Chapter 8 - The Disappeared
Author's Note: In which Anakin and Aniya go on a mission with Jar Jar. :D
~ Amina Gila
Aniya Skywalker
I have no idea how we got stuck on a mission with Jar Jar of all things in the entire galaxy. Not that I'm complaining, of course. I've been struggling with getting the energy to so much as get out of bed in the morning lately, and I certainly am glad to be around someone who is constantly bouncing with energy and always moving. Maybe that will help me, if nothing else.
"Ani!" the Gungan squeals cheerfully, "Mesa so smilen to see yousa again!"
"It's good to see you too, Jar Jar," Anakin replies.
"I didn't expect to get a mission together," I agree.
"Mesa no thinkin' the Queenie will want yousa to come, but mesa will explain!" he assures us.
"The Council explained their reluctance," I respond. Apparently, the Bordottans don't like the Jedi because they see them as kidnapping their children to train them a Jedi. The only one they wanted to come war Jar Jar but given that ancient mystics among their people called the Dagoyan masters, who have a strong connection with the Force, are disappearing, a Jedi definitely seemed the best to solve the problem. I'm honestly not really sure what to make of that – I imagine there is a certain truth to the claims of those on the planet, even if it is not quite as they perceive it.
"Do you know her?" Anakin wonders.
"Yup!" The Gungan agrees cheerfully. "The Queen is mesa pallo. Messa knowin' her for a longo time."
"Well, that should make this easier," I deduce. Or so we can hope.
"How are things in the Senate?" Anakin asks.
"These bombad times!" the Gungan replies, "Theysa no listen to mesa or Padme."
I frown. "They still don't take you seriously?" We haven't talked to Jar Jar much since he became a representative, but I know that's one of the biggest problems he's always had. Because of his species and how he talks and acts, no one takes hm seriously, and I'll never understand why. Maybe it's simply because someone as innocent and caring as him really doesn't belong in politics in the first place. At least not in the way politics are now, because that's probably how politicians ought to be.
"Issa the same as before," he responds, looking slightly more downcast for a moment before brightening again, "How are yousa? Wesa no see eacha other in longo time!"
"We are doing alright," Anakin tells him, which is... a passable lie, I suppose.
Not that ranting about the problems will make them go away. "But things have... been better," I add.
Jar Jar sobers a little at that. "Mesa heard yousa padawans leave," he says. I nod, a fresh stab of pain running through me. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned this. Talking about it only makes it worse.
"Yes," Anakin agrees, looking away.
"Yousa sad," Jar Jar observes sympathetically, and steps forwards, promptly hugging both of us. I'm slightly caught off guard, but I instantly return it with one arm.
"Maybe yousa see them again someday," he assures, when we pull apart.
"Maybe." I look away, furiously blinking back the tears stubbornly stinging my eyes. None of us mention it again after that.
We land on the planet before long, and unsurprisingly, the guards are most unhappy to see us here, demanding that we turn over our lightsabers. It'll only make it more difficult for us to handle danger, but I keep my comments to myself as we're escorted inside. That's not something we can argue even if I don't like it.
"Representative Binks of the Republic, you were requested to come here alone," the Queen at the head of the room says, rising to her feet, "Why have you brought these Jedi to Bardotta?"
"Oh, Great Queenie Julia, please forgive mesa," Jar Jar apologizes, "Desa Jedi are mesa pallos! Thesa comin' here to be helpin' messa solve your troubles."
"They are your servants, then?" she demands.
Servants?! Seriously? I exchange an incredulous look with Anakin, but neither of us objects to it
"Umm..." Jar Jar hesitates for a moment. "Yes! Yes!" he exclaims, brightening, throwing an arm around each of us, "Dat is the truth! Ani and Ani are mesa humble servants!"
"Very well, Jedi," she replies, though she still doesn't very pleased, "Because Jar Jar Binks vouches for you, I will allow you to stay here. For now, you must wait in the antechamber."
I turn to go as the guards move towards us, but Anakin pauses, stepping closer to Jar Jar. "Here," he says, handing over a commlink, "Take this... in case anything happens." Good thinking.
"Ohh, yesa!" Jar Jar agrees, before we're ushered out of the room.
"Do you feel it?" Anakin asks, the moment we're alone.
I nod. "The Force is... unbalanced." I've been sensing the disturbance since we first landed, and it's setting me on edge. Something is not right here, but I don't know what. And it doesn't seem like the Queen wants to talk to us about it at all, either. "How are we supposed to help if the Queen won't tell us the details of what's going on?"
"Jar Jar will likely update us," Anakin points out.
"We can hope," I agree, unhappily. With the strange way he explains things, I'm afraid we might miss some details, though. But there's nothing we can do, except wait. We gave Jar Jar a comm, which I hope he uses if something happens to him. Somehow... I think something will.
"If the Queen tells him not to, I don't know how much of the story we'll get," I grumble. I suppose I can't really blame them for distrusting the Jedi, though. I don't bother to suppress my surge of bitterness as I think about everything they've done to me, to my family. It's no wonder the Dagoyans don't trust them, but I wish it wasn't hindering our mission. And possibly even putting Jar Jar in danger. I don't trust myself to protect him anymore, either.
"It might be a while," Anakin points out, "We may want to get some rest."
"When the Force feels like this, I don't know if I want to sleep," I point out. Especially not when people are literally disappearing, though it's not as if they could do that to a Jedi. Hopefully. I suppose we don't know who's doing this or how.
"I don't either," he admits, throwing a wary glance around the halls, "But if anything happens, we should be able to sense it first."
Hopefully.
**w**
Anakin Skywalker
Morning comes quickly enough, but there's still no word from Jar Jar or the Queen. "I'll call him," I decide, finally. It shouldn't disturb him, hopefully. I dial the frequency to his comm, and he surprisingly answers almost immediately.
"Yesa, Ani?" Jar Jar asks.
"How are things going, Jar Jar?"
"Ooh, Mesa spent the night with the Queenie!"
That... was on a need-to-know basis, and I definitely did not need to know. "Has she told you anything?" Aniya inquires, moving over to me.
"Shesa be tellin' mesa this morning!" he replies, "Mesa tell you what shesa says, if shesa says isa okay!"
"Alright, just be careful, Jar Jar," I tell him, before disconnecting the call. The disturbance in the Force only seems to be growing now, warning of danger.
"I knew it," Aniya huffs, "The Queen doesn't trust us at all, so I doubt we'll be getting many details on this."
"If we're going to help them search for the Dagoyan masters, they'll have to tell us something," I point out. Assuming that's what we're going to be doing. But it's hard to say, because I have no idea what the Queen thinks Jar Jar could help with – no offense to his skills, but solving deadly mysteries is not his specialty. I suppose he could surprise me though. I know better than to underestimate him.
We're pacing back and forth in the hallway when suddenly the Force surges. It's screaming in warning, and it's all centered on...
"Jar Jar," I hiss, whirling around, and bolting down the hall.
"Oh nooo! Ani!" Jar Jar's half-hysterical voice shrieks through the comm, right as we run into the hall, where the guards are standing outside the door.
"What's going on, Jar Jar?" I demand.
"Let us in," Aniya orders the guards, running past.
They step aside immediately, probably thanks to hearing Jar Jar's next half-hysterical scream on the other end of the comm, but... It doesn't sound like it's coming from the other side of the door.
The guards instantly open the door, only to reveal an empty room. He's gone. How is that possible? He was just in here! Then it hits me. That's what they mean when they said people were disappearing. I didn't realize they meant like randomly becoming invisible kind if disappearing, but no wonder the Force feels so out of balance here.
"Put mesa down!" Jar Jar screams from the other end of the comm.
"Jar Jar?" I call again, "Just keep the comm with you. We're coming." Having an extended conversation when he's not alone is not a good idea at all, so I leave it that.
"We need our lightsabers back if we're going to find them," Aniya demands, spinning to look at the guards.
They exchange a glance with each other. "We must explain the situation to the Bahk-tox Council," one of them replies.
"We have a way to track down the Queen. Every moment we spend here, we risk losing her completely," I caution.
They take us to their Council immediately, and I can only hope this is going to be fast, because there's no time for this. They should understand that too, though. "There can be no doubt!" the now lead member declares, as the guards hastily explain the situation, "The prophecy is being fulfilled as it was written. First the Dagoyan Masters disappeared and now the Queen! If she does not return in three rotations, I'm afraid she will be gone forever and an era of Darkness will rise throughout the galaxy." Wait, prophecy? There's so many details about the situation missing, it makes it hard to properly investigate it.
"We have a way to track Jar Jar," Aniya speaks up, "The Queen is probably with her."
"If we go quickly, we might still be able to find them," I add.
None of them look remotely happy. "Then go," one of the others decides, "Return their weapons."
One of the other guards steps forwards, holding out lightsabers, which I immediately take. "One more question. The origin of this... prophecy you were mentioning?" I can only hope they'll actually answer, and tell us something important.
"They are the words of the Fangawl clan," one of them explains, "Who worshipped Malmourral the ancient demon of our faith. Their ancient shrine is located under our present day Temple, far beneath the surface. It is a cursed place, an evil place. No one who enters those caverns ever returns."
"Sounds like we found where we're looking for," Aniya remarks.
I nod. "We'll start by tracking Jar Jar's comm and take it from there."
I'm not even surprised when Jar Jar's comm leads up straight to the shrine they were talking about. The guards accompany us, holding torches, since it's completely dark down here.
The entire place looks abandoned, but I can sense that there's been people here recently. And the sheer wrongness in the Force is only steadily growing stronger as we make our way through the place, tracking the comm. There's so many passageways here, and we don't even have a floorplan of the place, though, so it's hard to tell which direction to go. I just follow the Force's nudging – or more accurately which area if feels the weirdest in – as we keep making our way through the place.
"I think I found something!" Aniya calls suddenly.
"What?" I turn, hurrying over to her, where she stands right inside one of the doorways.
"A piece of the Queen's headdress, I think."
"Be careful," I warn the others, as I head further into the darkness. This must be the right way. Cautiously, I push my comm. "Jar Jar?"
"Yesa?" It's beyond relieving to hear the sound of his voice. At least he's alright. For the moment. If we don't get there in time to save him...
"Where are you? What's going on? Can you tell us anything without being heard?"
"Mesa found the disappearen!" he replies, "Dba-boy-boy-ogans! Wesa be sacrificed to Malmourral. Wesa in bombad trouble!"
"Sacrificed?" Aniya repeats, a distinct note of alarm in her voice. So, that's what they're kidnapping these people for? That probably explains why the Force is so out of balance. "Just stay where you are, if you can. We're coming."
"Datsa no problem," he assures, "Mesa not goin' nowheres."
The Force is suddenly flaring in warning. We need to hurry.
"Uh-oh!" he shrieks, only moments later, "Mesa movin'! Mesa movin'!"
"We're coming!" I call back, running even faster. I don't want to think about what could happen to him. I don't have the time to worry about it, but it's always hard to be in situations like this when I don't know when or if my friends will survive.
"Ani! Aniiiiiiii!" he screams, frantically, and then his comm signal abruptly goes quiet. Oh, no. They must have realized he had a comm, and that is not going to be good. We need to find him now.
A glow lights up the end of the passageway as we keep running, finally racing out onto a platform overlooking a large room. Somehow, it just looks like a place where people would be sacrificed. I can sense the death and unnatural darkness in the walls, and I don't like it. There's fires burning down far below, and cages with people inside hanging a distance up, towards the ceiling.
I frantically scan the room, finally spotting a certain Gungan, right next to a few people who look they're about to... I don't know, and I'm not waiting around to find out. Darting forward, I leap off the edge, landing a short distance away from him.
The guards exclaim in surprise, whirling towards me, brandishing long spear-like weapons. I catch the first one, twisting it out of his hands and knocking him to the ground, right as Aniya lands behind me, kicking one of the guards in the head as she hits the ground.
"Get them!" shouts another guard, as more charge for us.
Jar Jar pulls away from the guards, snatching up a pole and waving it at them. "Stay back! Mesa bombad warrior!" he threatens, in a way that could almost make me laugh if not for the situation.
I spin the pole, knocking aside the guards, but they keep on coming. "We need reinforcements," Aniya growls as she continues to spin her own pole, stabbing one of the guards, and then kicking another aside, over the ledge.
Finally, I toss my own pole to the ground, throwing the guards back with the Force and whipping out my lightsaber, igniting it and slashing through the pole of the next guard who lunges at me. Aniya disgards her own pole, also pulling out her lightsaber, and we do our best to fight them off back to back, but it's hard when we have to keep Jar Jar from getting hurt too.
"We must save the Queenie!" he shrieks suddenly, eyes going wide.
I follow his gaze, to see several guards shoving her towards... somewhere. "Come on," I hiss to Aniya, throwing the ones attacking us back with the Force, and bolting.
Too many guards are intercepting our path, though, making it nearly impossible to get anywhere. By the time we finally manage to force our way past all of them, they've already shoved the Queen down one of the long dark hallways, and out of sight.
Jar Jar immediately gives chase, with Aniya and I close behind. None of the guards follow us, surprisingly. The hall seems to drag out endlessly as we run, but still the end is nowhere in sight, and I don't see the guards of the Queen anywhere. I can't shake the foreboding feeling that we're going to be too late, when we find the end of the tunnel finally comes into view.
Just in time for us to see a ship flying off into the sky, leaving the Temple far behind. "Queenie!" Jar Jar cries, desperately.
"We can still find her," I try to reassure him. Or at least, so I can hope.
"But howsa?!"
"I don't know," Aniya replies, "But perhaps we can get more information on these cultists from the Bardotta Council."
**w**
"Do you have any idea what these cultists want?" I inquire, as the three of us sit back in our ship again. The Council didn't have anything of much use, except that "darkness is going to fall if the Queen isn't returned" which only makes the situation more tense, and helps us get nowhere.
"It's like mesa said!" Jar Jar replies, "The cultists took one of the Dagoyan Masters and sacrificed him. Hesa got all crispy-fried, and then theysa stole the Force right out of him and put it in a shiny ball!"
"They're... stealing the Force?" Aniya murmurs, a note of horror in her voice.
"No wonder the Force feels so out of balance," I realize. It makes sense, and it's horrifying. I knew it was possible – ancient Sith could do it – but I didn't know the practice was still done.
"And they're trapping this... Living Force inside containment spheres?" Aniya clarifies.
"Yesa!" Jar Jar confirms, "Theysa try to steal my living Force, too, but yousa saved me!"
"But what do they want to do with it?" I ask, almost rhetorically. They aren't trained Force sensitives, and I can feel something else... Dark and more sinister, though I can't place what. I don't think it has anything to do with the SIth, specifically, but it's hard to say.
"Maxi big the Force, Ani, bow howsa we gonna find the Queenie?" Jar Jar queries.
I share a look with Aniya. "The Force grows more and more out of balance whenever we're near these spheres and where their performing their situations," I reply.
"So, we should be able to sense it, since she's still a prisoner," Aniya supplies. "We should be able to sense it."
"Okeyday! Wesa make a bombad team, Ani!"
**w**
Aniya Skywalker
I keep most of my focus on following the Force as Anakin lands the shuttle on the outskirts of the city. "Letsa get going!" Jar Jar exclaims, jumping to his feet.
"Wait," Anakin protests. "We can find her in the Force. Her presence and fear will draw us to her, if... nothing else distracts us."
Jar Jar nods in understanding, and tries to calm himself, although I can still feel his fear clearly enough.
Slowly, an imagine begins to form in my mind, and finally I see the queen. It's clear enough that we should be able to follow it. I open my eyes, looking to my brother. "I saw a market square."
"Mesa see dat from here, too!" Jar Jar objects.
"– and I saw the queen," I conclude.
"I saw it too," Anakin adds, "Come on."
We take off out of the ship, running through the streets as fast as we can, following the Force's nudging. They're close. Finally, we come to a stop in the middle of the market I saw. But I don't see anyone here...
"I'll get a better look from above," Anakin decides, darting over to a building and jumping up onto the roof, looking around.
"Jar Jar, help!" a high-pitched scream catches my attention.
Jar Jar and I spin around, right in time to see masked figures dragging the flailing Bardottan through a doorway on the other side of the market.
"Julia!" he cries and sprints after, me close behind.
I whip out my lightsaber as we run, right as two guards lunge for us brandishing their spears. I slash the weapons in half, throwing them aside with the Force, and several of the guards up ahead instantly spin around, charging us. Beyond them, I can see the glowing ball of green that screams with pure wrongness in the Force, and one of the guards beyond that is carrying the queen.
I don't waste a second, just leap into the midst of the group, lightsaber blazing. Anakin finally races into view, activating his own blade and joining me in the furious fight. Jar Jar snatches up a dropped spear of his own, spinning in a circle and tripping himself on nothing as he attempts to stab someone.
The other guards in the front with the orb and Julia promptly take off running again, as we take down all the guards they left behind. They're trying to slow us down, and it's working. Clenching my teeth in frustration, I slash through a few more of the guards, uncaring that they don't really have proper weapons to fight us in the first place. We need to end this.
I finally cut down the last one, and we take off again after the retreating figures of the others. We catch up with them again at the bottom of a staircase, where the last few guards are positioned.
"I'll handle them!" Anakin calls to me.
I nod, racing forwards, flipping through the air, landing at the top of the stairs. Blaster shots tear through the ground around me, as one of them starts shooting. I deflect the shots aside, racing forwards and slashing through the blaster as I go. We're running out of time.
I'm rapidly gaining ground on them now, though, and call on the Force to increase my speed as I approach. I throw out a hand, knocking the guard carrying the queen to the ground. She frantically rolls away from him, jumping up.
The other few guards left, except the one with the orb all lunge for us, brandishing their spears.
"Get behind us!" I yell to Julia, right as Anakin races into view.
"Queenie!" cries Jar Jar, racing past over to Julia, pulling her away to safety as we continue fending off the guards.
And I'm about to think this is almost over, when a sudden low snarl catches my attention and the Force flares in warning. Ducking a spear thrown for my head, I whip around to see two enormous animals lumbering towards us. Jar Jar and Julia take off running as the few remaining guards go in chase, leaving us to deal with the rancors. Not good.
The first reaches for me, I slash for it's hand. It snarls, it's arm slamming into me, knocking me to the ground before it picks me up, throwing me against the wall. Anakin is already in motion, flipping out of the way as the other goes for him, jumping onto its back and stabbing his blade down through the creature's head.
How does he always handle these things so much quicker?
I dive out of the way of the creature's snapping jaws, struggling to catch my breath. It reaches for me again, and I swing my lightsaber to the side, slashing through its arm. It howls in pain, jumping back, then whirls around and takes off running down the street, leaving us alone.
"We better get to Jar Jar," Anakin says, sparing me a quick glance to make sure I'm fine before we bolt.
All of our pursers are still running blindly through the streets, trying to catch up with Jar Jar and the Queen. I jump them from behind, stabbing one of them before he can block me. Anakin quickly deals with the others, leaving the growing green ball in the middle of the street.
"We shouldn't leave this here," I frown, "If they get ahold of it again, it won't be good."
"We could take it back to the Bardotta Council," Anakin muses, "They study the Force enough to know how to destroy it. If not, we can take it to the Temple."
"I really hope we can avoid that," I say flatly. I don't want to have to feel this all the way back to Coruscant. It feels so wrong, like – probably the way Ahsoka always complains when we rub her lekku the wrong way. I instantly shy away from that thought. Inevitably, everything leads me back to her and Alema.
I gingerly reach down to pick it up, grateful for my one gloved hand, as Anakin moves past to find Julia and Jar Jar hugging each other, eyes wide.
"You're safe now," Anakin assures, approaching them.
"Thank yousa, Ani!" Jar Jar squeals, flying at him and throwing his arms around him again. I don't bother to suppress my chuckle.
"I saw a witch when I looked into the Force," Julia says, "This is what I wanted to tell you, Jar Jar. I know you would save me."
"Yousa should be thanking Ani and Ani!" Jar Jar declares.
"Jedi Knights, I owe you my life," Julia states, stepping closer to us.
Anakin nods in acknowledgement.
"But they're not all gone," I warn, "You still need to be careful. You can take the orb too, if you know how to destroy it."
"We will deal with both," Julia assures us, as we start the long walk back for the waiting ship.
Just another day saving the world. Only this time, we were helping one of our friends too. I didn't realize how much I missed being around Jar Jar until now, or maybe it's that his goofiness is just reminding me of... someone else. That, and everything feels empty now. I want to tell myself it'll be okay, and maybe someday it will be, but that won't be for a long time and until after many more darker struggles.
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