Chapter 10 - Collisions

After ensuring Jacen was on his way, Tenel Ka opened her eyes and smiled down at her daughter. "Thank you, sweetie."

Allana said nothing but beamed her lovely smile; the same impish smile that Tenel Ka had seen on Jacen's face many, many times. Winking, Tenel Ka led her daughter out of the small gym and headed up the stairs, "Our excitement is over for now; you need to go back to bed."

"But Mommy..."

Tenel Ka gave her five-year-old her best 'Mommy' look…a look she had seen her own mother use all too often, "No buts." Her look softened, "However, if you do, you can come with me to see Daddy later today."

Allana paused, considering the offer. Apparently, it seemed to meet whatever criteria she had set because she looked back up at her mother, "Okay," and hustled up the remainder of the stairs and scampered back to her room.

Tenel Ka could only shake her head as she continued up the stairs. As she did, the face of one of the Palace Guard stuck her head around the corner, clearly confused. "Is everything alright, Mum?"

It will be soon enough. The Queen Mother shrugged, "Yes, Kjetiele," she nodded in the direction of her daughter, "just a nightmare." Captain Kjetiele Aamodt nodded in understanding as her boss made it up the last two steps. Catching the young Captain's eye, Tenel Ka asked pleasantly, "I am in the mood for a run. Would you care to accompany me?"

When the Captain of the Palace Guard (ironically, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Marines) found out that the newest member of the Guard was an avid runner, Kjetiele was immediately placed on the first shift. Aamodt was told: 'The Queen has run our legs off; maybe you can keep up.' Unfortunately for Kjetiele, the Queen in question had heard the remark and had taken it as a personal challenge. So far, Captain Aamodt had been able to keep up. Mostly. In all fairness, the Queen did not have to run with an assault blaster, three battery packs, and a military-grade comlink; she only carried her lightsaber.

"Certainly, Mum. Today's route would be..." the raven-haired captain scrunched her face, trying to remember the route for Tuesdays this month, "...Route Charlie." For the last few years, Tenel Ka felt it safe enough to run on public streets, so the Palace Guard devised random routes for her to run, so as to not get into a predictable pattern. Furthermore, they changed the daily routes once a month to further avoid patterns. When they had presented the plan to Tenel Ka, she understood the pains they had gone to make it work and made sure that she kept her 'running schedule' as unpredictable as possible.

Hearing today's route, Tenel Ka fought the urge to roll her eyes. Why does everything come down to 'Plan C' today? Narrowing her eyes in amusement, she replied, "I think we will just improvise today." The slightly younger woman opened her mouth to object before she realized that the Queen was a Jedi and could probably do 'random' better than most computers. Closing her mouth, she gave her boss a nod of agreement. The red-haired Queen nodded in thanks, asking politely, "Will ten minutes give you enough time to change?"

"Yes, Mum."

_(_)_

Kenara found herself face down on the pavement, grimacing at her stupidity. She had finally gotten the lead she needed to escape 'Mr. Shrub', and had gone and thrown it all away by running into someone on a street corner. Who is out at this time of day? Angrily, she rose to a kneeling position, straddling the person she collided with, realizing as she did that whomever she ran into had broken most of her fall. Unfortunately, she could not stop her face from smacking the asphalt, and she could feel blood drip down her chin. Glancing down the street, Kenara steeled herself for the fight that was about to come with the thugs that she could now hear sprinting down the street. Wiping her chin, she looked at the person she had collided with, "We've got trouble headed…." Kenara's eyes grew wide with shock, even in the orange glow of the streetlights, she recognized the man she was sitting on, "….Jason?"

_(_)_

Jacen found himself nose-to-bellybutton with someone, grimacing at his stupidity. He had finally gotten his chance to live with the Queen Mother, and he had now thrown it away by getting run into by a jogger on a street corner. Who goes running at this time of day? Hearing rapidly approaching footsteps, he turned his head to look down the street as he felt his jogger kneel over his body. Feeling her tense up, Jacen realized that whomever was coming down the street was chasing the young woman.

Bracing himself for a fight, he turned his attention to the still-kneeling woman as he heard her say, "We've got trouble headed…"

Jacen's eyes widened when he recognized the voice. "Kenara?"

_(_)_

Instantly, Kenara realized that Jacen was headed away from the Palace, that he had already said his final goodbyes. Before she could stop herself, she blurted, "I know what you have planned Jacen, and you can't. The Queen needs someone to confide in; Princess Allana needs her father. You can't do this."

Confusion crossed Jacen's face, he never expected Ensign Do'ma to be able to piece everything together so quickly. "How did…?"

Jacen was interrupted by a gruff voice: 'Mr. Shrub' had finally caught up. "Well, well, it looks as if our little hero got herself tripped up. A pity really, you might have gotten away."

Kenara and Jacen both slowly stood up and faced the tall man, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, as the other two thugs pounded to a stop and stood on either side of Mr. Shrub.

Pointing at Jacen's right arm with his club, Batman asked breathlessly, "What happened to you?"

Ignoring Kenara's shocked expression as she noticed that his arm ended at the elbow, Jacen shrugged, "I had a fight with my girlfriend. Trust me, you do not want to piss off a Dathomorian woman." Off to his right, he could hear his companion's sharp intake of breath.

The shorter man nodded sagely, "I'll keep that in mind." Shaking his head as he started to twirl his club, "Today just is not your lucky day. If you ask nicely, we'll only take your other hand."

Jacen sighed sadly, it would seem that Yoda was right after all: the future is always in motion. This confrontation was playing out like nothing he had seen in his dreams. Only the number of assailants and the location was accurate, everything else was almost as he had seen it. Fishing the baton that Tenel Ka had given him out of his pocket, he pushed the release button and it telescoped to its full length of just over half a meter. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that. My girlfriend let me keep the hand so that I could..." He trailed off and a slight smirk crossed his lips, "Trust me, our make-up sex is fantastic."

As the three thugs chuckled at his comment, he muttered quietly to Kenara, "I'll take Batman, you take the Mime." Referring to the one thief who had yet to talk.

Kenara nodded fractionally, indicating that she understood the plan. "What about Mr. Shrub?" she murmured back.

Jacen risked a quick glance at the Hapan Ensign, "Keep him at bay until help arrives."

It was now Kenara's turn to give her partner a quick look. Jacen sounded supremely confident that help was on the way. Who else would be out this time of morning?

Exploding into action, Jacen speared his baton into the chest of Batman, breaking a rib and staggering the man backwards. Unfortunately, he had meant to hit the man in the throat to kill him, but just was not fast enough. Knowing he would have to deal with Batman later, he pivoted to the left to block whatever Mr. Shrub was throwing at him. Before he could fully pivot, his left cheek exploded in pain as the large man caught him full in the face with a huge haymaker, one enhanced by a set of duristeel knuckles.

Ignoring the pain and the broken teeth, Jacen spun with the punch and swung his baton violently, catching Mr. Shrub in the knee. Jacen continued to pivot as the man howled in pain, and blocked Batman's awkward swing with the baton, deflecting the bat into the man's hip. Again, he jabbed at the man's throat, but again missed…this time hitting him in the right shoulder.

Before he could turn again to face Mr. Shrub, the larger man connected a kick with the back of Jacen's left knee, pitching him to the ground. Again, Jacen rolled with the blow and immediately sprang to his feet only to be staggered again by a blow to one of his kidneys. He tried to turn to meet this attack, only to turn into another one of Mr. Shrub's haymakers, who connected again with his left cheekbone…totally collapsing what was left of the bone structure. Fighting to remain conscious, Jacen swung at the large man's head, but the man ducked easily under the blow, chuckling as he did. Jacen started to swing again, but was again waylaid by a second blow to the kidney, dropping him to the pavement.

"You two certainly have fighting will." Mr. Shrub said conversationally as Jacen pried himself off of the ground, "Just not ability."

Jacen rose to a kneeling position and caught the eye of Kenara, who had also been dropped to the ground and was struggling to get to her feet. He quickly motioned with his eyes towards Batman, hoping she would get the hint to join him in attacking the man with the club. Seeing her quick nod, he sprang at Batman driving him to the ground with a bone-crunching tackle.

Kenara was right behind Jacen and immediately grabbed the bat, delivering a blow to the Mime's mid-section. She turned to face Mr. Shrub, but the big man was faster, and she got the wind knocked out of her with a punch to the solar plexus. Staggering backwards, she kept the bat raised, but could not fend off his next punch, this one catching her on the right cheek, knocking her flat.

Struggling with Batman, Jacen heard the clatter of the rounders bat hitting the ground and knew that Kenara was in serious trouble. Before he could free himself, his right side exploded in pain as Mr. Shrub hit him violently with the bat. Batman shoved Jacen off and kicked him in the temple as he got to his feet.

Rolling over, Jacen saw Mr. Shrub's evil grin. "Just not enough ability, hero." Seeing the big man raise the bat over his head, Jacen closed his eyes and lost consciousness in a flash of green light

T

O O(_)O O

A/N: A little shorter this time. Thanks again and please review!