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"MAYBE this will be more to your liking," Obi-wan had told Araminta when he had picked her up earlier that day, interrupting her training at the Temple and bringing her an electronic debrief. She had looked at him quizzically, scrolling through the brief she had not been invited to, golden eyes narrowed.
She understood what he meant. After the battle of Saleucami and the rescue of Koth, Araminta and her mission had landed on the planet in a desperate effort to hunt down Grievous, which had failed. Obi-wan had taken the loss with ease, but Araminta had gotten the feeling he was more disappointed than he let on. She'd had to go to the infirmary after that ground assault, and had cursed to Anakin that she was not built to be a soldier.
The brief in her hand was, thankfully, a break.
"Let's go, then," she sighed, leaving behind the weapons she had been training with to retreat to her room.
"Meet me in the hangar. We're only taking a speeder," Obi-wan told her as they moved into the high corridors of the Temple. She furrowed her brows at him.
"Only?" the assassin asked in confusion.
"We have to be a peaceful presence," Obi-wan said, firmly. "It will just be us investigating the rumours."
Araminta only nodded at the instruction, and waited until he had walked off to leave as well. She had heard many things about Mandalore over the years, and it had been a planet Octavian would not touch. That alone made her weary of going there so unarmed, but she supposed she was lucky at all to be included.
In the grand scheme of war, there existed a Council of Neutral Systems, many planets and peoples who wanted to stay out of the conflict. Araminta shouldn't have been surprised, after all, she sat in the neutrality zone for the Jedi and the Sith– but the new leader of such a Council was a Duchess from Mandalore, and rumours had reached the Republic that her intentions were not as pure as she said.
Araminta could practically hear Anakin saying "politicians are good liars" in her head as she pulled on a clean uniform and pinned her hair out of her face. She supposed if Obi-wan and her were going to peacefully investigate the rumours that the Duchess was in line with the Separatists, she couldn't look too intimidating. She briefly recalled her mission on Cato Neimoidia with Padme.
As she left the room, Araminta moved the flower vase to the right, knowing if Anakin came looking for her as they had organised, he would know she had been called to action last minute. She frowned at the gesture the war forced her to do, and left her room behind, making the journey down to the hangar on her own.
Obi-wan stood out amongst the massive ships with just a small speeder, and he perked up as she arrived. If Araminta knew him better, she may have thought he looked a mix of excited and apprehensive, as they jumped to hyperspace above Coruscant's surface, and he was characteristically quiet.
