Chapter Text
Obi-wan hadn’t been scared as he climbed behind Vader on the speeder bike as Master Jinn took off to rescue the miners of Bandomeer. Even if the man was a Sith, the Force had assured him of his sincerity that he meant no harm. But as they got closer to the spaceport, a thought concerned him; how would they make their way in the galaxy without the temple’s help?
Jedi often dealt with brutal and terrible things, Bandomeer was a good example: the greed and corruption of the government and corporations that had destroyed so much of the planets ecology while plundering the planet of its nonrenewable natural resources and using slave labor to do the mining. So it was certainly true that Jedi were very familiar with the ugly face of the galaxy, a face that most beings didn’t even know existed or ignored.
But for all that, in some ways the Jedi were very sheltered. Jedi were simple people and had few possessions, but even still what things they did have need of were provided for them. Outside the temple, they were accorded privileges that usually were given for the rich and powerful. With simple acknowledgment of the title Jedi and the support from the Temple and the Galactic Senate, they had been allowed to work miracles on planets with greater flexibility in their actions than others trying to do similar works could do. How now would Obi-wan live without all that?
As he pondered that question, they arrived at the spaceport and Vader led the way to a docking bay. Obi-wan might not be as ship crazed as his friend Garren but it was obvious that this was an expensive personal ship that the Sith was lowering the ramp to using a security keypad. Walking inside the difference between a ship like the Monument that had brought him to Bandomeer and this one were apparent. He followed the Sith into the cockpit as Vader settled in the pilot’s seat and Obi-wan compared it to the one he had sat in when he helped the Monument escape the pirates.
Vader turned to him expectantly, “So what do you think? Should we take this one or the one I arrived here on? Either one will have to be traded for something else soon so no use getting attached. This one here would fetch us a better price but it might not be as easy to get rid of and is more memorable. The other ship is a freighter so we should have no problems getting rid of it, it just won’t be worth as much.”
“We cannot steal a ship! How did you get past the security?”
“Easy, this was du Crion’s ship, I saw got the code when I dug through his brain, and technically the other ship is stolen too so don’t let that affect your choice.”
“You violated his mind, “Obi-wan objected softly as this sensitive topic seemed like it should be approached delicately.
Anakin sighed before running his hands through his hair, “Look I don’t normally do that ability at all because of the resulting damage I cause, but since he wasn’t going to tell us what he had done before dying, I thought it worth the risk. If I hadn’t, most of this planet would be wrecked in the explosions and countless people besides all the miners would be dead. It was a fair trade off as far as I’m concerned.
“This ship was his personal one and not Offworld’s so no one is going to miss it. We need a ship though and we should leave soon because I have a feeling that Jinn is going to try to follow us as soon as he wraps things up and I’d like to be a few systems away when does. Like I said earlier, both ships have reasons to pick one over the other.”
“If Xanatos used this ship when he did his dirtier deeds, would the log have proof Master Jinn would need to prove so?”
“Oh definitely,” a smirk accompanied the confirmation.
“Then we need to leave this craft as I’m sure Master Jinn will discover it in his investigation and we should not impede it.”
“So I suppose we should leave the accounts he embezzled money from the company to fund that I just found the records for too?”
“Yes, of course we should.”
“See and that’s why I’m making you pick from the options I come up with, I probably wouldn’t have thought of that reason to not take it.”
“Will there be many decision making tests of critical thinking in the future of a similar nature and are you really going to allow me to make a wrong choice?” Obi-wan challenged him.
“Probably, and sometimes it’s not until later that you find out it was a bad decision. I’ll even let you come up with your own option as long as you can persuade me that it’s valid. Why shouldn’t I involve you in these decisions anyway? Isn’t that what Jedi do, make hard decisions that will affect lives? And as these decisions will affect both of us, I don’t see the point in doing it all myself. Besides,” gesturing to himself, “do you really think I haven’t made some questionable if not downright wrong choices?”
“I just don’t like that our only option is stealing.”
“Don’t worry about it too much in this instance. For ships in the outer rim its kinda part of their life cycle: Be stolen and then sold or traded for another ship that was at one time also stolen before you bought it. So you see, they become legitimate again, sorta.
“But since it sounds like if we are going to take a ship you prefer leaving this one right?” A nod answered him. “Great! Time for more stealing then!” he chirped happily. “You clean out the galley of anything that looks even remotely edible. Then if we are doing good for time get some ‘quality of life’ stuff like any spare blankets and bedding (bet the thread count will be nice and high) and all the expensive toiletries hiding in the fresher and anything else that looks like something you think we should grab.
“I’m going to grab some other necessities like emptying out any med supplies and some other goodies he had hidden on board. I’ll need to get into their hiding spots but I know there is a small cache of untraceable emergency currency and some spare lightsaber parts secreted into cubbies. It is still stuff that won’t be missed but will help us out.”
Obi-wan couldn’t help the negative look at all this stealing he was being told to do, which Vader of course noticed. Standing up from the pilot’s chair and looming over the boy with a hard serious face, “You don’t think Jedi get cut off on their own on planets that turn out to be almost entirely hostile down to almost every last being there? That they don’t have to survive by whatever means necessary sometimes, especially if they have person of interest in their care? Maybe there is a civil war or some other unrest or an invasion or even superstition, whatever it is, being a Jedi sometimes means there is no guarantee of safety and you are a target.
“I will teach you every way I know how to survive even if some of them are dirty and underhanded. Don’t be afraid to push back if you disagree about something like this stealing and convince me otherwise. However, even if we never put them into practice out of our necessity, you will learn them anyway.
“You might wish yourself back at the temple and its curriculum with how hard I will push you. If learning how to shoot a blaster because you don’t have your lightsaber means the difference between life and death, you will learn no matter how uncivilized you think it. There will probably be a whole lot of uncivilized ahead of you, so you need to put it aside at least long enough to learn what I will teach you. Right now it’s me and you against the rest of the universe and I’ll be damned before it takes you away from me.”
Obi-wan tried to downplay the instinctive flinch and visible step back such an obvious sentiment of attachment made him feel. Looking up into the eyes of the Sith before him, he realized that this was a needed understanding of who Anakin was and would always be, a man whose attachments to people and thoughts ruled his actions. Knowing this now, Obi-wan would need to find a balance between this and his own Jedi ideals if he wanted this partnership to work. As such he gave a nod of agreement and proceeded to start work on stocking their own ship with the supplies from this one and resolved to meditate on how best to continue forward with Anakin.