Master Obi-wan Kenobi was in his quarters of the Arrakeen complex. He had been in his Jedi robes since returning from the desert and the chilled room required him to wear his dark brown over-robe.

With the shutters closed, the dimmed lighting made the holograms of his fellow Council members opaque. Obi-wan's hands were hidden in the sleeves of his over-robe and his weathered eyes looked between Grand Master Yoda, Master Ki-Adi-Mundi and Master Kit Fitso.

'This cannot be prolonged much longer. Five Spice harvesters have been lost in three months, and seven had to be lifted before they could complete their schedules,' Obi-wan informed. 'The Harkonnen are growing more aggravated by the day.'

'Causing this, the Fremen are?' Master Yoda's small hologram said in his croaky voice.

'Yes, Master. If they're not blowing up the harvesters, they're summoning the sandworms with their thumper devices.'

The three Masters at the Jedi Temple looked between each other in thought. While other Council members were on missions throughout the galaxy, the only ones left at the temple had answered Obi-wan's desperate plea for a meeting. 

The clone wars had been taking most of the Jedi Order's attention, but it had been months since Master Obi-wan had been on Coruscant. When the Council received the transmission request from the Outer-Rim, the few who were available gathered in the meeting room.

'I must highlight the severity of the situation here on Arrakis,' Obi-wan started again, exasperation in his tone. 'We have guards stationed outside our doors at all times, and even though Rex and the clones were released, the Harkonnen have not trusted them in the complex.'

'I must ask what you would suggest, Master Kenobi? We can do very little from here.'

Master Obi-wan was glad that he was only visible through hologram, because his expression hardened from Master Fitso's words.

'Send reinforcements! If the negotiations need to be abandoned, I need to find my Padawan while knowing the Harkonnen won't track me. The Fremen would have no chance against the Harkonnen's gunships.'

'Master Kenobi, if we could send more men, we would,' Master Kid-Adi-Mundi leaned his elbows on his knees while peering through the hologram. 'But we simply do not have the man power. We're fighting a war, right now. There is no one to spare.'

It was like the transmitter was broken. Always the same excuse from the same people. Obi-wan was sick of being frustrated with the Council's decisions. It was difficult to remember that while he was dealing with the Great Houses, the Order were dealing with Seperatists and a droid army.

But when Obi-wan was being dealt the same orders without the proper facilities, he felt forgotten about.

'Ask this, I must,' Grand Master Yoda pipped up. 'With the Fremen, your Padawan is, but more effective by your side, would she not be?'

The Kenobi dreaded the question that he had been hoping to avoid.

'Sidra thought it be best to stay in the desert to gather more information. She knows the Fremen well, but I have not been able to communicate with her while the Harkonnen have been on edge.'

'And these attacks on the harvesters? Seen with the Fremen, has Sidra been?'

Did Grand Master Yoda know? Obi-wan knew about the green man's strong sensitivity to the Force, and had been known to sense things from lightyears away. In the past months, there had been small changes in the Force that not only Obi-wan noticed, but Anakin had, as well.

'Something's coming, Master. I can feel it,' Anakin had said while looking out to Arrakeen. 'The Force is heavy, and not just from the Harkonnen.'

Obi-wan remembered when Sidra had said something similar. Her first time in her stillsuit had prompted the same words, and Obi-wan had brushed them off as first day Arrakis nerves.

The Grand Master waited for a response and the Council members sat back in their seats. 

What was Obi-wan supposed to do? Tell the truth about his Padawan? That she had been seen in the desert killing Harkonnen and siding with the Fremen?

'No, Master. The Harkonnen have not mentioned seeing her.'

'Hm. Strange, this is,' Obi-wan let out a shaky sigh at Yoda's croaky hum. 'Contact her, you must. Leave the clones and Tano with the Harkonnen. Find the Fremen, you should. Return her to Coruscant. Sort out a plan for reinforcements, we then will.'

'Is that wise, Master? Ahsoka is still in training-'

'Skywalker would not be an alternative. You cannot leave him with the Harkonnen,' Kid-Adi-Mundi interrupted, and Obi-wan was reminded of his days as Anakin's Master.

Like a game of Galactic Bingo, Obi-wan was mentally checking off all the things that the Council said every meeting.

-What do you want us to do about it?

-We have no reinforcements to send.

-A Padawan can handle such a delicate and dangerous mission.

-Don't let Anakin take the reins of said mission.

It was like every other Council meeting, and like always, Master Obi-wan was coming out with almost nothing. Since the commencement of the clone wars, he found that he was disappointed with the Council's decisions. He didn't blame them, as this generation of members had never faced a galactic war before. But he expected that when he called for help or sought advice, he would receive it from Grand Master Yoda, or anyone for that fact.

Maybe this is what Master Qui-Gonn Jin was talking about before he became one with the Force.

'As you wish, Master...'

Obi-wan's weak acceptance was enough for the transmission to be cut. The holograms fizzled back into the transmitter and the Kenobi was left in the darkness of his quarters. The air-conditioning's ambient functioning was the only noise, but it didn't cover the presence that lingered out in the hallway. 

The Harkonnen that were stationed outside were silent as they stood guard. Since Rex and the 501st were released from their prison cells, the Jedi had not been trusted. The baron made it clear that if they weren't going to return to Coruscant, then he would ensure that something like before didn't happen again.

It made for a tense atmosphere. When the Jedi walked through the halls, they were escorted by Mon, or watched by Harkonnen soldiers. 

Captain Rex had been quiet since his release and regardless of his general's prodding, he was yet to say what he had found in the baron's transmissions. Obi-wan could see that Anakin was still bothered by the Council overruling him to his own captain. It added to the discomfort of the complex when Rex refused to reveal what he had found out.

'I'm sorry, General Skywalker, but the Council said that it was classified information,' Rex had said, his face ridden with guilt.

Obi-wan couldn't count how many times he had heard Anakin huff in frustration. And he assumed another one was about to come his way, as he would have to tell him that they needed to find the Fremen for the second time.

---

Ahsoka decided that she would see how the clones were doing in the training quarters. She couldn't spend another moment in her Master's presence, as he had been on month-long tangent about the Jedi Council.

'How could they undermine me like this?! Giving orders to my captain, and then saying it's all classified?! What a load of Bantha dung!'

Without Sidra, Ahsoka had no one to rant to about Master Skywalker's mood. She also knew about the 501st discomfort from still being in the Arrakis complex, so she thought she could give them some encouragement while training.

'We're trialling a new stunner,' a clone named Quinn informed the Commander. 'Since they use Holtzman shields here, we thought it would be wise to train with the Houses' technology.'

Ahsoka watched as the clones lined up to aim the guns at some dummies. They didn't use training droids on Arrakis, so they made do with some old-fashioned faceless cushions.

The click of the weapon's release sounded off the grey walls. Stunning blasts latched onto the dummies and made the stuffed fabric tremble. Mimicking a humanoid's reaction, the dummies seized from the currents and hung from their support stands.

Once the blast had run its course, the dummies twitched from the lingering currents. If it were a humanoid, they would be immobilised for a minimum of one minute. 

'That's astral. We should have these with every troop,' Ahsoka said, assuming the role of supervisor in Anakin's absence.

'The Order were in the process of rolling these out with every legion before this mission. We were one of the first to get them from the manufacturer.'

'I think that was intentional.'

'I agree with you, Commander.'

Ahsoka noticed the Harkonnen that lined the back walls of the quarters. Their belts were armed with various weaponry yet they barely breathed in the same room as the 501st. While she and Quinn oversaw the clones training, the Harkonnen's presence was hard to ignore.

Before she was able to continue their discussion, the Force alerted Ahsoka to a new presence. As the door opened, the Padawan was already turning to confirm the foul signature that plagued her senses.

'Quinn, could you take everyone to the dining hall? You can resume training after lunch.'

'Yes, ma'am.'

As the clone went to order his legion to pack away the stun guns, Ahsoka dreaded the interaction that was about to take place. The Harkonnen followed the legion out of the room to escort them to the dining hall. This left a single solider in the room for when Ahsoka needed to be taken back to her quarters.

'Commander Tano, do you want me to...' Captain Rex had lingered behind, and nervously looked to the new comer with half the mind to stay with Ahsoka.

'No, Rex. Go have your lunch.'

'Run along, Captain.'

Rex wanted to throw a punch into Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen's smug face. When the bald young man found the clone in the baron's quarters, Feyd treated it like he had caught a child with their hand in a sweets jar. Although he branded his short blade threateningly, Rex's embarrassment and panic was further solidified by the 'tsks' that the Harkonnen made.

Ahsoka made sure that the captain had left the quarters before turning to Feyd. He was yet to lose his smugness, but now his gaze had no where else to go except to the Togruta.

'Did you need something, your highness?' Ahsoka tried to appear as approachable as she could while in complete disgust.

'I came to do some of my own training. I could use a partner,' his husked voice made Ahsoka cringe. Feyd's suggestive tone was accompanied by a raised brow bone, which was as hairless as the rest of him.

'I'm afraid that's up to my Master's discretion.'

'Even if I-' Ahsoka took a step back as he stepped forward. '-commanded you to?'

The Tano was about to be sick. It was the first time that she was being forced to talk to the boy in such proximity. Because of this, she realised that Feyd-Rathua's teeth were completely black. Every time he opened his mouth to smirk or say some nonsense, Ahsoka saw the dark abyss.

While Feyd permanently smirked in her presence, Ahsoka measured how long it would take her to exit the training quarters. His thin frame showed that he was nothing like his uncle; Feyd would be fast reacting if Ahsoka tried to step around him.

'Look, I don't know who you think you're talking to, sleemo, but it's bad enough that we're stuck here. Just because you're the baron's nephew doesn't mean you can treat people how you see fit.

So buzz off, and leave us all alone.'

The sound of a blade leaving a holster made Ahsoka grab her dual lightsabers. As Feyd-Rautha pointed his knife at the Togruta with a face of murder, Ahsoka ignited the canisters and lit up the quarters with electric blue.

'I should have your tongue for that,' Feyd seethed, his smirk replaced with tight lips and piercing eyes.

'Come get it, then.'

With feet spread apart, Ahsoka was prepared to fight the baron's nephew. All diplomacy had gone out the window and Ahsoka's irritation got the better of her. Feyd-Rautha was cocky, ignorant and a nuisance in Arrakeen. Ahsoka would love to tell her Master that she had taught the brat a lesson.

But the sound of a stun gun charging made her look over the Harkonnen's shoulder. Her escort pointed his barrel at Ahsoka and waited for her to pull the baron's nephew into battle. With stable hands and a pointed stare, the soldier was locked onto Ahsoka, and she realised that fighting Feyd would be unwise.

'Let me leave, Rautha, or my Masters might come looking.'

'Let them come.'

'Trust me, you don't want to deal with Anakin Skywalker when he's in a bad mood.'

It took a moment, but the Harkonnen stepped aside with his blade lowered. Ahsoka kept her lightsabers active as she passed him, making sure to glare as she did. Feyd-Rautha was livid, but had to think of how his uncle would react if he heard he had killed the Jedi's Padawan learner.

'Can I go back to my room now?' Ahsoka spat at her escort, and the Harkonnen put away his stun gun and opened the door.