Entry I:
Short NegotiationsI stood from the chair I had been sitting in and stretched my travel weary muscles. /Master/
/Yes Obi-Wan/
/Is it time/
/Yes. Come join me on the bridge./
My eyes twinkled I'm sure as I left the sleeping quarters my Master and I had been sharing. The thought of a mission always excited me.
As the Trade Federation's battle fleet filled the viewport before my eyes, however, my excitement rapidly vanished. This mission was a mystery.
"Are we to board?" I asked softly.
My Master gave a small nod. "The viceroy will meet with us."
I could feel his gaze linger on me while I strapped myself into the seat beside him. I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. Qui-Gon was comparing me to the young boy I had been 12 years ago.
We didn't have time to reminisce.
Soon, though, I would be Knighted. This could very well be the last mission we performed together as Master and Apprentice.
It is not until now that I realize how correct I was.
By no means did I resent Qui-Gon's presence, but the wistful look I spied in his gaze every time our eyes met could make any apprentice wish they were already Knighted.
My Master was fearful of what would become of him once I passed my Trials. Although he would never admit it, I knew. I knew that he would give almost anything to go back to that time when I was 13, when I was 14, 15 and all the other years between then and now just to prevent the wrongs he had placed on me. Even if it only added a minute to our happy days together…and with a heart overflowing with loyalty and love for the man beside me, I realized I would do the same.
His words tore me from my thoughts.
"Why Naboo, do you think, my young apprentice?"
I'm 25, Master. I'm not the young boy you still think I am…
"Why blockade this particular planet, when there are so many to choose from, most larger and more likely to feel the effects of such an action?"
I responded with silence. Qui-Gon knew I had no idea. Just as he didn't.
Naboo's leader, Queen Amidala, was new to the throne, and young. Her dramatic and ornate way of presenting herself made her seem older than her 14 years. However, I had also learned that she was wise beyond her years. Handmaidens followed her every move. I absentmindedly wondered if she was like other teenage girls throughout the galaxy—boy crazy.
This has nothing to do with the mission, I reminded myself quickly. This has nothing to do with you, Obi-Wan. Jedi have no time for love.
But she was one of the prettier damsels in distress that I had ever seen …"Come, let's be off."
I hadn't realized we had already landed, so caught up in my thoughts was I, and had to hurry to join my Master.
Everything except the purpose of our mission left me as soon as my booted feet touched the landing ramp. We pulled our hoods down further to better conceal our faces. They could not learn we were Jedi. Not yet. A protocol droid, who announced itself as TC-14, led us to an empty conference room.
"I hope your honored sirs will be most comfortable here. My master will be with you shortly," came the droid's mechanical voice. Then it turned and left, the doors shutting softly behind it.
No sooner had our hoods come down, than I expressed my sudden feeling of apprehension.
"I don't sense anything," Qui-Gon responded. He glanced briefly at me. I wondered what the hidden emotion in his eyes was. After all, how many times had I blurted out, "I have a bad feeling about this," at the beginning of an assignment, only to report back to the Temple less than a week later with the tale of a more-than-boring mission. This time, however, something was different.
"It's not about the mission, Master. It's something…elsewhere. Elusive…"
I stressed this last word and looked to see if anything registered across my Master's face. Nothing.
"Don't center on your anxieties, Obi-Wan. Keep your concentration here and now where it belongs."
"But Master Yoda said I should be mindful of the future."
A slight wave of annoyance rolled off my Master. I knew Qui-Gon must get tired of Master Yoda contradicting everything he told me.
"But not at the expense of the moment. Be mindful of the living Force, young Padawan."
There it was again. The L word. The living Force. I struggled so hard everyday to comprehend it. Yet, for 12 long years it had still managed to elude me. Even when I had a Master whom practically thrived off of it. My talent was seeing into the future. Or at least that's what Master Yoda told me. I just had to learn to harness the power the small, green troll said was there.
"Yes Master," I replied, while scanning my surroundings. Step one while in a strange or new environment was to inspect every nook and cranny, even if it was only with one's eyes.
It could mean the difference between life and death.
Our walking led us to the room's viewport. We stared down at the beautiful, emerald planet called Naboo. Once again, I couldn't help but wonder, why Naboo? Was it because there had been no war on the peaceful planet for many generations?
I knew that Qui-Gon was asking himself the same questions from his place beside me.
"How do you think the viceroy will deal with the chancellor's demands?" I asked suddenly.
He gave his shoulders a slight shrug. He had known what I was going to ask even before I had the thought to. "These federation types are cowards. The negotiations will be short."
For my own sense of ease, I hoped so. The feeling of dread inside me was growing.
Qui-Gon and I remained standing at the viewport a moment longer, then took to doing what the droid had bid us do: get comfortable. It would be a long wait, I realized grimly.
Ten minutes passed and still we were alone. My patience was ebbing.
The doors swished open and TC-14 shuffled in with a tray of refreshments. I slowly took a cup from the droid's tray, exaggerating my movements. "Is it in their nature to make us wait this long?"
I was beyond the hope of patience. I was annoyed, and unafraid to let the Federation's protocol droid know it. Most of the creatures we met with for negotiations nearly tripped over their own feet—however many they had—in an attempt to meet us on time and please the Jedi, hoping it would somehow reflect positively on them in the Senate.
Most of the creatures.
Qui-Gon mirrored my tone. "I sense an unusual amount of fear for something as trivial as this trade dispute."
It was a shame we had been sent a droid. At least we could gauge some reaction from a Neimoidian.
I took another sip from my cup. I couldn't place the taste that dominated it. Then I realized with barely concealed distaste that it had the suggestion of insects floating around in its cool interior. I quickly set it down. If Qui-Gon had noticed it, he gave away no indication.
I was about to comment on its peculiar taste when an explosion shook the room. While TC-14 staggered to remain upright, Qui-Gon and I leapt from our chairs, simultaneously igniting our lightsabers. The droid dropped its tray.
/They've destroyed our ship./ Qui-Gon told me.
It was the only reasonable explanation I could think of. The pilot and copilot's deaths registered like a cold wind blowing across my mind.
The hissing noise reached my Master's acute ears before mine. He turned to me with a frown. "Dioxis."
We each took a deep breath…and waited.
It wasn't long before the room had been entirely suffused by the green light created by the gas. My eyes stung, I could see nothing. But it reminded me of my days as a Tempe initiate when I had sparred blindfolded. As long as the Force was my ally, I didn't need my eyes to see. Tahl had shown me that.
Soundlessly, I moved past the conference table and its chairs. My lightsaber was off now to conserve energy. We might need them to cut a hole in the door soon.
My mind suddenly became filled with a sense of warmth that could mean only one thing—Qui-Gon was near. He had joined me in my stand before the door, lightsaber also in hand, but not lit.
Suddenly the door hissed open, releasing the toxic gas into the hallway. My Force-heightened hearing detected the infamous clicking and whirring of a battle droid's interior compartments. I waited, anticipating the sensation of my Master's mind touching my own, giving me the OK to begin cutting our way through the objects that stood in our way. TC-14 stumbled past, apologizing to its fellow droids. Then I felt it, what I had been waiting for.
Two blades of intense energy, one green, the other blue, sprung to life. I could only ponder what went through the droids' 'heads'. They had no idea what it was like to go off against Jedi. Before we could step from our deadly prison, however, they began firing on us.
Qui-Gon and I sprang as one from the conference room, cutting and slashing with our weapons, deflecting the blaster bolts and sending them back to their unsuspecting owners. The fight was over as quickly as it had begun. I Force pushed the last three I was battling and hurried to cover Qui-Gon as he raced for the bridge.
The adrenaline rushed through my body just as surely as my lightsaber hummed its melodic tune in my hands. This was how it was supposed to be. Just me and my Master, side-by-side battling evil and righting wrongs.
The droids that remained in our way were torn down with one swipe from our deadly but elegant weapons. Qui-Gon rushed to the closed bridge door, cutting a circle into the gray structure with ease.
Meanwhile, I spun my 'saber in an arc, decapitating a single droid before lashing out backwards with my weapon to fry the droid's control panel. Panting, I turned my back to Qui-Gon, my only safe wall in the wide hallways, and watched intently for danger. Behind me came the slamming of more doors as I destroyed another lone droid.
The blast doors to the bridge joined in the futile effort to keep us out. It didn't matter anyway, I thought as I heard Qui-Gon stab the doors with his own weapon. His concentration for the matter at hand seeped along our training bond. I sent a wave of encouragement to him. He responded with a grunt. It may take longer than expected, but we would get through to the bridge.
It seems I spoke too soon. Two droidekas rolled out into the hall before me. I'd been taught about these particular droids at the Temple; they were nearly impossible to destroy with a lightsaber.
With a twirl of my weapon, I yelled, "Master! Destroyers!"
He was by my side in an instant. Together we fought off the first few bolts. Then Qui-Gon decided it would be best to leave.
It seemed we had worn out our welcome.
We sprinted at a Force-quickened run down the hallway to our left. My Master hurriedly crawled into a ventilation shaft. I followed, making it in just as the droidekas rounded the corner and opened fire again. I didn't like running from the enemy. Especially when they were droids; but I had a feeling the non-living machines could survive longer than even Qui-Gon and I when they had their own shield generators.
I followed Master Jinn through the dark shaft. Light finally began to shine ahead of us. As we drew closer, we discovered we'd made it to the hangar bay. Qui-Gon dropped to the ground some 50 odd feet below us. It was a drop that could kill anyone who wasn't a Jedi.
I quickly followed the older man. We hid behind two large cargo boxes and studied the many Federation vehicles before us. It wasn't pretty.
Qui-Gon spoke softly to avoid being heard. "Battle droids." Surprise was in his tone. Neither of us had expected such a bold move.
"It's an invasion army."
"It's an odd play for the Trade Federation."
Odd indeed, I thought, recalling that everything I had learned about the Neimoidians suggested they were fearful and lazy creatures.
"We've got to warn the Naboo, and contact Chancellor Valorum. Let's split up. We'll stow aboard separate ships and meet down on the planet."
Despite the situation, a grin spread across my face. I cast a quick look at the rapidly growing army, then turned to Qui-Gon. "You were right about one thing, Master," I began, pausing for dramatic effect and watching his eyes light up with the knowledge that my dry sense of humor had concocted something. "The negotiations were short."
He smiled, briefly tugged on my braid, then turned and crept off to the nearest transport. I regressed in the opposite direction.
I bided my time, watching the droids constantly enter and leave the landing transport I had chosen to stow aboard. Its giant H shape was filled to the extremity with droids and weapons. One mistake could mean the difference between life and death. I couldn't fend off such a large number, even if I had Qui-Gon's help.
When I saw my chance, I sprang into action. I had just a few minutes to put myself in a hidden corner of the ship before it shook and its engines hummed to life.
Page breaks now inserted where needed. (6/22/05)