(AN: This story changes the original canon backstory slightly. For instance, Aayla Secura and Kit Fisto are older and they are an experienced Knight and a Master, for the sake of OC apprenticeships.)


Episode I: New Mission

Zzzzzrrriiiish came the sound of a lightsaber powering down. A wisp of smoke drifted out of the opening. Blue lightning still crackled around the area where the energy blade was moments before. The lightsaber was longer than normal. The average lightsaber was 20 centimetres long when deactivated. This one was 30 centimetres long.

I smiled with pride as the last of the electricity died down. I had finally made the perfect lightsaber for myself. After years of studying, tests and computer simulations, not to mention scouring the Galaxy for ultra rare materials, it had all come down to this. I pushed back my long black hair and saved the correct specifications onto my computer before loading the data onto my personal holocron. I looked up to see my reflection in a mirror. My black hair ran down to my lower back in thick tendrils. The top area was quite shorter than the rest but my fringe collected into four straight locks that reached my upper chest. My eyes, a vivid purple, looked back at me. The style of clothing wasn't typical Jedi garb. Flowing black pants with heavy boots, a black sleeveless muscle shirt and a sleeveless black trench coat, showing off my powerfully muscled arms. On the back of the coat, lining the bottom, was golden lightning bolt patterns.

"Master Josh Kitsune, please report to Briefing Room 9 please, Master Josh Kitsune to Briefing Room 9," came the female voice over the intercom.

I sighed and began my way over to where the rest of the council wanted me to be. "I wonder what they need me for this time," I said quietly to myself as I passed through the door of the briefing room. Inside were four people. The first one I noticed was easily the one that stook out the most. He was tall, dark skin and dark eyes. He wore a light tan robe. His name was Master Mace Windu. The second one wasn't human at all. He was very short, long pointy ears and wrinkled green skin. Large eyes blinked at me. He was Master Yoda; aka 'the little green troll'. The third person was my old friend and sparring partner, Qui-Gon Jinn. He had long light brown hair and kind eyes. The forth, however I hadn't met before, though I distinctly remembered him walking around the temple. I had also heard a lot about him from Qui-Gon over the years. His name was Obi-Wan Kenobi. He had short brown hair aside from a small ponytail at the back and a long padawan braid attached to the side.

"Ok, I'm here. What's up?" I asked.

Mace looked at me seriously, as always. The guy never loosened up around everyone, but I was one of the three people who knew about Master Windu's stuffed toy collection. "We need you to accompany Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi on a mission to Naboo."

My eyes widened in realisation. "This has something to do with the Trade Federation blockade there, doesn't it?"

"Indeed," replied Windu. "This mission has been dispatched by the Supreme Chancellor. We are to act immediately."

"I see," I said before nodding. "So I'm going with these guys?"

"That is correct," said Windu. "The mission is to negotiate with the Trade Federation. Normally it would just be these two but there seems to be more to this. You leave in the morning, tomorrow."

The two Masters then left the room to go about their own business, leaving me with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.

"Yeah right. More like they just wanted to get rid of me for a time," I snorted. I then turned to Qui-Gon. "So, you wanna grab a drink with me down at Dex's Diner? Introduce me properly to your Padawan?" I asked. Qui-Gon smiled. "Sure, I could use a drink."

********* Two Days Later *********

I was completely tense. The cruiser we were on was almost at the blockade and I was fidgeting constantly. I knew that the Viceroy of the Trade Federation was probably going to be on the main space station of the blockade and as such I was itching to get this over and done with.

"Calm down Josh," said Jinn for the umpteenth time. "I don't know why you are so impatient."

"This will be a good test for my new lightsaber," I said, my foot tapping against the floor.

"So… you finished it," he said. Qui-Gon had known about my project for some time now.

"Yeah, I'll show you," I replied. Obi-Wan had walked over in curiosity. I pulled out my custom lightsaber and showed the hilt to them. The many mechanics and crystals was contained in a metal different to the metal used in standard lightsabers. The metal was completely white, save for a golden fox running along its length. There was no blade length or power adjust knobs. I then pointed the end away from the onlookers and activated the sword.

A large white energy blade shot out of the hilt, but the shape was unreal. It was shaped in a massive cleaver shape; clearly 40 centimetres wide and over one and a half meters long. The blade ended in a point where one side angled off the straight edge and connected with the other edge, giving it a 45 degree acute angle point. (Cloud's Buster sword shape) Blue lightning arced around the energy frequently, giving the impression that the lightsaber was generating massive amounts of power.

"Gentlemen, I give you the LightDefender Mark I. Aka 'Oathkeeper'," I said proudly. The other two Jedi were open mouthed at this.

"Holy shit!" whispered Kenobi.

"You can say that again," said Jinn in the same awe struck tone as his apprentice.

I then deactivated the newly dubbed LightDefender and attached it to my utility belt. My small audience stared on as the lightning continued to arc around the spot where the blade used to be before slowly fading from view.

"Well? What do you think?" I asked. Qui-Gon Jinn looked like he was going to comment but then a female voice came over the comlink.

"We're coming in close to the blockade. You guys better get ready as we'll be there in a few minutes."

I pressed a button near the door and spoke into the comm. "Thanks Captain."

The next 2 minutes were slightly frantic as we all checked our equipment. After another 2 minutes the ship shuddered softly as we exited hyperspace. I looked out of the window to see the view.

There was Naboo, pristine and beautiful. The surface of Naboo was covered by dense swamps, rolling grass plains, seas and verdant hills. Naboo was one of the jewels of the outer rim.

But there, settled in orbit, was up to 20 Trade Federation Lucrehulk-class battleships. At over three kilometres in diameter, the enormous vessels resembled a donut-shape missing a section of its circumference and with a central sphere containing the ship's bridge and reactor assemblies. The front void of the craft, held two mammoth docking bays on either side, lined with forward docking claws.

"Let's get to the bridge," I said and we set out to the front of the ship. Qui-Gon in front, made his presence known to the captain and pilot.

"Captain," said Qui-Gon and the captain turned around. "Yes sir?" she asked.

"Tell them we wish to board at once," finished the Jedi Master.

The Captain activated the comlink and spoke into the transmitter. "With all due respect, the ambassadors from the Supreme Chancellor wish to board immediately." Above the captains head was a screen where we could see the head of the Trade Federation, Viceroy Gunray.

"Yes, of course," he said smoothly. "As you know our blockade is perfectly legal, and we would be happy to receive the ambassadors."

"Perfectly legal my force owning ass," I muttered softly so the monitor wouldn't pick up my comment.

With that the ship made its way to the battleship where the transmission came from. The ship shuddered as we touched down inside the hanger.

We were greeted by a protocol droid who introduced itself as TC-14. It then guided us to the meeting room.

"We are greatly honoured by you visit Ambassadors. Make yourselves comfortable, my master will be with you shortly." With that the droid excused itself and left the room. As soon as she was gone we lifted our hoods and looked around to make sure there was no-one else in the room.

"I have a bad feeling about this," said Obi-Wan.

"Damn right. This smells very fishy," I agreed.

"I don't sense anything," said Qui-Gon.

I snorted. "I think you've been meditating too much," was my witty comment.

Obi-Wan smiled lightly and inside I was doing a small victory dance. Since this mission started, Obi-Wan had been very stiff and cautious. I took it upon myself to loosen him up somewhat. Didn't want him to start acting like Mace the closet plushy worshiper.

"It's not about the mission masters, it's something elsewhere, elusive," corrected the padawan.

"Well I was talking about the mission. This has 'cover up' written all over it," I said.

"Keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs," reminded Qui-Gon.

"But Master Yoda said I should be mindful of the future," questioned Obi-Wan.

"Yes but you shouldn't let it distract you from the mission," I said.

"Yes Master Kitsune," replied the young man.

As we talked we had moved over to the windows to look out at the planet, as well as the dozen or so battleships in orbit around said planet.

"How do you think these trade Viceroys will deal with the Chancellor's demands?" asked Obi-Wan.

"They're cowards; the negotiations will be short," was Qui-Gon's answer.

"Well there better be a fight, I'm itching to let loose on some droids," I said as I began pacing impatiently.

Obi-Wan leaned over to his master and asked, "Is he always like this?"

Qui-Gon nodded. "He has the heart of a Jedi, but he trusts his feelings completely. This also affects his personality. He loves a good fight. But there is no one better other than you that I would put my complete trust in."

"You do realise that I can hear you?" I said. I then explained a little more about myself. "I'm one of the few Jedi who realises that the Jedi Code needs a re-evaluation. All Jedi are trained to suppress all emotions, however Jedi are supposed to be compassionate. Plus, you're not really living if you've shut away your emotions. Jedi need love too. Anyway, if the Force wanted us to act like the code wants us to act, then the Force wouldn't have created feelings for us."

"That's why he hasn't taken up an apprentice," said Qui-Gon.

"Hey, I'm just waiting for the right one, that's all," I said in my defence.

"Hasn't stopped all the Padawan hopefuls asking you to be their master," replied the master Jedi. "All the young ones look up to you, you know."

"I'll admit that there was potential in each one that asked, but I'm looking for someone a little different; more outside the box. Someone who can expand their horizons further than the standard Jedi. Besides, everyone who asked has had the Jedi Code drilled into their heads since year 1. They would be unwilling to let go of what they learned to be the most important," I explained. "Besides, I'm not the only one who hasn't picked a Padawan. Vincent and Kit Fisto haven't either. Aayla Secura hasn't picked a new one either, ever since her own went for the trials a few weeks ago. Think her name was... Dawn! That's it. Quite an attractive vixen she is," I commented and laughed softly as Obi-Wan's face lit up slightly.

"Actually, you're wrong about that. Those three picked up their kids last Padawan test day. Vincent chose Alastor Manase. Kit Fisto got the enthusiastic human boy, Ty. And Aayla picked a human girl called Kat. A bit of a tomboy that one," explained Jinn.

"Isn't Ty that Mandalorian kid that Vincent picked up along with Alastor?" I asked.

"The very same," answered the Jedi Master.

"I was tempted to choose one of those two but decided to wait. Besides Alastor wanted to be with Vincent anyways. *sigh* Well I guess I'm the only one left to pick one. And I'll have to soon or the council will force one onto me. Then again, doing so would be counterproductive for them," I mused, just as TC-14 came back through the doors with refreshments.

"What's taking them so long? How long does it take to walk down here, really?" I asked to no-one in particular but it was Jinn who answered. "I sense an unusual amount of fear for something as trivial as this trade dispute."

I nodded as I took one of the offered glasses of water from the droid, checking for tampering. Finding none I was about to drink when a powerful blast of sound, followed with the room shaking assaulted my senses. I jumped to my feet, Oathkeeper in hand. My two companions also activated their lightsabers and stood tense.

"I think our flight home was just cancelled," I said, now worried. Several seconds after this, a new sound caught my attention. It was a hissing sound, coming from the vents. Gas started flowing from the vent, and I knew then, we were discovered for who we really were.

"Dioxin," muttered Qui-Gon as we deactivated our swords and took a deep breath before the gas overwhelmed us. We heard the doors open and we waited. I heard the droid exit the room and say "Oh, excuse me." What came next was the unmistakable sound of a trade fed Battle Droid. "Check it out Corporal. We'll cover you." "Roger roger!"

We then activated our sabres in the poisonous fog. "O-oh, blast them!" The droids then began shooting at us. I deflected each round back to their owners and heard the sound of the droids crashing to a halt. We then jumped out of the room and began slicing away. Each time I cut through a droid, blue lightning flowed into the two halves and coursed through the electronics. Oathkeeper left a long drag of light and electricity every time the blade was swung, giving it a very impressive and daunting look.

We quickly dispatched the droids and continued through the ranks that led up to the bridge. As soon as we arrived we saw that the bridge had been locked down, Qui-Gon got to the business of breaking through the door while we covered him. He was about half way through before a loud clanking sound was heard on the other side of the door. Jinn stopped and pulled out his lightsaber.

"Did they close the blast doors?" I asked. Qui-Gon simply nodded before he plunged his sword straight into the door, all the way to the hilt. I felt him feeding the force through the lightsaber as he tried to get the door down. But, again, when he was almost through, I heard a sound that I was not pleased with. I looked down the corridor and spotted three Droidikas rolling toward us.

"Guys? We have some rolling clankers incoming!" I said before settling into a defence stance. Obi-wan did the same. Qui-Gon gave up on the door and copied us. The rollers stopped a few meters away and opened themselves up before activating their shield generators and started shooting.

"Damn! These must be the new models the Trade Fed was boasting about a few weeks ago!" I said as I began blocking furiously. "We're in a stalemate. We have to get outta here!" We then quickly broke off and, using the force to speed up our movements, headed down the corridor on the left. We got to the end before the droids began shooting at us again. Obi-Wan used his lightsaber to open a hole in the ventilation shaft while we provided cover. Soon we were all inside and we crawled until we reached the lower levels. We jumped out and hid behind a few stacks of boxes. I peeked around the side to see the first thing I was expecting to see at this moment. Thousands of battle droids.

"I knew it!" I said as Jinn and Kenobi also took a look. "Battle droids?" wondered Jinn. I scoffed. "You seem surprised?" I asked incredulously.

"It's an invasion army," noted Obi-Wan. I nodded. "Well, now we know why the cover up was needed. It seems these guys are gonna start a siege on Naboo."

"We need to warn the Naboo and contact the Chancellor," said Jinn.

"How bout we catch a ride with these clueless tin cans?" I asked.

"Good idea," Jinn replied. "We'll stow away on separate ships and meet on the planet's surface."

"Well you were right about one thing master," said Obi-Wan. Jinn looked at his padawan curiously. "The negotiations were short," he revealed, grinning slightly.

"Don't you mean 'no' negotiations?" I asked, also grinning, before we split up and slipped onto three transports unnoticed.


On the surface it was chaos. The Trade fed was spreading out from each landed transport ships in all directions. Dozens of droid transports were smashing down trees that were in the way and all the local wildlife were being driven away.

Meanwhile I was trying to get out of the way of a transport vehicle when a strange thing blocked my way. At first glance he seemed humanoid but that was all I was able to see as I tried to go around him. But he moved into my path. From the way he was shrieking it seemed that he wasn't doing this on purpose. So I just careered into him and tackled him to the ground. My ears were blasted when the vehicle floated over us and continued on its way. As soon as it had passed I stood up, dusted myself off and continued on my way. But the thing called out to me to wait. I continued on to try to find a relatively safer spot to rest before getting a good look at him. He was definitely humanoid but it seemed he was built for swimming. He was a gungan. While this was going on he was babbling on about something. Something about loving me and him owing me his life.

"Mesa called Jar Jar Binks," he finally introduced himself.

"Josh Kitsune," I said back.

"Mesa your humble servant!"

"Don't need one."

"Oh but I need to. Tis demanded by the god's it is."

We were then interrupted by laser fire and I pushed Jar Jar to the ground before whipping out Oathkeeper and deflecting several stray shots. I then realised that I wasn't the target as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were escaping from the droid. It saw me and tried to zap me but I calmly deflected the bolt and it went through the droid, sending it crashing at high speeds into a tree.

"You saved mwie again!" said Binks as he stood back up again.

"Who's your new friend?" asked Jinn.

"His name's Jar Jar Binks. I accidentally saved his life while trying to outrun one of those tanks," I explained.

"Ah, a Gungan," observed Jinn.

"Yeah, no need to rub it in," I grumbled. "We better get a move on though. More will be on to us soon."

"More? More did you say?" asked Jar Jar but we were already on our way.

"Exqueese me, but the mossest safest place would be Gunga city. Is where I grew up. Tiss a hidden city," explained Jar Jar.

"Whoa, hold up, hold up," I said and we all stopped. I looked at the gungan. "You said a hidden city, right?" I asked.

"A-ha," nodded Binks.

"Any chance of you taking us there?"

Jar Jar seemed to have a change of heart at this point. "Uhh... on second thought, no. Not really, no."

"How come?" I asked.

"Tiss embarrassing. But ah... just remembered I got banished. My forgot. The boss would do terrible things to me if I go back," explained Jar Jar.

A loud rumbling and crashing sounded in the distance. It seemed the transport tanks were starting to get closer to us. Qui-Gon then tried talking to the local. "You hear that?" he asked. Jar Jar lifted one of his very long and floppy ears. "Yeah?"

"That is the sound of a thousand terrible things heading this way," said Jinn.

"If they find us, they will crush us. Grind us into tiny little pieces and blast us into oblivion," added Obi-Wan.

Jar Jar now was having third thoughts. "Ah... you sa point is well seid." He then pointed the way to the city. "This way!" said before walking in the direction he pointed at.

"Smooth talking guys," I said while grinning as we walked off after him.

The walk to the entrance was long and a few hours passed by. Binks claimed he knew where he was going but I had serious doubts as several times he stopped dead before turning a right angle and continuing on. For the most part we were silent. The crashing of the invasion force decreased in volume until the forest was silent of any threatening sounds.

We were now passing a large lake. "Are we there yet?" I asked for the umpteenth time that day. Binks pointed to the body of water. "We sa going underwater, okeday?" he said. All previous hints of his laid back attitude was now gone. He sounded sombre, even apprehensive. "But my warnin you, Gungans no liken outsiders so, don't expect a warm welcome," he added as a warning.

"Oh don't worry," said Obi-Wan, his voice slightly sarcastic. "This hasn't been our day for warm welcomes."

"Trust me Obi-Wan, what we experienced up there was like a reunion between two old friends compared to some of the situations I've been in," I said. Jar Jar then jumped up very high; impressive since he didn't use any force energy to speak of. As he flew through the air he called out a long string of whops and other sounds as he twisted and turned in mid flight and dived into the water. Our entrance was a little less flashy as we each grabbed a small oxygen flask and clamped our mouths around them. The air inside flowed into my lungs and we all stepped into the water and sank beneath the surface.

Under the water there seemed to be rock. But Jar Jar was swimming toward a high submerged cliff and he swam over the edge. A bright glow was emanating from beyond the edge so we summarised that the city was there. We followed with slight difficulty as we weren't water dwellers like Binks was. But we got to the edge of the cliff and our eyes widened.

Floating just under the edge was a large, sprawling city encased in bubbles. It was truly an amazing sight. Jar Jar made his way to a large bubble that seemed to be a sort of dock, judging from the small landing pad outside the bubble. We floated down onto the pad and slowly walked through the bubble. I felt all the water leaving me and then I was inside a surprisingly warm room. I looked back to see Jin and Kenobi walking through the film like force field of the bubble, keeping the water pressure at bay. I hardly felt wet at all, just a very light dampness on my skin but my clothes were completely dry.

"That's a nice trick," I muttered.

"So good bein home!" said Binks, rather loudly, causing everyone in the room to look at the three of us.

It wasn't long before a guard reined in on a two legged animal to stand next to us.

"Hey you! Stop right there!" he said, clearly talking to all of us.

Jar Jar said something in his native tongue before finishing off in Galactic Basic, "Mesa back!"

"No again Jar Jar," said the guard, seeming to be an acquaintance of Binks. "You sa goin to da Boss. You sa in big do do this time."

Binks moaned softly at what he said as a second guard came up on the opposite side. He poked Jar Jar with his spear and a small amount of electricity jolted Binks. He jumped back before looking at the second guard. "How wude!" was all he said before we were escorted through the city complex. After about another half hour of walking we arrived in what looked to be some sort of council room. A massive and intimidating Gungan sat on a seat at the far end. He was surrounded with two other Gungans on both sides. We were standing on a platform in the middle of the room.

The big one clicked his tongue loudly, the sound reverberating through the room. "You sa canos be here. This army of makanics up there is you we saw."

"This droid army is about to attack the Naboo. We must warn them," said Jinn as he was our spokesperson.

"We sa no like the Naboo," said the big one, clicking his tongue again. "Da Naboo think they so smart; dey think their brains so big."

"Once the droids take control of the surface, they will take control of you," imputed Kenobi.

"Me sa no think so. They not know of us an," said the Boss.

"You and the Naboo form a symbiotic circle. What happens to one of you will affect the other. Surely you understand this?" asked Obi-Wan, confused as to why the two races did not get along.

"We sa no care about da Naboo!" said the Boss with a tone of finality.

"Then speed us on our way," said Jinn.

"We sa ganna speed you away," agreed the Boss.

"Maybe you could give us a ride?" I asked.

"We sa give you sa Otoh Bongo," said the Boss. "The speediest way to the Naboo tis going through," here he grinned quite evilly. "The planet core. Now go." Naboo, unlike most other planets, did not have a molten rock core. Naboo was a geologically unique world in the galaxy. A plasmic molten outer core surrounded an inner core, believed to be composed primarily of a nickel-iron alloy, with very small amounts of some other elements. The plasmic magma "seethes and bubbles" from the centre of the planet carving labyrinths of winding tunnels and caverns similar to lava tubes of traditional magma flows. Much of these abyssal labyrinths were submerged in great underground oceans.

"Thank you for your time, we leave in peace," said Qui-Gon and we turned around to walk out.

"Master Kitsune, what's a Bongo?" asked Kenobi.

"Our ride," I said before adding, "I hope."

As we walked past Jar Jar being held by two guards, he looked at us. "He'sa setting you'sa up. Going through da planet core? Bad bumin." He then looked down at the iron cuffs around his wrists. "Uh, any help here would be hot," he added.

"I got this. We need a navigator anyway," I said to the others before walking back to the platform. "What's going to happen to Jar Jar?" I asked the Boss.

"He soon to be... peunished," said the Boss.

"I guess now would be a good time to say that I saved his life. He owes me big time. A life debt, I believe you call it. Your gods demand that his life belongs to me now," I said while grinning softly.

"Binks!" asked the Boss in surprise. He then turned to Jar Jar. He spoke to Jar Jar in a mixture of the native tongue and Galactic Basic. I gathered he was asking if what I said was true. Jar Jar nodded hopefully, but truthfully.

The boss then shook his head quickly from side to side, his whole face relaxed, making a strange noise. He then pointed at me, then to the door. "Begone with him!"

I bowed slightly before turning around and walking back to my friends, while Binks was released.

"Count me outta dis one! Bedder here den in da core!" he then seemed to realise what he just said and quickly corrected himself.

The Bongo was a strange underwater vehicle. It looked like a cross between a stingray and a squid. However it was quite fast.

We easily descended down an abyss. "This is nutsin," said Jar Jar as he looked out of the window. "Oh! Goober fish!" he exclaimed.

"So why were you banished?" I asked him.

"It's a longo telo, but ah... small part of it would be me sa... uh... clumsy," said Binks.

"You were banished because you were clumsy?" asked Kenobi.

Jar Jar then telling his tale of his banishment. Most of it I didn't understand but it seemed he was kicked out because one thing lead to another.

Then the whole ship jolted and I turned to see some real ugly, huge fish had clamped down on the fins that was the ships method of propulsion.

"Ah no! Big Goober fish with big teeth!" yelled Binks as he began to freak out. Then we were suddenly released as a much larger sea creature bit down on the fish that had attacked us. It then proceeded to rip it apart.

"There's always a bigger fish," said Jinn calmly.

"There's no way that was a friggin fish," I retorted as Obi-Wan drove the sub into a tunnel. After a few minutes Jar Jar asked a question. "Where we sa going?"

"Don't worry," said Jinn. "The force will guide us."

"Oh maxi big da force!" said Jar Jar sceptically. "Well that's smells stinky."

"Yeah, it does sometimes," I agreed.

An alarm then sounded and the sub began to slow down. "We're losing power," announced Kenobi as Binks moaned loudly.

"We sa die in here!" moaned Jar Jar.

"Calm down. We're not out of options yet," I said as Jinn fumbled around the back.

"What yet?" asked Binks as Jin found what he was looking for. A power board. "Monsters out there, leaking in here, all sinking and no power!" continued Jar Jar in his rant. "When you sa thinkin we sa out of options!" asked Jar Jar as Jinn hotwired the power, restarted the engine and reconnected the power.

"There we go!" I said before I looked ahead of me and saw something resembling an old, legendary creature, the Leviathan. "Oh this just isn't my day," I complained lazily as Kenobi revved to full speed and we darted down the tunnel.

The Gungan began to freak out again and I placed my hand on his shoulder. "Calm down," I force told him but he just shook his head and sunk into his seat. "Opps. I think I might of overdone it."

Then a new situation came up. A second swimming thing was coming towards us, jaws open wide. But Obi-Wan just dodged the mouth and we skimmed over the top. The new threat, no longer bearing down on us, went for the next best thing and chomped down on the snake.

"Oh boy..." muttered Jar Jar.

"Head for that outcropping," said Qui-Gon and Kenobi directed the Bongo down another tunnel.

After another two hours of travelling through the core, without anymore interruptions, the Bongo surfaced, showing grand architecture and blue skies.

We had arrived at Theed, capital of Naboo.