THE BOGMARKS, NABOO

The fish was pulled from the harpoon and expertly gutted in one fluid motion. A stick was driven through it and then placed over the open fire. The gungan sat down as his catch was being prepared over the campfire, leaning up against a thick tree next to the murky wetlands, and began to clean and maintain his double-barrelled harpoon-rifle. Now and again he would toss a glance up at the skies beyond the trees, looking at the flashing lights that had begun some time ago. Now and again it seemed as if fireworks detonated up in the clouds. He sneered and shook his head.

"Bloody naboo" the gungan muttered and continued making sure his harpoon-rifle was in working condition.

Suddenly, he was interrupted as a large shuttle flew past just beyond the treetops. The trees shook and leaves and branches got thrown into the air as it flew past. The gungan cursed as his fish toppled over and landed in the fire, and jumped over to save it from being ruined. But his attention was soon directed elsewhere as blasters sounded in the immediate area, and as soon as he spotted the flashes, the gungan grabbed his rifle and loaded an harpoon into the empty barrel.

"Halt! Lay down your weapons!"

The gungan spun around and found himself face to face with six droids, all armed with blasters that were aimed straight at him.

"Resist and we will open fire" one of the droids said, its voice cold and to the point.

They all were disctracted as a lone STAP, unmanned as it were, flew past and was smashed to pieces as it crashed into several trees; bits and pieces scattering everywhere. Seconds later two hooded and robbed figures emerged out of the forrest undergrowth, and the gungan recognized their ugly appearance instantly as that of the cursed naboo people.

"Engage and destroy!" the droids said in unison and took instant aim at the two newcomers and opened fire, sending volley upon volley of blasterbolts at their targets.

The gungan cursed, and threw himself into cover as the battle errupted all around him. The two strange newcomers cut down the droids with ease, relying on glowing rods of pure energy, as if wielding swords. Within seconds, the battle was over and the droids had been turned to ruin, with glowing scars of molten metal where the blades of energy had cut. The gungan lept to his feet and took aim with his rifle at the two naboo, tension radiating from his eyes and features.

"Calm yourself" the older of the naboo said and made a gesture with his hand.

The gungan found himself oddly at ease instantly, and lowered his aim. The energy-swords deactivated, and their glowing blades seemed to witdraw into the hilts of the weapons.

"Master" the younger naboo said, somewhat pressured it seemed to the gungan. "More troops will arrive shortly, we must move on."

The elder naboo surveyed their surroundings. "We can never evade them like this" he said and then adressed the gungan, taking the creature somewhat off guard. "Can you help us? We need to hide from the Federation army. We are ambassadors on behalf of the Republic and are friends of Naboo."

The gungan took a step back, gripping his weapon tighter. "Naboo friends?" he sneered. "Naboo no friend of the Gungan."

The younger of the two strangers turned impatient. "Master, we have little time." It was all too clear that he wanted to move on, and that the two of them were in a hurry. Escaping the droids no doubt.

"We saved your life" the elder naboo then said, gaining the gungans attention. "Surely, it is not too much to ask of you to return the favor."

"Droideka hunt you" the gungan pointed out.

"Maybe so, but they were about to shoot you too."

The younger of the two robed naboo turned around as the noise of engines, and trees falling over, came closer and closer. The gungan felt uneasy to say the least. The stand-off lasted several seconds, the noise of the approaching engines and trees toppling grew with each heartbeat. The younger naboo activated his energy-sword once more, its blade bright blue, and urged his master to come to a decision.

"What will it be?" the older naboo asked, pushing the issue as trees could now clearly be seen falling over further off into the forrest.

Finally, the gungan gave in with a grunt and a frown. "Follow me! We go under water."

The gungan ran off to the waterline by the murky marshes, flinging fluently the harpoon-rifle over his shoulder, and dove expertly into the dark waters. The two strangers quickly followed and jumped in, submerging as quickly as they could. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had no trouble spotting the flare burning deep in the water and swam as best they could towards it. They found the strange creature hovering in the water, the lit flare in its hand like a torch. The gungan waved at the jedi to follow it, and then swam with extreme ease further down, mostly relying on its large ears to propell it forward, until they struck bottom.

The gungan took them through a forrest of underwater vegitation, until they found a small structure anchored to the bottom. As it rested on four thick logs that had been driven into the soil, they all swam in under the building and up into a small opening beneath it. The two jedi gasped for air as their heads came above water, reaching the airpocket created by the structures interior. The gungan was already out of the water, tossing the flare back into the pool while the jedi crawled out of the cold pond.

"Safe" the gungan said and placed his rifle on a rack. "No droideka come here."

Qui-Gon nodded and removed his heavy robes, soaked and drenched as they were. "We are greatful. How long does your airsupply last?"

"Home has auto-gills" the gungan explained. "Draw air from water. Always have plenty of air."

"Thank the Force" Obi-Wan said as he emptied his boots of water back into the pond.

"I am Qui-Gon, and this is my companion, Obi-Wan Kenobi. We are trying to reach a spaceport, so we can warn the senate that the Trade Federation has launched an invasion of the planet."

"Invasion?" the gungan said, curious and sceptic at the same time. "You mean droideka?"

"Yes" Obi-Wan cut in as he pulled his boots back on his feet. "An entire army of droids has landed to conquer this planet."

"And without outside help" Qui-Gon added, "Naboo will not stand a chance for long. It is urgent that we make contact with the senate."

The gungan grabbed a bottle made from clay, removed the cork and took a swipe of the alcohol inside, and then studied the two jedi for a brief moment. "Naboo came long ago to Otoh Gunga, settled dry land and shoot at gungan. Gungan here first, this is our world. This is Otoh Gunga, not Naboo. If droideka kill naboo, why should gungan stop them?"

"Because the droid-army wants the entire planet. Not just dry land, but all lakes, rivers, swamps and oceans as well" Qui-Gon explained. "They will shoot at gungans too."

"And if you talk to senap, droideka go away? Not shoot at gungan?"

Qui-Gon nodded. "Yes. Then the droids will go away. They will not shoot at gungans and they will not shoot at the naboo."

"Anyone who helps to throw the droids back into space, would be celebrated as a hero" Obi-Wan added.

"Hero?" the word clearly did stir something in the gungan, and he gave it some serious thought. "Very well" he eventually said, "I help you, I am hero. We go to Ness, gungan city, not far. From there, we find ship."

"Sounds like an excellent idea" Qui-Gon said with a smile while Obi-Wan merely sighed.

"Lets hope" the gungan said and took another swipe of the alcohol. "Me Jar-Jar. Jar-Jar Binks."

XXX XXX

Trade Federation shuttles and speeders flew past over the trees in squadrons, frightening wildlife and shaking the forrest to its roots. The invasion was well underway.

Jar-Jar slowly emerged out of the water, only his eyes and the top of his head breaching the surface. He spied on the gungan homestead up ahead, three buildings next to the shore, each structure continued down into the depths of the marshes. Currently, security-droids were searching the place while other droids, mounted on STAPs, provided support and cover. Strange creatures, not from this planet and obviously soldiers, were asking questions to the gungan family, roughing up the gungan husband infront of his wife and children. Soon enough, the hostile troops moved on, boarding military vehicles and headed out to harass other innocent civilians at some other location.

Jar-Jar began to cautiously step out of the water and found cover behind a bush. When he could see no trace of any droids over by the homestead, only the family caring for the abused husband, he signaled for the two jedi to come out of hiding. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan moved out of the bushes and undergrowth, and joined up with Jar-Jar as he headed for the gungan family. At first, the family was terrified at the arrival of the newcomers, but Jar-Jar managed to ease the situation. The gungans discussed between themselves for a brief moment in their own language, before Jar-Jar turned to the two jedi.

"Droideka looked for you" Jar-Jar said. "Asking question where you hide. They did not know, but home wrecked anyway."

"Tell them we are truly sorry, and we had no intention of causing them any grief" Qui-Gon said and then waited for Jar-Jar to translate. It was obvious though, that the conversation included more than a simple apology.

"We have ride" Jar-Jar eventually said, having finished his conversation with the familys husband and wife. "They lend us ride so we reach Ness."

Qui-Gon felt relieved. "Tell them that we are most greatful for their generosity."

"Already did" Jar-Jar explained. "Follow me. Best move before more droideka come."

Within half an hour, the two jedi were inside a pod together with Jar-Jar, the gungan steering with reins two dugong's that dragged the pod behind them through the waters like beastsofburden. Ever submerged to avoid detection by the invading Trade Federation, the two jedi had trouble keeping track of where they were going.

Obi-Wan seemed a bit hesitant as he studied the murky waters beyond the view-port next to him. "The file we have on Naboo only mentioned the gungans living in smaller villages. It made no mention of any gungan city, or town for that matter."

"We keep 'em secret" Jar-Jar explained, looking back over his shoulder. "What naboo don't know, naboo can't hurt. Gungans have many cities. Ness one of the biggest."

"How far is it to Ness?" Qui-Gon inquired.

"Several hours" Jar-Jar admitted. "We reach tonight."

Obi-Wan sighed heavily at the prospect of being cramped in the small underwater pod for an extended period of time.

"Patience, Obi-Wan" Qui-Gon instructed. "Trust the Force to guide us and show us the path." Qui-Gon then turned to the gungan looking out the forward viewport and controlling the two seacows dragging them along, "Will we be able to find a spaceship in Ness?"

Jar-Jar chuckled. "No no no. City deep under water. No spaceship there. But, from Ness we can go to naboo. Naboo have spaceships."

"A Naboo spaceport?" Qui-Gon asked, just to be clear so there were no missunderstandings.

"Yes" Jar-Jar nodded. "Naboo city. Theed. Big spaceport. Jar-Jar has seen it."

"Theed?" Obi-Wan thought out loud. "The Naboo capitol. It is bound to be under siege."

Qui-Gon seemed relaxed. "It is also bound to have plenty of ships available. And plenty of pilots who would like nothing more than a chance to leave this warzone, and earn a profit while doing so. Do not worry, padawan; I have found that my old master was right when he said that greed can often be a powerful ally. We will find the ship and the pilot we need. Trust the Force to guide us."

Jar-Jar merely shook his head. "Awefull nice, that force" he said with no small amount of sarcasm.