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Entry XV

"Battle Plans and Preparations"

Part3 of 3

I suppose I didn't give the Gungans half the credit they deserved: within the time frame of a simple hour or so, a vast army of the swamp natives had gathered at the plain's edge and were awaiting instructions. It was with a barely restrained smile that Master and I learned of Jar Jar's promotion. There was no time to get him a warrior's uniform before the battle began, but he stuck out like a sore-thumb regardless. There was no doubt in my mind that his troops would not notice him. Captain Tarpals appeared to be instilling him with any last-minute information that he could, but I could quite literally see the advice passing through one twitching and agitated ear and out the other. Part of me disagreed with Boss Nass and his brilliant idea of putting the untrained, inexperienced "general" into battle so suddenly, but there was little that could be done about it. As Qui-Gon had said, we could only protect, not fight a war. As Jedi, we were bound by limitations. Imposing protection where it was not asked for was one of such limits.

Enough transports were finally rounded together to carry all those who needed to get to the palace. Somehow (I'm not really sure how it was made possible), Qui-Gon was able to squeeze his large frame into the Queen's packed speeder. With a pilot, Panaka, Padmé Amidala, her decoy, R2-D2, and my master, the four-person transport was…slightly overloaded to say the least. After a brief deliberation and a few complaints, Panaka and the pilot left to find another speeder car. Qui-Gon settled back on the seat with a relieved sigh and though our lips didn't show it, our eyes smiled for us at the absurdity of it all.

At that moment I felt something softly brush against me and looked down to find Anakin waiting patiently. Master straightened somewhat at the sight of the boy, almost as though he had forgotten Anakin was there.

Padawan—

It's fine, Master.

You're a good apprentice, Obi-Wan.

"Anakin, come here."

The boy was just squeezing onto the seat between the Queen and Master as I turned to find my own means of transport. Jono was at the edge of the pack, sitting precariously on the back of one particularly old-looking speeder.

"She's old, but she's steady," he said with a grin, having caught my unsure eye. He wiped one hand along the empty space beside him, doing little more than further smearing the dirt and rust that resided there. I took my seat, grabbed a handhold, and held on as we bounced across the plain towards the palace.

I wished I could have erased the memory of the dream from my mind as easily as I wiped it from Master's. Those Force-forsaken flutterflies seemed to grow angrier with each tense moment that passed. Because I was sitting backward on the rear of the speeder, I was able to watch the Gungans as they gathered en masse with their oblivious beasts of burden. The first of their troops were just disappearing into the swamp's foggy shroud as we dropped behind a steep hill. I looked around me at the many colorful speeders, all loaded to the brim with mix-matched oddballs; hope, despair, and anticipation dripped from them and pooled together, leaving something akin to an emotional river in our wake.

The sensation of eyes boring into my skull turned my attention a little closer to my presence. Jono was staring. After a moment he gave me a grim smile and thrust out his hand. "Luck," was all he said.

Like Garen, Jono didn't believe in goodbyes.

I shook my head, but took his hand anyway. "There's no such thing as luck." I shook his hand hard once, a grim frown painting my own lips.

Somehow, I knew that wouldn't be true. We would need every ounce of luck we could get.

All of us would.

End Entry XV

I apologize for the short entry. The upcoming parts will have action in them, so hopefully that will give everyone a good reason to review. See you next week!

--Marie K.

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