Kowani had a split second to weigh her options, and even then, she knew her time was up. In the time it took for the Weequay to register what happened, Kowani had her body centimeters off the ground, her right leg hooked around his left and a cap shattering blow to his right knee as she tumbled through his legs. Stumbling, her finish move sending him hurtling forward, he prepared to brace his fall with his palms down which was rewarded with a blaster barrel forced into the back of his head. Kowani, fighting the instinct to pull the trigger with all her might, had disengaged the safety as soon as the blaster was unholstered and had it plastered to the Weequay’s skull.
“Give me one good reason NOT to redecorate the ground you’re eating.” She said through clenched teeth. A muffled response and a short blast of dirt and sand from what little was exposed of his mouth alerted her to the force with which she was pushing his head into the ground. She hesitantly relinquished her strength, letting him up enough to speak.
“What interest am I to you?” He managed to get out, groaning with the added strain of her knee pressed into his spine.
“You? None. What’s in your possession? Everything.” She seethed.
“What?” He had no clue about what she was talking.
“Give me the holochip, and you walk away with your life.”
“Wha…. why? I don’t understand.” he said puzzled.
“Whether you do or not is beyond my care, holochip…. NOW.” She stated, pressing the barrel further into his head again. Feeling his left arm move to his hip, she cast a glance down to ensure his hand was targeting the pouch she saw him slip the chip into. He did not hesitate and attempted to push up with his other arm, rocking her in surprise. The blast came quick and too loudly she thought. Cursing herself for being caught off guard, but not at all sorry for dicing the Weequay’s brain into the Mos Eisley sand. Far too close to the Imperial garrison was the very next thought to register. She fumbled through his pockets and pouches with little care as to what was being confiscated, she would sort it out later, right now she had to get out of here and quickly.
With little regard for onlookers, she took her prize and lost herself in the myriad alleyways and side streets. She knew she could handle herself in a minor dustup but had to ensure she was out of sight when the Imperial patrol showed up. Around three corners, behind a small landing bay and into a cargo staging area, she slipped in between beat up and weathered yellow crates. She took a minute to ensure the area was clear and that she wasn't followed before resting on her forelegs for a better look at her surprise haul. There was more than the holochip she was after, there were three in fact. Asserting herself that Ahsoka’s was indeed in her possession she activated all three of them. Ahsoka’s was right there in the middle of them, flanked by a Corellian male and a Wookie. “10,000 a piece for these? I wouldn’t dare try bringing in a Wookie for anything less than 50.” She said to herself. “150 for Ahsoka. They must really want her badly.” She finished, astonished at the enormity of the bounty. ‘That has to be Imperial’ she thought, ‘No doubt from the incident on Nar Shaddaa. She all but invited a hunt by Vader’. She shook her head trying to relinquish the thought of how much of a nuisance that could become. There were a few variables that didn't quite add up however and she wasn’t sure if she should head back to the ship and lay low for Ahsoka’s call or find out why an Imperial bounty was being issued in a back-alley cantina on a remote planet wasteland by a cloaked figure.
✦
“Ahsoka, no, I must protest.” Obi-wan said rising to his feet. “I know what compels you to see the boy, I truly do. And I made this abundantly clear to master Yoda for precisely the same reason, knowing full well that would be your wish and intention, but it will only skew what his destiny holds.”
Ahsoka was beginning to visibly show the frustration she was wringing with and Obi-wan’s exhale confirmed as much to her as she again looked at him.
“Please understand Ahsoka that there is nothing to be gained for anything you feel you could offer Luke. Had I thought it wise, I would have trained him myself. There is truly nothing to save him from as he is in the safest place imaginable. There is no score that could be settled by consoling or counseling him of past events, until such time he asks the questions necessary to deliver him into his own destiny. Do you understand that even the slightest alteration to events could divert him from that path? We play just as big a part in his future by doing nothing as he does through ignorance. That is the wisdom at play here.” Obi-wan took a deep breath after the recitation.
“Master, yes I do understand.” She replied, again looking into the approaching dusk through the window, the color play not lost on her senses. This truly was a beautiful planet. “I just wanted to see, and I can’t really explain why.”
Obi-wan stopped himself from rolling his eyes. “You don’t need to young one, and yes, you do know why. Anakin was a brother to the both of us and to see his son would bring that nostalgia with it. The price to be paid for that is the anguish the fleeting memories would bring rushing in right behind them. And for what gain?”
Ahsoka couldn’t answer that question. And didn’t want to. She felt fear and anger within herself when she last faced Vader and she conquered them both, channeling them into an unpredictable fighting force that he couldn't keep up with. But the emotional mess she had returned to Malachor in was the price. What would seeing the son of Anakin yield? What would being able to converse with the boy produce? Confusion. Malice. Fear. Hatred. Yes, she understood fully Obi-wan’s message and why her involvement in events to come could waylay his own path. What struck her in that moment was the authority given to the situation by Obi-wan for all these years. How he had moved well past traditional Jedi practice and doctrine and left the entire matter in the hands of fate and choice. It would be Luke’s choice and no one else, although there was something Obi-wan wasn’t telling her. Or maybe it was simply because she had yet to ask? “Master, what is coming?” She knew the question was exactly what he had anticipated as she turned slowly to face him again.
“Hope Ahsoka. Hope. I’ve been privy to its ascendancy for some time as would be natural with how I’ve situated myself in exile. Not just for Luke’s sake. For others as well. You for instance. I feel the force within you vying for dominance, but you’ve been able to balance the scale because you don’t let yourself succumb to either side too strongly. I feel the dark ebbing its way into your thoughts, but you are shutting the door to all but the lessons it could impart. The power that can bring is, and will forever be, dynamic as soon as you learn to control it. But to Luke, and his sister I might add, a new generation is taking the mantle Ahsoka, as well it should. A new hope.” He concluded, staring out the window.
“I sense it too master and want to know I’m doing my part, please help guide me as there are so many questions that I can’t ask because I don’t have the knowledge nor wisdom to. You’re right about the dark, It fills the void when the light subsides but never to the point where I can’t pull myself back, or hasn’t yet at least, but I need to know how to control it. I need Master Yoda for this.” Ahsoka said without hesitation.
“Dagobah. And Ahsoka, you must know, events are already taking place that will reshape the galaxy. What part you play in it depends entirely on you. Master Yoda is expecting you.” Obi-wan added with a smile. Ahsoka added her own smile to that warming comment as she brought her wrist up to comm Kowani for pick up.
“Kowani, ready when you are….” She began. Looking out Obi-wan’s doorway at the now setting suns and how the oranges, reds and yellows were giving way to blues, purples, and dark greens. It was the lack of a reception ring from her outgoing comm that snapped her out of the landscape reverie.
“Kowani?” She repeated twice more. “Master something is wrong, I have to go.”
“Always on the move.” Obi-wan said with a smile. “May the force be with you Ahsoka…. always.” He surprisingly pulled her in for an embrace she wasn’t prepared for and held back a tear of understanding.
“May the force be with you Master.” Ahsoka said with more meaning than she ever had before. Parting ways at his door, she slowly made her way to the speeder which waited patiently for her, casting a glance over her shoulder only once, burning into her memory the wizened face of the oldest and dearest friend she would ever know. She turned the bike on its repulsor to leave the cliff side the way she had come, tears now unchecked and streaming down her cheeks.
Kowani, nestled in between a Goatl and a Koorivar for a few hands of sabac after determining to return to the cantina, decided to deactivate her comm to detract any unwanted attention. Her goal set squarely on spotting the cloaked figure again after confirming there was no rush of attention from her earlier escapade. She let the setting dictate her projection and fit in almost invisibly. She knew she would be able to spot the figure without question, her skill at sabac however was another matter. Feeling she was probably drawing more attention from the glorious ways she was losing she bowed out of the next few hands to scan the increasing crowd. As darkness fell the cantina was at capacity and becoming more raucous with each passing minute. If she didn't locate the figure soon, she might not at all, the thought looming large, as well as the need to get back to the ship. She pulled her hood up over her head and squirmed out of the packed area to find a spot closer to the door as it would be easier to spot incoming and outgoing patrons with greater ease as well as prepare herself for a hasty exit should the need arise.
The spaceports come alive with the passage into night on Tatooine and gathering places overcrowded quickly. The recyclers are switched off and cooler desert air is fed in with a house mixture of exotic scents derived from sources both legitimate and non. The music transitions from a swinging jizz to more local talent in the form of percussion and harmonic beats played on instruments crafted from the bones, hides and entrails of native wildlife. The mood set to a more primitive atmosphere, which had been a stellar business decision years earlier as the coffers overflowed into the intoxicating surroundings. Begun in Mos Eisley and now established heartily in every cantina worth visiting on the planet. Kowani was not new to Tatooine custom. She was, however, not having any luck finding her current person of interest, a fact not lost on her as she scanned the ever-increasing crowd again. She had completed her visual and was returning it back in reverse order when she spotted an Iktochi staring at her intently from the other side of the bar. At least she was certain the Iktochi was staring at her previously as he seemed to have diverted his attention to the dancing Twi’leks currently. 2 Twi’leks females began entertaining the patrons around them with an arousing sensual dance canted with precision to the melodic beats. Arms reaching in the air and falling at the sides of one other. Kowani, shot a glance back at the Iktochi who was looking at her this time and studied his face, his features, the right horn broken at the tip and the left cracked and peeling. His face made a blank statement, conveying nothing.
Kowani immediately imparted her senses to detect the flow of the force around him and was interested to see the currents moving faster into him than flowing out, as if he were pulling upon it. A force user. One pulling the force inward with purpose. She kept his focus on herself, belying nothing of her own emotions to him. He was going to have his work cut out for him. Without registering an ounce of fear, she stared intently into his eyes, as if they were the only ones in the room, baiting him to make the first move. She was glad she was close to the door as the crowd was getting increasingly intoxicated and inebriated, as well as the grace of fresh air rushing into the room right past her. Without taking her gaze from his, she slipped a hand down into her cloak and tapped the comm at her adjacent wrist to both activate it and send a short burst distress to Ahsoka. Had the Iktochi noticed the movement? She wasn’t sure but he got up from his seat the moment she made to touch the comm and began moving slowly toward her. Keeping a visual on him was her priority, keeping herself moving while doing it was her second. With that she got up, playing with interest in the conversation at the table closer to the door. He was getting closer, and she lost sight of his right hand. A long black cloak draped over his shoulders and fell to his ankles, his left hand still visible at his waist. Leaving nothing to chance she ducked under the outstretched arm of the door bouncer and into the street with haste. She tapped her comm in a quick cadence to alert R3 to get the ship ready as she made for the hanger bay, a brisk walk at first followed by an all-out sprint to the hangar after a glance over her shoulder found the Iktochi right on her trail.