Prologue: The War Begins - Two Days before the start of The Phantom Menance
Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn let his lightsaber power off with a hiss. He lifted up his hand to wipe away the sweat that had collected on his temple. Despite popular legend, Jedi Knights got tired too. "Good match," he told his opponent honestly. "I haven't dueled at that level in a long time."
Jedi Master Beto Mag Liano powered off his own lightsaber. The dark blue blade, made from a rare gem from his home system of Solaris, disappeared with an identical hiss to Qui Gon's.
"Likewise," Beto said, "Seems like all I get these days are droids, droids and droids. If I get a fight at all."
"The council has you chasing diplomatic missions, doesn't it?" Qui Gon asked. He extended his hand and a full bottle of water floated, almost lazily, to the hand that called it.
Beto half-grinned as he used the Force to call his own bottle to him; but the grin disappeared after he'd taken several large gulps of Coruscant's purified water. "Diplomatic missions," the Jedi Master mused. "Right."
Qui Gon frowned. "What's wrong?"
"We've known each other since we were children here, Qui Gon," Beto said, sitting down on one of the benches built into the wall of the dueling room. "How many times have you known my instincts to be wrong?"
A slight chill traveled down Qui Gon's spine. "Only once."
"Exactly and..." Beto suddenly seemed to realize what Qui Gon had said, "Once?"
"Well, there was that incident with Master Yoda's private cruiser..."
Beto groaned. "We were padawans, Qui Gon! You can't honestly still hold me responsible for that! And I fixed it almost immediately. We almost didn't get caught. Almost."
"Yeah...fixed it," Qui Gon scowled deeply and Beto raised an eyebrow.
"What's bothering you?"
"Nothing."
Beto snorted. "I know you better than that."
Qui Gon sighed. "Obi Wan said that same thing to me the other day."
"Same what? That he fixed it?"
Qui Gon nodded.
"And...?"
"The thing that he had fixed was a fight between two senators and the captain of a Nemodian trade vessel."
Beto whistled, impressed. "I'm unsure why that is a bad thing."
"It's not," said Qui Gon. "It's just, a year ago he would have waited anxiously for me to get there before even daring to speak to one senator, let alone two. Having him smoothly handle that situation...it was as if he suddenly became a man in a matter of minutes."
"I'll bet he looked pleased with himself, too," mused Beto. "And proud to tell you."
"Okay," said Qui Gon, glancing at his friend. "We're not talking about my padawan anymore. Who is this? Yours?"
Beto nodded. "Would you like to know what Isa did?"
"Oh, this sounds like a story," said Qui Gon. He motioned grandly, "Tell me, Jedi Master, what is your tale?"
"Tell me, Jedi Master, what is your tale?" The slug-like Hutt said in its gravelly tones. Jedi Master Beto Mag Liano fought to keep from grinding his teeth together in frustration. How something that oozed spoke in such a dry voice, he didn't understand. And this "honorable" Hutt was being a bigger handful than the smugglers he'd had to deal with in the past. His apprentice, Isa Bel-Mart, shifted uneasily beside him, keeping an eye on the half-amphibian representative from Mon Calamari and the two Corellian representative speaking to each other in whispers.
"There is no tale," Beto tried again. "It is simply the opinion of the Senate that all three parties represented here would benefit from a long-lasting trade agreement."
"It would eliminate the need for...ugh...limiting the activities of the competition," Isa volunteered. Translation, Beto thought grimly, you can stop blowing up each other's ships.
"I don't trust the Hutt," said the Mon Calamarian. "But..."
The Hutt didn't take kindly to this and began saying some rather rude things about the parentage of the Mon Calamarian. Beto almost drew his lightsaber. Almost.
"Perhaps we should take a moment to confer with our respective organizations," one of the Corellians said.
"By all means," said Beto, motioning to the adjoining rooms. "Please, confer." The respective aliens went to separate rooms. Beto looked at his padawan. Isa raised an eyebrow.
"Why do we always get these missions, master?" She asked, tugging on her braid. "We never get to do any real Jedi work."
"This is real Jedi work," Beto answered. "It's just less...glamorous." Isa gave him a look and Beto was about to tell her that she should respect all branches of Jedi work when her expression changed, going strangely blank. Beto had seen that look before, and he had learn to trust his young padawan's sudden insights into the Force that were poignant yet uncontrolled. "What is it?" He asked, his hand on the hilt of his lightsaber.
"Someone else is here," Isa said quietly.
"Anther trade partner?"
"No...he's...waiting," Isa let her eyes close, breathing deeply. "He's waiting for something else, something dangerous...he...ah..." She opened her eyes ruefully. "Sorry, master. It's gone. I think he got onto a ship and left."
"How far?" Beto prompted.
"I'm not sure," she admitted. "Very?"
Beto sighed and dropped his hand. "Isa, you really must learn to control these impulses."
"I've been trying," she half-muttered. "They just, appear out of nowhere."
"Do not try, do," said Beto firmly. "Trying implies that you may fail. That you cannot learn. But I know that you can control the Force – you have an amazing ability to harness the Force while you are in battle. You must learn how to control your ability to..." Beto trailed off. What could he call this? Fortune telling? Premonition?
"Sense things spontaneously?" Isa volunteered.
Beto nodded. "Remember, if you keep an open and calm mind, you can harness the Force no matter the case," he finished. He couldn't let his padawan have the last word – not when he wanted her to remember the lesson.
"Open and calm mind," Isa repeated. "Right."
The Corellians marched into the room and Beto was distracted by their pointless questions about compensation for long enough that he didn't notice Isa slip out one of the doors until the Hutt came back in and asked if she was getting the Mon Calamarian.
"My apprentice...is taking care of some other business," Beto lied smoothly, biting back his annoyance. The Mon Calamarian came back inside and the discussion started once again in earnest. The sudden sound of blaster fire had Beto drawing his lightsaber even before he realized that he had moved. The Hutt made a strange squealing noise and started moving surprisingly fast for his size, trying to put as much distance between himself and the door nearest to the noise of battle. The other three aliens drew their blasters. Unfortunately, they pointed them at each other. Beto ground his teeth together.
"We have been betrayed," the Mon Calamarian all but spat at the other two.
"True," said the talkative Corellian. "But not by us."
"You will all lower your blasters," said Beto, drawing slightly on the Force to make sure they complied. The less talkative Corellian did lower his blaster. The other two wavered but didn't actually do anything.
"He's a traitor!" The Mon Calamarian said, waving with his free hand at the talkative Corellian. "He's working with the Nemodians! Trying to get a monopoly on trade in the system!"
"How dare you suggest that I would work with those stinking cowards!" Talkative Corellian snapped back. "I would have to be a Hutt..." Something seemed to occur to both of them of them at the same time. To be fair, it had also occurred to Beto. The two aliens turned their blasters on the escaping Hutt.
"Stop right there!" Beto shouted. The Hutt made the strange squeal again and yanked open a door. At the last minute, Beto realized that the Hutt was standing in such a way that the open door would cover him. As if he wanted to be protected from...
"Look out!" Beto let go of his lightsaber and put out his hands, concentrating on keeping the debris from whatever bomb had exploded in the adjacent room well away from himself and the three innocent aliens. Half-hidden behind Beto, the talkative Corellian kept his wits about him long enough to fire a few shots at the Hutt. Two burned harmlessly into the already ruined wall, but the third gave the end of the Hutt's tail a nice burn. Beto used the Force to leap across the room and while calling his lightsaber to his hand. The blue blade came to life centimeters from the Hutt's slimy throat.
"Don't move," Beto suggested pleasantly. Then he sent his consciousness into a quick Force-sweep of the building. Most importantly, he wanted to find...
Master?
Isa. Beto felt relief floor through him. Where have you been?
The smoking debris cleared a bit as Isa used the Force to brush some aside. Her face was covered in soot and the end of her robes singed. Yet, she walked confidently into the room and surveyed the three indignant merchants, the frightened Hutt and her bemused yet relieved Master. "I took care of it, Master," she said simply.
"Took care of what, my young padawan?"
"All the droids that were attacking the compound," she said. Beto just blinked. He could feel that she'd been in battle all right. And the familiar acrid smell of burning droid was entering the room with the smoke. "Sorry that I missed the bomb," she added apologetically. "Why was the mystery man so set on blowing us up anyway?"
The less talkative Corellian stepped forward and said, "That may be my fault. You see I'm Prince Atin –"
"One moment," Qui Gon held up his hand to stop Beto's story in its tracks. "The Prince of the independent countries of Corellia was there?"
Beto nodded, looking disgruntled. "No one thought to tell us either; I hate these royalty types. Always sneaking around and making it difficult for us to do our job. Can you imagine the repercussions if he'd been killed?"
"Sounds like your padawan saved the Jedi and the Senate from having to answer a lot of awkward questions," said Qui Gon thoughtfully.
Beto nodded, leaning back against the wall. "It's coming soon," he said softly.
"What is, my friend?"
"The trials," said Beto. "She's only my second apprentice; I wonder of it gets easier as you have time to train more."
Qui Gon frowned, remembering his first apprentice's dangerous slide into the Dark side. "I wouldn't know."
"Obi Wan must almost be ready, too," said Beto.
Qui Gon grimaced. "Sometimes I think so. Other times..."
Beto grinned. "I know the feeling."
Qui Gon's comlink began to chirp and the master answered it; "Yes?"
"Your presence, along with that of your padawan, is requested in the Council's Chambers," came the voice of the venerable Master Windu. "We have a mission for you."
Qui Gon nodded, saying, "Understood. May I ask a summary of what this mission may contain?"
"Nemodians, Naboo, and blockades," said Windu. Beto almost thought he sounded amused. If Windu did amused that was.
"Be there soon," said Qui Gon. He thumbed off the comlink and looked at his old friend. "Sounds like I have to pick up the slack from that story you were telling me. Picking up your mess – again."
Beto laughed and clapped him on the back. "How about I owe you a drink down in Coruscant? One of our old haunts from when we had just become Knights and before we had these younglings underfoot?"
Qui Gon smiled and shook Beto's hand warmly. "I look forward to it."
The Masters exited the practice rooms and went to the large indoor gardens within the Temple. Obi Wan and Isa lay lounging in the sun that shone through the windows high in the ceiling. As their Masters got closer they saw that the two had been building a precarious tower of stones using only their minds; it was already taller than twice Isa's height and had stones of different shapes and sizes. It climbed towards the last rays of sun glinting down from the sky. Isa carefully stretched as she Felt Beto approach; and Obi Wan stood in one fluid movement. "Mission, Master?"
Qui Gon nodded. "We are wanted in the Council Chambers immediately."
Isa smiled and gave Obi Wan a hug before he could protest much. Solarians were very "huggy" by nature and no amount of Jedi Training could get it out of them. "Good luck, Obi," she said.
"Good luck, yourself," he answered, grinning. "Don't almost blow up any princes this time." Isa's laughter followed Obi Wan Kenobi and Qui Gon Jinn out of the garden.
It was only after they had left that the sun was momentarily blocked by a very large ship passing directly over the Temple. Isa shivered in the unexpected darkness. Something in the Force seemed to shout at her in the distance, but the feeling faded as she tried to Listen. "Master?" She said suddenly.
"Yes?"
"Did you tell Master Qui Gon about your Feeling?"
Beto frowned. "No, we became distracted." He shook his head. "Don't worry, I'll tell him later. The danger is distant – whatever it is."
About two weeks later, Isa Bel-Mart waited once more in the garden, swallowing back tears that a Jedi should not let fall. No man is worth your tears. Several floors above her, Master Beto Mag Liano put his hand on young Obi Wan's shoulder as the young man prepared to enter the Council chambers, alone, for The Test.
"You should know," Beto told him softly. "Qui Gon told me that you were ready for the trials the last time we spoke, before the mission to Naboo. You are ready, Obi Wan Kenobi."
Obi Wan nodded, swallowing hard. "Thank you, Master."
Beto stepped back and watched his old friend's apprentice enter the chamber. Soon, Isa would follow.
But for now...
"Ready?" He asked her, his hand on the hyperdrive control.
"Ready, Master." She had a fierce smile on her face as she tightened her grip on the copilot controls.
And they were off, saving the galaxy once more.