Master Kenobi returned in the morning and reported that everything was fine with the duchess. That is, if you didn't count the sleepless night they spent in frank conversation as a problem. However, the subject of this conversation remained unclear, and what Master Plo showed him turned out to be much more important. Obi-Wan thoughtfully turned the dart in his hands and said that he had no idea what the symbol meant.
"We need to go to the analysis room, they must know what it is," Kenobi finally said, scratching his famous red beard, famous throughout the temple, and added, "But I have something more serious. Look."
And the Master took out his datapad and showed Plo several holograms copied from the personal files of some adepts. Several current ones and one former one. More precisely, reviews of the former by the current ones. This was followed by several images, starting with the youngest, when he was first brought to the temple, continuing with more adult ones, taken immediately after the ceremony of acceptance into apprenticeship by Master Yoda himself, and then Knight, already alongside his own apprentice, then still very young and smiling, Qui-Gon Jinn. And finally, the last one, where he was already forty years old. Shortly before leaving the Order.
"Are you sure?" asked Plo, struggling to reconcile that this respected man was in fact the mysterious Tyranus.
"Not yet, and I sincerely hope I'm wrong, because it's only been eight years since he left the Order. And it was voluntary. He couldn't have changed so much in that time," Obi-Wan expressed his doubts, but it was clear that he was more inclined to believe that they would be proven right.
"You know, I think he could have," Asoka, who was standing next to the men, joined the conversation. "If you remember what was the last straw that led to his departure. And you know, I understand him. I understand him very well.
Both Masters stared at this new Knight with her lightsabers and remained silent for a while, realizing that she was right in her own way. The fact was that shortly before Ahsoka's arrival at the Temple, this Master, whose name was Count Dooku, had experienced the death of his first apprentice and the renunciation of his second. Several years earlier, he had gradually distanced himself from the Order, increasingly expressing his disagreements with it, but the death of Qui-Gon at the hands of an unknown assassin seemed to have finished off the last remnants of his Jedi beliefs, and he directly told the Order that it had disappointed him and left the Jedi Temple at dawn.
"We'll find out soon, if we're lucky, today," Plo assured them both, handing the dart to Ahsoka and telling her to go to the Analysis Room to extract as much information as possible from it. They thought it would be useful for her to learn how to work with information, and in the meantime, they would try to find more clues about the mysterious Tyranus. Asoka didn't need to be asked twice. Forgetting yesterday's tears in an instant, she grabbed the dart and, jumping with impatience, ran to the Analytics Hall. It was the first time she had been entrusted with such an important task. Alone. It stirred her imagination and made her blood rush through her veins, bubbling with excitement. She could already imagine herself entering the Hall and asking the clerk for help, just like the renowned Masters. He would lead her to the right information pad and tell her where to find what she was looking for. After all, she had never been to this place before, except with her teacher, but that was so long ago that it had almost faded from her memory. The analysis hall was a high-tech room with several rows of tables with sophisticated data pads, which contained the main programmes for recognising all kinds of information: star charts, databases, and various reference books on various branches of science. At the entrance, all visitors were greeted by a young woman in a white uniform with a name tag on her pocket. When she saw Asoka, she smiled warmly, bowed ceremoniously, and said,
"Greetings, young Jedi, how can I help you?
Asoka was speechless at first, lost in thoughts of her own importance, and only when she realised that "young Jedi" meant her did she come to her senses and nod in greeting:
"Greetings, Lady Eleanor, I need information about this symbol," she said, holding out the dart. The servant examined it for a moment and finally led Ahsoka to the datapad she was looking for, which, as she explained, contained information about the planets.
"This is clearly a symbol of one of them," she explained her thoughts. "Perhaps a coat of arms or an emblem."
Asoka didn't object; planets were planets, and Eleanor knew better where to look. She explained to the togroot what needed to be done, and when the worker left, she set up a star map using the keyboard and placed a sensitive scanner on the symbol on the spear. The scanner emitted a soft beep, and grey waves of interference appeared on the screen, which soon dissipated to reveal the name of the planet and its coordinates. The screen returned to normal, and Asoka looked at it and almost choked with disappointment, even slamming her fist on the tabletop.
"What is this! It started so well!" the Togruta almost growled, seeing the completely blue screen of the datapad with a single inscription in the middle in yellow font: "No data available."
The servant, seeing this, shook her head regretfully, genuinely upset that she couldn't help. However, Asoka herself did not worry for long, remembering the connections she had made during her apprenticeship. Without asking anyone's permission, although she had been legally entitled to do so for a couple of days now, she went to the hangar, took a vehicle and set off for the Nizis. There, on one of the most inconspicuous streets, a small bar quietly survived among its competitors, where a short, elderly bartender stood behind the counter, himself once a regular at establishments like this, now unable to do so only because of his retirement. Perhaps it was his age, or perhaps it was his liver, which had almost completely failed due to excessive alcohol consumption. However, despite this disappointing diagnosis, this sweet old man also had another amazing ability: he could find out almost anything about the most unexpected things, explaining this by saying that he worked with people and had a good ear. This was exactly what Asoka was counting on as she entered a small, dimly lit room. It also had tables, just like the analyst's room, but that was where the similarity ended. The temple hall was bright, dominated by glass and metal objects, and almost completely silent, except for...
"But my friend is the best blues player around," a skinny Twi'lek in a shiny red jumpsuit was belting out on a small dance floor, several of his female companions writhing around him, and a little further away, three bots were blowing their horns. Local regulars sat at the tables — representatives of various races, united by a love of cheap thrills and beautiful women of similar value. And that was probably why, when they saw the slender Togrut enter the Hall in a red tunic, her appearance and manners clearly setting her apart from the local crowd, they turned their lustful glances towards her, and some did not stop there.
"You obviously don't need your hands, I can find a better use for them, if you don't mind, of course," said Asoka mockingly, fending off a clingy nautolan who was reaching for her with his dirty paws and discreetly pointing to her swords. This happened several times before she reached the bar. The bartender frowned at first, but when he realised who had arrived, his face lit up and he even smiled with his half-toothless mouth.
"Soka!" he almost shouted to the whole bar. "How long has it been since I saw you! What brings you to my den?"
"I need information about a symbol. Which planet could it belong to?" asked Asoka, taking the familiar dart out of her pocket.
"Well, how can I put this," the old man hesitated, "My memory isn't what it used to be, and besides, I'm taking a big risk selling people's secrets.
Asoka immediately understood what he was getting at and, taking out her credit card, tapped it on the counter and declared exaggeratedly loudly:
"A glass of ardis and the house special, large please!
"I wonder how I'll explain this to the Order," she thought, imagining what the Masters would say when they saw the bill from her unlimited credit card, intended for mission expenses. But the bartender clearly liked what he heard, his face smoothed out and his eyes lit up with satisfaction:
"Excellent choice, girl," he said with a smile and passed Asoka's order behind him.
"I hope you won't refuse to take a look at this now," replied the Togruta with satisfaction and handed him the dart. "I can't imagine what it is or whose symbol is depicted here. You always know everything.
The flattery hit the mark, and the old man's crooked fingers deftly grabbed the item and brought it up to his eyes. After a couple of minutes of careful examination, the elderly bartender finally uttered:
"Why, it's the emblem of Camino! The symbol of a military base!
"Really? Then why don't they know about it in the Temple?" Asoka asked, genuinely surprised, having never heard of such a planet before and not knowing where it was located.
"There are some things that are better left unknown," the old man said thoughtfully, and Asoka, struck by a sudden realisation, turned towards the exit without waiting for her order.
"Hey, what about lunch?" the bartender called after her. Tano, without turning around, replied:
"Give it to the local bum. He looks hungry.
Asoka's path lay back to the temple, but not to the Hall of Analytics. That was of little use to her. The girl headed straight for the lower floor of the Temple, where at that moment, in one of the training halls, the senior younglings were practising their Force senses under the guidance of Master Yoda. Togruta knocked and, hearing permission, entered. There, in the dimly lit room, stood a row of teenagers wearing impenetrable helmets that covered their heads and faces, and wielding swords with which they struck at a flying droid simulator.
"Master Yoda," Ahsoka addressed her mentor, "I need to ask you something. Where is the planet Kamino?
Yoda did not seem surprised by her interest, but he did not seem to be in a hurry to answer. He simply pressed a lever on the control panel of the table, and the ceiling turned into a star map.
"Children," he said to the group of students, "show Knight Tano where the planet Kamino is."
"It's right here," said a tall, thin teenager standing in the middle in a strangely familiar voice, pointing his index finger slightly to the left of Coruscant.
"But then why is all the data about Kamino missing?" asked Tano, already guessing the answer.
"Someone must have deliberately deleted this information from the archives, not wanting anyone to know about it. The only question is who," replied the same boy, adjusting his helmet.
"Truly, the mind of a child is like a blank slate," concluded Yoda, and when Ahsoka thanked him and left, he continued his lesson, while the nimble boy, having completely lost interest in training, waited impatiently for it to end and rushed off to look for the Togrut. Anakin was absolutely certain that his friend had lost him. But before he reached her room, Ahsoka's ship was already taking off. When the teenager approached Master Plo, the Togrutas' transport was already approaching the Kamino system. And only when she heard the mysterious and not entirely understandable phrase, "The army is almost ready," did the three Jedi, two renowned Masters and one almost-Padawan, fly off in pursuit to overtake the young, smug Knight. But will they make it in time?
***
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