The Gift

AN – Another early update! I was just so eager to write this scene that I managed to churn it out really quickly – I've been waiting to write it since I started this story!

Disclaimer – I don't own Buffy or Star Wars. Also, some dialogue in this chapter is from Episode I: The Phantom Menace (not done gratuitously, it needs to be there!)

Chapter Twelve – The Invasion

"Again!" Buffy barked, watching Dawn wobble as she held the electropole in front of her in a block. Her sister scowled but stuck her tongue out in concentration as she tried to hold the position stable. Tabbem wasn't faring much better, the gungan had an even heavier pole that she was trying to hold up without drooping. Both girls were covered in sweat and straining hard to keep holding the poles in a stable position.

The last few weeks had seen them both make great progress, but they still had a long way to go. Neither girl had ever spent much time being physically active and they had a lot of core strength to develop before they'd be able to hold their own. But some of the defensive blocks Buffy was showing them would come in useful and helped them to understand their own limitations. They had actually taken the training without many complaints, something Buffy was still surprised about. She had assumed that one or the other would have given up fairly early when they realised how much hard work it actually was.

"Now face each other, slowly strike out." Buffy had been encouraging them to spar, helping them understand how to use their own characteristics to their advantages. Dawn, despite being tall, was lithe and wiry and able to be quick on her feet. Tabbem had a clear strength advantage. Whilst they physically couldn't do too much to each other, they were learning how to fight intelligently which would serve them well if they were ever in a situation where they needed to defend themselves for real.

Roos Tarpals was watching from the sidelines, standing near the doorway of the gym. In unspoken agreement he hadn't involved himself in the training of either Dawn or Tabbem, as Buffy had it well in hand. Teaching was a new skill for her, but one she had picked up quickly. She went into a different mode, one that wouldn't brook any arguments yet managed to get the best out of her pupils. Dawn had respected their different roles very well, she didn't argue half as much as Buffy and Roos thought she might. All in all, it was working well.

That is, until a gungan appeared breathlessly in the entrance, almost doubled over as he scanned around the room.

"Dawnee, yousa needed in da healer rooms! Captain, Slayer, da Big Boss is wanting you in da Bigspace."

"What is it?" Buffy asked with concern, as Dawn immediately dropped her pole and went to follow the gungan.

"Dere is something big happening on da surface, some gungans are coming in injured. Dey say meckanics are coming for dem." The gungan's eyes were wide, hands gesticulating wildly in his distress.

Buffy nodded as she swung her scythe into position on her back and grabbed an electropole. "Ok, come on Roos. Tabbem, can you go with Dawn to the healing rooms? Dawn, once you get there, stay there. If something is happening I need to be able to find you straight away." Tabbem had already followed Dawn's lead in putting her electropole away and was standing looking a bit lost as she watched the others.

"OK Buffy," Dawn replied, looking with big eyes at her older sister. "Be careful." She hugged Buffy briefly before she and Tabbem disappeared out of the training room.

Captain Tarpals and Buffy sped through the city, only to stop with surprise when a gungan riding a kaadu and leading another blocked their route. Despite kaadu being one of the main livestock animals the Gungan had, it was very rare for them to be in the cities, especially in communal areas. "Lieutenant Kee!" Tarpals exclaimed, recognising his colleague. "What yousa doing here? With da kaadu?"

"Mesa brought yousa a kaadu too," he explained, throwing a set of reins to the surprised Captain Tarpals. "Is bad on surface, is emergency. All creatures to be brought to city. Yousa might need dis to get through."

The captain swung himself up into the saddle. "Thank yousa." He held his hand out to Buffy, who frowned in distaste but clambered up behind him.

"Da Big Boss is waiting," Kee told them, gesturing towards the centre of the city.

Roos spurred on the kaadu and they were soon sprinting towards the City Bigspace. When they reached it, Buffy slid off the kaadu and looked around at the milling gungans. "It still seems fairly quiet here. What is going on?" Captain Tarpals shook his head as he looked around, before seeing something by the main entrance that caught his attention. Following his gaze, Buffy saw some gungans stepping away from the main landing platform where some shorter figures stood.

"Jedi!" Captain Tarpals hissed, turning to Buffy. "Dere are Jedi here! Yousa must get hidden." Buffy looked around frantically, there was nowhere to go except the High Council's Board Room. She ran towards it, as Captain Tarpals rode away towards two figures wearing large dressing gown things and a gungan that looked suspiciously like Jar Jar Binks.

She ducked into it to the surprise of the High Council. "There are Jedi out there!" She gasped, looking around.

"Quick, hide below da stairs." One of the officials that flanked Boss Nass instructed, gesturing towards the stairs on the right that led to the upper dias. "Yousa not want to be found by da Jedi." Boss Nass was nodding with agreement, and Buffy wanted to keep a low profile so she did as told. She realised as soon as she'd hidden herself that from her hiding place she would be able to hear everything that was going on in the chamber – something that she thought probably wasn't an accident.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Obi-Wan Kenobi pulled the breather out of his mouth and stared around at the underwater city. He'd seen a lot during his travels as Master Qui-Gon's Padawan, but the sight of the city ahead of them as they had swum through the lake was unusual enough to give him pause. As was the large space they were in now, with a few of the amphibious creatures nearby shying away from them and giving them suspicious glances. Gungans, his master had called them when they had run into one on the surface. The same one that had led them to this city that otherwise they would not have found.

There was a niggling feeling that there was something unusual here, a feeling that he had picked up on the minute he came through the barrier into the city, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. It had been a very unusual day all told and Master Qui-Gon didn't seem to have noticed anything. Still, it would be remiss of him not to bring it to his master's attention.

"There is something strange in the Force here, master."

"Really?" Qui-Gon looked at him with a confused air. "I cannot feel anything. What is it you detect?"

"I'm not sure. It may be nothing, but I can't help but feel it might be significant." Qui-Gon nodded to him.

"Keep your mind open to what the Living Force is trying to tell you, Obi-Wan. But I fear we must also focus on the situation at hand."

Obi-Wan put his thoughts aside as he followed his Master's lead, descending some shallow steps from the opening they had come through. He watched as a bipedal creature came running up to them, one of the gungans sat on its back. It was wearing some form of combat uniform and was carrying a long pole, which it lowered towards their gungan guide in warning.

"Stopa dere!"

"Heydee ho, Captain Tarpals. Mesa back!" Jar Jar Binks, the gungan who had led them to the city greeted the newcomer with open arms. The other one looked at him sternly, Obi-Wan almost imagined that he rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Not again, Jar Jar! Yousa going to da Bosses. Yousa in big doo-doo dis time."

While they had been talking another pair of gungans riding the same strange creatures had come up. One of these now reached forward and prodded Jar Jar with a long pole. The hapless gungan jumped and a crackle of electricity at the end of the pole indicated why.

"How wude!" Jar Jar exclaimed, rubbing his shoulder but beginning to move. The guards – because they must be guards, sitting on top of their mounts and carry arms – gestured for them to follow. Seeing that his Master was complying without a fuss, Obi-Wan did the same. The niggling feeling wouldn't go away though, it felt as though the Force was trying to tell him something but for the life of him he couldn't work out what.

He looked around at the skittish gungans that were tracking their progress warily through the large open space. Curved walkways crossed it several times with open air underneath, looking down between the gaps Obi-Wan could see that the area was a perfect sphere, as deep as it was wide. Jar Jar Binks was still being hustled along out in front, it looked as though the lead gungan – Captain Tarpals, Jar Jar had called him – was saying something to him but too quietly for either Jedi to hear. Probably some form of dire threat, Obi-Wan decided, given the way that they had greeted Jar Jar at the entrance to the city.

They descended some steps into some form of connecting passage, emerging into a much smaller room that Jar Jar told them quietly was the High Council Boardroom. The Jedi were ushered into the middle platform, looking up at a curved dias on which five more gungans were sat. Obi-Wan felt that strange itch on the back of his neck again, almost as though he was being watched. Irritably he shifted and scanned the room.

The circular platform they were standing on was in the dead centre of the spherical room, a few steps down from the entrance and a lower level than the platform on which the officials sat. There was another platform running around the room below this high one, although some of it was hidden behind structural supports. Stairs at the entrance led to both the higher and lower platforms. It was truly interesting architectural design, not that he should be focussing on that right now.

Obi-Wan's attention was brought back to the front of the room by his Master speaking, replying to something that one of the gungan leaders had said.

"That droid army is about to attack the Naboo. We must warn them."

The large gungan sat in the centre of the raised platform clicked as he thought over his words. "Wesa no like da Naboo." He said eventually, rolls of fat and blubber jiggling as he spoke. Obi-Wan worked hard not to show his disgust at the sight. "And dey no like da gungans. Da Naboo think dey more smart dan us. Dey think dey brains so big."

Obi-Wan couldn't listen to any more of this short-sighted bigotry. "After those droids take control of the surface, they will come here and take control of you." He warned, trying to get the gungan to see sense. They had to get to the Naboo now, to help them if they could.

"No, mesa no think so," the large gungan replied after a pause. He looked at Obi-Wan, who was taken aback by the calculating look in the creature's eye. "They not know of usen."

"You and the Naboo form a symbiont circle." Obi-Wan pressed. He just didn't understand why the creature was being so stubborn. "What happens to one of you will affect the other. You must understand this."

The leader of the gungans looked firmly at the Jedi. "Mesa no care about da Naboo."

Qui-Gon signalled almost imperceptibly to Obi-Wan, before speaking softly. He gestured with his hand, gently exerting his will on the force and on the Gungan leader. "Then speed us on our way." He phrased it as a suggestion, though Obi-Wan was aware that with the strength of the force behind it that it was actually a demand. The Gungan leader's eyes glinted.

"Wesa going to speed yous away." The toad-like creature finally said, nodding to him.

"We could use a transport." Qui-Gon said next, again exerting his will with a flick of his hand. This time Obi-Wan knew that the gungan was up to something, as he replied with a sly grin.

"Wesa give yousa a bongo." There was an intake of breath from behind, Obi-Wan looked around with a frown to see Jar Jar Binks staring in shock at the boss. Strange how the sound echoed in this spherical room, he had almost thought it had come from the other side, by the stairs that led up to the raised platform.

"Da speediest way to da Naboo in going through da planet core." The leader was saying with a toothy smile. "Now go." He pointed towards the exit, where the guards still stood with Jar Jar Binks.

"Master, what is a bongo?" Obi-Wan hissed to Master Qui-Gon as they turned away from the boss.

"A transport, I hope," came the reply, although Obi-Wan wasn't really listening to it. Something niggled at the back of Obi-Wan's mind again and he stopped, not realising that his Master had also done the same.

"Master," he began a warning, but there was a rushing in his ears, drowning out any reply that Qui-Gon made. He almost felt like he had vertigo, despite never being affected by heights before. There was something here… he almost took a step to the side of the sphere, he needed to walk over there and find what was calling him…

"…help would be hot." The voice of Jar Jar broke into his reverie and the rushing feeling dissipated. He looked from Qui-Gon to the hapless gungan.

"Master, we are short on time." He advised, before the pull distracted him again from his master's reply. Qui-Gon was too focussed on the gungan in front of him to notice his Padawan's distraction. Obi-Wan only started paying attention again when his master pleaded for the help of the gungan based on the life debt he was owed. Somehow, his master had decided that the creature would come with them as a guide!

A flash of movement to his right caught his attention, he spun to look at it. But before he could investigate further Jar Jar knocked into him whilst exclaiming loudly 'Ye Gods, what is mesa saying!". Obi-Wan looked for his master to see that Qui-Gon had nearly left the room and was waiting impatiently for both him and the gungan. With one last look over his shoulder at the High Council, Obi-Wan followed his master. He didn't want to be the one to be holding them up, not when the gungan appeared to be coming along for the ride.

For a few minutes after the Jedi had left the room with a guard escort, the council chamber was quiet while the members considered what had just happened. But then a small, blond figure crawled out from where she had been hiding beneath the stairs. She was still partially in shock – somehow the younger Jedi had sussed out her hiding place and was making a bee-line for her when Jar Jar bumped into him. Not that it had been an accident, just before Jar Jar started making ridiculous statements about preferring to be dead in Otoh Gunga than in the core he had seen her. Jar Jar's eyes had connected with hers and he had realised the danger to her so he loudly distracted both Jedi. Not that it had done enough, the younger didn't even seem to hear him so instead Jar Jar had knocked into him deliberately. Buffy felt she owed the young gungan an apology.

She brushed off her trousers and turned to face the council. Two of the members were making their way down from the stage, they greeted her softly before disappearing out the door. Buffy looked at those that remained. "What was that all about?"

Boss Nass shook his head. "Da Jedi… dey think dat we are primitives."

"They were right about our relationship with the Naboo though." Buffy frowned. "Are you really going to leave the Naboo to deal with this alone?"

Boss Nass gave her a withering glance. "What yousa think?"

"But you told the Jedi you don't care about the Naboo."

"Mesa don't! Not like mesa care about da gungans. But dey didn't give mesa a chance to say dat we would help dem to get to Naboo, instead dey try dere force will thing."

"What is that?" Buffy asked curiously. Boss Nass took a moment before answering, conferring with the remaining Council members who vacated the room, leaving Buffy alone with the Big Boss.

"Mesa sorry," he commented, gesturing towards the departing members. "But wesa have much to do with da invasion up dere."

"What is going on up there? And what is the force will thing?"

Boss Nass climbed off his pedestal and waddled down the stairs to join the Slayer. "Dere is meccaniks on da surface, dey are here for da Naboo but dey are damaging our land and killing our people." The Boss pursed his lips together. "Wesa need to help da Naboo, but wesa must look after da gungans first. Dere have been gungans coming to city all morning since da first ships landed. Mesa not care for da Naboo more dan for mesa people."

"Well that's fair enough, surely." Buffy said with a frown. "Wouldn't the Jedi get that?"

"Mesa not know. Mesa could have told dem dis, but da Jedi, dey think dat we not important enough. Dey use da force will on mesa. Is to try to make mesa do what dey want."

"They used their force thing to try to force you to do something?" Buffy gasped. "But that's, like, when Willow tried to make everyone do her will when she was all cut up about Oz. It takes away free will... it's awful!"

"Mesa not disagree." Boss Nass frowned. "Dey could say 'Can yousa help usen get to da Naboo to warn dem? Wesa not taken your guards, but go alone. Wesa understand it must be difficult for yousa here at dis time'. Den mesa say 'sure, here is da heyblibber. Is quick.' Instead dey try to force mesa to help dem. So mesa play along, but mesa give dem a bongo." He smirked. "Dey can have da fun driving a bongo through da core."

"But they have no idea what they are in for... a bongo isn't strong enough to fight the things that live there!"

"Dey is Jedi. Dey have da force. Dey have Jar Jar to guide dem. And yousa to make sure dey don't die." He grinned at Buffy.

"You want me to escort them through the core? But I could be out there on the surface, fighting these mechanic things."

"Now is not da time for fighting, Slayer." Boss Nass told her soberly. "Now is da time for hiding. Wesa leave da city before da meccaniks find it, wesa go to sacred place. Once dere, we can look to help da Naboo and ready da Gungan. Da best thing yousa can do is make sure dem Jedi not die – and find out what happen to da Naboo so wesa can decides how to help."

Buffy didn't like it, but she could see the logic in it. No point sending troops up onto the surface where the mechanics – whatever they were – had the upper hand. It would be a massacre. She nodded at Boss Nass, walking with him silently until she peeled off towards the docks.

She intercepted Captain Tarpals on his way back from escorting the Jedi into a bongo. "What yousa doing here?" He asked her, shooting a look behind. "Is not safe, da Jedi have only just gone into a bongo."

"I know," Buffy told him. "I need your driving skills, we're taking a Heyblibber to make sure that they get there safely." She started moving towards the docks. "Boss's orders!" She called back over her shoulder to him. With a long suffering sigh Captain Tarpals turned around to follow her back to the docks.