Title: Promise me you'll train the boy

Author: ewan's girl

************

Chapter 4: The apprentice league?

Siri landed the speeder with great ease, the four friends all tried to keep a mask of calm, even though all were nervous for one reason or another. Obi Wan was the first to exit the speeder, he stared up at the 30 story building and shuddered. He didn't know why he felt such a dark and cold presence while staring at the museum. Bant put a hand on his shoulder and brought him back to the present.

The team of young Jedi walked together towards the Senate police encampment, they matched their strides and walked in sync with each other. The wind blew their cloaks out behind them, and as they walked the onlookers became impressed. Garren noticed and smiled, secretly he loved being admired. Siri also noticed and gave Garren a sharp look. Bant tried not to laugh at the other two, then noticed the extremely serious look on Obi Wan's face. She kept her stride and turned her attention on the task at hand.

As they walked towards the makeshift headquarters of the Senate police, they also noticed the many hollovid reporters that had arrived to report on the story.

"I'm so glad that my first mission without my master is going to be on hollovid." Garren commented sarcastically. His comment gaining a chuckle from everyone in the group, including Obi Wan.

They noticed three members of the Senate police running towards them. "That was quick, usually the Jedi council takes longer to send a team." A middle aged man with a very bushy mustache stated with a smile. The smile faded however when he examined the team that was sent. He whistled. "So, were there no masters available?" He asked.

Siri glared at the man, she was very irritated. Obi Wan stepped forward and bowed. "I am Jedi Knight Obi Wan Kenobi." He said in his most diplomatic manner. "This is knight Siri Tachi, and padawans Garren Muln, and Bant Erin." He introduced, and the other three bowed in turn. "The Jedi Council is attending a memorial service and therefore are not available." He explained when the police seemed to not feel any better with the situation.

"Great, they sent us the apprentice league." One of the officers whispered to the captain.

Siri gave a very hard stare to the officer, then spoke up. "Have the terrorists made any demands?" She tried to keep an aura about her that showed she knew what she was doing.

"No." The mustache officer answered. "Nothing yet."

The four Jedi glanced at each other. Bant then stepped forward. "Have we heard anything about the fatality?" She asked.

"We have reason to believe that it was the teacher." One of the other officers answered.

The group of young Jedi all tried to hide their sorrow at the news. Garren closed his eyes tightly. "Master Si Iris." He said under his breath. "She was always one of my favorite teachers."

Obi Wan put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it tightly, then began to walk back to the camp with the captain. "How dire is the situation?" He asked, the other three following behind them.

"They have the building completely secure, they have a large amount of battle droids covering all points of entry." The captain answered as they reached the base. "They also have several destroyer droids on the roof, that shoot whenever we get close."

Obi Wan looked up at the building, using the force he was able to spot the droidekas on the very top of the tall building. His brow furrowed. Siri, Garren and Bant matched his expression.

"What did the Trade Federation have a surplus sale?" Siri asked after a moment. Obi Wan gave her a strange look and she couldn't quite figure out the emotion behind it. "Sorry." She softly stated.

"No, you're right." He looked back up to the museum. "This is rather curious."

The young team stared at the building for a while longer they could feel the stares of the police on their backs. "We better act like we know what we're doing." Garren stated after a moment. "Do we know what we're doing?"

*********************

"What's going on?" Anakin asked Ferus after a moment when they found their bearings in the dark.

"Power outage I assume." Ferus answered. "If we're patient it'll pass."

"Why do I think it isn't that simple?" He asked, more to himself than anyone. //Master?// He tried to call for Obi Wan, 'maybe he could give me advice.' He didn't get a response.

Suddenly the two boys heard a loud crash, they snapped to attention. 'I wish I had a light saber.' Anakin thought to himself.

"What was that?" Ferus asked.

The boys waited for the disturbance, trying not to fear. "Let's rush it." Anakin suggested, Ferus glared at him then nodded. The boys crouched down in a starting position and waited to rush the intruder. They heard the footsteps coming closer. "One. . .two. . ." Anakin counted down. "Three!" With that they ran with all their power towards the disturbance, stopping themselves when they came face to face with a young girl. She screamed when she saw them almost run into her.

The boys slipped and fell to the ground a foot in front of her. They rubbed their backs, but their pride was more hurt then anything.

"Ferus?" The girl asked. "Anakin?" She put her curly red hair behind her ears. "What are you doing?"

"Marla?" Ferus asked, dusting himself off. "What are you doing here?"

"I came looking for you, I saw you leave the group and I wondered what was going on." The girl was glad it was dark so the boys couldn't see her blush.

"I came to get Anakin." Ferus answered, and Anakin felt his cheeks get hot with anger. "He wandered off." Ferus continued.

"Brown noser." Anakin commented under his breath.

"Excuse me?" Ferus turned towards him.

"You heard me." Anakin faced down Ferus.

Marla looked between the two boys, she tried to stop them. Suddenly they heard a weird sound in the distance. "What was that?" Marla asked.

"It sounded like blaster fire." Ferus answered, and all three students tried to listen in the darkness for more sounds. "Strange."

The blaster fire was followed by the sound of metal rolling down the stone halls, getting closer to the group of students. "What's that?" Marla asked again.

"I'm not sure." Ferus admitted.

Anakin found himself smiling at Ferus' lack of knowledge, his smile faded however when the memory of that distinct sound kicked in. "Droidekas." He said after a moment.

The other two looked at him. "What?" Marla asked.

"Droidekas, destroyer droids." He answered for them. "They are dangerous droids that have a shield generator that protects them. The Trade Federation used them on Naboo. You know before I disarmed them." Anakin beamed with pride.

Ferus rolled his eyes. "So, how do we disarm them?" He asked, bringing Anakin back to the moment.

"Um, we can't." He said under his breath. "I had to destroy the droid control ship."

"They're getting closer!" Marla began to grow afraid. "What do we do?"

Ferus listened to the clanking sound getting closer. "I will distract them, you guys find a way back to Master Si Iris." He said after a moment.

"You'll distract them?" Marla asked, appalled. "But that sounds dangerous."

"Someone's got to distract them." Ferus argued. "So you guys can warn Master Si Iris."

"Do you have any idea what you're up against Ferus?" Anakin asked.

"Just go!" Ferus commanded.

"Yeah alright." Anakin commented, grabbing Marla by the arm. Ferus then took off down the hall towards the noise. Anakin and Marla watched. 'I guess this'll teach him.'

Anakin tried to lead Marla down the opposite way from the droids. She pulled back on him. "Anakin stop!" She commanded. "We can't leave him."

"He made his choice." Anakin commented, dragging the girl.

"But he might get hurt, or worse." She was on the verge of tears.

Anakin stopped himself, he knew this girl was good friends with Ferus. He suddenly felt jealousy rise inside him, he then shook it off. He looked at the girl for a moment, then sighed. 'I can't ignore what she's saying, as much as a part of me wants to.' He thought to himself. "Ok, let's go help him." He said after a moment. The girl smiled, then composed herself and nodded.

*************************

Obi Wan continued to study the building. It was a designed by artists to make the building look like the historic buildings of old Courascant. It's spires reached into the clouds, and each was intricatly carved. It looked like an old castle, and was one of the most beautiful buildings on the entire planet. But to the young Jedi Master it looked evil and foreboding.

He watched the droids on the roof patrol the area, he also noticed the silloutes of battle droids in each of the windows. He wondered why such an arsenal of droids were being used to hold a group of students hostage. He prayed to the force that Anakin wouldn't do anything foolish.

/Stay in that cockpit./

He chuckled to himself when he remembered Anakin explain that he had technically stayed in the cockpit. He knew he would have to hurry, that his boy wouldn't stay hostage for very long. The boy had a certain innocent need to help people, but he also acquired a certain amount of arrogance as well. Anakin knew he was the "Chosen One" and he therefore felt he was invincible.

Obi Wan tried to gain his center when he heard soft footsteps behind him. He turned around and faced Siri. "Well?" He asked after a moment.

"Well I did an initial scan of the building, and yes it looks as though all points of entry are blocked." She sighed and he nodded. "But that just means we'll have to be creative I suppose."

Bant and Garren then walked up. "Well I found out why the power is off." Garren stated. "It seems that in hostage situations the Senate police turn it off to disorient the terrorists." He shook his head.

"I guess they don't realize that droids don't need light to see." Bant finished for him. "So now what?" She asked.

"Well. . ." Obi Wan rose to his feet. "We can't get in from the roof, or any of the windows, but what about underneath?" He asked.

"The waster district is right next door, the water runs in underground tunnels all around this area. That means there has to be underground access to the water supply." Garren commented. "We could possibly find a way in through there."

Obi Wan, Siri and Garren looked at each other then turned to Bant who sighed.

***********************

Anakin and Marla raced down the hall. They came to a halt and Anakin ducked them behind a tall statue when they saw five Droidekas surrounding Ferus.

"We have to do something." Marla whispered frantically to Anakin.

Anakin tried to calm the girl down, he then looked around the room for something he could use as a weapon. He looked up and noticed a huge round ball hanging from a wire on ceiling directly over three of the destroyer droids. He then looked for something to cut the wire. He found a display of primitive weapons. Due to the power outage the force field around weapons was gone. He picked up a strong hatchet. He then turned to Marla.

"When I create a distraction, grab Ferus." He commanded, and began to climb the tall statue.

Marla watched him in astonishment, then focused on her task. She noticed that Ferus was preparing himself for death. She willed Anakin to hurry. She watched as she shimmied up the statue towards a huge stone ball on the ceiling. She then realized his plan, and prayed Ferus wouldn't get smashed.

Anakin reached the Ball and tried to catch his breath. He looked down and noticed the droids had Ferus on his knees. Anakin took the hatchet and began to chop the wire. He was beginning to worry his plan wasn't going to work when the ball quickly fell from the ceiling, surprising him. He then tried to use the force to guide the ball so that it wouldn't fall on his age mates.

The huge stone ball hit one of the destroyers dead on, smashing it instantly. It then rolled over two more, creating a disturbance in the other droids. Marla then quickly grabbed Ferus and then ran away from the droids. Anakin slid down the statue and met up with the other Jedi students and the three ran down the hall.

"That was insane." Ferus exclaimed when Anakin met up with them.

"You're welcome." Anakin commented back.

The three could hear the sound of metal rolling down the hall after them. They quickened their pace. They suddenly came to a fork in the hall.

"This way!" Anakin pointed to the right.

"No this way!" Ferus pointed to the left.

"Just agree on something!" Marla shouted.

"Fine, that way." Ferus pointed to the right and the three headed the way Anakin suggested, only to come to a dead end. Ferus glared at Anakin who shrugged. They turned back towards the door and saw several round droids coming towards them. They then found themselves surrounded.

"Now what?" Marla asked, looking at each of the boys.

"We be patient." Ferus commented, getting to his knees and raising his arms in the air. Marla then finally Anakin did the same.

//Master!// Anakin tried to call to Obi Wan again, hoping to get through to him. No answer came.

********************

The three friends watched as Bant slipped under the water. Obi Wan was nervous about letting her go by herself, but he knew that even with a breather he was nowhere near as comfortable in the water as Bant. He had explained to her to just see if there was an entrance under the museum, and to not proceed without the rest of them. He knew Bant followed the code very closely and would not put herself in danger if she could help it.

Bant swam from the water district plant towards the museum, it was about a 50 meter swim, and there was no way to come up for air in the tunnel, she was glad she could stay underwater for more than 20 standard minutes. She gracefully swam through the planets water supply, she felt bad that she was swimming through people's drinking water. She then saw a door at the top of the tunnel and assumed it was the one for the museum. 'This is going to be too easy.' She thought to herself. She then reached the hatch and reached up to open it. As her hands clasped the handle she felt an electrical current course through her body. She let go of the door, but the electricity traveled through the water, she felt darkness consume her and sunk to the bottom of the tunnel.

Siri, Garren and Obi Wan waited patiently for Bant to return. "This seems almost too easy." Garren commented. The other two looked at him and nodded. "I mean if they went to all this trouble of blocking all points of entry, don't you think they would've done something here too?"

Obi Wan looked down into the water. He then closed his eyes and tried to sense Bant through their friendship bond. He felt nothing. "Bant!" He called. Blaster fire then rained down on them. Siri took out her light saber and deflected it. Obi Wan took off his cloak and belt, he grabbed his breather and dived into the water. Garren helped Siri deflect the blaster fire, as they waited for Obi Wan to return with their friend.

TBC