AN: Well, I just broke a lease and moved back in with my parents. Take care of each other, be serious, be kind, don't add to the hysteria, but please, please do what you can to limit the speedy spread of this airborne virus. Do not go to hospitals unless you are in true need. We are going to get through this, humanity has survived far worse. Stay home if you can. Much love to you all.
Now onwards with this free entertainment :D
Chapter 17 - Pirates
Qui-Gon had many faults, he was aware of this, but putting his Padawans in undue danger wasn't typically one of them.
Which is why Feemor -Mor offering to spar with Obi-Wan and Rey filled him with trepidation.
Yes, he trusted Mor, and if his Padawan was anything to go by, he was very much the Jedi Master he had always been destined to become.
But when Mor said he hadn't used a lightsaber in two decades, Qui-Gon's response was immediate.
"No, you may spar with Obi-Wan, but not Rey."
Mor raised a golden brow at him, "Is she so unskilled?"
Rey, ever the dutiful Jedi Padawan, let him answer. Qui-Gon was grateful for her lack of competitive pride. Yes, she and Obi-Wan could get competitive, but he was her senior, a teacher, and she respected him too greatly to be hurt by his superiority.
Obi-Wan was a good influence.
"She has yet to gain a handle on Shii-Cho and you are out of practice with sparring," Qui-Gon said.
Mor shrugged and pulled two short swords from under his cloak, the motion so smooth and quick, Qui-Gon wasn't sure where the sheaths were.
"Swords versus staff then," he said.
Rey grinned, "That I can do."
Qui-Gon still felt it was a bad idea but relented. If Rey slipped, Mor wouldn't accidentally take her head off.
At least he hoped not, those swords looked as if they had done worse.
Obi-Wan and he stood to the side with Master Dooku and Padawan Ventress. Her gaze was focused solidly on her Master.
Qui-Gon was interested in the girl, she was the same age as Rey and was herself a power in the Force. But he felt the conflict in her.
Just as there had been conflict in Ky Narec and now, within Mor.
Feemor had never struggled with the Dark Side before as a Padawan, but then, Qui-Gon hadn't exactly raised him to be a killer either.
And now Mor circled Rey with a quiet step of a jungle cat with blue eyes that mocked humour. As if he had seen or done enough to find his own internal dialogue reproachable.
Rey, true to form, played defence.
When Mor lunged at her, Qui-Gon was left almost breathless at their speed.
Mor was formidable, and Rey… she had been holding out on them.
For she met his every blow with her staff, the sound of metal on metal filling the room like a clattering of rain against a roof.
Rey was predisposed to like Mor because of his connection to Qui-Gon, but she didn't treat him like she treated Obi-Wan or the Temple guards.
She wasn't playing with him when her staff came around to meet his shoulder with a solid blow.
And not five minutes into the duel, the Force changed between them, neither called to the Dark, but it seemed to be pressing on them, calling to them.
He saw it the moment Mor stopped playing with her, and Rey's speed went from graceful to erratic. Like the difference between Ataru and Juyo. The Seventh Form was more difficult, but more deadly, because if one had enough experience with the Fourth Form the moves were predictable. The only thing predictable about Juyo was the chaos.
Such was Rey's fighting style as her staff work altered from graceful sweeps to violent jabs that only Mor's strength kept him safe from.
But Mor was swift too, he held back until he had an opening for a killing blow.
Qui-Gon ran, using the Force to aid him, he put himself between his two students, the youngest and the oldest.
Rey halted her movement, the length of her staff pressed to his lower back as she caught her balance. There was no pain, as she had only been bringing it up for a block.
Mor's blades, on the other hand... Qui-Gon was amazed at his skill that he could stop the motion, the blades touched his neck without breaking the skin.
But he was not impressed with Mor's actions. Qui-Gon met cold eyes.
They said nothing, Mor did not back down, there was no remorse in that cold, almost inhuman, gaze.
There was nothing.
Here was a killer not because he enjoyed it, but because he saw no other way to be.
It broke Qui-Gon's heart. Feemor had been his little brother, eager for the world, and faith that life and love would win out even in the darkest corners of the world.
That boy was dead.
Qui-Gon pulled his saber from his side and ignited it.
Mor raised his brows, lowering his blades as he stepped back.
Qui-Gon turned on Rey, who thankfully had the presence of mind to ignite her staff.
He had been training her for nearly three years now, and he never sparred with her. He had shown her form and style, he walked her through endless motions but he had never sparred with her.
She was fleet-footed, but she was slow with lightsabers. Her form was dramatically better with two blades than one, but she still wasn't a natural with it. Two beams were more difficult and she slowed her speed or she might have hurt herself.
This was good but gave Qui-Gon the advantage.
He had his lightsaber at her throat in thirty seconds.
Her eyes were wide, but there was no anger there. Their bond was wide open, and she knew his purpose was not to humiliate her, just as he knew she had been wanting to spar with him for a long time now.
If Obi-Wan was good, the Master had to be better.
Qui-Gon smiled, even as he said, "Again."
He appreciated her logic, but Obi-Wan was getting better and better at Soresu and was damn near on the verge of inventing his own lightsaber Form as Mace had done. Obi-Wan would be better than him one day in a pure lightsaber to lightsaber technique, sooner rather than later.
But Qui-Gon had always been more in tune with the Force than Obi-Wan, and Rey's lack of shielding gave away her every intention. But Qui-Gon didn't need the Force's guidance to win round after round with her, no duel between them lasting longer than a minute.
He was her Master, and he had been watching over her training nearly every day for the past three years.
"Again," he said.
"Again."
"Again."
She leaped over him and he brought his blade within a centimetre of her collar bone.
She was left wide eyed as she realized he could have decapitated her.
He turned off his blade and she followed, bowing in turn.
"You must get a hold on the basics, Rey. You would cause nearly any villain problems, but another Force user using a saber against you has years of advantage."
She nodded.
And they rejoined the spectators as Obi-Wan and Mor took the field.
This duel was much more interesting, and longer.
Mor spent the first half chasing after Obi-Wan around.
"Damnit!" Mor cursed at him, "Stand still!" Mor's blade was golden even as the hilt was matt black.
Ventress let out a small laugh, "My Master is rather efficient in a duel, Soresu is a challenge for him."
Dooku was less charitable, "Qui-Gon he's terrible. I would blame your teachings but Obi-Wan is exceptional."
Qui-Gon winced, "He used to be good at Ataru."
"He was better with the blades," Rey noted, as Mor twirled to meet Obi-Wan's counter strike.
Dooku smiled, "He's still better with a saber than you are, my dear."
Rey laughed, perfectly unoffended.
Ventress gave her a strange look.
Obi-Wan, seeing that his opponent couldn't keep up, started experimenting with the sudo-Soresu-Ataru he had been practising.
Dooku let out a breath, "His endurance is remarkable."
There was nothing extremely violent about Obi-Wan's attacks, but like Soresu, they were frequent, and like Ataru, he had to draw on the Force to fuel the motions, the flips and the fleet footed manoeuvring.
It was the seeds of something that Qui-Gon, and Dooku, were impressed by.
"Mace Windu better be careful he doesn't lose his battle champion place."
Qui-Gon smiled, "He's not so aggressive as all that."
Mor must have been listening because he called to them as he slashed at Obi-Wan, "Aggressively annoying."
Obi-Wan grinned and did not falter.
The duel lasted another ten minutes before Obi-Wan had Mor disarmed.
They bowed to each other, Mor sweating and panting, Obi-Wan as chipper as Rey.
Mor called his saber back to his hand as he walked back to them, "Alright, I admit, I've let my training slip. But if memory serves, he's better than Xanatos ever was."
Obi-Wan grinned, "I was thirteen last time I encountered him."
Qui-Gon shook his head, "Yes, Obi-Wan is better than Xanatos, but Mor, I am disappointed. That was abhorrent, Obi-Wan was playing with you."
Mor sighed, "I know, and I was actually going to ask if you had either any time or any suggestions for Masters who might be able to help teach Asajj. She shouldn't have to suffer through me relearning my form when she could be excelling."
"I am a Council member," Dooku said before Qui-Gon could speak, "I do not have time to take a Padawan of my own, but I could assist in teaching her form." He turned on the young Dathomirian, "What did Ky teach you?"
"Niman, mainly, but I adapted some, it wasn't enough for my purposes," she answered.
"Come," Dooku said, walking out onto the mats.
She followed.
Her blades were curved slightly and they ignited green.
Mor said to them, "You know, when I went to Ilum with her, she had the oddest vision of curved blades."
"Ky didn't give her sabers?" Qui-Gon asked.
Mor shook his head, "She wears Ky's kyber around her neck, but I thought she needed a matched pair for sabers. Two blades suit her."
They watched dual green beams of light attack blue, and Dooku hardly moved. He kept a hand behind his back as he tested her.
Qui-Gon tried not to smile, Dooku had already won, he was just feeling her out now. Mace might be able to take Dooku in a duel, but that was because of age, Dooku was still the best duelist of the Jedi Order.
Ventress drew on her anger, and Qui-Gon felt Mor tense.
But Dooku felt it two and ended the fight before her emotions could escalate.
"Well done," Dooku complimented, "I see much potential in you. I am an early riser. You will meet me each morning an hour before dawn."
Ventress looked to Mor, who nodded his approval, and she bowed, "Yes, Master Dooku."
"You might regret that," Qui-Gon murmured to his old apprentice.
Mor shook his head, "I will not hold her back because of my own failings." He looked at Obi-Wan and Rey. "This upcoming generation is going to give the Jedi a new sort of reputation though."
"At least they are going to drive Mace out of his mind anyway," Qui-Gon said with a genuine smile.
Maul did not hear from Plagueis again. Left to his own devices, Maul put his full energies into mastering Ataru.
He had healed quicker than he had imagined possible, even with the aid of the light.
Maul still refused to think the Jedi were correct in their teachings. They were a cult who hid their own blood-thirsty authoritarian reign with wise drivel and hypocrisy.
But Maul was beginning to see the Sith as no better.
Sidious had saved him from the Jedi, but he had also stolen him from his home, tortured him for years, and taught him power without explaining the reasons behind their methodologies.
Everything and every one had failed him, but not the Force, so Maul turned to the Force to guide him.
As he glided through the Ataru motions, letting the Force fill him, he didn't fight what came, neither the Dark nor Light, he embraced them both.
But he didn't throw aside his emotions as the Jedi were want to do, Maul would not make himself weak. He let his emotions fuel him, and when the Force hummed in warning when he treaded too far beyond his own limits, he pulled on the Light.
It was a difficult balance, but the Force came easily to him, teaching him, guiding him, as much as his own intuition and emotions led him.
The red glow of his saber lit the room, as his every sense was filled with the Force.
Sidious and Plagueis were too powerful for him to defeat on his own, but he would find another way.
He had thought he needed Rey to turn to the Dark Side. But maybe what was more powerful than the Dark or the Light was them both.
Maul would master both, he would become his own Master.
And then he would become the girl's Master.
She would be his weapon, his partner.
Together they could take down both the Sith and the Jedi.
Three months passed before the Council found an 'adequate' mission for Obi-Wan's trials.
The standard trials themselves the Council had unanimously decided would be a waste of everyone's time.
Obi-Wan was a Knight in all but name.
Which is why Qui-Gon had not expected to see his Master quite so angry when he and Obi-Wan came in to discuss their final mission as Master and Padawan.
He had a sinking suspicion it had something to do with Rey waiting out in the hall.
He wasn't disappointed.
"The trials," Plo Koon started, "are designed to test not just a Jedi's physical and mental technical skills, but their devotion to the Order and their ability to put aside their personal emotions and attachments for the good of the galaxy."
Qui-Gon had a bad feeling about this.
Dooku chimed in, "However, given the circumstances, this test," the last word was filled with bitterness, "can be refused. And you may take the trials as you should have been able to before."
Obi-Wan bowed his head, "I am sure the mission, whatever it is, is the Council's wisdom to assign or not assign me."
Qui-Gon exchanged an annoyed look with an equally bothered Dooku, everyone knew in this room Obi-Wan would never refuse an assignment. The only thing Obi-Wan had ever refused was not taking an assignment.
"As I am sure you're both aware," Ki-Adi Mundi said, "That Senator Sheev Palpatine has been missing for over a year now."
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan both went still, they both looked at Mace who ordinarily did most of the talking but was today tight lipped.
His lip thinned further.
"A bounty hunter by the name of Cad Bane, has sent a ransom to both Jedi and the Queen of Naboo," Depa picked up, "the ransom demands that if the Senator's daughter Rey Palpatine is not among the Jedi who give over than ransom money than Sheev Palpatine will be killed."
Qui-Gon had to fight back his anger at this. It was rare that anyone tried to leverage a Jedi's family against them, but then the Jedi weren't so numerous that the members of the Senate and the Jedi often had interlocking bloodlines.
"No," Qui-Gon said, "no, we will not play this game. This is meant to be Obi-Wan's trial, not Rey's. A Jedi's family should not be leveraged against us."
"Care deeply for our young Palpatine, does Padawan Kenobi," Yoda said, speaking for the first time, "And certain we are that Bane's threat is true."
Obi-Wan shook his head, "So we have someone who looks like Rey go as a decoy."
"Underestimate your Padawan, you do," Yoda said, not to Qui-Gon but to Obi-Wan, "A Master one day you will be, the risk of your apprentice you must weigh. Not long has she been among us, but a child she is not. Your trial is to save a man you despise and to keep safe a Padawan who is as much Qui-Gon's responsibility as yours, she is."
"If Rey says no to this, she is permitted to not go," Qui-Gon cut in, trying to tamper down his anger.
"Of course she is free to say no," said Ki-Adi Mundi, "But why would she?"
Qui-Gon glared at Mace and Yoda.
Yoda was serene.
Mace looked as if he would have liked to assist in Senator Palpatine's demise.
Mace and I were outvoted, Dooku whispered through their bond.
Qui-Gon took in a deep breath, and let it out, "Fine, fine, but Rey is brought in, now, before we discuss whether or not to continue with this, even if Senator Palpatine's life bears no importance on InterGalactic peace."
"My point exactly," Dooku said, "Naboo already has a fine representative, Senator Sabe has done more for her planet and the galaxy in the last year than Sheev Palpatine has done in his entire career."
"Be that as it may," Plo Koon said, "The Jedi have been called out in this fight and the Chancellor specifically asked for his wish that Senator Palpatine be returned safely."
Rey, who he had called to through their bond, had walked in then and she froze at the door.
Qui-Gon tried to assess how she was feeling through the bonds but he sensed nothing, her emotions were under control as she continued to walk into the room.
As usual, when she entered the Council chambers, she had her breath under control and herself centred.
Even Qui-Gon could feel the intensity of the Force around the twelve Council, for Rey he knew it could be overwhelming.
She bowed to the Council but placed herself between Obi-Wan and himself.
Something tightened in Qui-Gon's chest, Rey still saw herself as a bit of an outsider. She knew her place was with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, therefore, she saw the Jedi as her family. But immersion was still a problem for her.
However, the last three months had been especially good ones. The younglings had all fallen for Rey's charms. Yoda had been forced to pass her around between different classes as even the most rambunctious class couldn't keep up with her for two days in a row. Yoda had even had Rey sit in with younglings for a few of their history classes.
Rey seemed enchanted by these, sitting cross-legged with a dozen children crowded around her, one or more on their lap as they listened to the teacher speak.
Nothing like having an adult be interested in their classes to get even the most inattentive child interested.
This wasn't to say Rey always knew what to do with children, she was quite out of her depth when a child broke down crying or had a burst of emotion. Rey wasn't a teacher or a parent, she was just Rey.
Ali-Alann, a Master close to Qui-Gon's stature with a far gentler nature, was particularly fond of Rey. He had told Qui-Gon, "She is meant to be a Knight, not a caregiver, but by Force, my old friend, she has such a heart. I trust all the Jedi in this Temple to put the younglings lives above their own. But I trust her to bury herself in the mines of Mustafar if that's what it took to save them. She is a protector, Jinn, she will give everything she has."
Those words were meant to fill him with pride, and they did, but it also filled him with worry.
He knew what she would say to this mission when Ki-Adi Mundi re-explained that Cad Bane had requested her personally.
She dipped her head, "Of course, he is a citizen of the Republic, if the Jedi Council thinks I am needed then I will help."
Obi-Wan let out an audible exhale of breath, but unlike what Qui-Gon wanted to do, he didn't lash out at the Council. Instead, Obi-Wan asked, "Where is Bane holding the Senator?"
"Bandomeer," Mace said shortly.
Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon shared a look over Rey's head.
So, their Padawan and Master journey would end where it had begun.
The Force worked in mysterious ways.
Rey's excitement rose between them, "Do you think there will be pirates?"
Obi-Wan groaned, "Rey, pirates are not a good thing."
"Oh, come on, we could take on pirates."
Qui-Gon sighed, she was right, they had to treat this like a normal mission, even if he resented having to put their lives at risk for a corrupt politician who had sold his own daughter into slavery.
"May the Force be with you," Mace said, voice lighter when he saw that Rey appeared least affected by their mission.
But Qui-Gon agreed with Dooku's parting sentiment, "And if your mission fails Kenobi, you can always retake your trials. This mission is of low priority, all three of you are to come back safely."
Qui-Gon couldn't help but smile.
"So aside from Master Jinn being silly in not seeing how wonderful you are at the beginning of your trip to Bandomeer, and Master Jinn having to heal you after you got heroically choked out by a hutt, and then fighting off dragons, and saving a shipload of people, Xantos, getting yourself enslaved, and then saving planet together, what else did you manage at thirteen?" Rey asked, amused as they waited in the blue light of hyperspace.
"Well," Obi-Wan said with a grin, "I dropped out of the Order."
"What?" She squeaked, "no you didn't."
"He did," Qui-Gon confirmed, "I ordered him to not help an army of children trying to fight for the peace of their planet and the brat deserted me."
Rey laughed, "But of course you forgave him."
"There was no 'of course' about it," Obi-Wan said, "The Council wasn't pleased with me. And Qui-Gon, in case you haven't noticed, is a stubborn man. I had to scrape to get back in his good graces. Had it not been for Tahl, I might not be here today."
"But you're the perfect Jedi!"
Qui-Gon chuckled, "He turned that way at fifteen-sixteen, his way of rebelling against his maverick Master. Yoda himself has not quoted the code at me as much Obi-Wan has."
Rey shook her head, "You're both silly."
"What about you, Rey, what were you like at thirteen?" he asked. She didn't talk about her past much but considering their mission, he wanted to know more about her life.
Her smile faded, but not the light in her hazel eyes, "I won my freedom."
His stomach twisted, remembering his own short time as a slave on Bandomeer. His life had been in the palm of someone else's hand. "How did you do that?"
"There was a crash some kilometres outside our settlement. I saw it go down at high noon. It wasn't that far of a hike, but the terrain was treacherous. I knew no one else would bother it, a few good sandstorms and it would have been gone. But I saw the model, a TIE fighter is worth a lot."
Obi-Wan frowned, not sure that he recognized what a TIE fighter was.
"You betted those parts to buy your freedom," Qui-Gon guessed.
"It took me days," she said, "and Unkar gave me two half portions and three tins of water in advance for our bargain. I stripped that ship down until my hands bled. The pilot who had died on impact got a sand grave. The snakes came for him, and the damn voltages waited around for me. I stripped the parts in the day, and dragged the parts to safety in the night. In the end, dragging all those parts back was the hardest stretch, I had run out of water by then." She went quiet, her eyes had darkened.
Obi-Wan's gut twisted. His time in the under-ocean mines had been scary, but he had had hope of escape.
Where could she have gone after? There would have been no easier life afterwards on Tatooine.
"But you survived," Qui-Gon called her back from her memories.
"Yes," she said, smiling bitterly, "I survived."
"And you won your freedom with those parts?" Obi-Wan prompted.
"No," she said with a twist of her lips, "Unkar laughed at me. He took it all, and paid me a single portion for my cheek. He thought it was so hilarious, I did all that, nearly killing myself in the process, thinking I could earn my freedom. I was his slave. He didn't owe me anything, he told me what to do, everything I did or had was his by rights. What he promised me meant nothing."
Obi-Wan was aghast, "What? But-"
"It's the definition of the thing, I was property, not a person. Everyone else was struggling to survive, they wouldn't help me. I had no one."
"So what did you do?"
"I staged a protest."
Obi-Wan raised a brow, trying to imagine a little girl staging a protest against a slaver, "How exactly did you manage that?"
"I sat on Unkar's outpost and I told everyone who came that he was a backstabbing, dirty cheat. I also occasionally sang. Trust me, not a pleasant experience. I drove off, or at least, slowed down his business. He was pissed. I had never seen his jowls shake so."
Qui-Gon leaned back in his seat, "And he didn't shoot you?"
"People thought it was funny, and I was worth more to him alive than dead. He was too fat to chase me off with a stun prod and nobody was willing to take money to help him control me. He had broken a bargain, and until he fixed it or people forgot, they demanded payment before work or goods. Unkar never paid first. So I got to antagonise him to my heart's delight."
"And after a day of this, you were so annoying that he gave you your freedom?" Obi-Wan asked.
"No, after a week of this, I fell off the side of his stand. At night I had retreated to my shelter, or during sandstorms. But during the day I was in the sunlight with only my clothes for protection, and I was near death from starvation when I rolled off the side."
Her voice was grave now, "I woke to Unkar shoving food at me, he said, 'Fine, girl, have your freedom. I will hold to our bargain, you're free to go. But you willn't, will ya? Because you got nowhere to go. You'll work for me till the day you die and you will always be hungry. For every part you sell me I'll give to you half of what it's worth, because you are now worth less than a slave.'"
They were all quiet for a long time. Obi-Wan had to fight down his rage.
"Did you regret it?" he asked finally, unsure of how to even begin to comprehend that fate.
She looked at him sharply, "Never, I never regretted it. I was able to move freely, I answered to no one, and Unkar couldn't sell me off. He didn't know I was training myself to be a mechanic before that. Skilled work was dangerous, it made me more valuable. He could only buy what I scavenged, he couldn't profit from my work." She shook her head, "When I was little, my greatest fear was growing up to be beautiful. You don't know what they do to beautiful women, Obi-Wan, you just don't know."
Obi-Wan's heart clenched, he didn't know and he didn't want to speculate. He had seen enough evil in the world to guess. He looked up at Qui-Gon whose face was hard as steel.
Qui-Gon loathed slavery with passion almost unparalleled with anyone else Obi-Wan knew personally in the Temple.
Their mission on Pijal had proven as much.
"How can you forgive your parents?" he asked.
She shrugged, "I don't know if I do, Obi-Wan. But I know I don't want my father dead. I don't want him to matter for my future. He took away my childhood, he doesn't get my future too. This is just a mission. We are here on behalf of the Republic, not because he matters to me."
He wondered if she knew that she was lying to herself.
Qui-Gon said, "Whatever happens, Rey, you belong to no one but yourself. I know this is a mission, but I want you both to remember that your lives are more valuable to the galaxy than this Senator. Yoda is testing all of us, our control, our emotions, our loyalties. But even Mace does not approve of this mission."
"Then why didn't the other Council members, aside from Master Dooku, agree?" Rey asked.
"Because they don't know your history," Obi-Wan said gently.
"Master Yoda does though," she countered.
"And Yoda has seen too many people he cared for grow and die," Qui-Gon said. "Maybe he is right, perhaps we will come out stronger for facing this internal struggle. But mark me Padawans, the only failure will be any of us coming to harm for the sake of this man."
Rey would have responded, but the lights flashed on the dash, and Obi-Wan helped her bring their craft out hyperdrive.
Out of hyperdrive into the waiting embrace of a Baleen-class heavy freighter.
Rey pointed, "Pirates!"
Qui-Gon pinched the bridge of his nose as Obi-Wan chided, "Again, Rey, pirates are not a good thing."
oOo
When their shuttle landed they disembarked quickly, their craft was so small that if the pirates had large guns they would have been pinned in.
Rey found the lower corridors, and they were safely underfoot as the pirates came stomping onto the loading dock where their ship had been pulled.
"A Jedi ship!" one exclaimed.
"We should kill them then we will make a name for ourselves, we would be feared in the galaxy!" another said.
"Agreed," said a deep voice, "and that is safer than holding a Jedi or more alive. Search the ship."
Obi-Wan, Rey, and Qui-Gon crawled on their hands and knees below them.
"I'm too old for this," Qui-Gon muttered softly.
When they were further away, Obi-Wan said, "We have to make it to the cockpit or we are never getting off this dumpster heap."
Rey pushed at his hip, and he shuffled to the side at four way conjunction in the tunnels. She found a pennel and flipped some switches so that monitors came alive, each a security camera. "We need to get here," she said pointing down a corridor, "I can open the doors from this, I think."
She began flipping switches.
A loud roar sounded from the passages above them.
Then voices and running feet, the pirates were screaming, their blasters going off.
Rey and Obi-Wan exchanged a look.
One voice rose clear above the din, "Who released the rathtars!?"
More screaming.
"What's a rathtar?" Rey asked.
Obi-Wan pointed at the screen as the tentacle monster grabbed a man by his leg and ate him whole in its leech-like circle mouth with shark-like teeth.
"That's a rathtar," he said dryly, "who by all the names of the stars would keep one on their ship?"
"Three by my count," she said, tapping on the screens. Rey looked between him and Qui-Gon. "What are we going to do?"
Qui-Gon twisted, sitting back so he was no longer on his hands and knees, he lounged, "We wait."
"But-"
"Padawan Palpatine, you can not save everyone, especially fools who thought they could kill Jedi for their reputation. Not our rathtars, not our ship."
Obi-Wan followed his Master's lead, and sat back too.
Rey looked aghast at them both, until Obi-Wan pulled out a pack of cards.
She rolled her eyes, but she sat back as well.
Qui-Gon won all the rounds.
The cheating bastard, Obi-Wan thought fondly.
AN: Thoughts, reactions, comments, or rathtars for this aspiring writer?