The conference room they sat in was way too bright for Semele's liking. "I have a bad feeling about this." Obi-Wan spoke uneasily. Semele agreed, but decided not to voice this opinion. Things felt strangely tense all on their own.
Qui-Gon gave him an appraising look before gently speaking. "I don't sense anything."
"It's not about the mission, Master. It's something elsewhere. Something elusive." He looked around the room, as if expecting to see the source of whatever it was he sensed.
"Don't center on your anxieties, Obi-Wan. Keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs." Semele ached to speak up. There was something very wrong. She knew it. She could...smell it.
"If it would ease your worries, I could Know. What our friends are up to out there, I mean." She offered Obi-Wan a small smile at this.
Qui-Gon shook his head. "Best not. We are prepared for the worst, should it happen. But let's try not to invite it by exerting...powers over the situation." Semele, only half listening was feeling along the layout of the ship they found themselves on. She had already made that Known to herself. It paid to be cautious as a troll after all. There were less than twelve in the entire galaxy, and these were the last of them. Those that hadn't reached god tier were hunted to be sold. Which was why most were allied with Jedi or else hidden. Reaching what felt like a command center, she opened a tiny eye in the corner, where it would remain unseen and just watched.
Qui-Gon and his padawan continued speaking in the background, quietly discussing Obi-Wan's sense something was off with this whole ordeal. Qui-Gon said something about "not at the expense of the moment", but it barely registered with Semele. Her mind was currently tasked to capacity Knowing the ship, keeping watch on Gamzee who slept in her home, and also trying to realize the source of whatever was here. The droid who had escorted the three of them to the meeting room was saying something to the Neimoidians who appeared to be in charge. "And they have an Alternian with them." This caused a ripple of alarm in the room Semele was observing and one of them pulled out a list which they ran over with the droid.
"This one." The droid pointed at a picture of Semele.
The two Neimoidians in charge nodded. "Distract them. I will contact Lord Sidious." Semele's nose was beginning to drip jade, and Qui-Gon was trying to speak to her, but she shut him out. She had to concentrate. This was important.
The hooded figure that had been pulled on the communications channel sounded so familiar, but for all her straining, Semele still couldn't place it. The door opened in the room she was in and out of reflex, the eye Semele was looking through closed, leaving her to see the conference room. A droid was handing her companions drinks. Qui-Gon took his, still dabbing at her nose.
Without a thought for the droid, Semele blurted. "I think they're working with Sith. One of the Neimoidians up on the bridge just contacted a Lord Sidious. What's worse is I swear the voice is familiar. I can't place it."
Before either Jedi could reply to this, an explosion shook the hangar bay below them and they were both on their feet, light sabers drawn. The droid leapt back, uttering apologies and leapt out of the way. In addition, the room was beginning to fill with faintly green smoke from a vent on the floor by their feet. "Dioxis." Qui-Gon said grimly, sheathing his saber.
They both shared a glance with Semele who was shaking her head. "I don't know. We didn't have it where I come from and I've made a point of not testing potential poisons on myself since I got here."
"Hold your breath." Qui-Gon replied and she nodded, taking one deep breath and holding it as the room became truly filled. Outside they could hear the clanking footsteps of an approaching group of droids. The doors slid open and the Jedi remained still as the poison fog that was also their only cover began to seep out. The droid who had served drinks tottered out.
"Oh excuse me."
"They must be dead by now." The two Jedi took this as their cue to ignite their sabers and begin parrying blaster bolts shot into the room. Semele, focusing on the group of droids, was able to know the bullet trajectories and dodge just fine. She was out of the fog first, tackling the droid before her. She opened an eye in the hallway so that she could see the two Jedi coming out behind her, lightsabers making quick work of the small droid team sent to presumably shoot their poisoned bodies to death. They ran through the halls, fighting as Semele shouted at them to follow. "The bridge is this way!"
When they reached it, they noticed the door was shut and locked. Obi-Wan and Semele turned to keep watch when Qui-Gon plunged his saber in, trying to cut through. As more droids approached, Semele heard the distinct sound of additional blast doors sliding into place and locking. Qui-Gon hesitated, thinking. They could all hear more droids approaching, and surely some would be better fighters and more equipped to handle the three of them. Qui-Gon made his decision and went back to cutting the doors open.
"Master, destroyers!" Obi-Wan yelped, making Qui-Gon halt and turn with him. These, Semele had seen before. Once, on mission with Mace Windu that she had requested to be on. The scary one, she called him.
"They have shields, don't they?!" She shouted worriedly. "Shouldn't we just run?" They did, straight into an air vent that led out to the hangar bay. It was still smoking with the ruins of their destroyed ship.
It was also filled with droids. "This is an invasion force." She was worried, turning to Qui-Gon.
He was nodding in agreement before he spoke to them both. "Let's split up. Stow aboard separate ships and meet down on the planet." He sighed. "I'll take Semele, since she's a non-combatant."
Turning his gaze from the droid army, Semele could've sworn Obi-Wan's face held the barest hint of humor. "You were right about one thing, master. The negotiations were short." They split up then, Qui-Gon keeping Semele very close to him as they snuck into the hold of one of the ships that was loading up, presumably to invade Naboo. Semele tried to stay calm, but she knew her nerves were showing as the door begin to close and the drive core turned on.
"Qui-Gon is this going to become a war?" She whispered, opening an eye in the cramped space behind some crates so she could actually look at him.
"Let's hope not." He gave her a look she couldn't quite read. "We need to catch up with my padawan and warn Queen Amidala."
Semele's lips perked up in a smile. "Oh. I think the queen will be alright. For a time, at least. She has an Alternian with her, after all. Someone with a very strong sense of justice and an urge to always do right."
Qui-Gon nodded and held a finger to his lips in a shushing motion. They had to be quiet now. He did take her hands and help ease her into a meditative stance. "For your nerves." He mouthed. "I'll keep watch."
"I trust you." She whispered, realizing with a tinge that it was truth. Perhaps if she wasn't so relaxed during the descent to Naboo, she would've realized that the defenses she had around her home in Coruscant were gone now. Maybe she would've seen that not all was well with her morail. But she didn't, and instead she felt peace for what felt like the first time in a long time.
