I don't own this star wars and this whole shebangbang is just for fun. Hopefully the writing will be clearer than last time xD Anyways, go ahead, pretend your meter stick is a lightsaber and try to jump over your couch. When you trip over the top of your couch, go into a shoulder roll and ignore the strange look your cat gives you. Haaaiiiya!
Roga's eyes shone from the faint light of the night sky.
"You knew there was something wrong right away," he said. "How? A glitch unrelated to security can cause security systems to give false positives."
"Maybe I was a little bit over enthusiastic," Obi-wan replied. The pain in his side was spreading to his head. "But we did what we did."
****
The technical support main station told Qui-gon and Obi-wan to go the information security station. The information security station told them to go to the technician who oversaw the security programs. The technician who oversaw the security programs told them to go to the Jedi who gave Qui-gon his assignment. The assistant of the Jedi who gave Qui-gon his assignment told him them that she was away and would be unreachable for the next two standard days, and that they should seek assistance from the technical support main station.
"We are Jedi," Qui-gon said as they ran back down the corridor. "We are defenders of the galaxy. The Temple communication system has to be better than this."
"Apparently not," Obi-wan muttered.
They hunted down one of Qui-gon's good friends in the technical support section, rather than haggle their way through the system. The Togruta listened to them intently, stopping Qui-gon twice to ask technical questions neither he nor Obi-wan understood. When they finished, he propped his elbows on the edge of a table and leaned back.
"I believe you have found a considerable threat, not only to your own assignment, but also to the security of the Temple," he said.
"It is refreshing to hear someone say that."
"I think this threat justifies a visit to speak directly to the commanders of the endangered base. The bigger problem, of course, is the possibility of an intrusion on Temple security. That will become my concern. I can start to solve this problem much more quickly than you. No offense, of course."
"I am glad to hand that problem to you," Qui-gon said. "Obi-wan, will this interfere with your certification?"
"It should not, Master," Obi-wan said, although he hardly cared about the certification. "Technically, all I have to do is finish the test in the next twenty standard days."
"Thank you for your advice," Qui-gon said to his friend. They all exchanged bows before Obi-wan and Qui-gon dashed back through the corridors.
They traveled to the largest hangar within the Temple, a structure which could hold one third of the Jedi fleet. The attendants included the ancient Twi'lik Yoze and Hedgie, a tall girl just a year younger than Obi-wan. Neither seemed particularly bent on cooperating.
"I am sorry, Master Jinn," Yoze said. "Without the proper authorization I can only sign off star ships to teams of two or more Jedi holding the title of Knight or higher. It is an issue which has been debated many times, but has held firmly for the past century for safety reasons."
"But this is important," Qui-gon said. For a moment, it looked to Obi-wan like he was pouting.
"My decision stands," Yoze said firmly. "If you come back with the proper authorization, I will be free to release a ship to you."
"That could very well take an extra twenty hours, and our situation does not allow an extra twenty hours."
"Then another Jedi Knight or Master must accompany you."
He strode away, leaving Qui-gon and Obi-wan quite perplexed that even the Jedi Temple was not immune from senseless bureaucracy.
"I am thinking," Qui-gon said slowly, "of a particular Jedi Master who is on leave and owes me a favor. You tell Master Yoze that we will have a third member, and try to get us a reasonably decent ship. I will pack your supplies, expect me back in an hour."
Before Obi-wan could say anything, his Master was off, a mischievous expression dancing across his eyebrows.
"No one wants to tell me anything, today," he muttered. "Er, Hedgie?" He approached the blond girl who was quickly jotting notes on a digital pad. "We are taking a third member, a Jedi Master. We are not going incredibly far, just to planet Sidar, in the Jexian System. Can you set us up with something?"
"It may not be far, but it is somewhat remote and obscure," she said without looking up. "Vessel distribution is tight right now, and we have limited options."
Obi-wan raised his eyebrows and pointed at the full hangar. "I see."
"I can give you The Virgin Frontier, the Republic Cruiser down at the end."
Obi-wan followed her finger and saw the narrow, dark blue ship tucked away in a shadow. It was clunky and old, with superficial cracks scattering the surface. At least, he hoped they were superficial.
"Ah, any chance of getting another one?"
"No. All of the other ships have very advanced navigation systems, which are unfortunately less robust than the basic navigation systems. The solar storms you cross getting out of this sector are at a record high, and they are destroying the improvements. The same storms are keeping us from sending reliable information to other systems."
"Er… well, at least it's not red. The red ones have absolutely no weapons whatsoever, but most of the blue ones have something. Is it armed with basic defenses?"
"Hmm… I suppose in theory, it is."
"Ah."
"I should also warn you, she has some odd quirks. She sometimes pours heat into the rooms, and sometimes, music starts blaring from the speakers with no good reason…"
****
When Qui-gon returned, he had two bags slung over his shoulder and Mina was standing at his side with a similar pack hanging at her side. She looked very small standing next to Qui-gon, but there was something in her firm stance and bright eyes which made it clear that she was not at all delicate.
"We have our third wheel," Qui-gon said. "Which ship do we have?"
"The Virgin Frontier," Obi-wan said. He scrambled to his feet and hastily bowed to both Qui-gon and Mina.
"Very well," Qui-gon said, swiftly disguising his true opinion of the battered cruiser with a nod of approval. "Hands on the Virgin."
"Qui-gon, keep your hands off virgins," Mina admonished.
Obi-wan choked back laughter as Qui-gon shook his head and led them on board. The interior smelled musty and ozone stung Obi-wan's nose. The humidity sunk down on his shoulders and the echo from Qui-gon's footsteps echoed sharply as he beelined to the control panel. Obi-wan opened the door to the storage hatch and scanned over the boxes, trying to figure what they were departing with. He sensed Mina behind him, on her tiptoes, trying to peer over his shoulder.
"Here, Master Mina," he said and quickly moved to the side.
"Just call me Mina. The alliteration sounds silly." She winked and crawled halfway into the hatch. "This feels like twenty years ago. I am on a mission with my former master, and that is how old most of this medical supplies is."
"It's also the same navigation system they used twenty years ago."
"Oh, good, otherwise it would be too easy. Well, most of this equipment is almost usable, at least in a partial sense." She clambered out of the hatch and stood so close to Obi-wan he started to feel uncomfortable. He could feel the Force flowing over him as she scrutinized the split ends of his braid to the scuff mark on his boot. Obi-wan commanded his feet to stay firmly in place, though he really wanted to take a step back. Subconsciously, he knew that other Jedi assessed him, but few did it so obviously. After a few seconds, she spoke.
"You…you seem solid, like a block of wood. You give me a... oh, what is a good word for that... a block-of-wood feeling. It is all in there, you know." She jabbed her finger into his chest. "Everything that someone needs to be great, including knowing how to use it. I think you have it."
"E-excuse me?" he stuttered.
"It just came into my head. You probably should not pay attention to me." A smile took over her face. "Let's go, we should leave before Qui-gon gets grumpy."
*****
Qui-gon advanced toward Obi-wan, his lightsaber held in the opening position of style IV combat. With little difficulty they had moved the furniture out of the makeshift conference room and had transformed it into a makeshift-makeshift practice room. The walls were smooth, the floors were padded with a slightly forgiving surface, and there were no sharp corners. The investment in time was worth the mental relief. It was a ten hour journey, and most Jedi could not truly relax without a good deal of exercise every day.
Obi-wan retreated toward the center of the room, lighsaber held diagonally across his body in a very conservative, defensive position.
"Come, now, Obi-wan," Qui-gon chided. "Move on the offensive. Think of this as a game, a game called 'attack Qui-gon'." The Jedi's eyes blue eyes twinkled as he held his lightsaber far off to the side, leaving his chest wide open.
Obi-wan knew that already, because Mina had warned him when she stumbled in the control room to relieve him from his shift. She had just picked up twelve new bruises and a shallow cut above her brow during a game of "attack Qui-gon".
Qui-gon liked to parry downward, and it would be nearly impossible to hit him with a first intention attack. Obi-wan focused on Qui-gon's right knee and locked the target in his mind. He could sense every shift through space that knee made, and held it in his mind as he lunged with full force toward Qui-gon's shoulder. Qui-gon parried the attack downward. Obi-wan recovered forwards and jabbed at the Jedi Master's knee – only to have Qui-gon step in toward the attack and nail him right in the solar plexus with his lightsaber hilt.
Obi-wan dropped to the ground with a gasp, struggling to suck air back into his lungs.
"Hard to breathe?" Qui-gon asked. "Does it feel like someone is sitting on your chest?"
"Not quite that bad, master," Obi-wan croaked.
Qui-gon sat on Obi-wan's chest.
"What about now?"
This time, Obi-wan could not speak at all. The door slid open and Mina poked her head in. She did not seem surprised by the scene in front of her.
"We just dropped out of hyperspace. It should take us thirty minutes to clear through all security checkpoints and dock," she said. There was a loud shriek from down the corridor, making her jump and look over her shoulder. "And, apparently the console is making a very scary noise."
"I'll come look. Obi-wan, review the records on data transfer to the base," Qui-gon said. Before Obi-wan could get up or even acknowledge the order, both Jedi disappeared behind the door.
Obi-wan staggered to his feet and thumbed through the list of files. He had already spent six hours reviewing them and seriously doubted that an extra thirty minutes would help. Instead he looked over the notes he had written down about the programming test. The answer to the problem was there, sitting in the back of his mind. It took three hours for people to start leaving the test. The programming language they had to use was VEERTA. Those two bits of information were more important than he originally though, but he did not know how, yet.
As he combed through his thoughts, he unexpectedly stumbled over one of the few things Qui-gon had ever said about Mina. "She has more fear than any two Jedi combined, but I have never seen her truly angry." But of course, Qui-gon was using it as an anecdote. He had continued with, "I assumed for many years that fear was a path to the Dark Side because it led so naturally to anger, and anger is the true entry into the Dark Side. That is not true, Obi-wan. Fear can be a separate path in itself, striking faster and harder than anger. You must counter it with something even stronger." He felt uneasy at how quickly those words from Qui-gon entered his mind, like that message on fear was a message he would need to use, soon.
Something was wrong. He abandoned the notes and bolted into the corridor.
Qui-gon's baritone and Mina's alto echoed quietly from the control station. They were both huddled over the main screen.
"I had a feeling you would come before I called you," Qui-gon said in a low voice.
"Is something wrong?" It was a stupid question.
"Yes, but it is hard to say what it means. Normally we would be in range of other ships coming and going, but there is no one out there. No merchant vessels, no travelers, no diplomats – this is a busy and active planet, but we are not even receiving signals from satellites."
"I'm at the main guns," Mina said. "Just in case. Still nothing to shoot at."
"And the rear guns don't work," Obi-wan murmured, staring into the vast expanse of space.
When you were on the ground, you looked for enemies in front of you, behind you, to your left, and to your right. In small aircraft you had to watch both the sky above and below you. In space, the concepts such as "above" and "below" were based only on the tiny bubble of your own vessel. "Sideways" to you could be "up" to someone else. An enemy could come from any position and orientation. Obi-wan felt a trill of danger.
"Here it comes, hold on!" Qui-gon warned.
Obi-wan dropped low and braced himself with the handholds on the wall as the Virgin banked sharply to the left. The tremendous pressure of G-force crunched down on his back – Qui-gon was decelerating quickly to keep the ship from ripping apart under the strain. The Virgin lurched sideways as blaster fire crashed into her starboard deflectors. Mina was grinding her teeth and shaking as her fingers flew across the weapons panel. Four red shots scattered away from the cruiser. A sleek, black ship much smaller than the Virgin Frontier appeared on screen. The ship accelerated toward the underbelly of the cruiser and swerved away at the last moment. The words "Ditillo InterStellar Hound" were visible on the underside of the ship as it looped around for another pass.
Qui-gon maneuvered the cruiser in an intricate, deadly dance.
"Moving into position to attack! We might not get many chances."
One of Mina's screens dimmed and froze. Error messages sprung covered the main weapons' panel.
"Oi, stop that!" she snapped.
Obi-wan elbowed his way beside her and took control of the secondary artillery while Mina argued with the frozen screen. The quarter-second stretched out long as Obi-wan saw a good, brief opening on the black fighter and gave it the best the Virgin had. Green lasers pummeled the deflector shields of the fighter but hardly jostled her flight.
"No effect, Master."
A web of red lights scattered from the black fighter and hurtled toward the old ship.
Qui-gon tightened his harness. "Just hold on to something," he said.
The gravity within the Virgin sheered rapidly to the side as Qui-gon gunned the craft toward the planet's only moon. Obi-wan dropped to the ground and clutched the nylon straps of the floor anchoring system. They accelerated and skimmed across the surface of the moon's atmosphere. Shots peppered the Virgin's hull while others fell short due to the interference from the moon's gravity. Three bursts of energy gained on them, but the Virgin raced onwards on the same course, dipping down towards the moon.
"Master!" Obi-wan and Mina both cried.
"This old ship cannot handle the force I would need to evade that attack," Qui-gon said grimly. "It would tear itself apart trying to protect us from the g-force."
Obi-wan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded slowly. The blast careened straight into the dorsal side of the Virgin with an ear shattering roar. Obi-wan flew sideways into the smooth side of the wall and skidded across the floor until he snatched a support beam. Warning sirens wailed from the speakers.
"We just lost anti-gravity and part of an engine. That's it, friends, we are going down!" Qui-gon said.
Oops. Well that's it for now. An update should be up by next friday :-)