Chains of Destiny

"Need someone to protect the Chancellor at once, we do," Yoda murmurs, from his seat the front of the Council chambers.

Obi-Wan stands in the center of the circle, looking between the members, his helmet under his arm.

He just got back from settling a score on Ansion, to come back to chaos in the Republic. Not that that's a surprise. And he truthfully doesn't have much care for the Republic anymore – the corruption in the Senate is hard not to notice, but that the Chancellor has nearly been assassinated right when the Senate is debating whether to create a military is... concerning. It's pretty much a guarantee that the Senate is going to vote in favor of that now and...

If nothing else good will come of that disaster, it may give the entire Bounty Hunter Guild far more missions than even they are able to handle. Which will be good for them, so long as the Republic doesn't go bankrupt.

"I can take it," Obi-Wan replies, "I have dealt with many politicians in the past."

"Protect the Chancellor at all costs," Windu orders.

Obi-Wan nods. He would do no less. He's Mandalorian, after all. If he gives his... client his word about a mission, it's not something he'll back out of. The Council knows that and that's probably why they picked him for this job.

So he doesn't know why there's another bounty hunter present here too.

Obi-Wan throws a sideways glance at the other who was summoned.

Soara Antana.

She's one of the best bounty hunters out there. There's rumors of her having crossed lines that he knows she's nearly been arrested for by the Republic in the past. Not that he knows the exact details.

"A possibility, there is," Yoda goes on, "That a traitor there be may among us."

"Why do you suspect that?" he queries.

"Whoever attempted to assassinate the Chancellor was highly skilled," Windu replies, "While there are still bounty hunters who don't join the Guild, it is uncommon now. If possible, we need to track down who it was. Since you need to focus on protecting the Chancellor, we have called Antana for the mission."

Reasonable enough.

"I'll look into it," Antana replies, nodding to the Council members.

"This is not a mission we can afford to lose, Obi-Wan. We're in an increasingly precarious situation with the Senate, especially when tensions are this high," Windu adds.

"I understand," he replies evenly.

Politicians and their messes. He's grateful that's a problem the Council itself will handle. But still, he knows it's a problem and he'll do his best to deal with the situation. It's his job after all.

He and Soara leave the room together.

There's a young red-haired human girl standing in the hallway waiting.

"Come, Darra," Soara calls and the girl follows her.

She must be taking an apprentice then. There's few children in this place. Most don't choose to become bounty hunters until they're older but occasionally someone will pick up a child when they're still quite young and raise them.

Working alone is more common, though. There's specific rules they do need to follow when working for the Republic but still, it's always a risk to work with others.

That loneliness is simply part of this life.

Not that he has any other to go back to after... what happened on Mandalore. He shies away from that thought.