A week later
When Jedova woke up, the first thing he knew was that something was wrong. Degu was already up with his lightsaber in hand, anxious. Jedova got up and took his own lightsaber. Once they had exchanged a nod, they walked outside and headed to the governor's apartment, guided there by the Force. It seemed that Hopeakuu had finally decided to make their final move and attack early in the morning.
The Jedi found the guards lying on the ground. They had been knocked out.
"The governor is in danger," Degu muttered and sprinted forward. Jedova knew that calling the Padawan back would only alert the criminals and went after the young man. The guards were not in danger, after all.
Soon they heard shouting. Degu activated his lightsaber, jumped in the middle of the criminals and hit the blasters of the ones dragging the governor. The warning of the Force reached Jedova, but the Jedi Master did not have enough time to warn his Padawan about one of the criminals who jumped from his hiding place and hit the young man with an electro-jabber. Degu let out a cry and one of the criminals shot at his shoulder. The Padawan fell to the ground, whimpering.
"Degu!" Jedova shouted, activated his lightsaber and rushed to protect his apprentice.
The governor bent over the Padawan, helping him to sit up as Jedova defended them against the criminals who had now gotten back-up from the shadows. The Jedi were even more outnumbered now.
"Are you all right, young man?" the governor asked.
"I'll live. Don't worry, governor, we'll protect you," Degu assured and stood up, re-activating his lightsaber. To put less strain on the injured shoulder while he protected the governor from the blaster fire, he kept his weapon in his left hand instead of the right one.
While both of the Jedi used the Force to aid in defending themselves and breaking the blasters, Degu was not experienced at it as his Master and thus was far slower than the experienced Jedi Master. Painfully long minutes passed by and the Jedi noticed that the number of the criminals started to gradually lessen. Then Degu got another hit and Jedova's attention abated for a fleeting moment.
Yet even that moment was too much. That moment was all that the thugs had waited for and needed. One goon made a sudden lunge and struck an electro-jabber at full power right at the Jedi Master. Not even then, when he was one with the Force, Jedova could do anything else than let out a cry and succumb into deep darkness, hearing the call of his Padawan. The electricity from the illegally amplified weapon was too much for him, just like it would have been to anyone else.
"The Jedi Master has fallen!" the man who had struck Jedova roared and caught the falling Jedi Master, then threw him on his shoulder.
"NO! Let him go!" Degu shrieked and strode a step just to notice that everyone else was aiming at the governor.
"Well, Padawan-pupil, what if we leave with your Master to a small voyage and leave you and the governor alone?" the goon, apparently the leader of the group, suggested.
"What do you want from my Master?" Degu asked quietly, feeling great anger which he let go of only to see that there was more anger forming inside. He could not stop it.
"Oh listen, some bounty hunters pay a real lot for a Jedi Master," the goon told and laughed coldly. "This dude here will fund our stuff for long."
Degu's hand squeezed the hilt of his lightsaber. He wanted to give into his rage and free his Master, but he knew that he would end up to the Dark side of the Force if he did that. He looked around himself, taking in the high number of criminals. His mission was to protect the governor. If he attacked their leader, the governor would be killed and the mission would fail. There was the significant risk of getting killed for both Jedi as well. Degu did not want to join the Force just yet.
He had no other choice but to give in.
"Please forgive me, Master," the young Padawan said from the bottom of his heart, knowing that his Master did not hear him through the unconsciousness, and deactivated his lightsaber.
"Wise choice, little one," the goon said, flashed his teeth dotted by caries and turned, taking his accomplices away with himself and Jedova.
Once the criminals had left the governor's estate, Degu allowed a loud shout of anger to escape through his mouth. The frustration was so much to be taken that he had to let a part of it out somehow.
"Why... why did you let them save me and take your Master?" the governor asked carefully in disbelief.
"My Master and I were given the mission of protecting you. If I had saved my Master, you would have been killed. I... I have to contact the Council and report about the situation. But first we need guards just in case that Hopeakuu returns to take you with them too," Degu said, suddenly numb as the reality of what had just happened hit him, and left towards the knocked-out guards who were slowly starting to resuscitate.
When he kneeled next to the second guard Degu suddenly turned to look at the spot where his Master had been stunned.
"What's wrong?" the governor asked nervously, expecting the Jedi to have felt something through the Force.
Jedova's lightsaber was nowhere to be seen.
/Author's note: Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/
