Thirteen years old, after our first trial our clan held a small vote. The vote came out unanimously in favor of skipping the trials till we were all 13. It was the average age for an initiate to become a padawan. The trial was being held tomorrow and we would be joining. No one was nervous about the upcoming trial as all initiates got three chances at it and we had gotten special permission to undergo it early.
We had heavily studied and prepared for the last few years to guarantee that all of us became padawans in the next trial. However some of us were still nervous about who would take us as their padawan. We all had our preferences and for me it was still Obi-Wan. For Ahsoka it was Anakin or Qui-Gon as Anakin had become a knight earlier than most due to Qui-Gons excellent teaching and skills.
Anakin was like his canon counterpart but was much more levelheaded and smarter. He had already completed multiple missions all by himself ranging from politics to combat. Many in our clan wanted him to choose them but I already knew that if he wanted a padawan than it would be between Ahsoka and I.
In the morning we all gathered and went to the main trial room. It all happened just like the first time but I could tell many of the Jedi in attendance were impressed. Over the years I had gotten much closer with everyone and I was proud that they had become stronger beside me.
When it finally came time for the masters and knight to choose padawans almost everyone in the room was nervous. Most of my clan members were almost immediately chosen by masters and notable knights. Eventually Ahsoka and I were the only ones of our clan left and most initiates had left.
After scanning the small group of leftovers I looked to the remaining Jedi. I realized then that most of the council was here and that they could sense my force vision. I saw Yoda give me a side eye and Windu gave me a glare. After observing all the masters and remaining knights I told Ahsoka who all was there. We were both exited as the Jedi we wanted to take us in were also among the group.
After a few more minutes of names being called and waiting we were both called nearly at the same time. When we got to Anakin and Obi-Wan they were discussing and bickering about how they would be teaching us. Qui-Gon was behind them simply watching the to men that were practically his sons.
We greeted our new masters and followed them out as they were getting glares for their loud arguing. Ahsoka happily provided to their discussion I simply listened. I had always liked my solitude and didn't see much reason to speak unless I had something important to say. Most people who knew me understood this well as most answers to things they asked could be summed up as yes or no.
We had to eventually split from Anakin and Ahsoka as a council meeting had been called. Anakin and Ahsoka gladly went to screw around or cause some kind of chaos while I followed Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan to the council. The meeting hadn't started when we got there so the two masters sat and chatted with each other after greeting others.
I, as a padawan was allowed to go to the council meetings if I was with my master but I couldn't talk unless specifically asked or informed my master and got permission.
The meeting was about the new buzz going around, the formation of the CIS.
The Confederacy of Independent Systems was newly formed and the Jedi were gathered here after the padawans selection to sort out what they knew and what they needed to do.
Besides the small tidbits of wisdom that Yoda gave out and Obi-Wan helping me understand things, the meeting was pretty boring. After the meeting I learned that Obi-Wan and Anakin had been given the mission of protecting the senator of Naboo.
An attempt on her life had been made and Anakin was assigned to guard her as they had both met her before. I had expected Qui-Gon to also be with us but as a senior member of the council he apparently had other things to do.
Our small group of three met up with the two and we went to meet Padmé Amidala. After suffering through the little meeting with the angelic beauty that was Padmé and the slightly annoying and goofy Jar-Jar we began the discussion of what we would be doing. Obi-Wan and I were to investigate the attempt while Anakin spent time with his girlfriend.
It was nighttime in the brightly lit city as we simply talked about what we would do. We had no evidence so Obi-Wan and I couldn't do anything yet. When I eventually spotted the small droid cut into the window I alerted the two masters and we all charged in.
R2-D2 was still scanning for the bugs as we entered and Anakin slashed the bugs despite not actually seeing them.
Obi-Wan lunged through the window and grabbed the droid. Anakin led the ways as we shot through the building to the senatorial parking zone. Anakin immediately jumped into a sports car like airspeeder and launched after Obi-Wan.
Ahsoka and I are slightly slower but we eventually catch up in a much faster airspeeder. We manage to keep up as with our higher speed we can compensate against Anakins mastery of speeders and such things. The chase picks up as I have Ahsoka fly us higher than our masters to inevitably avoid the large shock pylon things.
The chase winds down as both our target and our masters 'land' and begin a foot chase in a bar type establishment.
We enter with our masters and fan out in search of the assassin. I stayed around
Obi-Wan and waited for Zam Wesell. When she approached him I revealed myself behind her and immediately brought my saber beside her neck. People freaked out and stumbled away as Obi-Wan turned to us like he knew this was going to happen and cuffed her.
I didn't know where or when he had even gotten cuffs but I just tried to ignore it. We met up with Anakin and Ahsoka and went outside.
Despite knowing that Jango was going to shoot her I still couldn't stop the dart. I saw them coming but couldn't catch all of them in time as he had also shot two other darts. We all saw Jango jet away as Zam died. With her gone the only solid lead we had now was the darts. I removed the dart that I hadn't caught and held it up for us to see. I was surprised to recognize it as a weapon that had been in the armory in my families home. The other two where not mandalorian and looked like the one in the movie.
Seemed like the mandalorians and their neighbors used a very distinct dart.
Looking to Obi-Wan I said 'This is a mandalorian poison dart. My father was a bounty hunter and mother was mandalorian, we had a small armory in our house that had some of these in it.'
Obi-Wan then replied with a question 'What are the chances that our assassin is a mandalorian?'
'The chances are very high as he definitely had beskar armor and a mandalorian jetpack. Along with the dart there is also the poison which is likely to be mandalorian in origin.' I answered.
'How do we track this mandalorian if this is all we have?' Asked Anakin.
'We would have to go by rumors and hearsay as the bounty hunters guild probably won't tell us anything and he will have probably covered most of his tracks already. We could also ask around if anyone recognizes the other two darts.' I responded.
After that we had to do some paperwork and then split up with Anakin and Ahsoka as they were still assigned as Padmés guards. Kenobi and I then went to search for rumors and such. Obi-Wan had many contacts but I recognized one. Dexter Jettster had stood out in the Star Wars lore I remembered as his name itself was easy to remember.
We arrived at Dex's Diner and sat down with me at the window and Kenobi on the outside. Dexter arrived after a minute and came over to us. We had introductions and got to asking him about the darts and any rumors of mandalorians around. He didn't have any mando rumors but did recognize both dart types. He then pointed us to Kamino as the producer of the darts I caught.
With than info we headed back to the temple to find the planet of Kamino in the archives to continue our investigation.