Chapter Text

Mircirru Kar'ta

Captured heart

Chapter 1; The Subtle Art of Negotiations gone Horribly Wrong - (Beta read)

Maybe Quinlan Vos was right after all. 

Not a sentence Obi-Wan ever thought to consider normally but in this case, maybe he was.

Maybe Quin was right when he said that Obi-Wan’s missions would always go off track, never according to plan. 

He always ended up in trouble in one way or another. 

It was rarer for a mission to go completely according to plan, rare to the point that the Temple became suspicious if Obi-Wan got back to the Temple unharmed, unadopted, unmarried or without a political incident.

So when the Council made the decision to send Obi-Wan over to the Mandalorian Empire to assist in negotiations and protection of one of the local political groups, things were bound to go horribly wrong.

Things had started off with troubles already. The New Mandalorians were a faction that didn’t agree with the Mandalorian Empire. That made them interesting to the Republic, especially when they were responsible for most of the trade routes between the Empire and the Republic. 

The Senate had decided to send a Jedi to negotiate terms between the New Mandalorians and to protect them from the terrorist group known as Kyr’tsad or Deathwatch in basic. Not to mention the fact that the Mand’alor– the Emperor of the Mandalorian Empire– did not agree to meet with the Senate.

So they send Jedi. You know, the ancient enemies of the Mandalorian Empire. 

It was meant to go wrong from the very start.

When Obi-Wan got to the planet of Mandalore, he had almost been shot out of the sky. There was a siege on the city of Sundari. Kyr’tsad– a political group of traditionalists– had all but declared war on the New Mandalorians by the time Obi-Wan crash-landed.

He managed to get into the Sundari dome, where many New Mandalorians were preparing for the worst. So, he met up with Duke Kryze and his young daughter Satine to figure out what was happening.

The Haat’ade, the followers of Mand’alor Fett, son of Jango Mereel, had refused to aid the New Mandalorians due to the fact that they tried to negotiate with the Republic unsanctioned. Obi-Wan couldn’t really blame them, especially not when he learned that the New Mandalorians were pacifists who didn’t know how to defend themselves.

Obi-Wan was ready to call the mission a bust and attempt to leave when Kyr’tsad broke through the few defences the New Mandalorians did have. He ended up being forced to protect the Duke’s family as they tried to get off Mandalore. 

Things went from bad to worse at that point. No ships dared to take off with the enemy ships surrounding Sundari. Enemy forces were moving into the cities rapidly, with no defences to hold them back.

To Obi-Wan’s credit, he did manage to get the Duke and his daughters out of the city. And they managed to get a good distance from Sundari before they eventually ran into Kyr’tsad. 

Kyr’tsad was a tough enemy, and Obi-Wan was starting to get tired.

That fight was also the fight the Haat’ade decided to show their faces. Or at least, that is what Obi-Wan assumed because before he could truly observe the newcomers to the fight, he was violently electrocuted. 

Now, Obi-Wan had just awoken, pondering on the decisions that got him where he was lying currently.

He had yet to open his eyes, pretending to be unconscious, as Obi-Wan tried to assess his situation. They hadn’t killed him so far, which was hopefully good. 

For a moment, Obi-Wan tried to get an idea of how much trouble he might be in. Obi-Wan’s hands were cuffed behind his back. They hadn’t bothered treating his wounds as far as he could tell. He was also lying on the ground, which usually meant a cell of some kind. 

That didn’t bode well.

Not too long after, his cell was thrown open, and he was picked up by his arms and made to walk despite his legs not functioning yet. They all but carried him and set a pace he could never hope to keep up with.

They dragged Obi-Wan along, through hallways upon hallways before reaching large doors. The doors opened into a large and crowded hall where Obi-Wan was dragged into and onto the raised platform. 

There they kicked the back of his knee, forcing him to kneel before the throne. Just when he had slightly regained his footing.

They spoke in Mando’a.

Great, Obi-Wan had no idea what was being said.

“Let the trial begin.” The Mandalorian on the throne waved his hand. 

From what Obi-Wan gathered, there was one Mando seemingly more on his side while the other was borderline violent. They shouted at each other, prodding the crowd to shout along. The Mando on the throne remained quiet and looked slightly bored– not a great sign in Obi-Wan’s humble opinion.

Frowning a little, Obi-Wan felt the hairs on his arm rise up and a shiver travelled down his spine, as he felt himself stiffen. 

Something was off. Obi-Wan hardly needed the Force to sense that. 

His breath wavered a bit. 

As subtle as he could, he glanced around, seeing if others noticed it too. They didn’t, not to his perception at least. 

They were more focussed on Obi-Wan rather than whatever was approaching.

“What do you plead, Jetii.” The second in command, who had been arguing against him from what Obi-Wan gathered, demanded. 

The Mando walked past him menacingly, but Obi-Wan’s focus returned to the large set of doors behind him. 

The Mandalorian clearly lost their patience as they marched up to Obi-Wan and grabbed him by his hair, pulling his head back to expose his neck, “I said–”

“Something is coming.” Obi-Wan breathed, wincing at the pulling of his hair.

Just as he finished his sentence, the doors were kicked open, and Mandalorians dressed in black and blue opened fire on the beings inside the room.

Immediately, Obi-Wan rolled off the raised platform where he had been and crouched beside it.

Out of the rain of fire, Obi-Wan’s eyes widened as he came face to face with a Mandalorian youngling, dressed in some kind of training armour, probably around seven or eight.

They stared right back at Obi-Wan with wide eyes, only moving to take a place against the podium beside Obi-Wan as blaster fire took over the room. Flinching from the repeated impact sounds, Obi-Wan snapped out of his shock and winced.

Their hiding place wouldn’t last long, Obi-Wan knew he needed to move and take the kid somewhere safer. 

“Do you speak Basic?” Obi-Wan glanced at the child, moving to get his tied hands from behind him and out in front.

“ Elek . Yes.” The kid breathed, clearly scared.

“Alright, good. That’s good. We need to move from this spot and join them over there.” Obi-Wan nodded his head to the side where Mandalorians were crouched behind an overthrown metal table, “I am going to cover you, is that alright?”

“ Ele – Yes.” The kid nodded, though hesitance was clear in his expression. “W– Wait! We should go to the door there. It will lead to the courtyard!”

Obi-Wan moved his gaze to the door that was closer but had no cover to hide behind. It was risky, there was no way they wouldn’t be shot at. “What is in the courtyard? Is there somewhere safe for you to go?”

“Yes.” The kid replied, “The Goran is there, in the Forge! It is where we have to go when it is dangerous.”

Alright then, get the kid to whoever the Goran was, Obi-Wan could do that. 

That was doable. 

He had been in worse situations before. 

“Okay. I’m going to pick you up now.”

Moving his arms up a little, he encircled the young kid with his arms still bound in the Force restriction cuffs. Pulling the kid towards him, Obi-Wan tugged them against his chest and ensured that they were hidden behind his body mass.

“Is it a pull or a push door?” Obi-Wan asked as he got to his feet, preparing to cross the distance. 

“Pull.” 

Nodding his head, Obi-Wan breathed in deeply and lunged forwards.

As expected, they attracted a lot of blasterfire as soon as Obi-Wan left their little cover behind. Without the Force, it was impossible to move quickly enough to dodge. 

It was pure luck that when they moved, the Mandalorians who had been inside the hall opened fire to push the intruders back.

Obi-Wan reached the doors, but not before a blaster bolt cut through the side of his arm, leaving an angry and painful injury. Cringing as he felt the fabric of his tunic burn into his skin, Obi-Wan yanked the door open with the little strength he could currently gather and slipped through the crack, ensuring he closed the door behind him.

“Where do I go?” He asked the kid in his arms who was cowering against him.

“Further– down– door ‘s at the end.” The kid seemed shocked and shivered from fear as Obi-Wan ran with him.

Kicking the door out of his way, Obi-Wan stumbled outside into the icy night air. How long had he been unconscious?

As the kid had said, there was a large courtyard that seemed to be used as training grounds as well. At the end of the courtyard stood a singular but great circular building that was well-lit up.

“Is that it?” Obi-Wan asked, already running over as he heard a commotion at his rear.

“ Elek .”

Obi-Wan prayed to the Force that ‘elek’ was the Mandalorian word for yes because there was nowhere else to run.

The door behind him was thrown open, and Obi-Wan forced himself to sprint faster. “Go inside.” He instructed, nearing the door and setting the shaking kid down.

“ Jetii! ” A growl came from behind him as Obi-Wan pushed the kid towards the door and out of the way before dodging the incoming blade by leaping to the side.

A Mando dressed in black and blue armour had followed them all the way out here and attacked Obi-Wan with unforgiving blows. If one of them connected, Obi-Wan would be in a lot of trouble.

Thankfully, due to years of training with lightsabers and experience in other forms of bladed combat, Obi-Wan could guess Mando's movements by paying close attention to his tics. He dodged and weaved through attacks before gaining enough confidence to take a risk.

Obi-Wan pushed his arms forwards as he dodged back. The blade barely missed his hands and instead hit the connector of his cuffs, breaking them.

The sheer strength of the Force, now flowing through him, almost toppled him over. Obi-Wan wasn’t sure if the cuffs would stop working when the connector was broken, but he had hoped for it. 

Reconnecting with the Force after days without it was always something that both hurt and relieved. While he had been without plenty of times before. Obi-Wan would rather be aided by it than go without it in combat. It was mandatory for Jedi to get them removed at the Temple after a tough mission or at a safe house so they could crash in a safe environment. However, Obi-Wan was still in the middle of danger, the Mandalorian wasn’t slowing down their swings for him to catch a breath, and he needed the Force now to allow him to get out of this.

With renewed determination, Obi-Wan rolled out of the way of another heavy blow and started parrying moves rather than dodging alone.

It worked in his favour when he finally managed to even the odds, catching the blade between his hands and holding it in place while he kicked the Mandalorian away. Throwing the blade up, Obi-Wan caught the hilt and moved back into Soresu's opening stance.

Predictably, the Mando switched to blasters once he realised Obi-Wan was the superior sword wielder. 

Luckily for Obi-Wan, the blade of this beskad was forged from beskar. 

Much like his lightsaber would, the blade deflected blaster fire. Obi-Wan was rather good at batting them away, even if the blade was much heavier than his saber.

It took a few tries, but Obi-Wan managed to hit a blaster bolt just right and hit the Mando between his chest plate and shoulder brace. He went down not too long after that.

Cheers came from the Forge, where some of the Mando kids and an adult Mandalorian were standing and watching. Obi-Wan’s eyes landed on the visor of the Mandalorian’s helmet in wonder, they had a touch of the Force in them. It seemed to surround the Forge in a way Obi-Wan had never felt the Force behave.

A nod was shared between the two as the older one ushered the younglings back inside and shut the door behind them.

“Is there a second way out of that building?” Obi-Wan asked as he covered his temporary ally in defending the kids within the Forge.

“There is. But they wouldn’t get far.” The Mando shook their head, shooting another enemy point blank. “We have been betrayed.”

“I don’t have enough knowledge of Mandalorian politics to remark on that.” Obi-Wan breathed, cutting down a Mandalorian that had gotten too close for comfort. “Can you call for aid?”

“ Elek .” The Mando replied, “It is already done.”

Even if they had been warned, the reinforcements took longer than Obi-Wan had hoped to arrive. He started to fear the enemy numbers would overwhelm them. 

The fight seemed to have moved from the hall to the courtyard, as more of the Mandalorians living in Keldabe fought against the ones in blue and black armour.

Then, a metal cord lashed out, the Force too late in warning Obi-Wan of the danger as his leg was caught and he was pulled off his feet and into the middle of the battle. Strangely enough, none of the other Mando’s attacked him– whether they were his captor or the attacker, except for one.

Obi-Wan was off his feet for a moment before the Force pulled his attention, causing him to dodge an incoming attack from a humming blade. He threw himself back and watched a strange black glowing blade barely miss his head.

A Mandalorian, also dressed in blue and black armour lunged at him, slashing their blade down in an attempt to hit him. It was another one of the intruders– one that seemed to be enough of a coward to go after the children rather than fight honourably. The attack on the hall had to be a distraction, as more enemies were closing in on the Forge.

The beskar blade was holding its own against the lightsaber, thank the Force for that. It would be much easier for Obi-Wan to wield a lightsaber, as he was used to the weight or rather lack thereof. However, that didn’t mean he wasn’t skilled in a regular blade.

They circled each other, crossing blades when the Mando beat down on Obi-Wan’s solid defence. 

They didn’t get past it, and Obi-Wan let them wear themselves out while he familiarised himself with the blade in his hands. 

Eventually, the opportunity arose and Obi-Wan could kick the saber out of the Mando’s hand like he had done with the first one to attack. Obi-Wan called it to him with the Force and leaped back to the entrance of the Forge. 

As soon as the blade made contact with his hand, Obi-Wan felt the Force light up. Its streams and waves washed over him once more as the kyber’s melody beat deep in his heart.

Unlike most kybers Obi-Wan had heard, this one had a deep beat that seemed to mirror the sounds of marching. The melody sounded like a thousand voices, singing on their way to battle, a chanting that Obi-Wan couldn’t quite translate. His grip on the hilt tightened as he felt himself move without actually thinking about it.

It was like he was watching without being able to control his movement. He heard himself speak as the Force seemed to form around him. The Force– or maybe something else– was speaking through him, and it seemed to put the battle to halt as he did so.

Obi-Wan doubted they were seeing his form, but rather whatever the Force projected. His vision darkened as he was pulled into his own mind, opening his eyes on the wide stretch of a desert.

As far as Obi-Wan could see were sandy dunes, the sands texture coarse against his skin. The sky was a mixture of purple, pink and orange. Two suns on the horizon, about to vanish below it. Obi-Wan had seen this scenery before, in some of his visions. 

Except, this time he wasn’t in old, worn-down Jedi robes. He was in the wide dark blue tunic he had been wearing for the past mission. There wasn’t the lingering feeling of sadness, regret and loss.

“ A Jetti. ” A deep voice behind him called for attention.

Another thing that suggested that Obi-Wan wasn’t stuck in a vision, that this was something else all together. 

Behind him stood a tall Mandalorian, taller than any base human or near human Obi-Wan had ever seen before. They wore the same colours as the attackers, but Obi-Wan didn’t think they were here to hurt him.

He stayed silent as the Mandalorian approached and stood in front of him, looming over his smaller form. 

Obi-Wan tried and failed to hide a flinch as the being reached out and grabbed his shoulders. “Let me look at you, Jetii.” They said as they looked Obi-Wan up and down, grabbing his chin and moving his head as if to observe every inch of him. “It has been too long since my blade accepted another.”

“W– Who are you?” Obi-Wan asked, trying not to show his discomfort too much.

“ I am the one that created the blade. The first Jetii’Mando’ad .”

Obi-Wan’s brain had to think hard before he finally caught on, “ Mand’alor Tarre Vizsla, the only Mandalorian Jedi.” He muttered with wide eyes. “I have heard of you.”

“ The first, not the only. ” Tarre corrected, “ For at last another has risen .”

“I am not a Mandalorian.” Obi-Wan frowned, slightly relieved when he was let go.

“ You will be. ”

Before Obi-Wan could continue his protest, the desert faded slowly. The spirit of the Mandalorian vanished out of sight. 

He blinked, and the darkness of his mind was gone. 

He blinked again to see the battlefield, now calmed and clearly at its end. Obi-Wan wavered on his feet, his head killing him as he lost his balance.

He blinked once more, two Mandalorians looming over him.

He blinked again, bright lights blinding him completely. 

Then he was gone again.

—-------------------------------------------

Jango entered the fight in the courtyard, relieved that they had reached their allies in time. 

The Goran and the Jetii stood at the doors to where the ade were hiding behind. Miraculously, they had been holding back the enemy forces while Jango and his people cleared out the hall.

It shouldn’t have been too surprising that the Jetii was skilled in fighting. And yet, it was truly something else to witness the Jetii fight with a rarely seen deadly amount of grace. Fighting shouldn’t be that graceful, really.

“Leave the Jetii be, focus on Kyr’tsad ,” Jango ordered as he jumped into the fray and started to surround the enemies.

His attention was again pulled to the Jetii, when a grappling cord pulled him into the middle of the fight.

Tor Vizsla, the coward himself, attacked the Jetii with the dha’kad’au. It was then that Jango noted that the cuffs they had put on the Jetii had been cut and the Jetii was able to fight using the Manda.

The fighting halted when the Jetii got his hands on the dha’kad’au.

Suddenly, a wave of energy, the Ka’ra rushed over the battlefield. 

All eyes were drawn to where the Jetii had stood. He still stood there, but he was no longer alone. A tall shape stood by him and spoke through his mouth, an older version of Mando’a. It's a figure standing behind the Jetii, looming over him.

“ You have disgraced the name of Vizsla. The honour you once held slipped through your grasp. Your delusion has caused you to become dar’manda. A Mand’alor you will never be, now that the Ka’ra has denied you the right of rule. ” 

The ghost of Tarre Vizsla swung the kad’au, looking at it, 

“ This blade is not meant for Mando’ade alone. The Jetii will wield it as it should be wielded. Jetiise are no enemy, not now that another has risen once again. ”

“Who? Who is this enemy that the Jetiise and us share?” Jango frowned as he stepped forwards.

Now that Jango stood a bit closer, he could see that the Jetii was still where Tarre stood. Tarre looked at Jango and nodded his head, a fist to his chest, “ Greetings , Mand’alor Jango be Aliit Fett-Mereel . The Ka’ra sees you .”

“ And I greet the Mand’alor’e of the Ka’ra. ” Jango replied, “What enemy has risen?”

“ All in time. ” Tarre turned, seemingly swirling around the Jetii whose name he still didn’t know. “ The Seer will reveal when he sees. ”

Seer? What Seer? 

Before Jango could ask more, Tarre faded, “ Ret'urcye mhi, Mand’alor Fett-Mereel, may your reign be true. ”

Tarre faded, leaving the Jetii in his place. His hand was still around the hilt of the lit dha’kad’au. The Jetii’s eyes were wide but unseeing, his breathing heavy and his posture tense. 

Then he collapsed.

The Jetii gasped, his body convulsing in what looked like painful shocks. From the corner of his eyes, Jango watched Mij move forwards to help the Jetii lay on his back, Mij’s cape soon folded and below the Jetii’s head. 

“He’s having a seizure.” Mij called, “Get me my kit!”

—--------------------------------

Only last evening had Mand’alor Jango Fett-Mereel been watching the interrogation of the Jetii that had been captured by his second in command, Walon Vau. They had been on Mandalore, with New Mandalorians, unsanctioned.

To say the least, that wasn’t taken too kindly.

Walon was certain the Jetii knew where Kyr’tsad was and was trying to get it out of him when the dar’manda hut’uun in question barged into their meeting.

In all honesty, Jango had missed the fact that the Jetii had made his way out of the hall until he was rushing to the courtyard to aid the Goran in protecting a few of the ade that were in the palace today. 

His own ad was with them and Jango felt like he had a heart attack when word came in that the Goran was in dire need of assistance.

He was more than surprised to see the Goran holding Kyr’tsad back with none other than their loose Jetii. The show of skill and Manda’karla that followed was simply a treat. The Jetii was pretty, but now knowing how skilled in combat he was, made him now every Mando’s wet dream. Jetii or not.

And then the Jetii got his hands on the darksaber, won in battle from Tor Vizsla. Jango didn’t quite know what to make of that but it did something with him.

It was later that day, after they had gotten the Jetii into one of the medbay’s that footage of the Jetii’s deeds made its way through Jango’s ranks. Which brought Jango here, sitting in the medical room of the Jetii until he woke up. 

They had put a watch on the Jetii, to make sure there was someone with him should he seize again. The nurses had put it up and Jango had volunteered to take on one of the shifts. Both to stay in the loop as well as to hide away from the many unanswered questions his verde were sure to have.

So far, nothing had changed in the Jetii’s state; He had been put under until the medics thought he was ready to be woken up.

Jango didn’t know much about the details of the Jetii’s diagnosis but if he had to go off the Baar’ur’s reaction, it was bad. Old wounds and scars, exhaustion, bruises and broken bones. 

“So how long until he wakes?”

“Difficult to say,” Mij Gilamar looked down at the datapad he was holding, “In his state? Could be weeks. We have not been able to retrieve his medical file from the Jetiise .”

“What is the holdup?”

Mij Gilamar pursed his lips, “No one bothered to ask him his name when they dragged him in here. Our slicers have to find files on the mission rather than directly search for him, and those are well protected.”

Jango sighed; what a mess. 

“And the injuries?”

“He had them while in holding, never asked for medical aid.” Mij glared, “Can’t say I blame him. Listen, I respect Walon Vau– more than most– but he needs to be kept in check. If captured prisoners are treated in such a way, I would hate to call myself Haat’ade . We can’t say for sure why he seized, but his current state can’t help with that.”

It was true, the man had gone too far with his violence this time.

“Walon went too far.” Jango easily agreed, “I will speak with him set him up for an appointment with the Mir’Baar’ur . What else?”

“Nothing.” Mij shrugged, “We can do very little without background information, seeing the fragile state of the Jetii . If our slicers find his medical file, we can create a treatment plan for him. Until then, we need to wait until he awakens or we get the files, whichever one happens first.”

Jango ended up sitting through his shift, alternating between watching the Jetii breathe with slight difficulty and reading off his datapad. An old Mandalorian tale about a Mando’ad and a Jetii. It was old and probably not very accurate to Jetiise culture, but Jango felt it was on topic.

Nothing happened in his shift, so when one of the Baar’ur’e came to relieve him, he was all too glad to join Mij and get a well-deserved cup of caff to start his morning schedule. “No changes?”

“None at all.” Jango shook his head, nursing his cup, “He just slept, no sign of another seizure.”

“That is good for now.” Mij nodded, “The slicers say they’re closing in on his file, but the Jetiise’s system is better than they give them credit for. It’s likely they noticed that we’re trying to break in, because it is hard to find any files in basic. Everything is in some other language we’ve never seen before.”

“Keep trying, helping him is the least we can do after what he did.”

Mij nodded, “I still can’t believe the Jetii rescued your ad and got him to the Forge. It feels so surreal.”

Jango halted for a moment. “He did what?”

“Your ad .” Mij frowned a little, “Boba was in the hall when Kyr’tsad attacked. The Jetii got him out of the hall and to the Forge, then moved to protect the Forge instead of vanishing in the chaos. Haven’t you received the footage yet?”

“There’s footage?”

“Boba was filming part of it, the Goran got the rest. One of the verd’e put them together. It’s been making its rounds. You will be beating wannabe ven’riduur’e away with a stick.” Mij replied, “I will send you the file, it’s a real treat to watch.”

Oh kriff. 

From the little Jango had witnessed of the fight, he had seen how skilled the Jetii was. Now that Jetii was no longer seen as an enemy, the Mando’ade had unanimously decided to claim him. Be that through marriage, adoption or other means. 

Jango would need to deal with that one too. “Is that going to give me a headache?”

“Probably,” Mij grinned, “However, you can’t pretend not to find the Jetii attractive either.”

“Just send the video.”

Jango found himself watching the video several times. 

He hadn’t known his ad had been in direct danger. He had thought that Boba had been in the Forge for the learning trials, as he should have been. To find out that he had been in the hall when Kyr’tsad opened fire stung. His ad could have been killed and he wouldn’t even have realised it.

The footage continued for some time, showing how the Jetii moved to pick up Boba, tugging him against his chest. For a moment, nothing happened, then the Jetii moved fast– very fast. Boba’s footage became too blurry and chaotic to follow. Then the camera quality and scene changed, to what Jango assumed was the Goran’s footage.

Jango had hoped that the incident with Tarre Vizsla had been on holo as well, but it was not meant to be. The mysteries of the Manda remain undocumented once more. Jango had thought of what his predecessor had told them and couldn’t help but wonder who the Seer was.

Shaking his head, Jango tried to pretend that he wasn’t absolutely smitten by what he knew of the Jetii. He was in his age range, a bit younger than him. An undefeated fighter, good with ade and handsome. Part of Jango longed to care for the clearly mistreated man.

An urgent knock forced him out of his musing of how he would court his ancient enemy. “ Enter .”

“ Mand’alor .” Mij barged in, “He’s gone.”

—-----------------------------------------

Typing in the coordinates for a nearby planet, Obi-Wan flew the ship up into the sky, breaking through the atmosphere and into space. 

He wasn’t being pursued, not yet at least. It was likely they hadn’t sounded the alarm yet, that combined with the fact that no one knew Obi-Wan spoke a tiny bit of Mando’a had helped him in his escape.

Still, he didn’t relax until the stars around him started to blur and his ship jumped into hyperspace.

He wasn’t out of the woods yet, but he was close to freedom.

One quick jump later, Obi-Wan was out of Mandalorian space and in Belsmuth. It was a strategic jump, as he suspected the Mandalorians might close off the Hydian way once they realised his departure. 

Once out of hyperspace, Obi-Wan dialled a familiar com code.

“ Who the kriff– Oh! Kenobi! My good old friend! ” Hondo Ohnaka’s glare turned into a grin, “ How can I be of service to ya? ”

“Are you near the Demestras system by any chance?” Obi-Wan suppressed a smile as he heard Ohnaka shout a chance of directions to his crew.

“ We’re a half cycle away. Need a ride again? ”

“A ride in exchange for information,” Obi-Wan confirmed.

Ohnaka narrowed his eyes, “ A tough bargain you drive. ”

Playing along to the ‘hesitation’ Obi-Wan grinned, “You know my information is good.”

“ Indeed, indeed, ” Hondo nodded solemnly, “ I suppose I could agree to that. Information first– give me a freebee too, are you injured? ”

“I am a little beat up.” Obi-Wan admitted, “Also, on a totally unrelated note, don’t use the Hydian Way.”

“ Unrelated huh? ” Hondo grinned knowingly, “ Let me guess, your information is on the reason why we shouldn’t use the Hydian Way? We’ll have some bacta for ya, got the Kenobi emergency packet all ready. ”

“I am unsure if that is a good thing or should have me worried.”

Obi-Wan shared his current coordinates and the name of the planet he was going to land on to sell his stolen ship. 

A small kriff you to the Mandalorians that would hopefully buy some time for Hondo to get him into Republican space again.

It wasn’t the first time Obi-Wan had called Hondo for assistance; however Hondo still owed him, and he was amused by Obi-Wan to the point that he would drop whatever he was doing to help the younger man out.

Hondo ended up beating Obi-Wan to the planet they had agreed to meet on and helped him out by selling the damned ship, for a small fee of course. 

Then they forced him into the medical bay to get a proper check-up before sending him to bed like he was a youngling.

Then again, he didn’t have the energy to protest.

When he awoke, he was thrown food and a com, the pirate knowing full well that he needed to inform the Temple of the current situation. Obi-Wan did manage to sneak away to make the call, and was met by a very annoyed Master Windu who was rubbing his head to fight off a migraine.

The time between escaping, being picked up and dropped off on Coruscant blurred together and before he knew it, he was in yet another medbay. This time the one in the Temple, the one that was basically his second home, since he had to be there so often.

He mostly slept, letting his wounds heal while being glared at the minute he tried to stand up. No one messes with healers. 

No, Obi-Wan was blissfully unaware of the chaos he had instigated on the planet he had left behind him.

—-------------------

“ Jetii or not, he picked up the dha’kad’au and channelled Mand’alor Vizsla , that alone should make him Mando’ad. ”

“He is neither adopted nor married. He may have used the Dha’kad’au but he is not Mandalorian!” The counterargument came. “You heard Mand’alor Vizsla , the Dha’kad’au was never meant to symbolise the rule of a new Mand’alor .”

Jango rubbed his temple as his advisors argued about how to deal with the cultural implications of the apparition of the Ka’ra.

They were demanding that the Jetii be dragged back to Mandalore so he could do it again but Jango highly doubted the Manda worked that way. In fact, he was so sure of it, that he dragged the Goran down with him, forcing them to listen to this mess of a meeting.

“ UUR! K’uur! ” The Goran had finally had enough of the petty squabbling of the advisors and called attention. “Arguing about what is and is not the will of the Ka’ra is doing nothing but wasting precious hours. The Jetii slipped away when we were busy cleaning up Kyr’tsad’s mess and all we have done about it so far is pointless arguing and daring to call it ‘advising the Mand’alor’ . I would like to end this meeting on one agreement. We can all agree on one thing. The Jetii should be returned to Mandalore.”

“ Oya !” Most of the advisers replied.

“Then Mand’alor Fett, we as the council of advisors advice you to get that Jetii .”

For a moment, everything was blissfully silent. Jango enjoyed it for the moment before announcing, “Set off to the Jetiise Temple , put a bounty out within our channels alone. A hefty reward for any verd that returned the Ge’tal Jetii to me.”

“ Oya! Oya! Oya !”

Let the hunt begin.

—-------------------

Obi-Wan: *Not having a great time on a solo Knight mission*

The Force: Oh you are going to love what comes next.

Obi-Wan: *Tired as hell but fighting* I will fight until the bitter kriffing end, try me bitc–

Haat’ade: That’s actually kind of attractive.

Haat’ade: *Learn of the Jedi saving the Alor’ad and channelling Mand’alor Vizsla* That’s it, he’s ours.

Obi-Wan: Nahhh. *Dips*

Obi-Wan: *Calling his go-to ride home* Hondo whatsuppppp I have some prime information.

Hondo: Are you the reason the information is relevant?

Obi-Wan: *Definitely the reason the Mandlaorians are closing down a space lane* You will have to give me that ride to learn about it.

Obi-Wan: *just wants to go home to sleep*

Haat’ade: We need to retrieve the hot Jetii!

Jango: You all will riot if I don’t and I kind of want to court the man that saved my child, let’s hunt him down.

Obi-Wan: *Feels an odd shiver trailing down his spine*

Obi-Wan: *Narrowed eyes* I have a bad feeling about this.