NABOO
Shasta waited underneath the thick trees of Naboo's green forest, staring with solemn eyes as the emerald grove began to vanish before her eyes. Monstrously large transport tanks stormed the forest and tore through the woods like it was nothing, trampling decade-old trees and causing all native animals in the area to run away in panic.
Shasta took in a deep breath but ended up hacking on thick black smog emitted into the air by the tanks. "Ah…Queen Amidala's not gonna be happy about this." She coughed up while waving the smoke away. She looked down at the com device on her wrist and saw it beeping, signaling that either Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan was nearby.
Shasta was about to turn and leave when she suddenly heard a distressing cry from within the forest. She looked back and saw what looked to be a confused Gungan running in circles amongst the panicked animals. He looked so disoriented and wasn't even trying to run away from the tanks barreling down on him.
"Gungan's gonna get squished if he doesn't get out of the way," Shasta said while furrowing her brows. A disturbing look soon swept across her eyes in no time.
"Don't risk your safety for the sake of someone else's."
Shasta stayed in place and stared silently at the distressed Gungan. She sighed to herself before turning around and leaving, soon disappearing into the grove.
After tripping and stumbling over every hole and root on the ground, the Gungan finally slipped and fell into the muddy water. He looked up and saw that one of the tanks was nearly on top of him. Before the monstrous machine could crush him though, it suddenly stopped and began to float a couple feet above the ground. Confused, the Gungan looked underneath the tank and saw Shasta standing behind it with her arm outstretched to use the Force. She slowly closed her hand into a fist, and the tank started to bend and twist, smashing it to pieces until it was nothing but a twisted ball of sharp metal.
"Useless hunk of junk…" Shasta spat before tossing the metal ball aside. She began to walk past the stunned Gungan when he suddenly reached out and grabbed one of her legs. "Ah!" she yelled out before falling face-first into the mud.
"Oyi, mooie-mooie! I luv you!" the Gungan exclaimed while getting to his feet. He tried to help Shasta up, but she quickly wrenched herself free.
"What in the world are you doing? Get off!" she shouted with mud caked all over her face and robes. She stood up slowly and looked down at the muddy water dripping off her body. "You've…gotta be kidding me. Seriously?! What is wrong with you?"
"Yousa saved me! Mesa your humble servant!"
Shasta's face crinkled up with scorn. "Save you…? I didn't save you! The tank was in my way! Which is what you're doing right now! Just get out of here!"
"No, no mesa stay," the Gungan cried out while trying to cling to her skirt. "Mesa called Jar Jar Binks."
Shasta grumbled and pulled her skirt free. "The last thing I need is your name," she said while peeling off her heavy black robe that was drenched in muddy water. She tossed it away before resuming with a clingy Gungan following close behind.
The sound of loud blaster fire forced them to stop before they could make it very far into the Naboo forestlands. Looking up, Shasta saw Obi-Wan running away with two battle droids mounted on STAPS machines, firing blaster bolts at him.
"Get down!" Shasta swept her legs across the Gungan's and forced him down. Once he was out of the way, she reached around back to her lightwhip and ignited it. She swung it upwards and perfectly sliced the two STAPS and battle droids in half. The pieces crashed to the floor before careening down the hill beside them. Shasta smirked while retracting her weapon. "Huh…not bad," she said proudly.
It was her first time using the weapon in actual combat, and it worked better than she expected. She was initially worried it wouldn't be powerful enough to cut droids, but it seemed to work just fine on them. In addition to crowd control, it might be able to reflect blaster bolts too. In any case, it was quickly becoming her new favorite toy.
Once the excitement was over, Obi-Wan jogged over to Shasta and laid his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath before speaking to her. "Thank you…Shasta."
"Don't mention it." She casually flipped the lightwhip in her hand and attached it horizontally to the back of her belt. "But what's wrong with yours?"
"Ah…" Almost like he was embarrassed, Obi-Wan brought out his lightsaber and showed it to her. Shasta squinted her eyes and saw what looked to be scorch marks running alongside the handle. "I dropped it in the water and it fried my weapon."
Shasta snorted. "You don't say…" she waved her hand and Force-pulled it into her palm. With a deep frown on her face, she scanned over it briefly. "You really gotta get yourself a new design. If water seeps into the area where the crystal is, then the weapon will burn out. It has to be a bit more airtight," she explained.
"I see." Obi-Wan crossed his arms and nodded. He didn't know it could do that until his own weapon burned out. "Can you fix it? It would be…an inconvenience if I don't have it with me right now."
"Of course I can. You're a lucky little Padawan to have me here," Shasta insisted confidently. She unscrewed the head of the lightsaber and stared down into it, further seeing signs of burn damage. It wasn't too bad though. It could still easily work if the insides are dry and the mud is gone. "I'd normally charge someone for my services, but I'll give you a freebie this time…only because you're a charming guy," she said with a smirk.
Obi-Wan laughed a little at her blatant flirting. "Are you planning to talk like that to me the whole mission?"
"Yeah, because I can," Shasta said quickly and without hesitation. "Does it bother you?"
"No. At the moment, it doesn't?" His attention soon turned elsewhere when he saw a curious Gungan leaning over her shoulder. "What's this?"
"You tell me," Shasta said and paid no mind to the nosey Gungan. He was leaning a bit too close to the kyber crystal inside the saber though, so Shasta pushed him away so he won't accidentally knock the crystal in the mud. "It won't leave me alone."
"Mesa her servant! She saved me!" Jar Jar insisted.
"I did not! Would you quit it!" Shasta snarled.
Watching Shasta struggle with the Gungan was kind of rare for Obi-Wan. By this point, he was accustomed to seeing her exude a confident and sometimes arrogant demeanor, but this was a new one for him. He laughed without thinking but immediately stopped when Shasta shot her head up and threw a wild and intense glare at him.
"Are we all here?" Obi-Wan and Shasta looked up and saw Qui-Gon jogging over to them. He stopped and quickly noticed that there was now a new face with them. "A local?" he gestured to Jar Jar.
"So it seems," Obi-Wan said.
"It won't leave me alone," Shasta complained while putting the lightsaber back together. She ignited it to show that it was now working before handing it back to Obi-Wan. "Let's hurry up and leave before more droids show up."
Jar Jar blinked. "Mure? Mure did you spake?" He quickly followed after them as they headed off, deeper into the woods. "Ex-squeeze me, but da moistest safest place would be Gunga City. It's where I grew up. 'Tis a hidden city."
This made the Jedi stop and look back at him.
"A city?" Qui-Gon asked him.
"Ah-huh."
"Can you take us there?"
Jar Jar flinched and looked to immediately regret speaking about it. "Uh, on second thought, no. Not really, no," he said while shaking his head.
Shasta furrowed her brows so much that her whole face scrunched up. "Then why bring it up in the first place?"
"'Tis embarrassing," he explained while avoiding eye contact with her pressuring blue gaze. "But, uh, my afraid my've been banished. My forgotten. Da bosses would do terrible tings to me. Terrible tings to me if me goen back dare."
With the way Shasta was staring at him right now, it seemed more likely that she would do terrible things to him herself. After groaning loudly and dropping her head, her ears suddenly picked up on a distant mechanical roar from deep in the woods. She shot her head up and glanced backwards, not yet seeing anything but knowing that the tanks were on the way.
"You hear that?" Qui-Gon said to Jar Jar.
"Yah," the oblivious Gungan nodded.
"That is the sound of a thousand terrible things heading this way."
"If they find us, they will crush us, grind us into tiny pieces and blast us into oblivion," Obi-Wan added.
"So...you got two terrible choices," Shasta said once she realized what the Jedi were trying to do. "Pick your poison."
After that, it didn't take long for Jar Jar to make up his mind. "Oh. Yousa point is well seen. This way. Hurry!" He whipped his head around so fast that his long ears slapped Shasta right in the face, making her stumble back and hold her nose.
Shasta didn't say a word and just sucked in a deep breath through her teeth. "Not a word," she said sharply while raising a hand in front of Obi-Wan's face. "I don't wanna hear a single word." She turned and followed after Jar Jar as Obi-Wan did everything in his power to hold back another laugh.
Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Shasta followed the Gungan through the murky swamp but stopped when they came across a giant lake.
"How much farther?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Wesa goen underwater, okeyday?" Jar Jar said while pointing to the lake. "My warning yous. Gungans no liken outlaunders. Don't expict a wern welcome."
"Don't worry, this has not been our day for warm welcomes," Obi-Wan said sarcastically.
Jar Jar took a step back before leaping into the air and diving into the water. The other three followed and quickly applied breathing masks they got from their utility belts. Jar Jar led them through the haziness with ease once they were underwater, and soon, the lake opened up with lights in the distance. It was true that there was a city hidden beneath the lake, surrounded by large bubbles to keep the water out. They came up close to one of the bubbles and pass through it, automatically sealing behind them. Once inside the square, the Gungans that were in the area immediately ran off upon seeing them.
Shasta nudged Obi-Wan. "You're right. "Really not our day for warm welcomes."
They didn't make it far into the city before four guards armed with electric poles rode up on them, stopping them from proceeding any farther. Shasta looked like she was about to reach for her weapon before Obi-Wan grabbed her arm and shook his head, silently telling her not to.
"Heyo-dalee, Cap'n Tarpals, Mesa back!" Jar Jar said awkwardly.
"Noah gain, Jar Jar," Captain Tarpal hissed. "Yousa goen tada Bosses. Yousa in big dudu this time."
"Hm.." Jar Jar physically deflated before suddenly getting zapped by one of the electric poles. He quickly scurried away and hid behind Shasta. "How wude." Jar Jar said from behind the Eve lady.
