CH-19

"From the video itself, I saw someone who was very familiar with our Republic's laws, which apparently certain members of this Council and other highly ranked members of our Order are lacking in familiarity." Her glare was on Master Tre'jin who shuffled uncomfortably

Anakin came striding back into the room, a look of irritation on his face. "She's left the planet."

That instantly garnered the attention of everyone in the room.

"How and when?" Mace Windu asked with a frown, "She's no longer part of the Order. She shouldn't have the means to go anywhere this quickly."

Anakin shrugged despite the irritation on his face, "She sent me a private message saying she was okay, and not to worry. She found… a means to continue her studies."

He hesitated, well aware that the next part was not going to go down well with a lot of the Jedi Masters around. "She called it an… education in the Force unlike anything she'd ever imagined before. She stressed that it was definitely not Sith, and that the person came from a culture who rarely if ever leave their planet, yet they have explored uses for the Force that she has never imagined possible."

"So she has admitted she has already fallen," declared Master Tre'jin with a definite note of vindication in his voice.

"I don't believe I heard that stated or implied in any such way, Master Tre'jin." stated Obi-Wan without hesitation, and a bit of heat. He was protective of Ahsoka, both as someone he liked and as his former padawan's now former padawan. His relationship to her, in his own mind was almost that of an uncle to his brother's daughter albeit without the close attachment as he so often reminded himself about both his former padawan, and Ahsoka.

"I do believe there are a number of Force-wielding sects across our galaxy, and while many of them are dark in nature, just as many are not. They simply choose to continue to follow their own ways, rather than conform to ours. A practice that is not illegal." His voice had once more returned to soothing logical tones.

"Anakin. Did she say where she was heading?" Mace Windu asked.

"No, she said something vague about following up on some of his contacts, as well as assessing her skills compared to his people's expectations." Anakin shook his head a bit at the uninformative message. "But the message contained all the identifiers we have to make sure I know she's not being coerced in any way."

There were some raised eyebrows of surprise, and a few of approval at that idea. But Obi-Wan spoke up. "When was the message that you received actually sent?"

"19:47 Coruscant Standard Time," Anakin replied immediately, not needing to check.

Obi-Wan looked down at the datapad he was using, checked things further. "That was just minutes after they'd been at the bounty station. Then, a few minutes later, the ship that ultimately transmitted the holovid of the interaction departed."

Mace Windu spoke up, "Could they have been on that ship, despite the distance involved?"

"I would say no, but unless Ahsoka was lying in her missive or hasn't actually left the planet yet, then I am not sure if they would have been able to leave the planet." said Obi-Wan.

"What was the name of that freighter that transmitted the holo recording?" Master Unduli asked curiously.

"The outbound flight plan was registered to a ship named the 'Gryffindor'. After checking with the pay by day docking bay the ship originated from, those records matched." Obi-wan answered, reading the information from his datapad.

"I'm not even sure I want to know what that name means." Obi-wan murmured as he continued reading. "The registry we have of the ship says that the planet of origin is 'Hoarty Warty Hogwarts."

There was a pause as Obi-wan looked up for any recognition of the name, when there were none, Obi-Wan continued. "Registered Owner - a Mr. Neville Longbottom."

Obi-Wan set down the datapad in disgust. "Is it bad I'm trying to think of sexual innuendo for every name that comes up now associated to this man? I'm not even sure I want to know the sexual innuendo behind that name."

He sighed and shook his head before picking up his datapad again, "Anyways, like the other identity… and all planets associated to this man, none of them are in our records, and I somehow doubt we're looking at another Kamino."

Master Allie nodded with a sigh, "I have been working with Master Jocasta Nu. Our search continues for any more information deleted by Count Dooku. Thus far, no other changes have been found, but we're having to check each record individually."

"Idea we have for where this freighter was headed?" Yoda inquired, his finger stroking his chin, as he tried to focus the topic once more.

Obi-Wan shook his head, setting down the datapad once more. "Well… his destination was listed as Nar Shaddaa… but that doesn't mean that's necessarily the truth, or his next stop. His flight path did have him on a trajectory was consistent with an outbound vector that would traverse the Corellian Run, which ultimately tells us nothing. That hyperspace lane can be used by nearly half the destinations in our galaxy."

"He is a bounty hunter… what was the origin system of the names used in any of his captures?" Mace inquired.

Obi-Wan returned to his datapad, and began to que up the results, his face taking on a slightly disgruntled look. "Unfortunately no. His designation with the Bounty Hunter's guild is extremely rare."

That generated some curious look and Obi-Wan shrugged a little bit. "He is listed as an active member which means he's paying dues. But that he isn't accepting contracts. In fact according to his record he has only turned in two bounties previously... curious."

Obi-Wan continued to look through the data, and his face took on a look of noticeable interesti and intrigue.

"What's curious Master Kenobi?" Master Shaak Ti inquired.

Obi-Wan's voice mused "A few things, his status in the guild means he is paying dues and paying money to stay active. But he isn't accepting contracts so that he can continue to earn money. It's almost like he's a member out of a lark so he can call himself a bounty hunter than being serious about it. Second, generally to become a full member you have to have completed at least 5 contracts, more than 20,000 credits total."

"Does it say who his sponsor was?" asked Master Secura from her hologram. She was familiar with the workings of the guild, and knew that to get in, one needed a sponsor to get in.

Obi-Wan frowned a bit and flicked through his datapad, shaking his head. "No... no it doesn't." Glancing around he saw more than one confused expression so he explained. "Each person who becomes a member must be sponsored by a recognized bounty hunter. Who his sponsor is might tell us more about him."

Anakin, who had been looking at his datapad and flicking through it quietly and absorbing information quickly. "I've got a few hits on his freighter. Either he doesn't seem to be making any effort to hide his movements, doesn't know how he can be tracked, or is actually going out of his way to be followed."

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