Chapter 2 – The Most Annoying Alien in the Galaxy
"So. Did you get the human?"
"She's on my ship." A tall Deveronian male sipped his bright blue alcoholic beverage smoothly from its glass.
Across the table the large hulking Houk leaned threateningly over the table.
"The job was to kill her" he snarled.
"No." the Deveronian put down his drink, his voice now calm and cold "You paid me to, and I quote, find her and eliminate her as a threat. And now I have her secured on my ship and she's no longer a threat."
There was the tinkling sound of glass breaking and the dripping of liquid, as the Houk promptly crushed his own drink in his gigantic hand.
"But she's still alive!" he rumbled "I wanted her head, here on this table. DEAD! LIKE A DOORNAIL! That's what I paid you for!"
"Death isn't the only method of eliminating your enemies." The Deveronian lounged back, completely at ease with the rather hostile situation, though he kept his gaze fixed shrewdly on the angry humanoid before him. "Besides…I don't kill children…unlike some psychopaths."
The Houk swelled, eyes blazing furiously as he leapt to his feet.
But no sooner had his boots touched the ground did he stop in his tracks, for the end of a blaster was pointed directly in his face.
"I wouldn't try it if I were you." The Deveronian smirked, though his sharp yellow eyes were narrowed into dangerous slits. "You know who I am, what I can do…I may not kill children, but I won't hesitate to kill a thug like you. Now, I have taken care of the threat like you asked, so if I were you I'd sit back down and hand over those credits like you promised."
"And the human?" the Houk growled, though his eyes were nervous as he looked down the barrel of the blaster in-between his eyes.
"Is none of your concern anymore. The credits. Now!"
"Why me? Why does this always happen TO ME?!"
Una Crest scowled as she sat in a small cramped space set into the walls of the giant space ship. Beside her, also cramped, if not more so, was the taller form of Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi.
He too wasn't too happy with their current predicament, though he chose to stay silent, pondering how long it would take for them to land down on Naboo, and whether his Master Qui-Gon was alright.
He was so deep in thought that he jerked a little as a soft gagging noise suddenly sounded beside him.
He quickly turned just in time to see Una gulp down on a large lump in her throat before pulling her head between her tucked knees.
"Are you alright?" Obi-Wan whispered, reaching out to her shoulder but she just shrugged him off roughly.
"I'm fine" she hissed, but even as he caught sight of her face, he could see it was now tinged slightly green. "Just a little…ugh…space sick"
"Ah…right" Obi-Wan nodded glancing around their hiding spot nervously. However, to his dismay there was no container in sight for her to puke into.
As if reading his thoughts, Una rolled her eyes.
"I'll hold it in. As long as they don't jerk us around too much I think we'll be fine. God this is why i hate flying!"
"Do you not travel through space often?" Obi-Wan asked curiously as he settled back down beside her, the two of them now shoulder to shoulder.
Una just shook her head as she tried to suck in a large calming breath.
"No, I travel a lot. I've got to, I mean, look at me I'm a Hunter for crying out loud. I just…I just don't like flying in small places is all. What?" she frowned as the corners of Obi-Wan's lips quirked upwards despite his attempts to keep his face neutral.
"Nothing…it's - I've never heard of a Bounty Hunter who got space sick"
"Well now you have" Una's scowl deepened angrily, but she was kept from further retorts by the ship giving a small lurch.
She clamped her mouth shut, hand flying to her mouth as the bile rose up in her throat.
"Don't touch me" she snapped as she felt the Padawan next to her raise his arm to pat her back soothingly.
"I was just trying to help" he muttered, his irritability only matched by her own anger.
"Well don't." she hissed holding her knees tighter to her "Trust me it's easier if I just ride this out on my own-ugh" she shut her mouth tight again as another wave of nausea hit her.
Obi-Wan sighed as he leaned away from her, breathing deeply as he tried to regulate his emotions.
The girl, for she was still younger than him, irritated him.
She only seemed to care about herself, and her own survival. As far as he could tell she was only in this job for the credits, and not for helping the innocent citizens of Naboo, who were now suffering because of the Trade Federation's actions. Actions this Bounty Hunter had probably contributed to.
No…that's a bit extreme
He corrected himself quickly, berating himself for his own hastiness. She might have contributed to the events taking place, but she was nowhere near responsible for them. Now that he thought about it, she was probably just as much a pawn in this whole affair as the battle droids that surrounded her.
Like she said, most bounty hunters rarely, if ever, asked questions about the jobs they took, preferring to stay professionally out of the personal affairs of the parties involved. That still didn't alleviate his irritation towards her, which only grew as he watched her struggle against her own body's reactions to space travel.
If only she'd just let go of her stubbornness and pride for one second they might be able to make it through this journey in peace without getting covered in her sick.
Little did he know that right beside him, Una was almost thinking the exact same thing.
Typical Inner-Rim pampered prince.
She rolled her eyes to herself.
Thinks because he was raised all snug and safe he can look down his nose at me. Well we'll see who's laughing when I get my hands on a working rifle.
Or would she?
No. Whilst she was sure shooting the Padawan Jedi would be satisfying, she still needed him and his master to hold up their end of their deal.
By the gods, the things I do for my credits.
She sighed to herself shutting her eyes. Maybe she should just let herself puke all over him, if only to add to his misery and her own personal entertainment.
Darth Sidious snarled angrily from under his hooded cloak.
It was wrong. It was all wrong.
The Trade Federation Invasion of Naboo was going ahead as he had planned, but those snivelling pathetic excuses for beings, the Nemoidians, had botched everything.
Not only had they let the blasted Jedi slip through their slimy fingers, but they'd lost the Bounty Hunter as well.
He told them to dispose of her once she had completed her mission. But no. The Trade Federation had wanted to keep her, make her their slave for future missions.
And now if his instincts were correct, she had joined the Jedi in their search for the Queen as payback. Oh yes, he knew the three pests were on Naboo.
If they had been killed, the Viceroy would be over the moon proudly proclaiming his achievement for the whole galaxy to hear.
It would seem the force is with them today
He seethed quietly as he looked over the now bright clear skies of Coruscant. It was almost like the weather itself were mocking him now.
But instead of deterring him, he let his anger grow. Let it consume him as he drank as much of the dark side of the force he could get from it.
The force might be on the side of the Jedi now, but if he played his cards right, he could still turn this around in his favour.
He just needed patience.
The large forest clearing was full of the whirring of machines and the crashes of nearby trees getting mowed down. Such was the level of noise that the droid captain of the battle droids almost was unable to hear the incoming transmission from its leaders.
"Yes Viceroy" it spoke as the Nemoidian Viceroy and his Advisor appeared before him in small holographic form on the top of his tank.
"Captain. We have searched the ship. And there is no trace of the Jedi, or the Bounty Hunter. They may have escaped on one of your landing craft" the Advisor clipped urgently.
"If they're down here sir we'll find them" the droid nodded as the Viceroy made to address it.
"Use caution. These Jedi are not to be underestimated"
There was a flicker of blue and the hologram disappeared.
As the droid captain made to prepare his tank for movement, he didn't even notice the two humanoid figures slip out from the shadow underneath his tank and into the tree line.
"That was close." Obi-Wan puffed as he and Una quickly ducked for cover behind some shrubs.
"Yeah…tell me about it" she mumbled, her green cheeks bulging. "Excuse me for one second"
Obi-Wan grimaced in disgust as she all but threw herself at the base of a tall tree and wretched. The smell of vomit and bile filled the air as she expelled all she had from her system.
It wasn't much, for it had been a while since she had eaten, but still it was disgusting enough to make the jedi next to her nearly gag as well.
Wow…she really wasn't kidding about that space sickness huh?
He swallowed down his urge to choke as he walked over her and gave her a helpful thud on the back.
"Thanks" she rasped as she spat the last of the bile.
"Don't mention it" Obi-Wan coughed, looking everywhere but her as she wiped away the saliva from her chin.
"How long have you been getting space sick?" he asked quietly.
"Since I was way high of the ground" she pointed to random point two feet off the ground "I've been travelling on space crafts for as long as I can remember. But by the gods, no matter how hard I try I can never get used to it. I prefer being on the ground. Slower but steadier"
"Unless you happen to be standing in the middle of an earthquake" Obi-Wan snorted and was not disappointed as she straightened up and rolled her eyes sardonically at him.
"Wow, you really have a way with words junior"
"Why thank you" Obi-Wan smirked.
"Wasn't a compliment" she gasped as she unhitched a small water pouch from the inside of her jacket and took a swig. "So now what?"
"Now what, what?" Obi-Wan frowned and she groaned.
"Now what do we do? We were supposed to meet your old man down here remember?"
"Oh right yes of course." he nodded looking around quickly, only to stop dead in his tracks as he locked gazes with a droid on the other side of the shrubs. "but maybe we should focus on getting out of here first"
Una followed his gaze, her gut sinking horribly.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
When Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn had woken that morning, he had not expected his day to be so hectic.
True he'd never thought it would be easy dealing with the Trade Federation. Galactic Politics always was a sticky mess to get dragged into.
But never in his wildest dreams did he think that by midday he'd be running the length of a Naboo forest and out of the way of a massive invasion force.
It was just his luck, he thought to himself as he darted through the trees. He was joined by many of the disturbed and frightened natural wildlife trying desperately to escape the army behind them.
Including an unsuspecting humanoid who screamed, flailing its arms in the air as he sped towards it.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" he yelled in basic but the humanoid, amphibious creature just continued screeching its head off, promptly grabbing at him as they bumped into one another.
Curse this creature
Qui-Gon thought savagely as he forced both himself and the creature down onto the muddy forest ground. There was a rush of hot air as the droid landing craft smoothly glided over the top of them, blissfully unaware of the two humanoids as they sat up to watch it leave.
Or at least the amphibious humanoid watched it in awe, while the human Jedi promptly stood up, brushed himself off and began striding towards an undamaged portion of the forest.
"Wait-hey wait! Oh-moi-oh-moi I love you" the creature shouted after him in relief, much to his mounting irritation.
"You almost got us killed. Are you brainless?"
"I spaek!" the creature huffed.
"The ability to speak does not make you intelligent. Now get out of here"
"No-no. Meesa stay. Meesa called Jar-Jar Binks. Meesa your humble servant" the creature, Jar-Jar insisted earnestly much to Qui-Gon's increasing disdain.
"That won't be necessary"
"Oh but it is. It demanded by the Gods it is. Uh-oh look out!" Jar-Jar screeched as the sounds and flashes of blasters suddenly flew over their heads.
"Stay down!" Qui-Gon shouted, shoving Jar-Jar back down to the ground as he ignited his lightsabre.
He deflected the blasts, noticing with some relief and alarm that amidst all the firing, both his Padawan and their new ally the Bounty Hunter were running helter-skelter towards them.
They skidded to a stop, Una ducking out of the way just in time as Qui-Gon deflected a blast aimed for her head, back to the droid pursuing them on an air-speeder.
"You saved my again" Jar-Jar huffed as he leapt to his feet.
"What's this?" Obi-Wan eyed Jar-Jar with a mixture of intrigue and irritation.
"A local." Qui-Gon muttered, turning to help a pale faced Una stand up straight "Are you alright?"
"I'm good-I'm good" Una swatted him off waspishly, taking another swig of her water pouch.
Content that she was fine, Qui-Gon turned to the others.
"Come on. Let's get out of here before more droids show up"
"More?! More did you Spaek?!" Jar-Jar exclaimed loudly the sound all but piercing through Una's head.
Keep it cool. Don't go blasting off its head just yet, we're still not out of the woods. Literally.
She sucked in a deep calming breath as she tried to drown out the maddening cacophony that was Jar-Jar Binks.
"HEY! Where are yoousa going?"
"Somewhere safe" Qui-Gon grunted as he and Obi-Wan began to pick up the pace.
And of course further away from this accident waiting to happen.
Una rolled her eyes, as she jogged to keep up the two Jedi, the alien following hot on their heels.
"Exqueese me! But the mosta safest place is Gunga City. It's where I grew up! Tis a hidden city!"
That last explanation made the two Jedi pull up short, so suddenly that Una almost knocked into them as she skidded to a stop.
"A hidden city?" Qui-Gon frowned "Can you take us there?"
"Uh…" Jar-Jar paused bristling uncomfortably under the stare of the three humans. The girl's catlike eyes especially seemed to disturb him the most as he mumbled guiltily "Uh…on second thought no. Not really no"
"Meaning?" Una growled, hands on her hips as she fingered the small blaster there.
"Well uh…isa…uh…embarrassing but-ah-my afraid my might've been banished" Jar-Jar looked down at the ground ashamedly "Ah yah-My forgotten, the bosses doin' terrible things to me. TERRIBLE things to me if goin' back there"
"Do you hear that?" Qui-Gon pointed back the way they had come, where in the distance all of them heard the ominous sounds of something large and heavy, blasting and crashing through the forest.
"Yah?"
"That is the sound of a thousand terrible things heading this way" the Jedi Master stalked closer into the alien's face, along with his smirking Padawan.
"If they find us, they will crush us into tiny pieces and blast us into oblivion"
"Ah…Yousa point is well seen!" Jar-Jar gulped nervously
"this way hurry- whoa!" he cried out, wheeling about and narrowly avoiding a collision with Una who shot him such a terrifying glower that he all but leapt away from her in a fright.
"Yousa, real scary" he mumbled under his breath and she smirked wickedly.
"And don't you forget it" and with that she snapped her teeth at him. She grinned back at the Jedi, whose eyebrows were raised "What? I'm just having a little bit of fun"
It was at this moment Qui-Gon spotted, peeking out of the collar of her clothes, what looked like an amber crystal shard, tied on a dark metal cord.
"Where did you get that?" Obi-Wan wondered aloud. How could he have not noticed that? True the ship they'd been hiding in was dark, but the crystal seemed to have its own glow. Not a phosphorescent one, almost…an essence.
He was pulled from his thoughts as she narrowed her eyes warily at him and his master, her body tensing uncomfortably.
"It's just a trinket I found on Nal Hutta. Not that I see why that matters. Now come on, before those tin cans catch us"
She turned their backs on them to follow Jar-Jar, not noticing the looks of intrigue the Jedi were both sharing behind her.
It seemed their new ally was proving to be more interesting than they first thought.
They walked a good two hours through the lush dense Nabooian forest after Jar-Jar, who kept prattling on and on loudly about his people, the Gungans, much to Una's disdain.
Now Una was all for learning about new species and the planets they came from. It was one of the reasons she liked her job as a bounty hunter. Whilst she couldn't profess to like all the species she encountered, she had learned quickly to at least tolerate the annoying ones, if only for short periods of time.
But then occasionally, she'd find creatures like Jar-Jar Binks, aliens whose very existence just simply pushed the limits of her patience within two seconds of meeting them.
Seriously of all the creatures we had to pick up, it had to be the most annoying one in the galaxy?
She glanced sidelong at Obi-Wan, who for once seemed to share her sentiment and rolled his eyes at the back of the Gungan's head as he led them to the edges of a large lake.
"How much further?" Qui-Gon asked as he noticed the Gungan's footsteps slowing down as they reached the nearest bank.
"Weesa goin' underwater okiday?" Jar-Jar smiled. "But my warning you. Gungans no likey outsiders, so don't 'spect a warm welcome"
"Oh don't worry. It hasn't been our day for warm welcomes" Obi-Wan replied sarcastically, only to wince as with an elaborate summersault and great big splash, the Gungan dove into the water.
"Great. Fantastic! Now I have to swim" Una grumbled as she fished out her small portable rebreather from her jacket pocket.
"Do you always complain about everything?" Obi-Wan sighed at the younger woman, who snorted.
"What can I say. It's part of my charm."
"I'm sure it is." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.
"If you two are quite finished, we have more important things to be getting on with" Qui-Gon sighed as he fixed his own small rebreather to his mouth.
As the three of them waded into the water Jar-Jar surfaced, a big wide grin spreading across his bill like mouth.
"Yousa follow me now okiday?"
By the gods how Una wanted to shoot that duck-billed nuisance.
The journey below the waters of the Naboo was long and arduous. Una thanked her lucky stars that she was a strong swimmer and that she was wearing her rebreather.
She was both impressed and annoyed to see that both the Jedi were faring far better than her in the long swim down.
It didn't help that the Jedi Padawan, Obi-Wan shot her a smug look as he swum past her.
Little shit.
She growled as she sped up the pace of her strokes, passing him by from beneath. Oh, how she wanted to wipe that smirk off his face.
If she could read his mind, she might have been even more frustrated to discover that deep down, he found her vexation most amusing as he swam up beside her and gave her a jostle with his shoulder.
She was quick to accept the challenge, scowling angrily as she sped past him, only to have him quickly catch up with a few large strokes of his longer arms.
Behind them, Qui-Gon sighed mentally at their small competition.
Obi-Wan might have been a dutiful, wise and disciplined Jedi Padawan, but he was also still a young man, headstrong, stubborn and idealistic. Not like the bounty hunter Una, whose jaded amber eyes spoke of what Qui-Gon could only imagine was a very rough childhood in a harsh galaxy.
Yet despite this clash of worlds, the old Jedi could see the two youths were far more similar than either wanted to admit.
If they could let go of whatever pride they have, together they might become a formidable force to reckon with.
He mused. While he followed the Jedi Code's rule on emotional attachment, he did not think that meant that a Jedi could not have friends or allies. Despite its physical size, the galaxy wasn't as large a place as it used to be, especially with the Republic indoctrinating more and more planets every year under its thumb.
Also in the past few years, he and Obi-Wan had been on a lot of missions, far away from the temple, so much so that the young padawan rarely got a chance to talk to others his own age, both Jedi and non-Jedi.
As long as he doesn't end up getting too attached, I'm sure he'll be fine
He sighed, big bubbles blowing out of his rebreather as he, Obi-Wan and Una finally caught sight of the great underwater Gungan city before them.
Despite her irritation, Una couldn't help but marvel at the great large bubble-like buildings that stretched out in front of her. Each one was beautifully lit by small dim yellow lights that twinkled up at them from the depths of the waters below.
But no matter how far Una looked she could not see a doorway or even a vent of any kind.
So how are we supposed to get in?
She wondered, but her answer was quickly answered, to her surprise, by Jar-Jar.
With a grace that was almost surprising, the usually clumsy Gungan quickly swam over to the edge of one of the bubble-like structures, his feet lowering down towards a small platform constructed outside one of the frames built within.
Una, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon quickly followed his lead, all three of them marvelling as they found themselves stepping through what appeared to be some kind of transparent forcefield, almost like a deflector shield.
As soon as they were through, Una felt a damp weight settle over her and cursed as she looked down. Herself and her clothes were all soaked through to the bone.
"Damn it" she hissed to herself as she shook her arms out.
Beside her Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan both shook themselves out too, the latter shaking out his head to clear himself of the water to his ears.
As soon as they were cleared, he became uncomfortably aware of several voices gasping and squeaking in shock and looked up.
The bubble they had arrived in, looked to be a courtyard of sorts. The many gungans that had been walking around it were all now backing away nervously as Jar-Jar shook himself out like a wet dog, his smile widening goofily as he exclaimed.
"So good being home."
Apparently, no one else seemed to share his sentiment, as upon catching sight of Jar-Jar, nearly all the gungans all but ran away.
Not that Una could blame them, she snorted as she caught sight of what appeared to be two Gungan guards, seated on strange two-legged mounts making their way towards them, spears in their hands.
"Keep calm" Qui-Gon hissed in her ear as he gently prized her hand away from her blaster.
Una glared at him, not liking the idea of being ordered about like a child, but upon catching the stern glint in the Jedi's eyes, huffed and folded her arms as the two guards finally came close.
"Hey, Youusa! Stopa there!" one of the guards, a Gungan with a couple of facial whiskers barked.
"Heyo-dales, Cap'n Tarpals. Meesa back!" Jar-Jar greeted the gungan in a friendly fashion.
The guard captain on the other hand just shook his head and sighed in exasperation.
"Not again Jar-Jar. Yousa goin' to the bosses. Yousa in big doo-doo dis time."
"Great, now we're captured. Again." Una muttered darkly, but nonetheless followed the guards as they began leading Jar-Jar and the Jedi away from their spot.
"Relax my young friend. We are not in too much trouble yet. Indeed, if all goes well we might be in luck." Qui-Gon folded his arms in his damp sleeves as they walked.
"No offence old man, but so far all your schemes are pushing us into more trouble" Una rolled her eyes, her teeth gritting as Obi-Wan snapped from her other side.
"Oh as if your idea of blackmailing the Trade Federation was any better?"
"Spare me the lecture junior. I've gone through enough crap today without you adding to it."
"Hey-" Obi-Wan began but was cut off by the Gungan captain.
"Hey, Yousa! Keep quiet!" he hissed waving his electro-spear warningly in both their faces.
The Padawan and the hunter both shut their mouths quickly, glowering mutinously at one another much to Qui-Gon's mounting exasperation.
He was almost relieved to see the Gungan leader and his court. He was fatter than the other gungans, so much so that he had three chins bulging under his squat bill like mouth.
He sneered as the three surface dwelling humanoids introduced themselves with a bow.
Or at least Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan bowed. Una begrudgingly bobbed her head and stood behind the two Jedi while they stated their business.
"Tkk-tkk-tkk-tkk-tkk-tkk-tkk! Yousa cannot bees hair. Dis army of Mackineeks up dare is new weesong" The Gungan Leader tutted distastefully, shaking his head.
"A droid army is about to attack the Naboo. We must warn them." Qui-Gon stated firmly but gently, his voice barely betraying any of the inner worry beginning to grow within.
But the Gungan leader was not phased one bit.
"Weesa no like da Naboo. Tkk-tkk-tkk-tkk-tkk! Da Naboo tink day so smarty. Day tink day brains so big."
Gee, I wonder why?
Una rolled her eyes sideways at Jar-Jar who was standing behind, flanked by two guards, and looking very sheepish.
In front of her, Obi-Wan stepped forwards, hands folded passively in front of him as he calmly said:
"Once those Once those droids take control of the surface, they will take control of you-"
"Meesa no tink so. Day not know of uss-en." The Gungan Leader countered, straightening up smugly, but Obi-Wan wasn't deterred in the slightest.
"You and the Naboo form a symbiont circle. What happens to one of you will affect the other. You must understand this."
While the Padawan irritated her, she had to admit he had a very valid point. From what she had seen of the Trade Federation's vast army, they obviously meant to take over all of Naboo, not just the planet's capital. She wouldn't put it past them to even try and commit genocide and wipe out the Gungans, that's if they didn't try and enslave them first.
She bristled uncomfortably as she rubbed her neck. The point where they'd injected her with the knock out drug still stung slightly, but it wasn't as bad as it had been earlier.
But what stung, even more, was her pride.
She should've been up there on that space station, shooting blaster bolts of the heads of the Viceroy and his snivelling advisor, or safe and sound in her ship with all her credits. Instead she was standing here in an underwater city, skulking about in the trails of two Jedi.
She was brought out of her reverie by the Gungan leader's deep drawl.
"Wesa give yousa una bongo. Da speediest way tooda Naboo... 'tis goen through the planet core." He sneered, and Una could not help but finger her small handheld blaster in her sleeve in readiness even as he gestured dismissively.
"Now…Gooo…"
"Thank you for your help. We leave in peace" Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan bowed, and Una nodded again as she followed them back towards the door.
"Master, what's a Bongo?" Obi-Wan asked curiously.
"A transport, I hope," Qui-Gon muttered, glancing at Una as she snorted. "You seem amused."
"Not really. Don't expect anything state of the art from this lot. They want us gone one way or the other." Una murmured.
"Only too true I'm afraid" Qui-Gon agreed solemnly.
"Deysa setten yousa up." Jar-Jar piped up from where he was standing big eyes bulging even more in his goofy face. "Goen through da planet core?Bad bombin'. Mmm... any help here would be hot."
He smiled nervously raising his shackled hands.
"Please leave him behind. Please leave him behind." Una whispered to herself quietly only to groan as she caught sight of the sympathy in Qui-Gon's eyes as he looked at the creature.
Obi-Wan noticed it too, but unlike Una, his irritation did not show. Or at least it didn't show on his face. His voice was practically laced with impatience.
"Master, we're short on time."
"We need a navigator to get us through the planet's core. This Gungan may be of help." He turned back to the Gungan leader "What is to become of Jar-Jar Binks?"
The Gungan leader sneered widely.
"Hisen soon to be pune-ished."
Jar-Jar gulped, as Qui-Gon stepped forwards.
"I saved his life. He owes me what you call a life-debt. Your gods demand that his life belongs to me now."
"Binkssssss, yousa havena liveplay with thisen hisen?" The Gungan Leader hissed angrily, practically steaming where he sat as he glared down a nervous Jar-Jar who nodded at his toes.
So…which will it be? Keep the idiot and punish him, or push aside pride for a minute and let the stupid humans take care of him for you.
Una smirked as she watched the larger of the two Gungans suddenly shake his head out so that his growl came out as an odd but hilarious blubbered groan, that ended with a booming bark:
"BEGONE WITH 'IM!"
"Finally" Una rolled her eyes as she and Obi-Wan both turned to walk out the door.
Behind them, Una could hear Jar-Jar grumbling as his guards released his shackles.
"Count me outta dis one. Better dead here than dead in da core. Yee gods! What mesa sayin'?!"
Una pinched her nose.
She was stranded on a planet under siege from a droid army, on the run from double-crossing ex-employers who'd by now want her very dead, all in the company of an old and annoyingly compassionate Jedi Master, his equally irritating (if not more so) smug Padawan, and what was probably the most annoying creature that had ever walked the galaxy. Oh and let's not forget she was probably going to die traveling underwater through a planet core, in transport that was most likely busted up by said creature's people.
This day just keeps getting worse and worse.
The pretty young brunette woman, sighed heavily as she looked into the mirror over her bathroom sink.
Her once elaborate hair was now tied back simply into a small braided bun which she quickly hid under an orange hood of a set of handmaiden's robes.
"I have a bad feeling about this Sabe" she scowled at her youthful reflection in the mirror, which also had a view of the elaborate bedroom behind her.
"So do I." another young woman, who looked very much like her admitted as she let a couple of other girls pin in a large elaborate headdress onto her head.
"But it must be done. If you are to have any chance of escaping the wrath of the Trade Federation they must not find yo-"
"I know" the young woman in front of the mirror, sighed again as she splashed some cool water on her face.
"I just-I don't want to see you, any of you, get hurt by them." she added looking at the other young women in the room, who all smiled fondly.
"My Queen" the woman with the headdress, Sabe, stood up proudly revealing her more elaborate robes of black. "It is our honour to protect and serve you, and nothing not even this invasion will stop us in our duty."
Despite her immense worry, Padme Amidala smiled.
"Thank you Sabe. Thank all of you. I couldn't do this without you."
Una, scowled as she folded her arms.
The small submarine-like vehicle was small and cramped, and had seen better days.
Oh well at least it works…somewhat…
She grumbled as she forced herself to sit beside Qui-Gon in the back seats while Obi-Wan and Jar-Jar took up the helm.
"Dis is nutsen. Oh, gooberfish!" the Gungan smiled delightedly as a shadowy form of a fish swam by the viewport next to him.
"Why were you banished, Jar-Jar?" Obi-Wan asked curiously as he directed the craft down deeper into the watery depths.
"It's a longo tale-o, but a small part of it would be mesa…uh…clumsy."
"You were banished because you were clumsy?" Obi-Wan frowned at the Gungan who shrugged as he did his best to avoid the spotlight placed upon him.
"Yousa might'n be sayin dat."
Jar-Jar looked very sheepish, and despite herself, Una couldn't help but be intrigued herself.
This creature was stupid, but what could he have done to warrant exile from his people?
And what if he has a bounty?
Her inner bounty hunter sneered as it reared its head, but she quickly squashed it down as the ship bumped a little. With a gulp she sucked in a deep breath to steady herself, earning herself a concerned glance from Qui-Gon.
"I'm fine" she grunted through gritted teeth.
"Sorry but controls on this ship are a little outdated" Obi-Wan apologized as he fiddled with a few switches close to the steering.
"I know. I can see" Una nodded, glowering at said controls. She didn't know much about Gungan technology but from the looks of things, this model had to be several decades old at least.
It did little to soothe her nerves, especially when she felt a prickling sensation on the back of her neck.
She turned her head slightly, brows creasing as she looked out the back windows of the craft.
She could've sworn she'd seen a dark shadow in the murky waters.
What she wasn't aware of was Qui-Gon's sharp gaze on her as he watched her closely.
So…she can feel it too? Interesting.
The older Jedi, calmly folded his hands in his robes, remembering all too well the way she'd jumped out of her chair back on the Trade Federation control ship.
Meanwhile in the front of the small craft, Obi-Wan was trying his best to drown out the one sided conversation with Jar-Jar, who was explaining the circumstances of his banishment with great gusto.
"-Mesa caused mabbe one, two-y lettle bitty axadentes, huh? Yud-say boom da gassar, den crashin der boss's heyblibber, den banished."
There was a great lurch as something thick and heavy suddenly collided with the rear of the craft.
Despite herself, Una couldn't help but yelp a little as they started to get sucked backwards forcibly into what felt like a large giant clamp.
"Big Gooberfish! Huge-o teeth!" Jar-Jar screeched as the giant fish, for giant fish it was, began to swim away in the direction opposite to where they'd been headed.
Then just as quickly as they were being sped away, the monsters jaws suddenly let go of them and a massive roar filled their ears.
"Holy shit" Una gaped in amazement as she saw through the window, a gigantic hulking mass ripping the monster fish in two with its large sharp claws.
"There's always a bigger fish" Qui-Gon smirked as he settled serenely back into his corner of the ship.
"Mesa tink we goen back now."
"For once I agree with you" Una muttered under her breath, doing her best to take huge soothing breaths.
Just her luck she was stuck on the bottom of the ocean in a tiny old watercraft with two Jedi and the most annoying Alien in the galaxy.
And there is chapter 2. So yeah, Una suffers from motion sickness, or as she calls it "space sickness" . i figured that in a large galaxy there had to be some people/aliens who'd have trouble with motion sickness in some space craft. they even met *shudders* Jar-Jar Binks. i figured someone like Una would really detest him, but would do her best to refrain from "accidentally" shooting him.
anyways review if you enjoyed and i'll see you next time.
Adieu,
FuzzyBeta