6,255Timeline: 19 yrs BBY - X number of months prior to Separatists invasion of Coruscant where Palpatine is kidnapped by Grievous At least 9 months before Order 66
Scenario Start: Ahsoka's name has been cleared of any wrong-doing and the Order is now aware that Bariss was a traitorous bitch, but she had quit the Order after the betrayal.
-o0o0o-
The bar was a relatively quiet one. Surprisingly so, given that it wasn't far from a main thoroughfare. The sound from the traffic nearby was reduced to no more than a dull and distant roar.
A Togruta female sat in a chair at a bar. She was idly swirling the teal liquid in her glass around, not really paying attention to her surroundings. She was utterly lost in her thoughts.
The bartender in front of her, who was an incredibly busty Zeltron female in a skin tight bodysuit that not only left absolutely nothing to the imagination as to what lay underneath, but had a portion cut out on her top to reveal an impressive amount of cleavage. Ahsoka knew she was young and still had some growing to do, but despite having finally begun to fill out in the past few months, she would never have the bust of the Zeltron.
The bartender had inquired several times about whether the young girl wished for another drink. Despite her occasional inquiries, the woman hadn't done it in a way to be insistent about buying another or in irritation with Ahsoka taking up a seat at her bar. The young girl thought it a genuinely nice change of pace from her previous experiences of wasting times in bars. Especially considering how deep she was in the side of Coruscant the politicians didn't wish to talk about and the news crews long realized should never be shown to the public.
Drinking, unfortunately for the goddess serving customers at the bar, wasn't on the forefront of the Togruta's mind. In fact, she had barely touched whatever it was that was inside her glass. The request 'Surprise me!' had always brought Sky-Guy interesting looks, and often free information out of the banter established, but right now she didn't have the energy for the follow through that would be required, nor any reason for it.
Today, had been a day like no other in her admittedly insane life. The decision to walk away from the Jedi Temple had been both the easiest and hardest thing she had ever done. The problem she was only now truly realizing was that the Jedi Order had been her entire life. She had next to no recollection of her life prior to the age of three when her Force sensitivity had been discovered on the planet of Shili by Jedi Master Plo Kloon, someone she still felt as a sort of father figure to her.
Of course that meant nothing when she had been standing in the pit before the Jedi Masters who had passed judgement on actions they thought she had taken.
Every possible close tie and relationship she had was connected to the Jedi Order. Idly she wondered if that was another reason why the Jedi took children from their families; to give them really no place to go, other than the temple. Ahsoka admitted to herself that the thought was rather cynical and bitter but at the moment she didn't much care.
Someone slid up beside her at the bar and leaned forward arms over the bar as he leaned forward. Ahsoka barely glanced over at him, as the unassuming human male's profile didn't register as being important to her at all. She did register that he had dark brown hair, or maybe black. She didn't really care to focus on his features.
The bartender in front of her however lit up with a wide smile in recognition. Ahsoka did note that it didn't seem to be the false happiness many bartenders across the galaxy would do for repeat customers so that they would attempt to purchase more alcohol in an attempt to kill their livers or whatever bodily organ the species had that might process alcohol through the body. No, this bartender was genuinely happy that this man was here.
"Harry! Long time no see! Last time I heard you were out exploring some old ruins on… Ziost or something?" The bartender grinned at him, her arms braced on her hips.
The man, presumably the aforementioned Harry, chuckled good naturedly. "Keeping tabs on me?" Ahsoka realized he spoke with a pleasant accent, albeit one she couldn't identify offhand.
The bartender grinned, "Nah, one of my suppliers mentioned he'd hauled some cargo out that way and docked near your ship."
Harry laughed and groused playfully, "The paint job, no doubt."
"Got it in one!" The zeltron laughed and nodded with a bright smile. "So… the usual I presume?"
"Of course. Closest to a good cup that I don't have to make myself or that doesn't taste like liquid dirt." The human male chuckled an amused way.
Ahsoka Tano repressed a sigh, she felt a pang in her heart as the sound was almost identical to the one SkyGuy used to give her when she'd been a touch too enthusiastic about something or he was humoring her.
"Yeah yeah, that's why you keep coming back." The zeltron said as she turned around and seemed to be heating up something judging by the little spurts of steam coming out of one of the drink mixers.
Harry winked at the Zeltron. "You know I keep coming back for your wonderful company, the tea is just a bonus!"
"Flatterer," The bartender said a moment later as she slid a cup across the bar.
"Maybe, but you love it." Harry said as he slid a credit chip across the bar carelessly. She rolled her eyes and picked up the credit chip, depositing it quickly.
To Ahsoka it was obviously familiar banter between the two and enough of a distraction to give her something to focus on beyond her own troubles.
He picked up the steaming cup and took a sip, before closing his eyes and letting out a deep sigh of satisfaction at whatever was in the cup. He allowed a slow smile to cross his face. "Perfect as always."
The zeltron snorted and rolled her eyes, "You know you're the only one that drinks that swill."
Harry looked affronted, though Ahsoka could tell from his tone that it was teasing. "This… 'swill' is the best drink in the galaxy! Believe me I know. I've tried most of them."
"Yes, but it has no alcohol in it. Most who come here aren't looking for drinks without alcohol. In fact, I'm relatively certain that some of my patrons are unaware that there actually exists drinks that don't contain alcohol." She said, her tone turning thoughtful. Then the bartender focused her attention to Ahsoka. "Except of course that one sitting beside you. Hers isn't any more alcoholic than yours."
Harry barely glanced over at Ahsoka, dismissing her casually. "Their loss." He replied easily, turning his attention back to the bartender. Ahsoka noticed how his eyes lingered in her bared cleavage before he continued after taking a sip of his tea.
"Any deliveries for me to pick up?" he asked.
"Several, you've been gone almost six months. I keep dropping them into the safety box you gave me." The bartender had already chuckled and stepped around to the storeroom right behind her, returning a few seconds later with a metal box which she set on the top of the bar.
Ahsoka peered curiously at the box with a frown on her face, it was a decent sized box, but it almost seemed hard to notice, unless she was looking right at it, otherwise her eyes seemed to slide right off. On the top of the box was a little opening to slide things in, but otherwise the box seemed like a solid hunk of metal.
Harry ran his hand over the side of the box, Ahsoka had gone back to studying her glass so as not to be too nosy, but she looked up sharply when she felt a small surge in the Force.
Harry was either oblivious or unconcerned by her sudden interest in his actions as the box opened up from a seam that hadn't appeared to be there before. Inside the box were packages of several different sizes that Harry idly began sorting through. He piled several datacards into one pile, and a couple of other packages that seemed to be small lumps into another. The packages that weren't data cards seemed to disappear into his jacket with quick movements.
Harry hummed softly before shutting the case and running his hand over it again in a curious gesture before pushing it back across to the bartender who took it without hesitation to store it in the back again. "Anything interesting?" she asked curiously
Harry shrugged a bit as he slid a card into a datareader to begin perusing it. "I dunno, we'll find out. Though… I wonder if you 'accidentally' slipped any more pictures of yourself in there like the last time I was gone."
The bartender winked at him. "You'll just have to check all the data cards to find out won't you?"
Harry chuckled as he took a sip of his tea, idly flicking through information on his reader, humming and seemingly oblivious to anyone around him.
Ahsoka was still watching him curiously when she felt something press against the back of her head.
"Don't move, Jedi." A harsh voice said from behind her.
Ahsoka froze, realizing that it was the business end of a blaster that was currently resting against the back of her head. She cursed herself for being so distracted as to let someone sneak up on her. She also cursed her lack of a lightsaber as it would no doubt be coming in handy right about now.
Leaving the Jedi Order had been a rather spur of the moment decision that afternoon after the courts had been forced to see that she was innocent. She, rather stupidly she admitted in retrospect, didn't reclaim her only dependable weapon.
She attempted to go another route, by attempting to bluff her way out of the situation. She spoke slowly trying to inject terror into her voice, "J… jedi? Me? N..No, I'm not, you've got the wrong person." She attempted to subtly use a mind trick on the person, though not even being able to see them hindered her effort somewhat.
She was not at all helped by the snort from the human, Harry. She couldn't tell if he was laughing at her situation, or her clumsy attempt to manipulate the person behind her while under stress. The laugh was most assuredly directed at her though.
She wondered what kind of person could laugh at a person facing this misfortune and wished she'd get a chance to make him think twice about laughing at someone in trouble. Otherwise he simply sat there continuing to read and take another sip of his tea, seemingly unconcerned with the situation developing beside him. Unfortunately, the attitude was matched by many others in the bar, they were either unconcerned or glancing over to make sure the business didn't involve them.
Ahsoka Tano was unsurprised by this, well aware that was how things worked in less reputable areas. No one wanted to intervene for risk of getting themselves drawn in and possibly eating a blaster bolt for their troubles.
The bartender was looking over past Ahsoka's shoulder and to each side with wide eyes, something Ahsoka took to be a relatively bad sign. That meant there were more than just the one behind her.
She could hear the sneer in the voice as it replied. "Don't try to lie, we saw your trial on the holonet… Me and the boys Laughed up a storm when the Jedi looked like they'd eaten dianoga poodu at the end, in fact." There was a chuckle from at least two others behind her.
"But now the words out that you're no longer with the Order, and that just means that you have no backup here, little Jedi." The voice continued with scorn.
Ahsoka frowned wondering how on earth the word had gotten out that she had turned down admittance into the order. It had only happened a few hours ago!
"You will bring in a very nice bounty from any one of several very interested parties." The voice continued, the barrell of the blaster not moving from the back of her head. "I'm just happy me and my guys were already here, and lucky enough to run into you first."
Ahsoka's eyes widened and she couldn't keep the look of shock off of her face. Not only had word circulated that she was out of the order, but somehow she had a bounty placed on her head? And people willing to collect on it? Especially here on Coruscant, a system that wasn't exactly friendly and welcoming to any bounty hunters that ventured through.
There was no missing the excitement in the voice of the man as he continued to speak, "The bounty on you is six figures, nearing seven if you're alive!" The excitement dropped and his voice turned grim again. "But I don't want any of your Jedi tricks, I'll happily take the dead bounty if you even think of giving us trouble."
Ahsoka couldn't help the scowl that crossed her face. Being put on trial as a traitor to the Republic was not one of her best moments and now at least one of the enemies she made working with such a high profile was looking to bite her in the ass.
She squared her shoulders and tried to sound as calm and confident as possible. "Look, I don't want any trouble."
The person behind her didn't so much as hesitate, "Good, then you'll put these binder cuffs on." as a pair of binder cuffs clattered onto the bar counter beside her. She looked at them and looked at the counter for anything she might be able to use as a weapon with surprise on her side. Unfortunately the only thing within reach was her cup and she had no idea how many people were holding blasters on her.
"And if I don't?" She asked, stalling for time as her mind raced. She'd be a lot less likely to escape or put up a fight if her hands were cuffed especially if she couldn't manage to get uncuffed.
"Well, the bounty on you dead is just fine with us too. Alive is just worth a good deal more. And they haven't specified just how alive you have to be." The sneer in the tone was obvious once more.
Ahsoka started to turn to face the speaker, but the barrell of the gun pressed against her head stopped her as much as the harsh. "I told you, you move you're dead. Do anything I don't like you're dead. Either put on the binders or we settle for the dead part of 'dead or alive.'"
The voice brooked no nonsense or options and Ahsoka could sense that he meant every word he said. She was tempted to push him back with the Force but that probably wouldn't stop him from pulling the trigger on his blaster and then she'd be dead.
Even if she did manage to make him miss, she also had no idea if any of the others had their blasters pointed at her or how she might manage to avoid all of them.
For just a moment she closed her eyes and felt despair well up inside of her. Barely away from the Order for less than a few hours and already she was being held captive. Only this time there would be no friends to look for her if she went missing. There would be no SkyGuy grumpily showing up to help his apprentice out of the latest mess she had blundered into. She didn't even have a lightsaber she could reclaim to get herself out of this mess.
Ahsoka realized she had to hope that her captors slipped up, since anyone taking bounties out on Jedi was not someone she particularly wanted to meet. Especially those brazen enough to try and collect such things on Coruscant itself where authorities took a rather dim view of anyone trying to hunt Jedi.
She reached for the cuffs on the bar, emphasized by the voice from behind her that said "Slowly. No quick moves or I add a hole to that pretty little head of yours."
Unfortunately as she reached for them, Harry chose that moment to set down his data pad with a sigh of resignation and a slight shake of his head. He reached out and plucked the binders up off the bar and almost idly moved them from hand to hand as he looked across the bar, staring at seemingly nothing with a contemplative expression on his face, apparently ignoring everyone behind him.
Ahsoka froze, wondering what the stranger from before was even thinking, getting involved and likely getting himself shot, especially as he didn't seem armed.
The guy holding the blaster on her seemed taken aback by the sudden move. "Hey buddy, give those to the girl."
Ahsoka hadn't moved but Harry turned around to face the person holding her under his blaster, while he clasped his hands together, holding the binders. Ahsoka turned slightly to watch the man who had seemingly taken leave of his senses, though her slight turn didn't generate a rebuke this time.
It also gave her a line of sight to the people holding her. She saw at least three people behind her holding blasters out and pointed her way, though one had turned to point the blaster at the man who had picked up the binder clips. Because of her montrails and the sort of echolocation they provided, she could also tell there were more people outside her line of vision but didn't want to draw attention to herself by turning that way.
She could tell that most of the attention was now on the man whom she mentally thanked for the distraction. She was just promising herself to try and get him out of this alive when she felt it again, the man moved his hands slightly and she felt a slight surge in the Force. Though she could tell none of the people with blasters had, because with their itchy trigger fingers they would have already shot.
The leader spoke up once more, taking control of the situation, his harsh voice practically snarling at the man, "Unless you want to eat a blaster bolt, give the girl the binders. Or better yet, Put them on her."
"What binders?" Harry asked as he opened his hands, cupped in a bowl position while simultaneously leaning forward toward the men.
Even Ahsoka's attention was drawn to his hands, despite realizing it would be the perfect distraction. Sure enough, instead of a set of binders all that was sitting in his hands was a small pile of black albeit glinting, powder.
"What? Where did you put the binders?" The man demanded, his weapon now also trained on Harry.
Harry looked supremely unconcerned by the weapons now pointed in his direction. He slowly brought his cupped hands upward, allowing all of the men to get a good look and see and in fact, look more closely at the oddly glinting powder that was certainly not reflecting light in a way Ahsoka seen anything else do previously.
In a surprise movement, Harry suddenly blew the black powder forward and Ahsoka once more felt a surge in the Force and suddenly the entire area was plunged into a wide cloud of pure darkness.
There were several gasps of shock from all around and one of the men behind her shouted "Who turned off the damn li-"
Ahsoka however wasn't stuck with just using her eyes. Her montrals had hollow spaces in them that gathered information ultrasonically.
The instant darkness had covered the area, Ahsoka read through her montrals that Harry hadn't wasted any time in stepping forward into the cloud of darkness. She could tell as he moved into the group of bounty hunters and she felt several more of those small unexplained surges in the Force.
Of course her amazement was cut short when she also heard two blaster shots that were followed afterward by screams from a small number of the gathered patrons, though many more seemed to crouch low and reach for weapons of their own.
Ahsoka herself rolled out of her chair, not wanting to be there if a blaster bolt whizzed her way. She hadn't seen where either of the bolts hit, nor who fired them but she also wasn't interested in standing still as she collected more information on the shooters since she was likely to be both a convenient and a priority target.
A moment later there was silence all around.
Ahsoka felt another small surge of Force once more and the darkness in the area seemed to fade quickly. The cloud of darkness collapsed upon itself, and gathered itself rapidly back into Harry's hand.
Ahsoka watched the dust gather in his hands and then she looked around completely stunned. When the darkness cleared it revealed six people on the ground unconscious right in front of her at the stool she had been sitting at. And among the other tables a decent distance from the bar, a single person toppled out of their chair unconscious and sprawled out on the ground as well. Though his chest moved so it was easy to tell he was still breathing.
She stood up and was about to say something when she caught movement behind the bar. Ahsoka had noticed the bartender slump against the wall, but instead of standing up now that danger was over she looked at Harry and Ahsoka in shock.
Harry's attention seem to be drawn by the same thing. Ahsoka saw the woman clutching a hand over her chest and smelt as much as saw the burnt fabric and flesh from where the blaster bolt set to kill, had hit her.
She opened her mouth as if to say something, but no sound came out and then she toppled to the side with a weak grunt as her body impacted the floor behind the bar.
"Oh, hell." Harry muttered already in motion as he took a step forward and vaulted the bar with an economy of movement that Ahsoka attributed to most Jedi. Especially as she was only a moment behind him, though she doubted there was anything she could do for the woman.
Harry was already crouched down beside her and gently but firmly pulled the bartenders arms away from her chest.
Ahsoka took one look and, and from her two years of near constant fighting in the war, could see that the wound was almost certainly a mortal one. Likely, the only thing that could save the woman would be dropping her in bacta right this second, and the nearest bacta tank wasn't within a click of the bar.
The bartender was making a gasping sound as she tried to bring air into lungs that were no longer whole. Ahsoka saw her try and speak several times, her mouth moving but no sounds emerged.
The bartender looked up at him with fear in her eyes but Harry's voice was calm and gentle as he placed his hands over the wound, "Shh. Just take a minute and catch your breath. You're going to be fine."
Ahsoka narrowed her eyes at his lie but chose to hold her tongue, starting an argument while the woman lay dying wouldn't be beneficial. Though she felt giving her false hope was just as bad.
However she was distracted by the feeling of the Force once more being used. Only this time the feeling was much stronger. She looked at Harry to see what he was doing, but he was ignoring her.
His eyes were intent on the Zeltron female, as his hands pressed against her chest. And then without warning there was a tremendous surge in the Force. For just a moment Ahsoka felt like she was in the presence of pure Force as it moved around her and through her, but seemed to focus in the area in front of her.
It was both the strangest and most amazing feeling she could remember feeling in a long time. But then as quickly as it had arrived it tapered off and disappeared. Leaving Ahsoka breathing hard as she tried to put names to all the sensations she had just felt.
Her eyes regained focus by movement in front of her as a moment later Harry pulled his hands away from the bartender's chest area.
Ahsoka blinked as she saw pure unblemished skin where his hands had been. She quite literally had to do a double take to confirm that her eyes weren't deceiving her in some way. But the wound showed now clear, and seemingly completely unblemished skin, the only sign there had been a wound was the blaster hole that was burnt into her top.
The woman took a deep breath and arched slightly as her lungs filled up with air, a sound of almost desperate relief escaping her throat before she started to cough weakly between several breaths. Ahsoka found herself reaching forward hesitantly, wanting to touch the place the wound had been and confirm for herself, before she remembered exactly where the woman had gotten shot, and pulled back her hands, a blush marring her features.
Harry leaned back, and with a subtle movement of his fingers, Ahsoka felt a surge in the Force. She watched, without anything obstructing her vision as the fabric of her clothes seemed to stitch itself together to the point that it was nearly indistinguishable from the cloth that had been untouched by the weapon fire.
Harry looked at the woman once more and Ahsoka felt a small surge of the Force though she couldn't see any effects from it. The woman shook her head slowly as if shaking off a daze.
"Looks like you were nearly hit by a stray bolt and had the wind knocked out of you when you fell." Harry's voice was kind, but firm as he described a completely ridiculous situation to the shaken bartender.
The woman shook her head a little bit before she ran her hands over her chest slowly, almost fearfully and seemed to be surprised that she was in one piece. But Harry didn't give her time to dwell, hopping to his feet and offering her a hand to stand up.
She hesitated only a moment before she took the proffered hand, that pulled her to her feet with one smooth movement. She grinned up at the green-eyed human flirtatiously, "You know Harry, if you really wanted to grope me, you didn't need an excuse. No need to make a production out of me tripping and falling..."
Ahsoka was barely able to keep her jaw from dropping open, mind tricks usually just left the person a bit dazed and susceptible to suggestion. But the bartender had just taken Harry's suggestion at face value and seemed to completely believe it.
"C'mon, the owner of this place is kind of a bitch, she wouldn't want you laying down on the job and flirting with the customers." Harry said with a smirk on his face. Then he paused and clarified slightly, "Or at least I think the objection would be that you're only flirting with one."
The bartender's eyes narrowed, "I'll remember that comment Harry, see if I keep accepting packages on your behalf."
Harry snorted at the empty threat. "You're paid for that." He reminded her with an amused smile.
She huffed a little bit, "Fine, then I'll stop slipping candid pictures in there to surprise you!"
Ahsoka had watched the entire exchange in both confusion and incredulity. The man, Harry was amused and acting like nothing serious had happened and the woman was laughing, all while the young togrutan stared at the two of them, and neither paid her the least bit of attention. Though in a way that was a good thing since she was still processing events as they occurred in the past few minutes.
Ahsoka had never encountered this Jedi Master before, but in quick succession she had seen him using the Force to take out 6 armed assailants. And he hadn't used a weapon as far as she could tell.
Then he had healed a woman that Ahsoka would have sworn was beyond hope, even if they had a bacta tank nearby, the time it would have taken to get there would have killed her. But the way he healed with the Force was something else. Certainly that was a far better and faster healing job than any of the Master's in the order would have managed to the best of her knowledge. Jedi healing was very effective but was slower and much more gradual. That woman did not have long enough to live to benefit from any of the healing techniques she had seen.
She had just seen him use what she assumed was a Jedi mind trick on the woman to get her to believe she hadn't been shot, but it had seemed far more effective than the ones she was used to seeing. With little haziness or obvious signs on the recipient like the repetition of speech and such.
But she had also seen the impossible.
She had never seen matter just change in the presence of the Force before, but that had just happened. She'd seen the Force bludgeon, push, pull, rotate, and lift things, and had certainly done all of those things herself. But she'd never witnessed anyone manipulate the Force so that state of matter itself seemed to modify and just… repair a damaged outfit like it was nothing.
Harry wasn't even paying her speculative gaze any attention as he walked around the bar and crossed his arms, looking at the pile of unconscious bodies. He looked over at the bartender, "You want anything to do with them?"
She rolled her eyes, "Want? Absolutely, but it's probably bad form if it got around that I had started offing or turning patrons over to the authorities. Even if they haven't settled up their tab yet."
Harry nodded and then grinned, letting out a theatrical mocking laugh. "That means they're mine to deal with right?"
The Zeltron shrugged, "One patron taking care of others who fired blasters in a bar? That's not something anyone can complain about."
Harry grinned and a mocking greedy look crossed his face as he rubbed his hands together. "Well, let's see if any of these fine upstanding gentlemen have bounties anywhere on them, and see if papa is gonna get himself a brand new navicomputer!"
Ahsoka had just been watching, but frowned at that statement, feeling the need to interject. Surprised that he had mentioned turning the men over for bounties. "Master, shouldn't we turn them over to the Jedi Temple?"
Harry turned to look at her, and for the first time she was struck by the vibrant emerald in his eyes, which she hadn't noticed before. As if by looking in his eyes she was able to focus on him, his features which she hadn't really catalogued before swam into view. An amused smile on his face, "A little young for the kinky master stuff aren't you?" he asked.
Before she would have said for certain he was male, with dark hair… but realized that she wouldn't have been able to get a better description of him than that, and wondered why she would have been so wishy washy on her observations. Her drink hadn't had any alcohol in it after all. Now the haze that seemed to be on his features faded. Overall she would certainly classify his face as handsome for a human. There was a scar that was faded white and marred his forehead but didn't seem to detract from his looks, but rather added to them.
However, it was at that point that his reply caught up with her and she found herself simultaneously sputtering and blushing.
His eyes danced in amusement, "Besides, why would I hand them over to the Jedi? Did I miss some announcement from those stuck-up old men that run the Order about them finally paying bounties for bringing in morons like these?"
Ahsoka found herself completely at a loss and managed to reply, somewhat lamely, "Well… no?" Though her tone was filled with confusion.
She had never seen this Jedi Master before, and while she had certainly heard Masters criticize the leadership of the Jedi in the past, it was usually in quiet murmurs. Occasionally, her Master… former Master… Anakin was a tad more vocal about his dissatisfaction but even he had never spoken so bluntly and so negatively about the council. This man took it to a whole new level.
Harry snorted at her response and rolled his sleeve back. Underneath he activated what looked like a comlink embedded in an elaborate leather bracer that seemed to contain a dozen different small bulges in it.
Ahsoka tilted her head curiously as from the mini-communication link floated the image of a droid that vaguely reminded her a protocol droid. However the torso seemed bulkier at the shoulders, and the head was oddly shaped, with a jutting overhang over the eyes of the droid.
"Minnie, can you check and find if any of these bozos have any bounties on them? I'm sure someone, somewhere wants at least one of them in some form."
The reply was a very prim and matron-like sounding voice, that seemed slightly out of place on the droid she was seeing, "What trouble did you get yourself into this time?"
Ahsoka frowned slightly, despite the obvious mechanical undertones, the droid reminded Ahsoka of the voice of the librarian in the central archives.
Harry continued speaking, as if he hadn't been chastised by a droid who attempted to act like a school teacher, "While you're at it, find out which system has the highest payout for them if for some bizarre reason, more than one person actually wants any of them. I'm not averse to some travelling to turn these screwballs in some place."
Harry turned his arm slightly and a light came out of his bracer and scanned the features of each of the thugs still lying unconscious on the floor. One of them was face down and Harry was forced to nudge that one with his boot to flip him over on his back so the scan could continue.
"You… you're going to turn them over for bounties?" Ahsoka finally found her voice, once more, though was no less confused. This was not Jedi behavior. The Order would typically go through proper legal channels to ensure that the criminals were properly tried. It was rather unthinkable to see a Jedi Master lower himself to turning in a bounty in person, much less collecting the money for himself.
"Meh, it depends on whether any of them have bounties that make it worth hauling them around anywhere." Harry shrugged lithely, his tone mostly apathetic. "If not I'll either leave them here at the tender mercy of the patrons of this fine establishment. Ones that they just endangered."
Harry seemed to consider that a moment before he shrugged again. "Or I'll just chuck 'em down one of the canyons here in the older districts. They'll just fall down to the lower levels. I'm sure something down there that's never seen sunlight will end up disposing of the bodies. I doubt anyone will miss these fools."
He blinked and seemed to realize he forgot something, holding out his bracer once more, and pointing it to the other patron that had tumbled out of his chair unconscious. "Minnie, that one too. He was the signaler." Harry gestured with his arm as another brief scan ran over the face of the downed person.
"Running recognition algorithms now and cross referencing with all known bounty profiles." The mechanical voice responded and then once more turned crisp and matronly. "Do not think this lets you off the hook. You will explain exactly what you did and how you ended up with a pile of unconscious ruffians, young man."
"I knew programming you with that personality would eventually irritate me." Harry muttered.
The mechanical voice started to reply, but only got as far as "Mis-" before Harry cut it off and rolled his eyes in response. "Minnie, save the lecture for later...or never. Besides, I have a feeling I'm about to receive a lesson on morals from my new friend here, so you can skip the one you intend to give me."
Harry shot a look at Ahsoka but before either of them could say anything there was a beep from the comlink.
Harry tilted his arm and a picture of the bounty hunter that had been the spokesman, and also incidentally the one that Harry had not so gently nudged over with his foot, floated in the air.
Minnie's clipped mechanical voice recited, "Tiddle Pon Tonk. Human. Male. 20,000 credits. Wanted in the Corusca Sector for suspected multiple instances of murder, property destruction, fleeing authorities and er… yes."
Harry's eyes narrowed, "And what? Minnie?"
"It is hardly pertinent..." came the clipped reply.
"Indulge me." Harry replied with exaggerated patience.
There was a pause and then in a very disapproving tone of voice, "Sexual molestation of what was classified as a religious artifact, thereby desecrating it."
"…. huh." Harry responded eloquently. Whatever he had expected, that had not been it. It took him a few moments to gather himself before he turned with a wide smile towards Ahsoka. "How does that make you feel? The man who molests religious things had his blaster up against your head."
Harry shuddered theatrically, "Who knows where he puts that thing when he's not shooting at people."
Ahsoka went to answer, but Minnie's voice broke in "The religious artifact that he molested was a Gamorrean Matron's-"
Harry cut off the audio on the comlink and visibly gagged, before he reactivated the comlink. He actually started to giggle in response. "I hope they got pictures. Cases like that really really should be beyond reproach."
Minnie's voice sounded vaguely ill, which was impressive for a droid. "There's video."
Harry blinked and then grinned wider before he looked down at his insensate attacker. "Oh yes, definitely taking you back. If out of sheer amusement if nothing else… Minnie, any of the others have bounties on them?"
"All of the rest of them very minor bounties or simple BOLA's." Minnie's voice replied in her once more unruffled tones. "None of them are wanted on Coruscant, nor any of them for violent crimes or slavery. The cost of turning the bounties in would be less than travel expenditures."
"Any of the bounties in the same place where we could lump them together and make it worth a trip?" Harry asked more out of curiosity than real need to know.
"Negative." came Minnie's response.
"Allright. Then you might as well be ready for me. We weren't going to be here long anyway." Harry said with a sigh. He reached to shut down the comlink but Minnie's voice cut him off.
"You should also know that authorities are on their way," the droid cut in before Harry could disconnect from the link.
Harry frowned thoughtfully, "That's a surprise, usually they don't get here for a half an hour or so this far down, plenty of time for all parties to escape. Less paperwork and less danger to authorities."
"Apparently, they have two Jedi as escorts." Minnie replied.
"Ah. Oh right." Harry seemed to understand something that escaped Ahsoka before he nodded, "Okay, I'll be back in a bit."
Harry moved over to the bar and grabbed the datapad he had set down before picking up the binders, and sliding it into a pocket of his jacket. He then knelt down to the pile of thugs, and made a show of his hands moving over each of the thugs.
Ahsoka could feel minute surges of the Force as he did, though they were soft enough to be barely register. Blasters, holdout weapons, credit bags, and other trinkets seemed to just jump into his hands.
Once he had them in a pile, he lifted the items up and set them on the bar, with a nod to the bartender. "Use them to pay for the damages, and use the rest to treat yourself to some combat pay, instead of letting the authorities just confiscate it all when they didn't do a thing to stop this, or react in any sort of timely manner." He said with scorn in his voice.
Ahsoka watched the bartender just nod, but Harry was already turning away from her. He reached out and laid his hand on the waist of the man lying on his back, who hadn't so much as twitched since Harry rolled him over.
Ahsoka once more felt a small surge in the Force and then watched as Harry easily swung the guy off the ground and over his shoulder, looking not at all bothered by the weight
He turned and gave the bartender a final wave, "See you again next time I swing through!"
"Bye Harry! Next time bring me back something nice!" The bartender said with a grin on her face.
As he was about to exit the bar, Harry shouted back, "What? I'm not nice enough for you?"
The bartender grinned and shouted back before he got out of earshot, "Sure you are, but you never take me up when I ask you to let me show you what people from my world are famous for, so I need something else. A girl has needs!"
The last sound Harry made was a laugh as he headed out the door. Ahsoka blinked once more and then shook off her lassitude and sprinted after the man before he got out of sight.
"Wait, wait! Where are you going?" she demanded as she caught up with him.
Harry turned his head towards her as he walked out into the street, crowds of people walking by and apparently not reacting at all to the fact he carried an unconscious and heavily armed man upon his shoulder.
In fact, they seemed to unconsciously give them both a wide berth, even the ones who were engaged in conversations and hadn't looked once in their direction seemed to step to the side to avoid running into him.
"I'm headed back to my ship and then to wherever in the sector, Mister religious-fornicator here is wanted for." Harry replied, "Hopefully, it's right here, planetside. If I'm lucky I can just dump him at the bounty station before taking off." His tone was dismissive as he walked away, clearly attempting to bring an end to the conversation.
Ahsoka walked beside him stubbornly "You should be waiting back at the bar, if your friend was right about Jedi and authorities on the way, they'll want to talk to you."
Harry snorted, "If they wanted to talk to me, they should have gotten there before I left."
Ahsoka was brought up short and stopped in her tracks as she processed the blunt response that was somehow logical and illogical at the same time. She realized he hadn't stopped when she did so she was forced to quick step to keep up with him.
"Who are you?" She demanded as she caught back up with him
"Harry, nice to meet you, and you're welcome." He replied cheerily. barely glancing her way.
"Huh? Welcome for what?" Ahsoka asked, once more confused and finding this a normal state of affairs around him.
"Um, those guys did in fact have you dead to rights back there, and I was the one who saved your pretty little ass from our friend here." Harry said lifting his shoulder with the burden slightly.
"Hell, I even got…." he stopped for a second and frowned and then shrugged, "My bartender friend with the big chest who knows how to make good genuine English style tea, shot for my efforts."
"I didn't need saving from them. I'm not helpless, I would have gotten away." Ahsoka replied crossly. She hated feeling helpless.
Harry nodded agreeably. "Good for you. Humble too. Would that have been before or after Mr. Fornicates-with-Religious-Gamorrean-Matrons here added some more felonies to his docket?"
Ahsoka winced at that, and replied in a voice that was less than convincing. "I would have come up with something."
"I'm sure." Harry chuckled, his tone as much amused as patronizing.
His tone turned more serious, and the change seemed to be strange on him, like he suddenly switched personalities entirely. "You know, if you go in public, especially after apparently being on the holonet, people may recognize you. You're going to attract the attention of more idiots who want to kill you, or capture you Miss Jedi-who-claims-she's-not-a-Jedi."
He gestured at her clothing, or more pointedly, her almost lack thereof, "Jedi may normally wear robes, but your outfit is rather unique, especially with how much you've apparently been on the news. If even I recognize you, it's safe to say that you stand out, girl."
"Also, you may be one of the worst liars I have ever met." Harry frowned a bit and then seemed to get lost in some memory that actually caused a half smile to cross his face, "Seriously. Ever. Of all time. One of my best friends was horrible liar, and she was better at age eleven than you were in that bar."
She wanted to protest this declaration and insult towards her, but she really couldn't do so with any hint of truthfulness. Her performance in the bar had been atrocious, and it was lucky he was there to help. This man seemed to excel at blunt statements and criticisms, but it was almost bearable because she knew he meant no true insult by it, and actually wanted to be helpful.
His tone once more turned serious "You may also want to consider that everyone else in that bar was armed. Even… even… the bartender lady. Damnit, you distracted me from getting her name this time! I keep forgetting to do so! Call me old, but I really believe that if you feel someone up, you should at least know their name."
"Anyways, you really should consider bringing your lightsaber to situations like that, Miss Jedi." Harry finished his tone more exasperated than serious at the moment.
Ahsoka was having trouble keeping up with Harry's rapid emotional changes, from serious to joking to serious to frustrated but amused, she was getting some pretty severe mental whiplash. However his last statement seemed to deflate Ahsoka slightly "I'm not a Jedi…. at least… not any more."
Harry raised an eyebrow, and though he didn't break stride, he looked over at her forlorn expression and then visibly sighed. "You know. I'm sure I'm going to regret asking this. But why?"
Ahsoka hesitated a moment before replying, looking down at the ground. Her hand went to where her Padawan braid had once sat for several years now. She didn't want to really rehash but at the same time felt her statement deserved an explanation. "I… there was an explosion at the Temple. I was framed for causing it."
Her voice was a careful neutral as she spoke despite the emotions she felt. "The Jedi Order booted me out, and allowed me to be put on trial before the Senate."
"Yeah, that's where I recognized you from. Earlier today as I dropped outta Hyperspace. The holonet broadcasting something about the guilty party being found and you being not guilty. Some big scandal." Harry waved his hand carelessly. He hadn't really paid attention to any of the specifics and had only seen a few headlines.
Ahsoka nodded a little bit, "Other than my Master, none of them believed me." She tried but couldn't quite keep the bitterness from her voice. "My innocence was finally proven, which of course took my Master finding the actual culprit who turned out to be a fellow Jedi I thought was a friend. Afterwards, exactly one Jedi Master apologized to me. The rest simply said 'They were proud of me for being strong enough to persevere through my trial'."
Ahsoka's eyes narrowed in irritation, "Then they offered me a place back in the Order like nothing had happened."
She shook her head, disgust still in her voice, "I turned them down and left. That was only a few hours ago."
Harry paused a moment at that, his eyes narrowing slightly at her retelling, but looking entirely unsurprised. Finally he nodded, slightly in approval as he restarted walking. "Good for you. The Jedi Order is a buncha stuffy old sods who can't see what's directly in front of their faces, and that's going to come back and bite them in their collective asses."
He grinned at her wryly, "You did stick around long enough to tell them to stick their lightsabers where the stars don't shine, right?"
Ahsoka's bemused reply was cut off by the sound of someone calling her name. "Ahsoka Tano?"
She turned, belatedly realizing that Harry took a few moments longer to do so as he likely didn't know her full name yet. They both looked to the source of the voice and found themselves face to face with a group of six Republic Clone Troopers wearing all-white armor with no insignia. The troopers were behind and flanking two beings wearing jedi robes and looking at her seriously.
Ahsoka was about to bow her head instinctively before the two Masters, before she stopped herself and straightened. "Master Mundi, Master… Tre'jin." she instead nodded by way of greeting.
She recognized Ki-Adi-Mundi on sight, he was a member of the Jedi High Council. The other Master was initially unfamiliar to her and had taken her a moment to recall his face. She had only seen him a few times in passing, but Skywalker had never been fond of him. Apparently, the two had not liked each other from some incident at least a decade in the past when Anakin, outdueled him not long after receiving his first training saber, despite Anakin being several years the older man's junior, and many fewer years instruction in using a lightsaber.
"Padawan Tano, what are you doing here?" asked Master Ki-Adi-Mundi in lieu of a greeting of any sort.
"Former Padawan. She is no longer a member of the our Order," interjected Master Tre'jin. There was definite condescension in his tone, and it was mirrored in the slight sneer on his face as he regarded the woman.
She felt Harry's hand touch her back suddenly. The tone of voice of those opposite her was definitely confrontational, and Harry surprised her by instantly letting her know in an unobtrusive manner that he would support her through just that light touch to her back.
"Masters", Ahsoka finally said respectfully, though it was easy to hear the momentary gritting of her teeth. "What are you doing here?" She inquired, striving to keep her voice polite, and definitely not answering the question initially posed to her by Mundi's rude form of greeting.
"There was some sort of disturbance in the Force near here and we're checking it out. Do you know anything about it?" Master Mundi again asked in his blunt manner as his eyes flicked back and forth between Ahsoka and Harry, who had stood there quietly, but still carried a man over his shoulder.
Ahsoka glanced involuntarily at Harry for a moment before she tilted her head back at their questioners, "What kind of disturbance?"
"Nearly every Jedi on the planet felt the disturbance, and Skywalker's former protege is clueless, what a surprise." Master Tre'jin scoffed sarcastically.
Master Mundi spoke up, nearly cutting off the other Master, not really wanting it to degenerate into an argument. "It was a very powerful surge in the Force, unlike anything we've ever felt before, but it was only for a few seconds before it disappeared."
Ahsoka immediately knew it was when Harry had healed the bartender, and her first instinct was to say so. But just as she was about to open her mouth, she found herself reconsidering it. She realized that she didn't really feel the need to enlighten the two Masters as they ran off on what might become just another witch hunt. For all she knew, they'd probably do to Harry what they'd attempted to do to her in that sham trial she had been given.
She was about to say she hadn't felt anything, when Harry spoke up, rendering any chance or hope of him staying anonymous, impossible.
"Only able to sense something a few seconds with that hokey religion you guys use? It's obvious that the problem is one of two things." Harry was speaking calmly and looking thoughtful.
"Oh?" Master Mundi asked, focusing on Harry now, surprise in his tone. Ahsoka's expression mirrored that surprise, she certainly hadn't expected Harry to go telling the Jedi about what he had done, certainly not after his expressed opinions of the Order.
She glanced at him, seeing him plaster yet another odd look of pondering on his face. It was only due to her proximity to him that she realized that his eyes were occasionally darting to the distance, and each time he slightly turned his head, he was taking in all of the surroundings.
It struck Ahsoka quite suddenly, at the moment he may look calm on the outside, even a bit silly and stupid. But Harry was certainly preparing for a fight.
"Well, it's obvious innit? Either your senses are going, which is a sign of old age. You know how they always say the senses are the first to go. Or it's a stamina issue you have on your hands. Though I'm sure you're very familiar with dealing with a problem like that," Harry nodded earnestly, an impish smile on his face.
Both of the Jedi Master's stared at Harry with disbelief on their faces, a look that was exactly mirrored on Ahsoka's face as she looked him in disbelief. She couldn't fathom what had possessed him to go this route instead of explaining the situation, or even attempting to lie their way through it. To insult them to their faces was something she would've never pondered, let alone attempted.
Harry however wasn't bothered by the shock she knew he could see as well as sense coming from her as he made a show of looking up and down the two masters. "Definitely performance issues, I guess it happens to the best of you." He nodded.
"What… we don't… that's not… you…" Master Mundi stuttered out, no one had ever spoken to him like that before and he had no idea how to respond. He was a member of the Jedi High Council, and was used to all manner of sentient being fawning over themselves whenever they was in his presence.
Harry nodded slowly along, content to pretend as if he was pleased with the two Jedi's agreement with his analysis, when suddenly, he gave them an incredulous look and raised his voice slightly, attracting the attentions of several different passerbyes. His voice suddenly sounded outraged, and only Ahsoka recognized the acting in his voice as she'd already witnessed his change in tone several times.
"You Jedi really have no shame do you? I mean really! Going around and announcing your deficiencies like that to just anyone!"
He adopted a furtive look and gave yet another glance around, though his voice didn't drop at all. "You do know that there are pills and stims you can take that will help you get it up? Most medicenters dispense them now, you don't even need a prescription!"
Master Tre'jin was swelling up in indignation at Harry's statements and what he was implying, especially so publicly. "We are Jedi!"
Harry frowned in puzzlement and then blinked,. A look of realization shot across his face. "Oh I get it! Right! Jedi would never do that sort of thing!"
He continued to nod agreeably, as if Harry were now talking to someone he considered his best friend, "Don't worry, you can always say its for memory problems… or baldness." He glanced at the Jedi with the large domed forehead mostly barren of hair.
"No one would have to know. Wink wink." Harry said looking eminently pleased with himself that he had just solved their problems. The fact that he actually spoke out the words 'wink wink' certainly didn't help.
Ahsoka, whose attention had almost never left Harry's during the entire exchanged, couldn't help it as she felt her jaw physically drop in shock at that last statement. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason behind what Harry literally spewed from his mouth. She had never seen anyone talk to Jedi like Harry had. He had not only mocked them, but had made fun of them publicly in a way that had passerby's watching with curiosity.
"Who are you?!" Master Mundi finally demanded, getting over his extreme shock. "And… why are you carrying that man?" He asked belatedly.
It was only then, when Master Mundi of all people began to lose composure, did she realize that the Jedi opposite them were now thinking about anything but a surge in the Force they had sensed.
And that had likely been Harry's plan the entire time.
"Harry and I'd say it was nice to meet you. But… I'm not sure it is." Harry responded honestly, then patted the boots of the man that was slung over his shoulder. "And this is my friend. I've taken to calling him Mister Religious, don't ask. Ahsoka here was appalled when she found out what the man has done."
"I don't want to even know what some stodgy old codgers like you would do if you'd heard his crimes." Harry nodded earnestly, "You'd probably fall over and have a heart attack or something… you certainly look old enough to have to worry about the amount of shocks your heart can take."
That seemed to really offend Master Tre'jin who looked back and forth between Harry and the person he carried on his shoulder. "I think… we're going to need to ask you to come with us."
Harry blinked and thought for a second. "Um. Well… you can ask if you want. But I'm going to go ahead and pre-emptively tell you no. Sorry. Though my aunt and uncle would have been so disappointed in me."
Harry turned to Ahsoka, and while his voice was still firmly in the playful tone he had used, she could see his eyes were telling an entirely different story. For some reason, she got the impression Harry wasn't satisfied with the results of his taunting that he was getting.
He continued to speak to her, despite whatever reservations in his approach he was having, "When I was growing up, they always used to encourage me to go with any stranger who offered me candy. They were always so disappointed that no one actually came by with an offer."
He grinned and glanced at the Jedi and Clone troopers, "You don't seem to be offering anything at the moment… but I've learned the hard way not to go anywhere with strange old men especially if they have a bizarre fetish for strange looking robes or sweets."
He looked both of the Masters up and down, "Now I don't know what your relationship with candy is, but considering what you're wearing looks like a combination of a dress and a burlap sack, I'm going to say you both fit at least half the bill."
The clones behind the two Jedi had their faces covered by their armored helmets, but at the moment, it was very clear that all six of them now shook with mirth at the expense of the two Jedi before them.
Harry's pleasant grin turned to mock outrage again as he continued, and Ashoka got the impression he was now clearly enjoying whatever line of thought had suddenly occurred to him, "Though, if you're that quick to attempt things like that with perfect strangers, I can see how a beautiful young woman like Miss Tano would want to leave your Order."
His look turned to one of further outrage. "I certainly wouldn't want to be around old pedophiles like you either. And to think you Jedi have legalized kidnapping of children down to a science. You'd think someone would catch on to what a bunch of old men who take custody of young children and then insist those children refer to them as 'Master' are really up to."
Harry raked his eyes up the two men and shivered dramatically. "Disgusting."
One of the troopers behind the men suddenly had a racking cough that sounded suspiciously like a cackle of laughter. While the others were all still shaking in mirth. However their mirth did not seem to be shared by the two Jedi in front of them. Master Mundi was staring at Harry with a surprised expression that he tried to cover with a calm visage. The other Master was nearly apoplectic.
"You were given an instruction, civilian. You are carrying an individual who is unconscious or possibly worse who I can see possesses more firearms than he is legally allowed to carry… and er… you are carrying him." said Master Tre'jin trailing off at the end realizing he sounded somewhat silly. It didn't stop his hand as it started unobtrusively to lower towards the hilt of his lightsaber as his eyes narrowed at the weapons visible on Harry's unconscious burden.
"I don't know your rude friend, Miss Tano, but I'd hardly think you'd want to risk getting in trouble again, not after you just managed to be cleared of attacking the Jedi Temple." The same Jedi sneered at her.
Before Ahsoka could even formulate a response to the simultaneous insult and baiting of the Jedi Master, Harry had already beaten her to the punch. This time, there was no joking in his tone, and the seriousness which Harry had spoken earlier suddenly made a reappearance, which quickly grabbed everyone's attention and kept them spellbound.
"Ah, already quick to resort to insults and implied threats, and I have yet to hear an actual reason to go with you two gentlemen. I've certainly broken no laws, and to my knowledge, Ahsoka Tano was proven innocent after not only the incompetence but outright idiocy of your Order was widely broadcasted to the entire Galaxy."
His tone even held more than a little bit of irritation with it, and Ahsoka found herself blushing a little bit at the firm defense he had just waged on her behalf. It was rare that someone actually stood up for her in front of Jedi Masters, as in the past it had only really ever been done by SkyGuy and Obi-Wan.
However, the idea of their truthful failings being aired in public seemed to be more than enough for Master Tre'jin, who unclipped his lightsaber and held it in an unspoken threat.
"Put down the man you are carrying. You're all coming with us for further questioning while we get this sorted out." He demanded, his voice flat.
Harry's reply was conversational, and didn't betray anger, or fear. If anything Ahsoka would have guessed it contained amusement. "Under what authority? I have yet to hear you cite a single law that I've broken. I've made absolutely no aggressive moves towards you, and yet here you are threatening me with a deadly weapon."
Harry looked to the clones behind the two Jedi, and his casual tone of conversation never wavered. "I could be wrong, but I swore I read once that Clone Troopers of the Galactic Republic were charged with upholding the laws of the Republic in addition to their duties as soldiers."
"I do believe a Jedi drawing a lightsaber upon a visibly unarmed civilian," he gestured to Ahsoka, "and a bounty hunter moving to a claim station about a mile that way," and he waved nebulously in a direction Ahsoka knew they weren't heading in earlier, "to turn his catch in would be against a few laws."
"After all, The Republic does have a number of laws to prevent authority figures from preventing self-employed individuals such as myself from legally claiming our rewards." Harry replied with a serene smile.
At the term "bounty hunter" a sneer of condescension formed almost simultaneously on both of the Jedi's faces. Master Mundi addressed Ahsoka, "Out of the Jedi Order for a few hours and already hanging with this scum? It is sad to see a former padawan fall so far."
Harry made a deliberate act of sniffing the air, and then turned to Ahsoka, "Can you smell the self-righteousness? I know its hard to smell while in the Order, but now that you're out, you'll be able to smell twits like these two from miles away. Besides, neither of you have yet to respond to my accusation of harassment."
He then turned his gaze towards the troopers "Good soldiers of the Republic. I expect you to obey standing orders you have against officers and other ranked members of the military using intimidation against civilians if these two in front of you continue, regardless if they are your superior officers or not."
The Jedi seemed apoplectic at someone with the temerity to order their clones around.
A smirk crossed Master Tre'jin's face. "Unless of course it's a Jedi matter, and I'm designating this Jedi business."
Harry sighed a little bit and turned to face Ahsoka with a combination of humor and irritation in his eyes. There was no more playfulness in his voice though. He seemed tired, and she knew that whatever angle Harry had been going for, he had now given up on it.
"You want to stick around with me or not, kid? Looks like these tossers are going to try blackballing you for having the sheer audacity of not just rolling over and dying when they wanted you to in that trial, then not falling back into line and being a good little soldier when they were humiliated and forced to let you live."
Ahsoka scowled at that statement. She actually hadn't thought that far into leaving the Jedi Order, though truth be told she hadn't thought that they would be so condescending about the matter.
She also hadn't looked at things from the perspective of those in charge of the Order and how they would've viewed her actions, and Harry's interpretation of the events wasn't pleasant or easy to swallow. That also didn't make it any less possible in her mind.
"I'm afraid you're not going anywhere." Master Tre'jin said, and with a snap-hiss he activated his lightsaber. Even Ki-Adi-Mundi seemed shocked at this, as he obviously felt they could intimidate Harry into following their wishes, but actually drawing a weapon against someone who had done nothing was a bit much, even for these troubled times.
Ahsoka looked at the lightsaber in surprise, and then resignation, realizing she was going to be seeing the inside of a cell again. "Doesn't look like we're going anywhere…"
Harry paused for a moment then nodded and grinned at her apparently taking that for agreement. "Close enough for me."
He put his hand on Ahsoka's shoulder and looked at the Jedi defiantly. "I refuse to recognize your self-granted authority in this matter. I know the laws of this planet, and you have overstepped them so badly its not even funny.
"Though I'm actually quite pleased to see the Clone Troopers behind you having the sense to not draw their weapons on civilians causing no harm. In light of that, I most certainly will not be going with you."
"You act like you have a choice." Master Tre'jin shot back, ignoring most of what was said in irritation with the defiance and lack of deference shown by the man, it reminded him far too much of Anakin.
Master Ki-Adi-Mundi however responded to Harry's statement like a threat, his own lightsaber in his hand, though it wasn't lit yet, mainly because he had glanced behind him and noticed the Clone Troopers were no longer laughing but were instead standing at attention while shifts of their helmets made it clear they were looking at one another.
Harry grinned and actually winked at the Jedi Masters. "You'd be surprised what choices there are actually…"
Without another word he apparated, without making any attempt at all to hide the sound, infact overpowering it slightly to increase the sound. Feeling slightly theatrical he added a bright flash of light to go at the same time.
The resulting "crack" was quite loud and combined with the bright flash of light that left behind 6 shocked soldiers and two shocked Jedi Masters, as well as several bystanders with some temporary flash blindness.
-o0o0o-
Author's Notes!
(Kat) Holy shit. I'm alive…
I know right? I hope you like this story. All those people wondering what I'm doing for writing. I'm going to school and still working on the other stories. But this story grabbed my muse and drug her kicking and screaming until I got a portion of it down. Do not ask me about when I'm updating my other two stories!
Anyway, this story came to me after I started watching random AMV playlists on youtube and was struck by several clips of The Clone Wars series. I didn't really know a majority of the series (Still don't!) But a very emotional scene done by Ahsoka while she's fleeing from authorities got me interested. Then the separation between Anakin and Ahsoka was really well done.
(Plums) - she was like "wtf - Ahsoka gets kicked outta the Jedi Order?". And I was like, yeah….Clone Wars Animated series went bugtastic silly stupid at the end, and that was one of the dumb things they did. Something I was planning on completely ignoring in my own Star Wars story.
(Kat) Regular association with Plums allowed me to throw this idea at him, and as always he was his super-encouraging self. I loved his Last Second Savior story (Seriously. Go check that shit out. Right now. I'll wait.) And admittedly the idea for the story germinated with his story only I took it in a rapidly different direction. He totally approves and is collaborating on it.
(Plums) - Kat got heavily distracted since around the beginning of October with this desire to write her own Star Wars multi story. This was after her own false starts with HP Crossovers with BtVS, Twilight, DC Villains, Mass Effect, and a few original HP Stories.
(Kat) - Not false starts, I have several outlines in the works! ADD at it's finest folks!
(Plums) - One day, I login after work and check our shared Google Doc space, and find 2 chapters written for this odd concept of a supremely confident yet emotionally damaged Harry, running around making Jedi looking like fools while staring at boobies in the star wars universe…
She knows my tastes so well, eh?
At this point, we have ten full chapters of this written and fairly well edited, but I have no real clue as to her upload schedule since this will be posted to her own account. This story will share few if any of the plot points of my own LSS story (which is languishing in limbo as I attempt to fix a plot point which has frustrated me literally since the beginning of last year).
So, enjoy the show. She has some very good long-term ideas / plot points for this, and I just hope we can deliver them all to you without getting lost along the way.
As well as gratuitous showings of blue twi'leks…
Alternative chapter titles-
Those who shot the hot bartender deserve whatever happens to them. - Harry Potter. (and Plums)
How Following a Random Pervert I Met in a Bar is a Good Idea- Ahsoka Tano
A Comprehensive Treatise on How to Look like Pricks - The Jedi Order
I Just Know My Saving People Thing is Going to Bite Me in The Ass... Again. - also Harry Potter.