Chapter 2: On the Way
Disclaimer: Don't own Star Wars. Vash Zionz belongs to me, Dorado belongs to Rayo Verrani. La Kai Jing is an OC I helped make for my girlfriend, Supernanny, and Beka Tardun is an OC I helped make for a dear friend, Wolfen-Ways.
--
Vash winced as he tried to insert his prosthetic left arm into it's socket. Sitting nearby, panting, was his Kath Hound pet, Argos. Now, Vash loved Argos and even Dorado tolerated the space mutt, but Argos had a nasty habit of going into people's cabins and running out with something of theirs in his jaws. If he wasn't stealing Dorado's blasters, he was stealing Vash's prosthetic arm.
The mercenary glanced at his dog, "You need to stop taking my arm, buddy, or else I'm gonna find a cheap medical droid and have you fixed,"
Argos let out a whine and lay his head on the floor.
Dorado came walking into the lounge area and leaned against the doorway, "He damage it?"
"No," Vash stuck out his tongue as he tried to find the right place in his metallic socket, "No more than usual,"
"You should keep that in a safe place,"
"Thought I did," Vash yelped and dropped his arm, clutching his stump, "Dammit, I hate it when it won't get in on some days,"
Dorado walked over and picked up the arm, "Turn around, I'll put it in,"
Vash looked at him and scooted away, "No way,"
"You need help,"
"Yeah, need help with an arm, I don't need help with having something crammed into my body,"
Dorado grabbed the human and pinned him in a position that exposed the metal stump that was grafted to his shoulder, "Just hold still and don't be a crybaby," he looked at the prosthetic he was holding, looked back at the entry port for a few seconds, then rammed the arm into the merc's body.
Vash yelped again and pounded on the ship, "DAMMIT, DORADO!"
The Cragmoloid twisted the arm around until there was a loud snapping sound. He let go and backed away, smiling, "There we go, good as new,"
His partner glared daggers at him as he held his replacement, "You bastard, you always do that too hard!"
"Well, maybe if you could do right yourself, I wouldn't need to help you,"
"You don't help me, you cause me pain!"
Dorado rolled his eyes, "You ready yet? I punched in the coordinates, and I'm waiting to go into hyperspace already,"
"Just about," Vash stood up, still wincing at the pain his partner dealt him, "Just need to get my stuff together, because as soon as we come across the Jedi, we're gonna need everything we got to even have a small chance of living,"
The Cragmoloid folded his arms, "So, what are the Jedi like?" he asked curiously.
Vash walked over to a large locker sat on the far end of the lounge and punched in a few numbers. When it beeped, he pried it open and looked at the gear inside.
"Vash?"
"One word to describe the Jedi: deadly," the Human muttered, kneeling down to the chest, "They have power over the Force, which lets them move things without actually touching them, they can sometimes predict movements with their Jedi reflexes, and then there's the lightsabers,"
Dorado nodded, looking at his arm, "Yeah, You told me already, lots of times. Speaking of, I'm wondering about something,"
"Wassat, Crag?"
"Why do you have a lightsaber if you hate Jedi so much?"
Vash paused and looked at the cylindrical, metal device in his hand. This was the deactivated form of the Jedi's most dangerous, but well-known weapons. Dorado knew that Vash came across the so-called trophy of his, but he couldn't figure out why he didn't toss it if he hated Jedi so much.
"I can't say for sure, Dorado, I really can't," the Human sighed and placed the laser sword on the floor next to him, "Then again, I can't say a lot of things for sure,"
Dorado just shook his massive head.
"Well, since I can't seem to convince you to change your mind about this job, might as well tell me more about it,"
The Cragmoloid nodded and pulled out a small holopad and placed it on the lounge table, pressing the play button as soon as it was ready.
Vash rose to his feet and walked over to see a recorded image of a wicked looking droid with a cloak over it's broad shoulders.
"Grievous, huh? Great...,"
The droid coughed, "I have heard from a reliable source that you know how to deal with Jedi, mercenaries, which is why I've decided to come to you for a delicate mission. There are two Jedi Knights that must be captured and handed over into my custody,"
"Grievous wanting to capture Jedi instead of killing them...," Vash shook his head, "I'll never understand droids,"
"I am sending all the information you need to identify and put to use in the mission. I will give you each 10,000,000 Credits if you capture at least Jedi, but I will give you both 30,000,000 Credits if you bring in both Jedi alive! Take note, mercenaries, that if you fail this mission, not only will you not be paid for your troubles, but you will be taken into custody of the CIS and executed by firing squad under my personal supervision!"
With a final cough, Grievous disappeared.
Vash clicked his tongue and looked up at his partner, "You didn't think 'Gee, this may not be a good idea' at any point during this?"
Dorado ignored him and tossed a large datapad, "That's the information we were given. Appearance, names, ranks, and last known locations,"
Vash looked at the information, "Two Jedi females...one is a Master and the other is a Padawan, no surprise there. Also no surprise that they're both leaders in the Clone Army, the Master being a General and the Padawan being a Commander," he scrolled the information down, "A Twi'lek and a Human that were last seen around...," his eyes bugged out of his skull, "I hate you, Crag,"
"Feeling's mutual sometimes, Human," Dorado muttered, "Look, we're heading there anyway, so get used to it,"
"This is Republic space, not Separatist space or even free space, but Republic space!" Vash threw the datapad to him, "If there's one thing I know about that in these times is that they're going to be crawling with Clone Troopers and Republic ships. If they're really there, not only are we gonna have to deal with two Jedi, but we're gonna have the Grand Army of the Republic on our asses like ugly on a rancor!"
"We can handle it," Dorado said dismissively, turning and heading back to the cockpit, "Come on,"
The one-armed mercenary sighed loudly and turned to Argos, "I have a bad feeling about this...,"
"Don't say that, something bad always happens!" Dorado called from the corridor.
"DOESN'T THAT TELL YOU ANYTHING?!"
--
"Concentrate...concentrate...,"
"Master...!"
"Concentrate, Padawan, just a little longer,"
In a large, empty room aboard a Republic cruiser, two Jedi were going about their daily practices. Well, the Padawan was going about the practice routines while her Jedi Master watched with a careful eye.
The Jedi Master was a Rutian Twi'lek who went by the name of La Kai Jing, but normally went by "Kai" for short. She wore the traditional robes of a Jedi Master, and the traditional Jedi weapon at her hip. Her calm eyes looked straight ahead at her young Padawan, a young Human girl named Beka Tardun.
Beka was from Alderaan, originally, but she was taken into the Jedi Order at a very young age after showing impressive Jedi traits. Beka was sixteen in Galactic Standard Years, and despite using most of her time in Jedi training, she looked as though she kept up appearances rather well. She had short, blonde hair, save an amount of hair that was tied into a Jedi Padawan braid that traveled down the back of her. Her brilliant blue eyes showed that while she had been learning so much in her life, she was still naive.
Kai cared for Beka like an older sister, perhaps even as a surrogate mother would, but at times, she was more of a Master than a relative. Today, for example, she was pushing her to complete her training so that she could become a strong and valuable ally in the Clone Wars. She watched as the Padawan stood on one of her hands, her other hand held behind her back as she concentrated very hard to levitate nearby objects in the room. The Human's face was dripping with sweat, as she had been training for most of the day, and this was putting stress on both her mind and body. The Twi'lek Jedi rose to her feet and slowly walked around her Padawan Learner, her robes trailing behind her.
"You're improving, Beka, that's good, but there is still some rough edges you need to refine," Kai tilted her head to the side in order to dodge a floating plant display, "Remember: the Force flows through all living things, it surrounds us and it binds us. As you grow as a Jedi, you will come to know more about the Force and hopefully, use your knowledge to use it well,"
"Master...," Beka winced, "If I may say so, what does lifting random things have to do with the Force?"
"For one, you are using the Force to do so. Secondly, it helps you practice the command over the Force we Jedi have. If you stick to your lessons and your practices, you will be able to lift larger things,"
"Like what?"
Kai shrugged, "Some people can lift debris such as broken metal from homes out of the way, some people can prevent boulders from falling on them or others...I bet one could even lift a starship out of a murky swamp if needed,"
"You want me to try and lift-?"
"No," Kai cut her off, "I don't want you to try anything, Beka, I want you to do. Do or do not, there is no try when it comes to the Force,"
"You sound like Master Yoda,"
The Twi'lek smiled and came to a halt, looking down at her Padawan, "Whom do you think instructed me?" she looked around at her apprentice's work, then tapped her leg. Before she said she could stop now, Beka fell over and everything she lifted with the Force fell to the floor with a loud clatter.
Kai sighed and bent down to her level, "Beka, you can't let a thing like a mere touch distract you. I was going to say stop for the day, but I didn't expect you to lose control so easily,"
"I'm sorry, Master Kai," Beka rolled over and rubbed her arm, "My arm was getting sore, so I couldn't really concentrate,"
"You can't let a simple pain like a sore arm distract you," Kai rolled up her sleeves and grabbed her Padawn's arm, "You will be fine, Beka, nothing major to worry about. However, it seems that I've been pushing you a bit hard lately," she released her Padawan, "Why don't you go and rest for a few hours, Beka, take some personal time to relax?"
Beka climbed to her feet, "Thank you, Master Kai,"
As the young Human left the room, Kai used her Force abilities to clean up the room after her apprentice.
"Kids...,"
Just then, an alarm began to blare.
"We are under attack! Incoming Separatist fighters! Repeat, we are under attack by the Separatists!"
Kai sighed and headed for the door, "Here I thought we'd be having a peaceful journey,"
--
"You know, I can never get used to seeing hyperspace," Vash murmured as he stared out at the cockpit, watching the swirling blue vortex that the Shadow Stalker was traveling through, "It looks so funky...,"
Dorado came up behind him, eating some of the food from the synthesizer in the kitchen area, "Why do you always stare at that?"
"I don't know," Vash tilted his head, eyes focused on the wormhole, "It's...just so pretty,"
The Cragmoloid rolled his eyes and headed back into the deeper areas of the ship, "Why did I ever join up with this idiot?"
"I heard that!"
"Good! Now, tell me if you can feel this!" Dorado grabbed a metal bowl and chucked it at the back of his head.
"OW! YOU SONOFABANTHA!"
"Feed your damn Kath Hound!"
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Kilnorc: Alright, the second chapter's up -claps- I'm getting into this more than the other one! Maybe it's because I DO know more about the Clone Wars, hehe. Up next, the first space battle!