hair and stubble across his chin. The notable cords visible along his neck hinted at a good deal of muscle and Ahsoka reckoned he would fit right in among the most grizzled and veteran clones.
The zeltron wore a similar-looking jacket, but newer, and underneath had some sort of body armour. He had something of a sharp-looking face and a rascally look about him. Dark unkempt hair hung down one side of it while the other one was cropped short.
None appeared
directly hostile, but six eyes and a Mandalorian helmet looked quite accusingly at her and Ahsoka swallowed.
"So." Icy blue eyes bored into her. "Who the hell are you?"
"Aksoka Tano."
"Then, Ahsoka Tano, would you care to explain why a certain
Gyle Uefer was registered boarding an off-world commercial transport not two hours after you interfered with his capture?" the pantoran man asked nearly as coldly.
Oh. Ahsoka swallowed as she connected the dots.
She was momentarily distracted when Red started to remove her helmet and Ahsoka found herself curious despite the tense situation.
Red was very similar to Blue, and yet she was not. She was also a blonde and light-skinned human woman and of similar height, and one could probably wonder if they could be related. But with warm brown eyes, bushy hair of deep yellow-golden-brown and wider and fuller lips she appeared more or less as Blue's polar opposite.
"Let's take it from the start, shall we?" She actually smiled at Ahsoka's probably rather self-conscious face. Predatorily. "Rowena." She indicated herself. "Disgruntled bounty hunter #1."
Rowena gestured at Blue. "This is Scalwena, disgruntled bounty hunter #2 and my partner in crime. Scallywag to her friends."
"Only you call me that and only to annoy me!" Scalwena snapped at her before she could stop herself. Ahsoka had to stifle a nervous smile.
"Meshif, our ship's captain…" Rowena gestured at the pantoran who nodded even though he was still just about glaring daggers at her. "…and Telash, self-styled mastermind of technology and technicalities."
"Self-styled? I'd say repetitively proven." The zeltron flashed a rakish smile.
"Repetitive I can agree with." Rowena quipped without missing a beat. "And now you can explain yourself to us and make it damn good. And…and…" Rowena's eyes widened. "Holy kriffing tentacles,
you're Ahsoka Tano!"
"
Language, Red." Scalwena groaned. "So what? She just said she was."
"This babe's on the news, planet-wise! Didn't you watch it? It's the whole jedi trial story, it's like someone directed it or something. Damn!"
"Not everyone's knee-deep into jedis you know… But you mean we were scammed by a fresh celebrity from every holoscreen between here and the Outer Rim? Great…" She turned to Ahsoka. "
Are you a jedi knight?"
"Padawan. Ahem, former padawan that is." Ahsoka confessed.
"But still with a kriffing lightsaber." Scalwena muttered while Rowena was starting to grin.
"Technically we never asked." It earned her a long glare form Scalwena. "Okay, so what did you want Gyle for really? Because you were apparently not taking him into some jedi custody."
Ahsoka debated how much to say. She felt she owed these people some sincerity at the very least.
"He had information I needed, which he gave me. I let him go after that."
"Just like that?"
Ahsoka shrugged, a little apologetically.
"As opposed to, what do I know, demanding to speak with him without taking him off our hands…"
Ahsoka was starting to feel foolish. The man had been a source of information to Padmé but apart from that Ahsoka did actually not know anything about him or what he had done.
"Well played." Rowena continued sarcastically. "In one stroke you managed to deprive our merry gang of the bounty and a certain potentially very lucrative business relationship here on Coruscant which has now soured rather kriffing completely. Contacting your hirer with complaints about jedi intervention when the target is seen walking off planet on his own has a way of making you look like a bunch of complete idiots that nobody of a sound mind would have anything to do with. Especially not entrust with any coming bigger paying scores that the capture of Gyle Uefer was supposed to be a qualifying test for."
The heat rose in Ahsoka's cheeks and she wanted to sink through the seat and the bar floor.
"So, cheers!" Rowena raised her glass mockingly and took a sip. Then she put it down in front of Ahsoka.
Ahsoka was not too inclined to imbibe unknown strong drink form the same glass as an unknown strong person, but she was not in a position to be able to refuse either if she wanted to maintain the small reserves of goodwill and manners that she possibly still had. She took a swig, and immediately coughed.
Rowena looked surprised and then snickered.
"Oh, you should have seen the face you just made! Kriffing delightful."
"I'll…I'll buy the next round!" Ahsoka blurted out and rose quickly.
Her lack of experience made itself known when the bartender raised the very reasonable question of what she wanted to for the round.
"Uh…the best in the house. For each."
The trandoshan behind the bar desk broke out in a grin that showed a great deal of teeth.
"Oh, so you want the
good stuff?"
"Yup. With extra everything." Ahsoka nodded firmly.
"Hah! You togrutans got a sense for the good game, that's what I'm talking about!"
A couple of minutes later Ahsoka was on her way back with five big glasses of reddish liquid and a multitude of fruit slices decorating the rims of the glasses. It actually looked rather interesting.
"Hey! Check this out!" Rowena exclaimed.
"Niceee." Telash grinned at her.
"Ahem, with my compliments." Ahsoka said and tried to come up with something smarter. "I'm sorry I've caused you these problems."
"Peace offering accepted. Consider it a ceasefire between us for the moment." Rowena slurped eagerly through one of the elaborate drinking straws. "Well, what're you waiting for?"
Yes. Ahsoka had managed to order five glasses after all.
She took a trying sip. Then another. This was not the foul liquid she had tasted previously but tasted like a mixture of fruit juices. It was actually
delicious. Though it burned notably in the back of her mouth and her throat. And you could pick off the fruit slices from the glass and have as snacks along with it. Neat!
"Mmm…a decent start of negotiations." Rowena sighed appreciatively a minute later. "But I think it will take more to cement our good relations."
"I had been looking forward to repaint the hull for that prize money..." Meshif said out in the air while thoughtfully taking a bite of Alderaanian sunfruit.
Ahsoka caught the meaning. Despite the size, these drinks did not last long and resupplying was needed. And she wanted more of that fruit.
"Would anyone like another round?"
***
Ahsoka had convinced herself that she was the role model of all infiltrating role models when she sneaked up along the senatorial-residential stairs. She only banged her foot against it once. Despite her precaution, a hidden danger lurked close to the apartment entrance and ambushed her in a most unfair way.
"And good evening to you too, Ahsoka." Padmé said in a calm, and utterly terrifying, conversational tone.
"E'enin'." Ahsoka managed and stifled a very inconvenient hiccough. "Nishe night – nice night for working late…"
"Apparently." Padmé remarked tonelessly. "Is your comm by chance out of order?"
"Comm…"
"That small device used to communicate with others. Hence it's name. The one I gave you so that we could stay in contact if, say, an unexpected delay or something like that would happen."
"Oh… So, you mean
that one."
"That one." Padmé had raised an eyebrow and looked sternly at Ahsoka, who was starting to think that senators with their arms crossed were a seriously underestimated challenge when it came to the 'no fear' part of jedi training.
"I guess I…didn't hear it…"
"No mean feat considering what I have been told of togrutan hearing."
"The place wash beconning – coming – a bit loud."
"And it didn't occur to you to perhaps check your comm on your own once or twice, or maybe after exiting this random noisy place?"
"I was jus…jus…a teeny, tiny, twiny, tweeny…uh…bit…"
"
Late, I believe is the operative term you are unsuccessfully looking for."
"Yesh!" Ahsoka snapped her fingers, or tried to, to underline the revelation. "Date – I mean late – is the word. It was a late date. 'Cept it washn' a date. Though I was dragged to a table by a flirty red…Red. Tha's right. A Red. A red Row…row…rover? Anywash, it was just shome drinkz…"
"It is past 22 and you have been gone for eleven hours! What was I supposed to think?"
"Relasch, Senator Amygdala…" Ahsoka broke down in fits of giggles. She tried to lean at the door post next to her but missed it, and would have fallen freely if Padmé hadn't reacted quick enough and caught her.
"You are drunk and you are grounded, young padawan!"
"You can't…"
"My lair, my rules. At least until tomorrow noon or however long it takes for you to get that sludge out of your system."
"Yes mummy…mommy…"
