Author's Note:
Slower update then usual, sorry about that. I'm quite busy with other things. But its always good to write something again.
This Nar Shaddaa story arc is going on longer then I thought it would. I had thought of maybe trying to cut down the content and try my hand on kind of a minimalist approach like Mr. Wizard on his "Ronicus Ad Porta" but I don't think it would work for something like this. There's about I think three or more chapters in this storyline before we move on to something else. Bear with me people. Like a certain someone said to me I should take my time to see how it all plays out. The more time you guys get to be involve with the characters, The more you feel for them when I place them in a huge conflict like the Clone Wars. This is Kim and Ron we are talking about.
Zita Flores. What can I say? I have to expand her character somehow considering she was only like a minor character in Kim Possible. I hope you guys like what I'm doing with her so far. And yes the accent thing was suppose to be a sort of tribute to her Latin heritage from the show, I always found her voice to be pleasant to hear. Her skills with gaming and stuff a nod from her everlot days. Yes I have decided that she is Corellian. How will that effect her character only time will tell.
I don't think I have added anything new here that you guys might not know of. Except probably for the Anzati. The Anzati are from the planet of Anzat and they are assassins of legendary skill. I'll reveal more info on them later. Or you could research it if you want
Also, some of you have been asking me about the appearance of a certain sultry, snarky, green skinned villainess. Patience. Shego will come when she is ready.
Special thanks to General Patton for his contributed help in Beta-reading this chapter for me. A salute goes out to you General.
Read, review and enjoy. I'd love to hear what you think and I'm always open for suggestions.
Oh and just standard protocol. I don't own Star Wars nor do I own Kim Possible. George Lucas and Disney have the rights to that.
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Kim Possible: I am Jedi
Chapter seven: Of friends and shadows
"Just as the Anzati cannot impose their will on Jedi,
So you cannot impose your will on me.
So we are at an impasse."
Akku Seii, Anzati Assassin Master (Clone Wars Vol. 8: The last siege, the Final truth)
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Approximately 12 months before the Battle of Geonosis
The negotiations were long, tedious, and intense. Despite Jedi training and her tip-top physical form she was finding it harder and harder to keep still to herself. From the looks of it she was not the only one. She could feel Josh being exhausted from the strain, perspiration showed on his face. Neither Josh nor the Hutts seemed to give ground to either one. Kim shifted her weight slightly, sighing as what looked like a promising break was quickly mired down in yet MORE demands and compromises. It had only been two hours. Two hours of negotiations, that felt like five, and tension so thick in the air it was nearly palatable
Josh was here to represent the interest of the Republic. The Hutts were only concerned about how it would profit them. It turned out that republic freighters around Huttese space were disappearing. Either hijacked and looted by space pirates or by some unknown factor the Republic did not know. No Republic pilot made it back to tell the tale. While the task of guarding the freighters, which held vital supplies, was left to the fleet of the Republic, the galaxy was vast and boundless. The fleet could not be stretched that far and thin. No, the Republic's limited armada would be left where they were, to defend the core worlds. Josh was here to voice out the Republic's request, an aid from the Hutts. Protection and guaranteed safety on their territory.
The Hutts were less then eager to cooperate. What was in it for them?
Josh and Bargo argued in a diplomatic fashion, but Kim could tell the argument was going nowhere. The Hutts' demands were too outrageous, too much, and too unreasonable. Free Republic trade, diplomatic immunities granted to the Hutts, increased Hutt space, etc.
The young lieutenant and the Hutt were losing patience with one another.
Despite the razor sharp atmosphere Kim noted that two heads kept themselves calm. Gerald Katz and Senior Senor Sr. displayed a face that did not seem to give off any emotion. For her Master Kim thought this was natural.
But she felt something different about this other man, this Senor Senior Sr. The old man quietly kept to himself most of the time much like his role of an observer. Once in awhile he would interject and give a comment or two to keep the negotiations rolling but that was it. Kim could not shake the feeling in her gut that there was more to this man then meets the eye.
As for his son…the tanned well built young man seemed to be preoccupied by something as his eyes gave of that of someone who was not paying attention at all. Kim could have sworn she heard the young man complain about his hair. Whatever it was he clearly straightened up when his father glared in his direction.
"Gentlemen and my Hutt friends. Clearly this is going nowhere." Finally Senor Senior Sr. broke the tension as he stepped in between the Republic Ambassador and the towering Hutt. "Perhaps a moment or two to recollect our thoughts? I always find that-"
The old gentleman did not finish his sentence as he was interrupted by the sound of three canisters hitting the floor. Upon impact the canisters detonated and came a sudden flash of lights and smokes.
Chaos ensued with the negotiating Party. The Hutts cried out in fear and frustration, calling for their guards. Josh cursed under his breath as to what was happening and wished he had kept his blaster with him, his sight temporarily blinded by the flash of light. Kim and Katz kept their cool and maintained their composure as both drew their lightsabers, green blades illuminating inside the mists of smoke, Jedi instincts kicking in.
Katz drew on the Force as he reached out with his hand to part the mist around. Without the cover of the smoke shadows clad in black from head to toe appeared as clear as day. Six or eight, Katz could not tell how many there were for they moved as quickly as the wind. Two of them vaulted over him. One wielded a retractable quarterstaff, twirling it around like a master. The other armed with nothing more then his fists readied a stance that told Katz to not take this one lightly either. A wide swipe of the staff was aimed at Katz feet, to which the Jedi master jumped over effortlessly, and countered with a downward swipe of his own. Lightsaber met quarterstaff with a loud hiss. To his surprise the quarterstaff was not cut in half but rather held the lightsaber blade in place.
Cortosis. Katz thought to himself. Not many wielded weapons weaved of that rare ore for they fetched quite a hefty sum. Whoever these intruders were they came well prepared. Prepared to face Jedi. "Cortosis Kimberly!" A yell and a flurry came from Katz as he avoided another swipe. His assailant pushed his saber assault back with ease but was on his feet as well, for every swipe and slash he parried from the Jedi Master another was on its way. Gerald Katz's Shii-cho was no more different from Ron's then Kim's Ataru was from Master Yoda but clearly one could see just how deadly Form I was in the hands of a Master. Seizing an opportunity, the unarmed one spun in the air as he threw three metallic discs at the distracted Jedi Master. Sensing danger from the Force Katz executed three quick strokes, cutting the discs in half before they even reached him.
Kim heard the warning from Katz but was busy on her own. While her Master had to deal with two of them three surrounded her. Two of the three wielded staffs, but it was the third that caught Kim's attention the most. He wielded what seemed to be twin fans. The fan-wielding intruder lunged at Kim with a speed and precision she was sure only a Jedi could have matched. Kim narrowly avoided the attack, flipping backwards. Not to be outdone by their lead attacker the other two joined in, with swipes and thrusts from their staffs. A roll to the side and a Force push and Kim was free from the assault of the other two. The fan wielding masked one was left. The auburn haired Jedi padawan slashed her saber with fierce determination, a hard horizontal slash to the abdomen, to which Kim's opponent easily deflected with one of the fans and spun around her to avoid confronting Kim's assault face to face. Slash met thrust, swipe met parry, green energy blade danced with twin fans. Both were matching move for move. Kim had often been proud of her combat skills, which she thought were only matched by some of the Masters and her rival Bonnie. This one moved as deftly with his fans as she with the lightsaber. Kim would add another to that list.
"You're good, whoever you are." Kim could not help but compliment her opponent. She gripped her lightsaber closer to her face, true to a strong Ataru combat stance.
"The same can be said of you Jedi." A strong yet willowy voice came from the masked face. He was a she.
Both their eyes contested with one another in a deadlock.
"Forget the Jedi! We got what we came for!" A voice shouted out.
"Until we meet again Jedi." The masked female picked up two small devices from her pouch and threw them down to the ground. Smoke once again covered the room, and covered their trails.
"Kimberly!" Katz barked out.
"Way ahead of you Master!" Kim waved both her hands in the air; simultaneously she and Katz parted the smoke that engulfed the room. The masked attackers had vanished.
Jedi Master and padawan looked around, assessing the damage. The Hutts were still present. Surprised, shocked and red-faced, but still there alive and present. Yet it would seem that not all were accounted for.
"Senor Senior Sr. and his son are missing." Katz noted out loud, frustrated at himself for not seeing the attack coming. They had gone completely under his radar, not revealing their presence until the last moment. Katz wearily admitted to himself he still had much to learn from the Force.
Kim's assessment was even worse. "I don't see Lt. Mankey anywhere either."
As far as this negotiation assignment was concerned things were not going well at all.
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Ron had never met a person, much less a beautiful girl, so interested in the Jedi Knights before. After their escape Ron and Zita had managed to find a secluded alleyway near the more acceptable parts of Nar Shaddaa (acceptable according to Zita that is) and found themselves engrossed in casual conversation. Ron had completely forgotten his self-imposed reconnaissance mission.
"So what's it like?" She asked him another question, as she sat down on what seemed to be an empty crate, her legs dangling.
"What's what like?" Ron was confused.
"You know. That thing you do…what you feel. What's the Force like?" The tanned raven haired girl looked at him with clarity in her eyes. She genuinely wanted to know.
The blond padawan scratched his head and racked his brain for the answer. The Force was ever an elusive topic to him. It was something that him and Kim always discussed along with the other Masters and their fellow students but it was hard to describe to someone outside of the Order. Ron himself did not know quite well what the Force was considering he felt he was never as strong in it as the rest of the Jedi padawans. He leaned his back on a wall facing her.
"Its…kind of hard to explain…"
"Try me." She was not giving up.
"Well…" Ron thought again. What would Kim or Master Katz say? Finally he thought of a plausible response.
"Well…How about…it's…hmmm…imagine closing your eyes and ears. You don't see or hear anything right? Now picture in that darkness…that void…for a brief instance you could hear, no…feel the heartbeat of the entire galaxy for the very first time." Ron smiled at his own answer. It really was something like that. Well to him anyway. He would never forget that day when he felt the Force for the first time. It was like looking and staring at the very essence of life itself. That sounded smart and cool. Way to go Rondo.
"Wow…sounds like it's amazing." Zita looked up, her eyes wandering as she looked up at the vast sky and the galaxy above it.
"Yeah it sure is…" Ron agreed, not knowing they were not talking about the same thing as he continued to stare at her.
"Can I see your lightsaber?" Zita's question brought him out of his trance.
"Excuse me?" Ron thought he misheard her question.
"That thing? Attached to your belt? You know, glowing energy sword that kicks butt?"
"Oh, uh, that. Yeah I'm not really suppose to let anyone else touch my lightsaber. I could get into…"
"Oh c'mon. It's only for a second. Its not like I'm going to steal it." Zita jested.
"Well, Okay I guess." Ron pulled out the device that everyone held in awe and fear, the weapon that supposedly defined the Jedi. He placed it slowly in her hands.
Zita stared at it with child-like wonder as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world to her. "May I?" She looked at Ron.
"Sure. It's the switch between those two rings right there." The blond padawan gave his permission.
Zita found the switch with ease. Carefully she held the lightsaber in front of her and ignited it. Its trademark hiss and hum could not have been more terrifying nor exciting to her in that very moment. Its pale blue light gleamed in the dimly lit alley.
"This is… too… cool…" She whispered.
Ron could not help but smile as he folded his arms together. She was clearly taken by it. He remembered how much time and effort it took for him to build that saber of his, the lens emitter, the ilum crystal, the cell grid, all hidden underneath that black durasteel hilt. All a product of his time and dedication.
"A lightsaber. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster." Ron confidently said.
Zita looked at him before she giggled a bit as she turned it off.
"What?" Ron never found humor in what he said. So why was she laughing?
"Did you get that line from a holovid movie or something like that?" Zita said as her laughter died down.
"Well it's true."
Silence fell between the two. Zita then continued to laugh again. At first Ron seemed hurt by her careless laughter, but then found himself joining her with a chuckle of his own. It just felt so natural. He knew he had found a friend in her.
After their shared amusement Zita tossed Ron's saber back to him, to which Ron caught, fumbled and almost dropped to the floor before he called it back up with the Force and into his right hand.
"Show-off." Zita smirked.
"Hey you tossed it real hard." Ron returned hers with a smirk of his own as he clipped the saber back to where it belonged.
Zita looked at him more softly now. "Must be great…to be a Jedi." She seemed a bit sad when she said that.
"Hey being a Jedi is not all its cracked up to be." Ron wanted to assure her. "Theres all these rules you follow, you can't always do what you want, you're not allowed to be attached to some things, oh and you won't believe how much time you spend listening to some mystic mumbo-jumbo stuff…not that the Force is mumbo jumbo mind you.hehehe…"
Zita smiled a bit. "I didn't know that."
"Yeah well there's a lot of things people don't know about the Jedi. They just think we're some butt kicking, sword wielding, Force-jumping, enforcers of the Republic." Ron joked as he sat next to her.
"But enough about me and Jedi talk. Tell me about you. What do you do? You know besides rip people off their credits on Pazaak? What are you doing here in Nar Shaddaa?"
Zita lifted an eyebrow. "Is this the rapid fire round of twenty questions or something?"
"Hey you asked me stuff. I get to do the same. Its just fair." Ron pointed out.
"Alright. Where to start?" Zita stretched her hands out. "Nothing much to tell really. I wasn't born here. I'm from Corellia."
So Ron was right about the accent. He was satisfied, knowing that galactic linguistics was not wasted on him like some of his teachers thought.
Zita stood up on the crate she sat, her hands reaching up on towards the dark sky, illuminated only by clusters of stars. " I don't really remember how I got here. It was so long ago. I don't even remember if I had a family."
"Oh…" Ron knew he might have touched a sensitive nerve. While true he himself did not know the love of a family, being taken by the Jedi at such a young age, he always thought it was something special. It was one thing he always envied. "I'm sorry."
Zita gave him a reassuring smile as she punched his shoulder lightly. " Don't be. Its not like I grew up alone. I've got plenty of friends here. Trust me Nar Shaddaa is only as dangerous to those who don't know where to look and when to listen. Its like my whole playground." She jumped off the crate.
"As for what I do for living… that's never been a problem. Like I said before. I've been good at games and stuff like that ever since I could remember. Pazaak, Dejarik, online computer games, you name it, I played it and rocked it twice over. There's always competition…and when there's competition there's profit."
"You mean gambling." Ron chimed in.
"Jeez you are a Jedi aren't you? Always with that straight as an arrow act."
Ron felt a bit embarrassed by that. She made it sound like that was a bad thing.
"Anyway I don't really plan on doing this forever. I've got dreams and ambitions of my own."
"Oh? What are they?" Ron was curious.
"Hey Jedi boy, we just met and you already want to know my life story? Are you hitting on me or something?" Zita looked at Ron mischievously.
Now the blond padawan felt heat rise to his cheeks and face. "N-n-no! I mean I was just-"
Zita broke out into an uncontrollable fit of laughter as she held her stomach. "I'm just teasing you Ron." She wiped a small tear from her eye. "No but seriously, lets just say I'm not that comfortable sharing every thing there is to know about me yet okay?"
"Oh. Okay." Ron nodded. He could deal with that.
And for a time the two continued on with their small talk.
"Hey you know what I've been meaning to ask you…if you're a Jedi padawan…" Zita pointed at the braid that Ron had. "What are you doing here and where's your Master?"
"Oh we're just here on official Jedi business. My Master had something to take care of." Ron chose his words carefully. He did not want others to know of the delicate mission He, Kim, and Katz were entrusted with.
"So what are you doing here by yourself?" As smart as a vibrowhip Zita was quick to point out the obvious.
"Well you know…I'm doing some freelance reconnaissance. Cause it's…uh…what I'm really good at." Ron did not want to loose face to a newfound friend, much less a pretty girl that happens to be his friend.
"Really…" Zita did not seem to buy it.
"Honest. See here I've got a comlink so I could report to him every-" Ron cut himself off the moment he pulled out the communications device. The red light was beeping. For how long Ron did not know. He did not remember hearing it. One thing was certain. He was needed.
And he had been too preoccupied.
"Oh snap…" Ron gravely stated out loud.
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On top of the central building the concealed attackers slowly made their way up on the rooftop. One by one they came through the ventilation shaft. Time was of the essence. The foes that they had eluded were Jedi. They were not so easily lost.
"Quickly. We must move." The female one who wielded the fans before hand gave her firm order to which the others complied with vigor. Josh was unconscious and tied as one of them carried him on their shoulder.
"Our benefactors will meet us at the rendezvous sight soon enough. We must hurry and meet them. " She stated calmly. She had not once failed a mission or an assignment. She was not about to start now.
"I still do not understand why we have taken on such a fool-hardy task. This is below us Yori." One of the masked figures walked up to her, his toned and muscled figure not easily veiled by the black garb he wore.
"We do what we must, Hirotaka. Anzati we may be, but we are in no position to choose freely what we can or can not do." She replied softly through her mask.
Yori could tell this aggravated her second-in-command. She placed a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.
"Clan Yamanouchi needs this. We need to restore our honor." She hoped he would understand.
Hirotaka paused just for a moment. "I do not agree fully on this but I will not argue with you on that matter." His face veiled by the mask, yet his eyes showed fully that he understood.
"Other then that… a blow to the corrupt Republic is always a bonus." He added.
She knew he was smiling underneath that disguise.
"Let us go then. Our little distraction won't keep the Jedi at bay for long." Yori found herself grinning as well.
As quickly as they came they disappeared.
Back into the shadows.
