The vote went smoothly, Obi-Wan escorted the duchess to her apartment and handed over guard duty to Asoka and Plo. It was already evening, Satin was tired and wanted to sleep, the debates had been difficult for her, especially considering that after them the chancellor had made her stay and tell him the details of the assassination attempt. The woman did not understand why this was so important to him, given that the Order had taken over the investigation, but she did not dare to argue with her immediate superior. She had to relive the whole ordeal, barely holding back her tears. However, she managed to keep it together, only later, when Obi-Wan accompanied her to her apartment, did Satin break down and cry.
"Why? Why?" sobbed Kraiz, dropping tears onto her embroidered handkerchief. "I didn't want war, I'm doing everything I can to avoid it!"
"Don't worry so much, Lady Kraiz," Kenobi tried to calm her down. "We'll get to the bottom of this. I even have an idea who it might be, but I'll know more if you tell me your thoughts."
"I'll tell you, I promise, I already told the chancellor, but he said he had no idea who could be called that," said Satin as they got into the lift.
"Are you sure about what you said?" Kenobi asked, not quite believing her, thinking that the woman might not be thinking clearly after what she had been through.
"I'm sure," said the duchess firmly. "The person who brought me the letter clearly said, 'Tell Tirannus that you understand.' But I still don't know who this Tirannus is or how he's connected to me."
"I think I have an idea," Obi-Wan said thoughtfully, remembering that the Sith took similar names instead of their birth names.
"I think this Tiranus is either closely acquainted with the leader of the separatists, or he is the leader himself," replied the duchess. "The methods are very similar. And anyway, who else would think of killing someone for the slightest attempt to reveal his identity?
"You may be right," said Obi-Wan, already forming some ideas for a future plan. "But you will spend tonight under guard, don't worry, or my colleagues will disturb your sleep.
"I don't think I'll be able to sleep," the woman muttered before saying goodbye. Kenobi handed over his watch to Ahsoka and Plo, who were already standing at the door of the apartment, and returned to the temple. However, in his case, there was no question of sleep. The Master went to the analysis room to check all the information about the renegades of the Order who had been active in the last ten years. He did not touch Darth Bane, who had devised the Rule of Two, according to which there could only ever be two Sith — a master and an apprentice — or Darth Revan, as it was unlikely that either of them had survived to the present day. However, the beginnings of the separatist movement deserved special attention. More specifically, among the former Padawans of the Masters. One of them...
***
Satin seriously thought she wouldn't be able to sleep until morning, her nerves too frayed to allow it, but as soon as she closed the door behind her, she felt her strength leave her. Everything disappeared, even her thoughts slowed down, curling up in a ball somewhere in the corner of her mind. Soon, the woman realised that if she didn't get to bed right away, she would collapse right there in the hallway, on the carpeted floor. Barely managing to take a shower, the duchess collapsed onto her pillow. Sleep overcame her instantly, even though the sounds of the never-sleeping streets of Coruscant drifted into the apartment through the half-open window. Speeder bikes and ships flying past made noise, and motorcycles roared desperately. But the woman continued to sleep peacefully, turning on her side with her back to the window, her light, slightly wavy hair spread across the pillow, the light of the full moon playing on the shiny blue silk of her shirt. Of course, she heard nothing suspicious, nor did the guards standing near the doors suspect anything.
"What do you think, teacher?" Asoka asked Plo, out of old habit. Did she and Kenobi have a complicated history, or were they looking at each other for some other reason?
Plo thought for a moment whether to tell the truth, but in the end could think of nothing better than to give an evasive answer:
"They saw each other often in their youth and now they've met again, they clearly have things to discuss.
"I wonder if he also wondered whether there were any loopholes in the Code that could be exploited without breaking it," Ahsoka smiled slyly, as she loved asking tricky questions.
"I don't think so, Asoka," Master Kenobi did not take the bait. "Master Kenobi is too loyal to our cause to even consider breaking the rules.
"So he just hasn't been told about other examples where someone chose happiness over the Order and never regretted it," Asoka persisted, determined to provoke her former teacher into an interesting conversation about the forbidden.
"I don't think that even if he had such a choice, I emphasise, even if he did, he would have firmly said, Plo said, shifting from foot to foot, "Then I am sure he would not have broken the rules. And by the way, Asoka, why is that too?" the Kel Dor suddenly asked, but fell silent when he saw that Tano had long since stopped listening to him. She stood tense, slightly turned towards the door, as if trying to catch some sounds coming from there. Plou followed her example, but could hear nothing but the distant roar of motorcycles. Only by concentrating more intently did the man notice that one sound stood out from the general roar, a quieter, more cautious sound. It gradually faded away until it suddenly stopped somewhere at the level of the senator's house. The roar died down, but then there was a creak, then a rustle, as if someone was climbing up the wall, then the noise came closer, almost level with Satin's apartment, becoming even louder.
"Can you hear that too?" Asoka decided to speak up, but instead of answering, Plo opened the door and rushed into the apartment, followed by Togruta. Sure enough, the window was wide open, and a small droid flew in, bypassing the azure curtain. A second before the Jedi arrived, an open transparent container appeared from the bottom of the droid, containing two caterpillars that were now rapidly crawling across the blanket. Instinct acted faster than reason, and activating his sword, Poe cut both insects in half with one blow, while Ahsoka jumped towards the killer droid and, grabbing hold of it, flew out into the street with it. The droid clearly did not like such company, or rather, it did not like the company of Asoka, and it tried with all its might to get rid of its unexpected passenger, desperately manoeuvring and twisting in the air in incredible passes. Ahsoka held on tight, not even thinking of falling, hoping that the droid would take her to whoever had sent it. Soon she saw it signal with a red light and a soft beep, causing the exact same signal to appear on the dashboard of one of the motorcycles standing below. Asoka managed to see that the driver was clearly female, as it was unlikely that any man would like purple jumpsuits with rhinestones and pink helmets. The decision came instantly, and before the stranger could disappear, waiting for the droid, Togrut, without letting go of him, found a speeder standing near the house with her eyes and, jumping into it straight from the air, shoved the killer behind the dashboard, first disabling it with her signature method, or, to put it simply, by striking the centre of the control panel with her heel, flew to the window to pick up her teacher. He also wasted no time, destroying the dangerous clownchons — terrifyingly poisonous insects whose venom, if it touches the skin, causes certain death. It is unlikely that Satin would have had time to find an antidote and inject it intravenously in the five minutes she had left. She wouldn't even have had time to wake up. And so, knowing all this now, she sat on the bed, pulling the blanket over herself and not hiding her tears.
"Calm down, my lady," said Plo, returning the sword to its place. "The danger has passed. You can go back to bed."
"But there will be others," the woman disagreed and flatly refused to stay alone. He had to urgently call Master Kenobi and ask him to stay with her until morning. Only when she heard a familiar voice on the communicator did the woman calm down a little. Just then, Ahsoka arrived, appearing at the window in a blue and green speeder and invitingly patting the seat next to the driver's seat. Plo jumped out of the window and was next to her in an instant.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Asoka asked, admiring the speeder. "I spent a long time choosing it, looking for one that would match my eyes and my outfit."
Despite the generally critical, if not dire, situation, Togruta remained playful. Enakine always liked this, but his former teacher did not always approve.
"Ahsoka, you're incorrigible," Plo smiled, although it was impossible to see through his mask. However, Togruta knew that this was the case and, sensing that her teacher was not angry, continued in the same vein:
"Otherwise, I wouldn't be here. By the way, I have a trophy, look at this," she said with a smirk and showed him the droid killer. "Here, take a look at this. We need to find out who it works for, but don't worry, you won't have to investigate your own murder. I managed to knock out this handsome guy, and I'll take care of his owner for now. Or rather, its owner," she corrected herself at the last moment, noticing out of the corner of her eye that the motorcyclist, tired of waiting for the droid and finally realising that something was wrong, was starting her engine to get away.
"Yes, she turned out to be a bit dim-witted," Tano reasoned aloud. "But that's actually to our advantage in the end, isn't it, teacher?
"Ahsoka, but I already told you..." the Master began to reply, but his sentence was cut short by the sudden start of the speeder, which synchronised with the mercenary's motorcycle, also starting from the parking lot near the senators' house.
"Ahsoka, what does that mean?" the mentor came to his senses, managing to see a strange emblem at the bottom of the droid, resembling a red flag with three prongs. He had never seen anything like it before.
"It's just a small but very cool stunt," explained Tano, performing an unimaginable somersault in the air so that the motorcyclist wouldn't see their vehicle. "You watched that show too, didn't you?"
"Ah, but you understand everything," Plo said, his voice taking on a pleading tone.
"I know you love flying," the Togruta finished for him cheerfully. "Please accept this small gift from me. From the best pilot to the perfect one!"
"I'm afraid you'll give me a heart attack one day," Plo joked, noticing who they were chasing. "Do you think we can catch him?"
"It's not him, it's her," Asoka corrected mechanically. "In any case, her gender is the last thing that concerns me."
"I advise you not to approach her, but to see where she goes," advised Plo, finding his student's desire reasonable.
"I don't know about you, but I prefer to solve problems radically. How was I taught? Act out of necessity!" Asoka exclaimed cheerfully, flying under a bridge on the Lower Level.
"What do you consider necessary right now?" asked Plo, certain that there was no need to rush, at least not now. Asoka, as always, thought differently, which she proved right away by steering her speeder so that it flew directly over the motorcycle and suddenly asked her former teacher:
"Master, do you know how to drive this thing?
"Of course, otherwise why would you call me a perfect driver?" replied Plo, suspecting no trickery. "Why are you interested?"
"It's a long story," Tano replied quickly, and suddenly, gathering herself, she stretched out like a predator preparing to attack. "See you down there!"
With that last phrase, she pushed off the bottom of the speeder and, waving her hand to her teacher, flew down like a beautiful swallow, landing right on the back of the motorcycle.
"She's completely lost her mind," muttered Plo, taking control of the vehicle. What else could he do? He knew that if Asoka had something in mind, it was pointless to stand in her way. She would crush him and not even notice. All he could do was hope that she wouldn't get hurt too badly and would at least come back for the second sword lying on the empty seat, unclipped from her belt. Asoka had no intention of suffering, not even a little, just as she had no intention of thinking about how her stunt might have upset her former teacher. All her thoughts were focused on the unknown mercenary. She, in turn, noticed her involuntary escort and was no more pleased than her droid had been. Ahsoka jumped on her from behind and, clinging to her shoulders, began to rock her, risking falling off the motorcycle:
"Tell me who you work for, now!
The mercenary tried to throw Asoka off, but Tano clung on with a death grip and moved forward, pushing the girl towards the trunk.
"I won't tell you anything!" she shouted hoarsely, realising that they weren't going to let her go, she took her primitive weapon from her belt and started firing at Asoka, Asoka parried the shots with her remaining sword, then, seeing that her opponent was engrossed in the fight, the mercenary suddenly stopped the motorcycle and jumped off it, rushing into the nearest noisy cantina, one of many on the Lower Level. Asoka noticed and rushed after her, but it was too late; the mercenary had already disappeared into the crowd. Togruta despaired a little at having rushed and seemingly lost her prey, but she failed to notice that she was not the only one pursuing her here.
***
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