"I'm surprised the council didn't ask to see him immediately after his finding." Qui Gon quietly conversed with the companion walking beside him. Together he and Yai'De slowly made their way to the Council Chambers, with the little initiate passed out, head resting upon Qui Gon's shoulder; all three now fully fed.
"They did." She plainly stated.
Qui Gon turned to look at her as they walked. His frown slowly turned into a grin. "Am I to assume the great Creche Master Yai'De defied Council orders to feed her charge and former initiate a healthy helping of Bovuurian frozen crème?"
The older woman gave him a defiant but knowing look. "Assume all you want Master Qui Gon, however I'll be the first to tell you, yes I did." She nodded firmly to which Qui Gon chuckled. "With the long day this boy has had, I think the council can wait. And if not, then they will have to deal with me." She finished, her point thoroughly made.
"And to think all along we've been sending Jedi Knights to mediate planetary disagreements, when we had Creche Masters within our own walls to do the job."
"Hmph." She responded, sounding a little to like the little green troll they both knew all too well. "I'm no warrior, but I think I've put enough years into the Creche to know what's best for the children; and a full stomach is not something to be taken lightly, especially with growing boys. And if they don't like it… well," she flustered slightly, "then- they can just… bite me." She finished flatly.
"Such exquisite negotiation skills you have as well. Do you talk to the children that way?" he smirked as Yai'De gave him an incredulous look.
"Of course I don't. And if you-" she stopped short. Qui Gon and Yai'De both felt the warning rush at them. They scanned the hallway seeing nothing; but the warning was clear. Suddenly Obi Wan cried out and his head shot up, smacking hard into Qui Gon's chin. Surprised and stunned, the Master's grip lost the little initiate who upon waking had jerked backwards. At the same moment a blaster bolt whizzed directly between the two. Qui Gon stumbled into the wall as Obi Wan fell to the floor.
Yai'De scooped the dazed child into her arms and ducked behind a tall column standing against the wall. "Qui Gon!" she shouted. The tall Master had immediately recovered and ignited his light saber, already deflecting a barrage of blaster fire coming at them. He moved to the small alcove barely sheltering the Creche Master and her charge. He pulled out his comm unit as more bolts flew down the hallway.
"This is Master Qui Gon Jinn, we need assistance in the left wing, level 89. We are being attac-" A stray bolt hit it's mark, blasting the communicator right out of the Jedi Master's hand. He grimaced at the close call.
"Do you want to use mine?" Yai'De offered.
He shook his head. "I think they got the point." He pressed himself further against the wall. "How did they get this far into the Temple unnoticed?" Qui Gon murmured, more to himself than his companions.
"How many are there?"
Qui Gon closed his eyes, reaching out with his senses. "Seven… but they're not humans." He frowned slightly. "They're droids. And more are coming."
"Droids? How-" Yai'De cradled the frightened child closer against her as another bolt whizzed past her face from the other direction. "Well they've effectively cut off both exits." She deadpanned.
"There." Qui Gon gestured towards the opposite wall, blaster bolts still flying past them from both ends now. "The ventilation shaft."
Yai'De directed her attention to their new escape route. "You and I will never fit."
"You and I can take care of ourselves."
"Agreed."
Qui Gon took a deep breath and then stepped into the middle of the hallway, deflecting bolts from both sides as best he could. Yai'De waited a short moment before using a force-enhanced lunge across the hallway to the other side. She barely turned at the last moment, her back slamming against the wall. Qui Gon deflected another bolt before quickly joining the other two.
"It's locked." Yai'De informed, trying to keep the curious child's head from looking around too much. The columns sheltering them from the deadly bolts jutted out only a couple feet from the wall, giving the three Jedi very little room to move about without becoming a target.
Qui Gon turned his hand, slicing upwards with his saber and then twisted it around, effectively cutting the bolts holding the ventilation grate to the wall. It fell to the floor with a loud clank and clatter of heavy metal on marble flooring.
"That always works." Yai'De deadpanned. She knelt down awkwardly and pushed the small child inside. Obi Wan looked at her with wide, turquoise eyes. One look at the boy told her he wasn't leaving her side for anything. Quickly thinking, she pulled out her com unit and placed it into the child's hand. "Obi Wan I need you to listen to me very carefully." She kept her voice calm, yet firm, holding his chin in her hand and looking directly into his frightened eyes. "This is a very important piece of equipment and it must not fall into enemy hands. I need you to find another Jedi Master and give it to him okay?" She could see the hesitation in the boy's eyes. "You're the only one who can fit in there. Master Yoda is depending on you." She could tell Obi Wan recognized the old Master's name when his eyes widened even further and he tightened his little hand around her com unit. She gave him a quick kiss on the forehead and then pushed him on.
Suddenly one of the droids appeared around the column, firing at the two Jedi. Yai'De dove against the nearest column nearly avoiding being blasted as Qui Gon brought his light saber down in a fast arc, slicing the droid in half.
"Are you alright?" Qui Gon asked, looking to his friend.
Yai'De's breath caught in her throat when she saw the blackened hole of where the ventilation shaft used to be. "Obi Wan!" She dove to the shaft and peered inside.
"It's alright. He was too far inside for the blast to hit him." Qui Gon soothed. The Creche Master let out a huge sigh of relief. Again, two more droids came into view. Qui Gon deflected their shots. Yai'De drew upon the force, ripping the blaster from the droid Qui Gon had sliced through into her hand, turning, and firing three precise shots into the attacking droid's heads, frying their systems. The droids dropped uselessly to the ground. Qui Gon glanced at his former Creche Master who was catching her breath and pushing back some loose strands of hair.
"Not a warrior hm?"
"Don't mess with my children." She deadpanned.
"I'll remember that."
Together the two moved to the center of the hallway, one, deflecting the oncoming blasts while the other targeted destroyed the advancing enemy. They allowed themselves a small breath of relief when first one, then two, then three more Jedi Knights showed up to help dispatch of the invaders. It took only moments to finish the mechanical assassins after that. Qui Gon deflected one final shot back into the firing droid's head and powered down his light saber, hooking it back onto his belt, all in one swift move.
"Master Qui Gon! Master Yai'De! Are you alright?" a rather young knight asked as he approached.
"Yes we're fine. Get on an emergency call to the council; tell them to send out every available Knight and Master. These droids didn't just walk into the Temple, someone either let them in, or they were already here. Inform them there may be more attacks." The Knight gave a curt nod before turning to make his call into his comm unit. "The rest of you," Qui Gon addressed the other Knights, "find out how these things got in here." His orders immediately being followed, Qui Gon turned to his old Creche Master. He noticed her eyeing the blasted ventilation shaft.
He rested a hand on her shoulder. "Shall we find our brave little Jedi?"
"Nothing would please me more at this moment."
"Master Qui Gon!" a voice called from down the hallway.
Together Qui Gon and Yai'De hurried to the voice. A Biituian Knight directed their attention to the wall.
"We found where they came from. The door had been blasted open," the Knight explained as Qui Gon and Yai'De both looked at the source, "and there are scars along the shaft walls from when they crawled through."
"That's not all," another Knight spoke up from behind them. "There's another one down here in the same condition, only you're not going to believe what we found."
Qui Gon followed the other Knight to another wall further down and looked to where the Knight pointed. Inside another ventilation shaft lay about 15 droids, all lined up one after another, and all currently dormant.
Qui Gon straightened as the full weight of what was happening seemed to come down on him. "Check all the ventilation shafts on this level and inform the Council." He looked around him at the destroyed droids at their feet. "These droids were set off by someone in the Temple. Who knows how many ventilation shafts they're hidden in."
"Oh Force." Yai'De quietly gasped. Qui Gon turned to her and she looked directly into his eyes, the alarm in her eyes, clearly evident. "Obi Wan."
Qui Gon seemed to freeze a moment before he understanding clicked into place. He turned and grabbed one of the Knights arms. "I need your communicator." He stated firmly. The Knight quickly handed it over. Qui Gon swiped it, turned, and ran down the hallway, Yai'De close on his heels. "What's your com's frequency?" he asked as they turned a corner.
"Gamma, eight, seven, four." She spit out.
Qui Gon quickly entered in the frequency and then brought it to his lips. "Obi Wan! Can you hear me?" He stopped as they neared a lift. "Obi Wan, it's Qui Gon, just speak into the device and I'll hear you." He waited another few tense moments with no response. "Does this thing have a tracking device installed on it?"
"You mean to track the frequencies?" Qui Gon nodded. "Yes." She responded. She took the com from his hand and quickly punched in a few commands. Qui Gon watched over her shoulder as the small com unit blurted out a series of beeps. Yai'De frowned as she stared at the device. "He's in the lower levels." She said, slightly shocked.
"Where?"
Yai'De's confused eyes found his. "The Yeada levels."
Qui Gon too frowned in confusion. He paused a moment to clear his mind, allowing all that had happened thus far to sink in and calculate. "Something's not right."
"Really?" Yai'De flatly replied.
Qui Gon looked at her. "Why wasn't Temple Security the first to answer to our distress call?"
Yai'De flattened back some more loose strands of hair. "Maybe the Knights were closer."
"Then where are they now? They've had more than enough time to get here by now." His eyes warily scanned their surroundings. Yai'De too, took a moment to clear her mind and find her center. "Someone from security would have been sent up here, if not an entire team."
"Unless there was no one left to send." Yai'De opened her eyes, looking directly into his.
Qui Gon gave her a nod of agreement before pulling the com unit to his lips again. "Obi Wan, I want you to stay where you are. You understand? Do not move from your position. We're coming to get you." Qui Gon stuffed the small device into his robe and stepped into the lift, followed by Yai'De. He reached over and pressed in the coding for the Yeada levels as the doors shut.
TBC
Note: I know this is kinda short, sorry. I'm not real good at writing action scenes, so let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions on improvement. From here on out I think I'm moving the rating up to PG 13… it gets a little… dark from here on out. You all are awesome!!
Special Note: Did any of you happen to see that Reeses Puff's cereal now has a cool lightsaber pen in every box? They have five different character's lightsabers… and not one of them is Obi Wan's… WHAT A CROCK!!! GRRR@%(#&%(#^$ …whew… okay… sorry bout that… pent up bitterness. I get a little worked up about issues concerning my favorite Jedi, or lack there of in this case.