Author's Notes: Okay, getting deeper into the story now! If it goes anything like my usual fics, then it'll be getting ever-darker soon! ^_^ But I want to keep a light-hearted edge on this story!
Seung-Mina: Heh – everyone needs a bit of silliness once in a while! ^_^
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A Test of Faith
Chapter 10
The three Jedi were escorted into a large banquet hall-type place. It seemed to be in the centre of this underground palace, and had many pillars lining its central isle, a large depression in the midpoint of the hall, which looked like a giant bowl, and, at the far end, one long, large, rock-strewn table (everything seemed to be rock-strewn round here), which faced out overlooking the large expanse of the hall before it. Sat at this table were a row of Colicoids, all who looked like the Captain Colicoid, each with different coloured markings painted onto its shell, or wearing diverse headdresses or necklaces; they were what Serenn presumed were the upper-class Colicoids, the ones in charge, and the dignitaries. Brimming round the edges of the hall, behind the row of pillars, and careful to keep clear of the central isle and the bowl-like depression in its centre, were thousands of very ordinary-looking Colicoids.
Dooku frowned as the Captain led them down the hall, his sharp eyes peering over all the tiny, beady glares that looked straight back at him from the shadows and crevices about, "Does your entire city usually congregate together for meals?" he asked the Captain warily, walking just ahead of Jiao and Jinn, who tailed behind him.
"No, human…" Captain replied hoarsely, "But today we have you asch our gueschts, and that isch a schpecial occaschion. The neschtsch are closche-knit communitiesch – we do much together when the time callsch for it."
"A 'special occasion'?" Dooku queried as they were led right up to the table, the room seeming miles long. It wasn't decorated at all, just had the odd burning torch and Colicoid carving on every other pillar. The vast amount of the ordinary, congregated populace were pretty much hidden in the gloom of the hall's perimeter, making it seem to the Jedi group that the social gap between workers and the nobility was very great.
"Yesch," the Captain nodded eventually in return to Serenn's query. Dooku would have appreciated a larger answer, but it would seem that he'd be expecting too much of the Captain to get that. Something still felt ever wrong about this whole scenario in the back of his mind…increasingly wrong.
"Is your Queen attending?" he continued.
"No…" Captain returned calmly, "Sche isch schtill…buschy…"
'Doing what?' almost slipped off the end of Dooku's tongue, but he held himself back – perhaps it was not a good idea to sound too nosy; he knew the Captain disliked him as it was. He had that effect on people – you knew whether or not you were going to get on with him the moment he stepped into a room. It had been like that with Syfo-Dias, the first day he'd come across him in the Jedi crèche…the impertinent little boy just immediately began taunting him, and, being the hot head he was, Serenn had fell for it, retaliated wildly, and the rivalry had grown and exploded out of proportion ever since…
He shook his head – this wasn't the time to reminisce. The Captain turned to the aristocrats who were already sat at the table, and began clicking and chirping to them in his own tongue. The gathered nobility seemed to look upon the Jedi with disgust – though their faces could show no expression, the aura about them was not welcoming. Jinn took this opportunity to gaze round the room, looking back over the far-reaching chamber behind him. The shadows by each wall brimmed with regular Colicoid citizens, their shells shining a dull bronze-brown and their eyes still firmly fixed on the humans gathered. They were all talking rapidly to one another (Jinn was certain that they were gossiping, actually), gesturing subtly toward the weird, alien forms of the homosapian species that were present in their city; something important must be happening, Jinn noted to himself, something that would call for a gathering of what looked like the entire population of the capital.
The Captain finally finished his conversation and turned back to the Jedi trio, opening his giant fore-claw toward the table and indicating several empty spaces at its end; "Take your scheats, humansch," it said to them plainly. There was no option.
"If he calls me 'human' one more time…" Serenn growled discreetly, before getting another elbow from Allyaah.
The three tentatively walked round and sat by the table on an uncomfortable and low bench. Serenn, in the end, after trying several different postures, opted to sit on his knees – the table before them was solid, so he had no where to put his gangly legs. Jinn decided to go for a cross-legged approach, which Allyaah also soon adopted. None of them were particularly comfortable, but it was best not to make a fuss, especially when your hosts, if they felt it necessary, could run you through with the slightest flick of their claws.
"Wonder what's on the menu?" Jinn pondered aloud, fortunate to be at the far end of the table, with only Allyaah to his right. Allyaah was sat with Serenn to her other side, who himself had the Captain by him, who managed to sit contentedly on the bench, two spindly legs infront and one behind it, with his small, rounded body resting at complete ease on the seat.
"Is something going on?" Serenn decided to ask the Captain, staring down the hall at the large depression in its centre, something that the gathered Colicoid citizens seemed most careful to avoid.
"Yesch…" Captain returned, as mystical as usual, "Breakfascht will follow schortly…"
"What in the meantime? Polite conversation?" Dooku retorted, before realising how foolishly curt he'd sounded; he waited for Allyaah's elbow, but it never came.
The Captain's mandibles vibrated, a gesture that Serenn gathered meant that the Colicoid in question was 'thinking of response to latter query'. It took it a moment to come up with a answer, and it finally replied, "There will be entertainment schoon…but talk if you scho wisch, human."
Ouch…Serenn felt the sting of 'human' this time. But he decided to try and keep his head on for once, having a feeling that Allyaah would elbow him so hard soon that she'd indent his ribcage and collapse his lungs…
"May I ask about that which I will later put to your Queen?" he queried genteelly.
Captain seemed to hesitate; "If you muscht…" he returned with an undeniably reluctant edge. But it was close enough for Serenn, and he decided to put himself on 'take everything literally' mode, and continued anyway; "We were sent here to trace two of our comrades, as I have already mentioned to you. They came to this city, and –"
"No Jedi have been here recently, human. None at all," Captain insisted inflexibly, not even turning to look at the Jedi Master, keeping his eyes fixed on the bowl-like impression at the room's centre.
"This is Drykos?" Serenn asked matter-of-factly.
The Captain nodded slowly, as though he thought that Dooku may be slow on the uptake; "It isch."
"Then my comrades came here, friend," (it just dawned on Serenn that he didn't know the beetle's name – perhaps these creatures hadn't invented names yet) "They even reported their arrival. We know they were here."
The Captain shook his head as much as the curved, heavy shell that adorned his cranium allowed him too, "You are mischtaken," he persisted, "They muscht have gone elschewhere. One of the other neschts may have them."
Serenn swallowed his pride, beginning to get most annoyed with this oversized cockroach, "Then my comrades and I are wasting our time being here, aren't we?" he growled, giving the beetle his most intimidating stare.
Captain regarded him unsurely, seeming to be thinking that he'd said the wrong thing, "No…" it went on after an indecisive pause, "You are not. Our Queen should be able to help you."
For the first time, the notion that these Colicoids actually wanted to keep them here presented itself in Serenn's head – for some reason unknown, they didn't want them to go now that they had them in their grasps; "I hope so, friend," he went on, "Or we will go and try these…'other nests' for word about our associates."
The Captain didn't seem so alarmed by this, and just regarded the Jedi pitiably – if he'd been human, he may have laughed.
"I'm guessing that you do not get on with these 'other nests'?" Dooku asked.
The Captain made a horrific guttural noise which almost made Serenn jump – he took it as his form of a disgusted scoff; "Certainly not!" he growled aggressively, "We are at War with them, fool!!"
'Fool?' Serenn mouthed, his eyes burning – the elbow came quickly this time.
/Chill, Serenn/
/Allyaah, he called me a fool!/
/And you are! You've just insulted him with your ignorance!/
/You knew they were at war…?/
/No. But it must be a delicate subject. You've offended him/
/Oh, well excuse me!/
"War?" he returned, his voice tense as he tried desperately to conceal the feeling of insult and ire that thundered within him.
"Yesch, war! Thisch planet isch not big enough for three neschtsch!"
"It isn't?" He wheezed, elbow returning; he couldn't be bothered with etiquette anymore…it didn't get them anywhere, in his opinion.
/For the Force's sake Allyaah! Won't a lil tap on the arm do?/
/You would never listen to a 'lil tap'…/
/So fracturing my ribs will do?/
"Certainly not!!" Captain replied Dooku once again; the other 'captains' down the table were now staring at the Master Jedi like he was an ill-mannered and ill-bred piece of filth; he could see them out of the corner of his eyes.
"We believe, asch holdersch of the capital city and asch the finescht manufacturersch of droidsch on the planet, that we schould be the dominant and only nescht!"
"Yes…" Serenn murmured, "And these other nests? Whereabouts are they…?"
"There isch the Schohtrop Nescht, which dominatesch the northern territoriesch of the planet; their droidsch are vaschtly inferior to oursch. And there isch the Schimara Nesct, a schparsche Colicoid Nescht, which populatesch small pocketsch all over the planet…they are a troubleschome group to monitor."
"Why would our Ambassadors go to them instead of here, where they were told?"
"They wouldn't. They would be abducted by them"
"But they never would be abducted by you?"
The Captain glared at him in the uptight, ensuing pause whilst several bowls of…'stuff' were delivered by some dull worker drones to the table. Meanwhile, in the centre of the room, two bulky Colicoids led two others toward the large bowl, initiating excited squeals from the Colicoids at the hall's edges.
Jinn looked at his 'stuff' with a wrinkled nose; he gave it a sniff, and stared at the oily rings accumulating on its surface. It looked like a very poor excuse for a bowl of soup.
Allyaah also looked at the bowl and swallowed in a discreet revulsion. There were no spoons or anything – Colicoids just lifted their bowls to their mouths and drank away, so there was no need for utensils. The Jedi were expected to do the same.
Serenn gave his bowl of 'stuff' a brief glance, before diverting his attention to the goings on in the room's centre; "What's this? The 'entertainment'?" he asked.
"Yesch," said the Captain, "You have arrived juscht in time to witnessch thisch great schpectacle – it doeschn't happen often."
"And what is that?" he enquired, not sure he wanted to know the answer.
The Captain's mandibles made a more excited version of their earlier vibration, "Two dronesch both want the honour of scherving the Queen in the Nescht'sch next egg laying schemeschter. It will be a great honour to achieve thisch position. The next batch of eggsch will be very schpecial."
"Oh, so these drones have to earn this 'honour'?"
"Indeed…" The Captain stared ahead at the two bulky Colicoids, who positioned each of these drones at either side of the large bowl. The crowds gathered around the room's edge began to chant, slamming their fore-claws against the floor in a kind of tribal beat, chanting along with the rhythm they made.
Jinn pushed his bowl of breakfast away, and looked up at the activities in the room's centre, "So what's going on?" he asked.
Allyaah shrugged, though had a bad feeling about it all, "I don't know," she replied.
Serenn's brow furrowed, his head beginning to pound again – he thought it may just be the raucous conduct of the Colicoid masses getting to him, but he knew it was more than that. He cringed, putting his hand to his head…
'Don't let it be taken away from you.'
He swallowed, shaking his head – he didn't understand.
Everyone's attention was now focused on the hall centre. Suddenly, the two burly Colicoids, who had led the other two drones in, the two who needed to earn their right to aid their Queen, raised their claws high into the air. The commotion, including all the chanting and beating, stopped. Serenn sighed, the brief silence giving his throbbing mind an ephemeral solace.
'Don't let it be taken away from you'
/What? What?/ he asked the mysterious voices, wishing they'd stop cacophonously resonating round his skull.
Qui-Gon glanced over the silenced crowds, swallowing, "I don't like this," he admitted.
Allyaah had to concur, "Me neither," she quietly replied, trying to work out what exactly was going to happen.
Then, swiftly, the two Colicoids in the room's centre dropped their claws before rapidly curling up and rolling backward from the bowl. The crowds cheered, beginning to pound the ground and chant again – the contest had begun.
"Tell me," Dooku asked the Captain, loudening his voice over the noise of the assembly, trying to ignore the throbbing warnings about 'life' and 'blood' in his mind, "What exactly do these two creatur-…er, I mean, citizens have to do to earn their right to aid your Queen?"
"Kill the other," Captain said plainly, sipping from his bowl as the 'entertainment' ensued.
Dooku was stunned for a moment. He didn't like to be surprised, and he knew that this should definitely not have surprised him; this was a dog-eat-dog, so to speak, society – he should have known better.
The two contesting drones squealed, leapt up into their fighting formations and rolled down round the bowl like two unstoppably spinning tops, their bulky, armoured bodies travelling at incomprehensible speeds about the rim.
Jinn's mouth was agape – he'd seen 'simulated' fights before, but he'd never seen real ones, especially not ones that involved beetles of a six-to-seven foot height, aiming to kill one another.
The sound of the crowds drowned out almost everything – Serenn could hardly hear his head pounding, though he could sure feel it, the vibrations from the crowd's claws impacting against the floor every couple of seconds shaking the very foundations of the chamber, and therefore, him too.
/Serenn…?/ Allyaah suddenly asked him, her voice somehow managing to make itself heard through the clamour.
/I…don't feel too good/
/Hang in there/
/Like I have a choice…?/
Suddenly, there was an almighty 'clash'! The two drones smashed into one another at a terrifying speed. The Colicoids cheered as they saw a murky green-yellow blood spurt from cracks in the two fighter's inner shells, both injured from their first collision.
"That'll hurt in the morning…" Jinn murmured.
With the first blow over, the two now unfurled and began to circle one another, holding their sharp claws at the ready, globules of deadly poison oozing from the tips of their forked arm shells. One of the drones had hurt one of its legs, and was finding walking difficult, so the other took advantage of this, and swung its claws in low toward its enemy, knocking it speedily off its feet.
The victim squealed, before springing forward in a return assault, swinging both its large fore-claws in toward the other's head, aiming to crush it between them. The other dodged, drawing its head down toward its stomach, before rolling up again, and making another pass round the bowl. The other just watched, trying to steady itself on its injured legs.
'Blood is the life'
Dooku leant his head onto his hands, holding it tight, as though adding more pressure to it may ease the pain that it now throbbed with – why did this keep happening? And why to him?
The second drone spun from round the rim of the bowl, and slammed into the stationary Colicoid for a second time. The other squealed, clamping its spindly legs into the ground, attempting to take the brunt of the blow; it held the other in a tight, savage embrace, locking its large claws around its curved head shell. Slowly, the other lost speed, and found itself trapped in the second's clinch. It cried out, trying to pry itself free, but the other kept a tight hold on it, and had managed to disable the other's poisoned claws, to make matters worse for it, meaning that, for the moment, it could not use its most valuable weapons.
The crowds jeered and cried, some in favour and some not of the currently more successful Colicoid.
["That was a good move"] the Captain warbled to the Colicoid at his right in his own language.
["Can he keep it up, though?"] the other returned.
["We will soon see…"] he replied.
With an immense burst of strength, the restrained Colicoid managed to draw itself free, and swung its claws into the other's head. There was a squeal as the other's head shell was fractured by the attack, and it rapidly withdrew itself in response, rolling back along the bowl, but notably rolling askew, its senses having been knocked off.
The crowds roared in both excitement and outrage – victory looked imminent.
["What a shot!"] a purple-adorned Colicoid at the far left of the dignitary table guffawed, ["He'll win!"]
The uninjured Colicoid steadily tottered across the bowl to where the other eventually unfurled; the wounded one hung its head low, its legs still aching and discharging a gooey blood. It watched the proud one carefully, trying to figure out how it would finish it off.
The uninjured one raised its claw ready for a final blow, giving the other a savage gesture by twittering its mandibles harshly. That blew the other's fuse, and with a cry wrought from the depths of its soul (if it had one), in the face of certain death, it sprung into the air and swung its claws up violently toward its rival.
There was a short silence in which only a 'swish' was heard as the impaired Colicoid's claws moved, but moved so fast that they could not be seen. The crowds watched. The two combatants froze, both with claws held up, though the one that had been winning hadn't had time to strike.
Then, the injured Colicoid relaxed, and watched as the other one fell into two pieces – he had severed it straight through the stomach. Blood proceeded to fill the bowl.
The crowds cheered and crowed – the battle was over!
["Knew he would do it,"] Captain chuckled to his friend, nodding his thin, insectoid head at the other grimly.
Qui-Gon's mouth was wide open, and his face was pale. So was Allyaah's. And Serenn's might have been if he'd been able to pay attention to the fight, but he could barely bring his eyes to open, his head was now pulsating so badly.
"Oh Force…" Jinn sighed, feeling a little sick. He'd never seen anything like it.
"And just for the honour of helping the Queen?" Allyaah frowned, beginning to find this society rather hard to understand.
The winning Colicoid gradually stepped forward, and bowed before the table of dignitaries, glaring at the three humans for a brief moment.
["Congratulations!"] the central Colicoid dignitary said, rising to his feet; he was decorated in gold, blue and green, and had a large, red headdress upon his brow, ["You have earned the honour, through the use of power, wit and skill, of aiding our Queen!"]
The entire throng of Colicoids bowed at the mention of the Queen, becoming respectfully quiet as their monarch was mentioned.
["Thank you, excellency,"] the victor hissed in reply.
Jinn swallowed as he beheld the champion's head, still oozing with blood, as was its leg. He guessed that Colicoids were a little hardier than humans, certain that its cuts and abrasions would heal quite quickly, for it didn't seem too badly damaged by it all, despite the intensity of the battle, and pain didn't even seem to be a factor.
The Captain now rose; Serenn managed to lift his head, a great feeling of dread now rising in his stomach. He gave Allyaah a knowing look; she looked back at him quizzically, not getting the same feeling that he had, though was nevertheless concerned.
["And now for your first task, if you feel fit,"] the Captain said.
["I am always ready to serve the Queen!"] it said, regardless of its wounds; the crowds knocked their claws together in support, glad that their champion had such a loyal and devoted disposition. It was expected.
The Captain pointed to the slightly dizzy Jedi next to him, ["Take him to her Highness!"] he ordered.
Serenn swallowed, staring at the claw that now faced him – for some reason, he didn't like the look of this.
TBC…