New Power

Ch 7

The eerie feeling returned as Cain stood in front of the doors to the Chancellor's office. The doors opened with a woosh and Cain walked inside.

"Ah come, Cain, sit," Chancellor Palpatine instructed in a friendly way.

"Here it is, sir," Cain said when he sat down and placed the droid head on the desk.

The Chancellor picked it up. "Wow, a beauty to be sure. It's in such great condition."

"I took good care of it."

"Now, before you leave. I have a special mission for you."

Cain paused. "Go on."

"We want you and one Jedi to infiltrate Separatist cruisers. Specifically one. General Grievous's to be exact. I want you to gather intel that is vital to defeating them. If you fail, it's okay. You will be paid half the amount."

"And how much is that?"

"5 thousand credits."

Cain raised an eyebrow underneath his helmet. 5 thousand? Not too bad of a deal. "I will do my best."

"Who would you like to accompany you?"

Cain smirked. "Anakin Skywalker."

The Chancellor looked amused. "That can be done. The details will be sent to your datapad and you will need to brief him if he agrees to come along."

"I will, sir."

"Now hurry along. I don't want to keep you."

"Thank you, Chancellor."

Now, to find Anakin.

~~~~<+>~~~~

Cain first asked for directions to his quarters before he found Ahsoka. She hesitated but still lead him to them. They found Anakin sprawled on a couch, fast asleep.

"Is it important?" Ahsoka asked as she eyed her sleeping Master.

"Quite," Cain responded. "How long has he been out for?"

"Oh hell I know. Probably not long though." She walked over to Anakin and nudged his shoulder. "Master, Anakin, Cain has somehing urgent for you to hear."

Anakin stirred and sleepily opened one eye. "Snips, not now," he mumbled and closed his eye.

"Cain is here in person. It's that urgent," Ahsoka tried to reason with him.

"What?" Anakin shot up and rubbed at his eyes. He then looked at Cain. "Oh come on. Who lead him here?"

Ahsoka smirked. "I did, Master."

Anakin sighed. "What's so urgent?"

"I was given a mission by the Chancellor and he said I could take one Jedi with me," Cain said, "and I chose you."

Anakin sat back. "Great. What's the mission?" He asked.

Cain quickly briefed him on the mission and Anakin looked more unimpressed as he went on.

"It's an infiltration mission. On General Grievous's cruiser. This is going to be fun," Anakin said in one low tone. Ahsoka had watched the whole thing with an amused expression. Anakin grabbed the datapad from Cain and read the small details of the mission. He handed it back to Cain with a grumble.

"When do we go?" Anakin asked.

"Tomorrow. Get some rest," Cain replied.

"Do you have somewhere to crash for the night?"

Cain looked at him sceptically. "What are you offering?"

"The couch. It'd be easier if you stayed the night so we could go together in the morning rather than meeting up."

"Fair enough, but-"

"Ahsoka won't say anything. Nothing about you. I'll make sure. I also can see you've still got your bag from the lastest mission."

"Alright. If either of you say anything I'll personally see to your deaths." Ahsoka looked taken back.

"It's serious, Snips. Do you need to go anywhere?" Anakin asked Ahsoka.

"Um, no. I was about to head back when Cain asked for directions," she answered and cautiously walked out of the room to her part of the quarters.

"Hang on, before you go. You should know what Cain looks like so you don't scream the Temple down at midnight."

Cain took that as a cue to take his helmet off.

"I thought for a while that you were a genetically modified clone," Ahsoka said as she studied his face.

"Hardly," Cain replied. "Was it because of the armour?"

"Yeah. I'll be off to bed now." She stretched and walked off to her room.

"Her reaction was less than I thought it'd be. And no questions. Impressive," Anakin commented. "Couch is all yours. Unless you wanna sleep in my bed with me."

Cain shoved his shoulder. "Hell no. Couch is good," he said with a slight chuckle.

"Alright, suit yourself." Anakin smiled and retired to his own room.

~~~~<+>~~~~

Cain found it hard to sleep that night. Instead, he decided to experiment with the Force as he was usually out of shape with it from barely getting to use it. He Force-Pulled a piece of fruit towards him, and then pushed it back. He thought about deflecting blaster bolts and how he probably could not even do that. That was a basic youngling skill and he didn't know how to do it. A lightsaber would be a great addition to his weaponry set as it had many other uses than slashing droids and deflecting blaster bolts. He could have cut through the wall instead of using explosives to open it in his previous mission with that small clone force.

A realisation came over him. He didn't know how to meditate. That should be one thing he could teach himself, but why he still didn't know how to do it was a mystery to him. Maybe he should request a few lessons with the Jedi council. The skills would greatly help him. If he was lucky enough and the Jedi saw enough in him, maybe he would get a lightsaber. Cain pulled out his datapad to jot the goal down and set a few reminders for when he gets back to the Temple.

Cain took a deep breath in and out, trying to focus on the Force flowing through him. Meditation seemed like a good idea to start with. Maybe it'd even help him fall asleep. The meditation didn't come easy. He had many distractions in his mind and around him.
The hum of the split-system heater/air-conditioner.
The Force-signitures around him.
The gentle breathing of the two Jedi in the rooms near him.
Even the feeling of his armour was a small distraction. He pushed those distractions away and tried to focus on the Force around him. It was an odd feeling, one he'd rarely ever felt. He'd felt it when he'd sense Alyssa nearby. She was incredibly Force-sensitive and the Force seemed to thrum around her, as if it waited for her to use it in any way she pleased. He almost missed that feeling, no matter how overwhelming it was sometimes. He missed sensing Alyssa nearby. He just missed her as a whole. No matter how much time passed or how many people he met, no one could fill the gap she had taken.

Cain gently broke himself out of the meditation. He immediately felt more fatigued than he had before. Good, he had accomplished one small goal. Cain laid back and almost immediately fell asleep.