Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, only my own character, Kiirah Ontari.
Chapter One:
Return to Naboo
"Excuse me, Master Ontari, Master Qui-Gon." Qui-Gon and I stirred from our meditation.
"Yes young one?" I asked.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but the council would like to see you two. Master Yoda says it's urgent." The youngling said. Qui-Gon and I both got up and headed for the Council room.
"You wished to see us Masters?" Qui-Gon said as we entered.
"Yes, there is trouble, with the Trade Federation." Master Windu said.
"Well isn't there always?" I asked. "That usually isn't a Jedi matter."
"Set up a blockade around your homeworld of Naboo, they have." Master Yoda informed me. I frowned and shifted my weight. "Asked the Jedi to act as ambassadors for the Senate, the Chancellor has. Sending you two to negotiate with them, we are."
"We have a transport ready to leave as soon as you two are ready." Master Windu told us. "We suggest you prepare to leave immediately" Qui-Gon and I bowed and left.
"It's been quite some time since we have been on an assignment together." Qui-Gon said as we walked the halls of the Temple. I nodded and held my hands behind my back as we walked.
"It has. I'll admit, I have missed it. We make a good team." I said. Qui-Gon laughed lightly.
"That we do, Little One." He said. "Are you going to be alright working with Obi-Wan?" I sighed and nodded.
"Yes. I have come to be able to control my feelings, much better than I could at sixteen." I told him.
"I'm glad to hear that." Qui-Gon said. "You have grown to be an exceptional young woman, Kiirah, and an extremely talented Jedi. I'm very proud of you."
"Thank you, that means alot coming from you."
"I should go get Obi-Wan, we'll meet you at the transport." He said, placing a hand on my shoulder before walking away.
"Why would the Trade Federation set up a trade blockade around Naboo? It doesn't make sense." I said, as I concentrated on the game of holochess in front of me, contemplating my next move.
"The Trade Federation has strong ties to the Separatist alliance. They're probably trying to get Naboo to join the Separatists, and the Queen denied, so this is their way of trying to convince them." Obi-Wan said as he watched me make my move. "Hopefully we can find a peaceful solution and get them to end the blockade." I rolled my eyes.
"I don't see that happening, unfortunately." I said as I got up from my seat and walked over to the window of the ship.
"I must agree with you, Kiirah." Qui-Gon said. "However, we must start with an attempt at peaceful negotiations"
"I know Master. I'm not letting my guard down though. I do not trust them in the slightest." I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Neither do I, Little One. Neither do I." He said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "I'm going to retire for a bit, get some rest before we dock. I recommend you both do the same." With that said, he left the room.
"I must say I disagree with you Master Ontari." Obi-Wan said from his spot at the table. I turned and faced him, arms still crossed.
"Disagree on what?" I asked.
"I do believe we'll be able to end the blockade peacefully." He said. I sighed and shook my head, turning my back to him.
"That may be. But you have a habit of seeing peaceful solutions where there are none. At least from what I've heard." I said.
"Is it not our job as Jedi to keep the peace?" He asked.
"It is." I nodded. "But do not let your guard down, you may hope for peace, but you may not find it. The trade federation is deeply aligned with the Separatist alliance, more so than they let on, I believe. The Separatists are not known for their peaceful ways. We are potentially walking into a war."
"I prefer to look on the more positive side of things." Obi-Wan said with a shrug.
"Just as I prefer to be cautious." I retorted.
"Overly cautious, if you ask me." I glared at his reflection in the window.
"I don't see any problem with being overly cautious." I said, turning to face him again.
"There is when you leave in the middle of a civil war." He said. I clenched my fists and took a deep breath.
"That was four years ago." I said, my tone more on edge than I would have liked.
"Yes, and our defenses for the Duchess were severely weakened due to your leaving."
"They would have been weakened as well if I had stay. Possibly more so." I said, my voice raising.
"I disagree. You were friends good friends with the Duchess. And fiercely loyal to her. Long before the assignment. I refuse to believe that anything would have compromised that loyalty." He stated.
"You know full well why I had to leave."
"You could have ignored it. You could have stayed"
"The hell I could!" I yelled. "You knew how I felt, and you acted on it! Not me! There was no way I could stay before that and absolutely no way I could stay after that!"
"Maybe if you were able to control your feelings-"
"Me? I was the one who needed to control their feelings?" I laughed. "It was you who acted on them. You finalized my decision. I left so that I could get better control. I would have rejoined the mission later if you hadn't acted on your feelings." At this point I was shaking.
"It was mistake, one that I will admit to. But it was no more of a mistake than you leaving."
"Enough!" I yelled, throwing my hands down, rattling the tables and chairs with the Force.
"Kiirah." Qui-Gon said sternly. I turned toward my mentor, still shaking. "Go to your quarters. Meditate." I nodded. "I will come get you when we're about to dock." With that said I left the room swiftly.
"As for you, my padawan. She may be younger than you, but she is a Jedi Knight, and your superior. You must show her the same respect that you show me." I heard Qui-Gon say.
"I'm sorry Master." Obi-Wan said calmly. "She can just be rather… infuriating."
"I'm sure she feels the same about you. Especially seeing how you were the one who started that… conversation."
"I feel it was both of us who started it." I could almost feel Qui-Gon rolling his eyes.
"Whatever you believe, my padawan." Qui-Gon said. "Oh, and it would be in your best interest not to anger Master Ontari in the future. What you just saw is just a hint of what she can do. She is not like the other Jedi."
"I will do my best to remember that."
Figuring their conversation was over, I cleared my mind to meditate. As soon as I did that however my chamber doors opened.
"I haven't seen you lose your temper like that in quite some time, Little One." Qui-Gon said calmly. I opened my eyes and sighed.
"I'm sorry Master, I didn't mean to."
"I know." He said. "He has always had a way of pushing your buttons, since you two were younglings."
"He was out of line bringing that up."
"He was." Qui-Gon agreed. "You should not lash out like that though."
"I know, Master. It won't happen again."
"I'll leave you to your meditation now. I'll come get you when we're docking." He said. I nodded and with that he left.
A light knock at my door stirred me from my meditation.
"Enter" I said
"We will be docking in a moment Kiirah." Qui-Gon told me.
I nodded and followed him out to the main part of the ship. I looked out the window and watched as our ship entered the docking bay. I put the hood of my cloak up as the doors opened.
"I'm TC-14 at your service." A protocol droid greeted us. "This way, please." The three of us followed the protocol droid down the corridor a large conference room. "We are greatly honored by your visit Ambassadors. Make yourselves comfortable. My master will be with you shortly." The droid then bowed and left the room. I lowered my hood, as did Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. The two of them looked out the window at my homeworld, while I sat down at the table, frowning. Something didn't feel right.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Obi-Wan said.
"I don't sense anything." Qui-Gon said casually.
"It's not about the mission, Master, it's something… elsewhere… elusive"
"I sense it too." I agreed. "But do not center on your anxieties."
"Keep your concentration here and now where it belongs." Qui-Gon told his padawan.
"But Master Yoda says I should be mindful of the future…"
"But not at the expense of the moment. Be mindful of the living Force, my young padawan."
"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan said as they walked over to the window. "How do you think the trade viceroy will deal with the chancellor's demands?" He asked.
"These Federation types are cowards. The negotiations will be short." Qui-Gon said simply.
"I hope you're right." I mumbled.
After a while of waiting, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan joined me at the table. I was becoming impatient, my finger tapping anxiously on the table.
"Is it in their nature to make us wait thing long?" Obi-Wan asked. Clearly becoming as impatient as I was. The protocol droid returned with a tray of drinks, which Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan took, but I declined.
"No… I sense an unusual amount of fear for something as trivial as a trade dispute." Qui-Gon said, puzzled.
Suddenly there was loud sound of an explosion. The three of us all jumped up, light sabers drawn, causing the protocol droid to jump and spill the drinks.
"...Sorry" the droid muttered. I turned off my lightsabers, as did Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. Immediately after we heard a faint hissing noise.
"Dioxis." Qui-Gon informed us. I took a deep breath and used the Force to aid myself in not breathing in the poison. After a few minutes the doors opened slowly, letting out the poisonous gas. We heard battle droids cocking their weapons, and watched as the protocol droid left the room.
"Oh, excuse me." TC-14 said.
"Check it out Corporal. We'll cover you." A droid said.
"Roger, roger." Before the droid could get far we turned our sabers back on.
"Uh oh. Blast them!" A droid yelled.
We fought our way through the droids, making our way to the bridge. The door was shut but Qui-Gon thrust his saber into the door, melting the metal, trying to create an entrance through the locked door. I heard three more blast doors close behind the door Qui-Gon was cutting through. He pushed his saber further through the doors with great effort, and I copied his actions opposite him to get through faster, while Obi-Wan cut down a droid in our defense. I heard two destroyer droids roll up, and I left my saver in the door melting the metal, and grabbed my other one quickly from my belt.
"Master, destroyers!" Qui-Gon turned to help Obi-Wan and I fight the destroyers, but the droid put a shield up around themselves. "They have shield generators."
"It's a standoff! Let's go!" Qui-Gon said. With that said we made a break for it. Leaving the hallway to the bridge. The destroyers followed us but we made it through a door that was closing.
Quietly, we made our way to the air ducts at the hangar bay. I watched in horror at the scene in front of me.
"Battle droids." Qui-Gon said quietly.
"There's thousands of them." I muttered.
"This is an odd play for the Trade Federation." Qui-Gon said. "We've got to warn the Naboo and contact Chancellor Valorum. Let's split up. Stow aboard separate ships and meet down on the planet."
"You were right about one thing, Master" Obi-Wan said. "The negotiations were short."