Jessie looked at Obi-Wan confused, as the ships alarms went off.
"No time to discuss it now," he said, as they sped back to the hull.
The deck was a flurry of activity. Admiral Yularen was barking orders at the clones who responded to them with a controlled sense of urgency.
"Admiral, what's the situation?" Obi-Wan demanded as he and his padawan slowed to a halt beside him.
"Two Separatist Star Destroyers just exited hyperspace!" Yularen shouted back in order to be heard over the canon fire that had begun to rock the ship.
"Position us in front of the Enterprise and focus return fire on the left flagship! Try to raise the Resolute on the comm., we're going to need reinforcements!" Kenobi responded as he steadied himself with the Force against the ships rocking. He should have known that the moment everything seemed to be going well another problem would present itself. This already proven true when Senator Amidala had shown up before they had been able to completely defeat the Malevolence. She had consequently been captured and taken aboard by Grievous. After a complicated, albeit successful, rescue mission had been executed and the dreadful Separatist ship had been destroyed, it had seemed reasonable to send the Senator back with the Resolute as a safety precaution. It also would provide a break for Anakin, one that Obi-Wan could tell he had been wanting and earned. Of course plans always seemed nice in theory, until something like an attack replaces it with reality.
Obi-Wan activated his wrist link as he shouted the rest of his orders to the admiral. "I'll take a squad of fighters and try to keep the other occupied! Jessie you're with me!"
The padawan tried to control her excitement and nerves as she followed her master through the ship at a run. During previous battles he had told her to stay on the bridge and observe the battle from there. Did this mean he was finally going to let her in on the action?
"Cody here."
"Commander prepare your squad for launch! We need to direct enemy fire away from the Negotiator!"
"Right away general!"
"We'll be joining you soon," Kenobi finished before cutting off the communication and turning his attention to his padawan. "It looks like your first space battle is coming sooner than I thought."
Jessie barely managed to keep the smile off her face as she responded with a shrug. "It was bound to happen eventually."
"I know you're excited padawan, but this isn't training back at Temple. It's dangerous and you'll need to stay focused." His tone was stern, but she could see worry in his eyes as he glanced back at her.
"Sorry master, I know. I'll be careful," she replied and he nodded satisfied.
When they reached the hangar, the clones were either boarding or already aboard their starfighters and waiting to be cleared for take off. As Obi-Wan climbed into his red Delta-7B, Jessie boarded her own. Settling into the cockpit, she stretched out her senses and tried to get a feel for what was going on in the Force both on the enemies side and their own. The troopers all shared a calm determination that echoed through her mind. They had been engineered for warfare and although each of them seemed content with it, Jessie couldn't be. From the beginning of her training as a Jedi she had been taught that all life was precious and the concept of mass producing humans for the sole purpose of creating an army troubled her deeply. That was something to be dealt with later though. Right now there were more pressing issues. Jessie shifted her focus to the Separatist forces. The absence of life in space already made it a cold void in the Force and the presence of thousands of battle droids did nothing to lessen the effect. The only life signature coming from that side of the battle ground was a pinprick of greed and corruption that radiated through her mind in nauseating waves. That must be the Separatist Commander, probably Neimoidian and thinking a grand defeat of Republican Forces would bring him into favor with the Count.
"Focus Padawan." It was Obi-Wan over the comm. Jessie glanced sheepishly at her master across the hangar bay and sealed her cockpit before starting up her fighter and following the rest of the squad into the fray.
"This doesn't look good Spock. I don't like the odds out there." Jim sighed, leaning forward on his chair deep in a mental battle against the Prime Directive and his own compassion for their new friends. Obviously they had stumbled upon a great war and this battle had an air of importance about it, and Jim just couldn't shake the itching feeling that his place was out there with those people fighting a good fight.
"According to Starfleet policy Captain we are unable to assist them in this battle." Spock said coolly, moving to his side, radiating calm and composure. He hid his inner turmoil from everyone. The loss of life when they could help was... illogical, but violating the Prime Directive was illogical for a starfleet officer of his ranking as well. Logical and illogical thoughts poured into his mind as he silently weighed the pros and cons.
Both of their eyes remained glued to the viewing screen where the battle was plainly laid out as if it was merely a movie and them the audience. Flashes of green and red beams lit up the darkness of space as they soared to their targets and caused bursts of explosions that did not touch them but reached their ears slightly with a muffled boom.
Silence reigned on the bridge as all eye were on the battle outside. Chocolate brown eyes held the explosion's reflection as a fighter pouring from the ship they had just left was blown up before Spock's eyes, sending his inner battle into an inner roaring that only seemed to grow. His human side screamed at him to save the people who had received them kindly and his Vulcan side calmly urged him to stay upon the course of logic and follow the rules he built his moral foundations upon. As usual, Spock gave in to the protective, indifferent bubble that logic provided and his opinion was set. His human side was returned behind the locked and chained door in his mind where he kept it hidden. The one thing he couldn't silence were the whispers leaking from a small chink he would never be able to close.
Bright blue eyes lost their sparkle as Jim took in the destruction and his heart clenched in his chest, making him reflexively put a hand to his chest. Spock had once described him as, "overly human" and in this moment his humanity was struggling against his control. it felt as if he was being surrounded by voices calling for help but suddenly the crowd of struggling clones parted to reveal the young girl, Jessie, he had met and connected with aboard the ship. Her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as she watched him. In that moment he made a decision.
"Start engines and put up those shields. Get ready for battle!" he yelled and the bridge immediately became a flurry of action as red lights flashed and Jim stood in anticipation as their ship prepared for battle at top speed.
"We are coming." he murmured as they began to accelerate slowly.
Jessie peeled her eyes away from the Enterprise as her R3 unit bleated a warning. She jerked the stick down, forcing her fighter into a steep dive in an attempt to avoid the vulture droid now on her tail. It followed her closely as she bobbed and weaved, trying to both shake the machine off and avoid its consistent trail of laser fire. From what she could see, most of her comrades were in similar positions. Every time they tried to make a run at the Sep ship, another swarm of droids would envelop their team. And as for their flagship...well it was still in one piece. She just hoped Master Skywalker would arrive with reinforcements before they were no longer needed.
The Enterprise suddenly surged forward on what little power they had managed to gather as Scotty began charging phasers. The great silver lady rose from a position below the battle and immediately began firing on one of the Separatist ships. The enemy's shots merely bounced off of their shields as she rose and fired on the engines, sending the ship into pieces of a burning wreckage. Sulu was just steering the ship to attack the second ship but before they could recharge phasers, the ship was jumping into hyperspace and was gone in a flash of light.
Aboard the Enterprise everyone cheered and Jim grinned, jumping up and turning to Spock. Spock was giving him a look that clearly said disappointment and Jim glared right back at him. "I had to do something." he hissed and sat back in his chair, pouting a little.
"Uhura contact the ship. I want to make sure we are still on good terms with these people." he said and Uhura nodded.
Jessie gaped at the empty space where the Sepratist ship had been just seconds before. Master Skywalker couldn't have gotten here that fast. She swung her starfighter around to face the other ship, only to find it decimated.
"What in the galaxy?"
"Jessie, are you alright?" Her masters voice was filled with a mixture of confusion and relief.
"Yes master, but how...?"
"I think we'll find out soon enough. Let's head back to the Negotiator for now."
"Copy that. I'll follow you in." The communication cut out and Jessie switched over from the private channel to hear the clones cheering over their enemy's retreat. Jessie smiled at their joy as she guided her ship into the hangar bay. While she disembarked, she counted the other fighters and her smile faded. They'd lost a fourth of the squad.
Obi-Wan saw the troubled look on his padawan's face and sighed. He walked up beside her and place a comfort hand on her shoulder. "They were doing their duty Jess. Now it's our duty to make sure their sacrifice wasn't in vain."
The girl nodded. "Right."
"Come on," he said, directing her towards the hallway. "Let's find out what happened up there."
When they reached the bridge, Admiral Yularen showed them a recording of the battle. Jessie tried to keep track of everything as they watched. She tried to see when each of her now former fellow pilots had died and if there had been anything she could have done to save them. Then she noticed movement from the bottom of the recording and realized how they had been saved. A little slowly, but surely, the Enterprise moved from its place behind their ship to attack one of the Separatist destroyers head on. Their weaponry tore through the enemy ship, blasting it into shreds.
"Kriff..." Jessie breathed, astounded again by their new acquaintances.
"Language padawan," Obi-Wan reprimanded, but his face shared a similar expression of awe.
"Sorry master," the girl apologized, blushing slightly. "It's just...that kind of power..."
"That kind of power could win us the war," Yularen finished confidently.
Suddenly the comm in Jessie's robes twittered like an electronic bird chirping for attention. The room went silent and everyone searched for the origin of the sound, not having heard it before. Soon all eyes were on the frozen young padawan. She quickly located the device in her belt pouch and switched it on.
"Jessica Lotarn?" Spock's voice came through the small speaker, the device's gold cover automatically flipping up for her.
She looked at the communicator curiously before responding. "Yes?"
"This is Lieutenant Commander Spock of the U.S.S. Enterpri-" he was cut off and there was fumbling.
"Hey I'm the Captain let me talk!"
"Captain Kirk this is most illogical. I request that you get off of me this instant." Spock said distantly and there was more fumbling.
"Ow Spock! Lemme go-"
"Captain! Jim this is-"
"Hey Jess it's Jim." There was muffled movement in the background.
"Captain...Jim please release me."
"Fine." he let him go and then said cheerily, "Glad to see you are all in one piece Jess."
"Thanks...everything okay over there?" she replied.
"Fine fine...just a small dispute." he brushed it off.
"Oh, alright."
"So are you in a state where we can pop on over for a chat?" he asked, already preparing to transport.
Jessie glanced up at her master for reassurance, who nodded. "We are."
"Awesome!" In seconds Jim closed his communicator and Scotty beamed them over to the ship. They appeared gradually, first a flash of light and then transparent beings slowly becoming real.
"Wizard." Jessie said with a smile.
Jim had a charming grin plastered on his handsome face and both he and Spock looked a bit ruffled. Spock was stiff next to Jim and his strong aura exuded displeasure toward his captain but there was a hint of affection as well.
"I suppose a thank you is in order. I don't think our forces would have made it through this battle had you not stepped in." Obi-Wan's tone was grateful, but also cautious. He still wasn't sure what to make of the pair.
"Your welcome Mr. Tai Wan it was my pleasure." he smiled, honestly having mixed up Obi-Wan's name. spock looked mortified in his chocolate brown eyes and immediately stepped forward, whispering in Jim's ear. He face winced and he smiled sheepishly at the Jedi Master. "I mean Obi-Wan. So sorry."
Jessie giggled as he responded. "It's fine."
"I assume you have questions." Spock's inner diplomat came out as he took the lead. From past experience, he knew that his Jim was horrible at diplomacy.
"Indeed," he said with a nod. "Perhaps we should continue our discussion somewhere more private?"