22 BBY, Month 10
Rylann
With the end of the year approaching, training for Rylann's knighthood kicked into full gear. She had finished force training with Yoda, lightsaber training with Windu, and a number of other things like flight with Plo Koon, and strategy with Ki-Adi-Mundi. But those were just the tip of the iceberg. She was cramming learning into every second of every day, trying to be ready for the Trials at the end of the month.
And not to mention, she hadn't been able to spend much time with the Batch, only seeing one of them every few hours only to escort her around. She even missed Joseta and Rex, but they were off planet for a battle. She hoped they would be alright.
"Focus, Rylann," Shaak Ti said, snapping the padawan from her thoughts. "I know you have plenty of worries in your heart, but you must remember the objective."
Rylann sighed, opening her eyes. It looked like she had not gotten any progress, instead the rocks were stationary on the ground, not floating. Rylann straightened her stance, crossing her arms. "Yeah, to pretend to be someone I am not and then stress out about possibly failing the Trials."
"You shouldn't stress," Shaak Ti said, walking across the training room in the temple. "You are a highly capable jedi. Just emotional." Shaak Ti paused, crossing her arms to mirror Rylann. "I heard that you got into a fight with Windu and then used your Genetian gift on his mind."
"If you call letting in the dark side a gift," Rylann said, turning away as tears threatened to form. Great, even now she was struggling to maintain her emotions. "I am a failure of a jedi."
"Failing isn't about what happens to you, but how you respond to the world," Shaak Ti said, reaching Rylann's side to place a hand on her shoulder. Rylann felt better under the touch. Shaak Ti had never been a touchy person, but anytime she did, Rylann knew how much Shaak Ti cared in that moment. And to think that she used to think her master did not care for her...
"I saw Windu's padawan," Rylann said, licking her lip. "I saw from his perspective as she took him down, but didn't kill him."
"She was a troubled child," Shaak Ti said, biting her lip in thought. After a moment of silence, her master gestured to a bench. "Let's sit."
Rylann pulled her feet up on the bench, turning to Shaak Ti. "You knew her?"
Shaak Ti nodded. "I was the one who discovered she had powers."
Rylann blinked. "How?"
"Obi-Wan had asked me to check on his family after he—well—had a hiccup with the force," Shaak Ti explained. "So, I went to Stewjon and met his younger brother and parents. And Obi had a younger sister he had not met yet. She was fifteen at the time, not much older than Wynn." Shaak Ti bit her lip. "She was hurt because she felt Obi-Wan abandoned them, but she was powerful in the force. She had mastered some abilities some jedi take years to with no training."
"Like what?" Rylann asked.
"Force healing," Shaak Ti whispered, her lekku falling behind her back.
Rylann frowned. "You can heal with the force?"
"It's very dangerous," Shaak Ti warned, sending Rylann a look to quell any thought of attempting it. "It requires imparting one's own life force."
"And this came naturally to her?"
"Yes." Shaak Ti nodded. "We actually have a youngling with exceptional potential in this. Hopefully, with time, we will find ways to make it more reliable. Some people who have tried to use it, accidentally offer too much life force and die after."
"Wow, messy stuff," Rylann breathed out, pulling her knees to her chest, keeping her feet on the bench. Rylann was amazed by all of this news. Marssa, Obi-Wan Kenobi's sister, became a padawan at fifteen under Windu, turned to the Dark Side, and at some point gave her blood to Project Conduit.
Rylann furrowed her brows, letting her legs down. Wait, she thought. Why Project Conduit?
"What are you thinking?" Shaak Ti asked. "Your mood shifted."
"Project Conduit, the reason I was almost killed, has blood samples of Marssa." Rylann met her eyes. "And some sort of Mandalorian leader, or something."
Shaak Ti narrowed her brows, standing up. "May I see this?"
Rylann nodded, jumping to her feet. "Let's go find Tech!"
【 ⌖ 】
Wrecker, who had been waiting outside for the training to finish, escorted Shaak Ti and Rylann to their new temporary home—a motel on sublevel-three of Coruscant. Though it wasn't far from the surface, it was obvious it was starting to get sketchy. The sign flickered on and off as they walked into the motel, the stench of corn chips already prevalent.
Rylann found Tech exactly where she thought he'd be—in the jacuzzi on the porch. He wore his dark swimming trunks and baggy t-shirt as his glasses whirred over his tablet, reading the Maker knew what. This time, though, Tech was joined by Crosshair who wore an eye-mask to sleep, a tank top, and his neon green swim trunks that Wrecker bought him last week. Hunter was nowhere to be found.
Tech didn't glance up from his tablet. "Hello Rylann. General Ti," he said, setting aside his datapad, nudging Crosshair to interrupt his snoring.
Crosshair snorted as he woke up, sliding his eye mask up. He met Rylann's gaze with a smile before a scowl returned when he saw Shaak Ti. Not that it was his mean scowl. It was the scowl he wore to conceal emotion, even if it made him look angry.
"Imma get my trunks on!" Wrecker exclaimed, rushing off to the bedroom.
Rylann walked over to the porch, leaning on the jacuzzi. "Tech, could you pull up that document of Project Conduit for Shaak Ti to read?"
"Of course," he muttered, clicking away before handing the device to Shaak Ti.
Rylann's master skimmed over the document, brows furrowing. "I need to cross-reference something." She pulled out her commlink, plugging it into the datapad. After a few moments, Shaak Ti gasped, scrolling faster through the article. "What is it?" Rylann asked, licking her lips in anticipation.
"Pre Viszla, the Mandalorian politician who gave a blood sample is a 35% match with Wynn's DNA."
Tech stood up from the jacuzzi, splashing water everywhere as he turned it off. "What?"
Rylann had never heard the man so perplexed and emotive in her life. She doubted he ever did in his life either. "So, she's 50% Marssa and 35% Pre Viszla?"
"That is not possible," Tech muttered, scrambling out of the tub. "Impossible."
Crosshair groaned, turning the jacuzzi back on. "You're impossible."
"So, how can he be the father?" Rylann asked, scratching her head. "I don't see how the math adds up, though I'm not good at science."
Tech snatched the datapad from Shaak Ti's hands, her commlink still attached. He clicked away, muttering under his breath. He froze, pushing his glasses onto his head. "Unless she's a clone."
"How does a clone work if she's not 100%?" Rylann asked.
"None of us are 100% Jango," Crosshair stated, splashing the water with his hands. "I'm part Jango, part Delta, who is a clone of Jango's dad."
"Confusing, but okay, good to know." Rylann turned to Shaak Ti. "The real question is what does this mean?"
"It means things got a whole lot messier for Kenobi." Shaak Ti sighed. "Who is finishing up his mission to Mandalore."
Rylann glanced at Tech who seemed to get what was going on. "Oh, no," they said simultaneously. Things were definitely about to get messy.
P. S. I know the timeline for PTT and MTM is a bit wonky rn. MTM has Kenobi on Mandalore rn for the betrayal of Pre Viszla, while PTT has Kenobi on Geonosis for the Landing on Point Rain. Bear with me as I am still fleshing out the details.
Thank you!!