Boondock Jedi

by Traban16

Huey discovers a power; no a FORCE that will change the course of life as we know it in the galaxy FAR, FAR AWAY! "Breath, Anakin. Master Huey says that our eyes can decieve us, so don't trust them always." Obi-Wan said calmly to Anakin.

7. On Missions, Niggas Must Go!

Longest Chapter I've ever written so far. But of course it would be a Star Wars chpater... of course...

Oh well, you guys know the drill! Hit, Ben!

Lightsaber Colors:

Huey- Light Blue

Jazmine- Normal Pink

Riley- Deep Green

Cindy- Deep Blue

Traban- Normal Purple

Ming- Light Red

Chapter 7: On Missions, Niggas Must Go!

---

Traban and Riley looked around the freighter-class ship that the council had booked them passage on. Riley looked over at Traban, who sighed from his seat next to a raggedly dressed alien.

"I hate not having my own ship anymore." Traban said as he sunk into his seat.

"Well I heard that the one Huey came in on became scrap-metal during his landing." Riley said with obvious mirth as Traban chuckled.

"Even after so long, and his ass still can't fly a ship." Traban said with a shake of his head.

"Why didn't we just take a ship of our own?" Riley said as Traban shrugged.

"Honestly, if I had my own ship, we would have, but I have to admit that this is better. We're blending in with the crowd, and it'll look less suspicious this way." Traban said as he began to mediate, "You should try meditation, Riley; it'll help pass the time."

"Naw, I wanna stay tense. Tense keeps niggas alive, and since we're going back to Nar Shaddaa, I wanna to be ready to fuck a nigga up." Riley said as Traban closed his eyes with a smile.

It was a long trip to Nar Shaddaa, one that made Riley's eyebrows twitch in impatience. He and Traban left the spaceport, wrinkling their noses up at the foul stench that hung in the air.

"Damn, it smells like a muckworm's ass-crack around here!" Riley said, pinching his nose closed.

"Yeah, it does stink." Traban said, trying not breath as deeply as he normally would.

"We'll just breathe in through our mouths and out our noses." Riley said as Traban nodded as they began walking again.

"Riley, please don't talk to anyone around here. You know that most the inhabitants will stab you in the back and rob your bleeding corpse before they give you the time of day." Traban said as they walked. Riley cut his eyes toward a man in rags that had been inching toward them, growling at the guy until he moved away. Traban merely shook his head as Riley turned back to him with a slight glare.

"Why aren't the Jedi now-a-days doing anything about this crap? It was never this bad when we were Masters on the Council." Riley said as Traban shrugged with a sigh.

"Nar Shaddaa has been like this, even back when we were around; it was just a bit tidier than now. Even we of the Jedi can't force change on those who don't like or want it." Traban replied as he and Riley moved through the streets.

"So… see anything similar to our last time here?" Riley asked his companion, knowing that Traban would be able to recognize the land better than he would after over a hundred years. Riley had kept his hand staying near the blaster holster on his waist, while his other hand was kept free to summon his lightsaber in a moment's notice. He was not afraid, but he was wise enough to know that on Hutt-control worlds they could be shot within a second.

Mostly because of his last time on Nar Shaddaa seeing a Hutt…

"Well… I won't lie; a lot of the buildings have been replaced over time, but it seems that south of here is the refugee sector. There are the docks, the Jek-Jek Tar, that alien bar from last time that you went in. Remember, the gases in there ate through your lungs without your spacesuit, and we had to use the Force to get you out along with Jocasta."

Riley only nodded with a grunt as he rubbed his chest under his cloak. That had been a bitch of a pain, and an even bigger bitch to heal completely.

"…to the north seem to be several ship mechanics on various levels, Pazaak dens, another bar…" Traban said, pointing things out, but paused as Riley grinned.

"Do they still have swoop racing?" Riley asked as he rubbed his hands together.

"I think it's been replaced by pod racing since a hundred years ago." Traban said as he rubbed his freshly shaved chin. Riley sighed as he crossed his arms childishly with a small pout as they continued to move.

"I liked swoop racing, man. Hmm… maybe I can get a swoop bike, and take you out on it." Riley said as Traban shook his head with a laugh. Riley had to remember that he hated those damn things, and with the grin Riley had on he obviously did remember.

"Hmm… the Bounty Hunter's Guild." Traban said with a smirk at Riley as Riley mirrored it.

"Do we have time to take up a job and a lap-dance?" Riley said as Traban shook his head.

"No, we have a mission, so we'll do those sorts of things on our own time." Traban said with as he and Riley bumped elbows in a show of comrade.

"Plus, it's something we'll have to avoid if we wish to keep our happy marriages." Traban said in afterthought as Riley blinked.

"Where did that come from?"

"Remember when you and I went out on those "meditative retreats and treks". They found out but never said anything. Like that time we left them in that hotel room for the day and came back drunk and happy." Traban said as Riley's eyes widened with a shake of his head.

"I love my wife, and will never need a place like that. Yet, that doesn't mean that I don't like places like that." Riley said, but it was ruined by the grin he wore. He leaned over to Traban and whispered, "But maybe we can send Ben there. The kid needs to get laid, and a perfect time would be when he becomes a Jedi Knight."

Traban chuckled as he shook his head, "No." he said mirthfully, "We should not corrupt such a pure youngling soul. Besides, I have a feeling that his Knighthood shall be sooner rather than later."

"He's got to be nearly twenty, Traban." Riley said as he looked ahead and saw that they had walked while not really watching their surroundings.

"Ahh, here we are! The Quartz Bar! This is where we go." Traban said as he and Riley walked into the cantina.

Their contact was waiting…

---

"The Supreme Chancellor has asked us to investigate the recent blockade of Naboo." Qui-Gon Jinn said as he, Obi-Wan, Huey, Jazmine, Ming, and Cindy sat on a Republic ship headed toward Naboo.

"And what did they say our actions were to be, should negotiations for ceasing hostilities go fail?" Jazmine asked with a calm brow raised.

Out of all of them, even the very manipulative Traban, Jazmine was the best at negotiations, politics, and diplomacy. She was the one who could stay calm and cool in a heated political discussion while all the others (even Huey and Traban) were saying things like: "we can always just blow their planet up", or "we can kill them with the Force". No, she was well versed in politics and how to handle them, her own father having been a District Attorney on Earth and having taught her from an earlier age how to survive and thrive in the dark world of diplomacy.

The hologram of Yoda humming as the other holo-Council members looked impressive by her calm, cool, and collected aura. Jedi were, by no extension, politicians.

"Report to us, you must. Advise the Chancellor, we will, upon your findings. Be careful, you must. Shrouded this is, in the Dark-side of the Force. The events that will transpire, much is unknown of them." Yoda said agedly as he eyed Jazmine. Her political know-how would be needed for their mission, but he had a feeling she wouldn't even get the chance to talk peaceably with the Viceroy of the Federation. Oh well, so long as Huey and Ming was there for the fighting, he was sure all would be well.

"Sure… we'll be as careful as a Sulfur-cat in a room full of hover-chairs, Yoda." Huey said as he rolled his eyes visibly while the image of Mace Windu seemed to frown at his lack of respect.

"To Naboo, you go, then. Several days, you have, to prepare before arrival." Yoda said as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, along with the others, could see a dismissal when it was evident. They all nodded and bowed to the Council, Jazmine forcing Huey to do so while Cindy made Ming.

"May the Force be with you." Windy said before the Council images disappeared. Huey glared at Jazmine while Ming was too busy trying to glare a hole in Cindy's head.

"You will pay for that." Huey growled out as Ming seemed to agree with him as she nodded it to Cindy.

"Sure…" Jazmine and Cindy said as they went back to mediating while Huey and Ming paced the floor repeatedly.

"We're on approach, and the captain wants us in the cockpit." Obi-Wan said, shutting off his com-link as the four Masters nodded. They followed Qui-Gon and young Ben from their quarters and headed up toward the cockpit, knowing they were doing so to see where they would be meeting the Trade Federation blockade in space above the planet Naboo.

"I have a bad feeling about this?" Huey said as Jazmine shook her head.

"You and Riley are always having bad feeling about something." Jazmine said in amusement as she and Cindy exchanged looks.

"And they're normally right…" Huey muttered with his arms crossed as they walked into the cockpit, looking out the window to see a large number of ships.

"Well, I have no doubt that this isn't just some blockade." Cindy said as the Republic-class Cruiser made its approach to the main station, "I mean, look at the size of this fleet… Wait, did I say fleet? I meant this damn armada of ships. And all controlled by the Trade Federation, no doubt."

"Size, in this particular case, doesn't matter, Cindy. Not when I am thrown into the equation." Ming said with a grin and a shake of her head. Huey and Jazmine could only sigh as they gazed out the window.

"Why is it that every megalomaniac or power-hungry group has to compensate for their insanity with giant ships and huge armies?" Jazmine asked rhetorically as Huey shrugged. Huey smirked a bit as he gazed down at Jazmine.

"In that case, what do you compensate for, dear?" Huey asked as Jazmine looked up at him and saw his smirk.

"What?" Jazmine asked in genuine confusion before she smirked herself, "I don't need to compensate for my crazy. That's why I have you, because you're way crazier than I'll ever be."

Huey knew better than to have a battle of witty retorts with a politically-mindset Jazmine, so he forsook making any further comments. He ignored the playful banter between the pilot, Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan in favor of staying tense and coiled to strike at whatever evils lurked in the shadows.

"I've just finished making preparations with Docking Traffic Control. We've been cleared to land." The pilot said, his voice laced with notable worry that rippled in the Force as Ming sighed and flopped down into the co-pilot seat unceremoniously.

"Just great! We're basically flying blindly, and bare-assed mind you, into a lion's den. And me without my score-pad to keep track of all the enemies I kill." Ming said with exaggerated hand movements as Huey turned to her with a data-pad.

"I brought mine if you want to share." Huey said as Ming smiled devilishly at him.

Ming and Huey stopped playing around when they saw that Cindy hadn't stopped looking at the Trade Federation Control Ship they were heading for. The docking bay doors were sliding open as their cruiser made its final approach. They gained serious looks as they exchanged glances with Jazmine, who had been watching Cindy for a little longer than they were.

"Something wrong, Cin?" Jazmine asked as she put a hand on the blonde's shoulder. That seemed to pull her out of her trance as Cindy blinked, but her eyes never left the sight of the window.

"I'm… not sure… I don't know enough about the situation, but something feels… off; even somewhat ominous, though it all definitely feels out of place for a diplomatic mission." Cindy said, hugging her arms to her torso as she pressed on, "Even though we've just arrived here, I can tell that there is definitely more going on here than merely a bunch of merchants holding a blockade over a peaceful world. We all need to be mindful of the Force this time."

At her thoughtful tone, Huey's scowl deepened while Jazmine's face grew as somber as Ming's. They all nodded at her words as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan exchanged looks of uncertainty.

She couldn't be right… could she?

Huey, now thinking more of the mission than his regular paranoia, scowled out the window at the fleet of ships holding orbit around Naboo.

"All these ships… and each probably filled to the brim with battle droids." Huey said disdainfully while Ming and Jazmine nodded.

Qui-Gon nodded from his seat as he and Obi-Wan pulled up their hoods, having already gotten their cloaks on as Jazmine called theirs forth from their room with the Force. She sighed, pulling hers on as well before turning to Huey (more specifically his afro). She handed him his cloak as he frowned at it.

"Huey, sweetie, you need to put on your cloak." Jazmine said in a sweet tone as Huey looked at her like she was crazy.

"No thank you, honey. I'll pass." Huey replied, pushing the cloak away as he went back to looking out the window.

"Huey Freeman, you will put on the cloak, put on the hood, and play the role of an inconspicuous ambassador, or with the Force as my witness, I will make sure we never sleep together again!" Jazmine said in a loud and threatening tone as Huey's head whipped around so fast that Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were sure they heard bones cracking.

"Y-you… you couldn't… You wouldn't." Huey challenged as Jazmine gave him a look.

"I most certainly can, and will; unless you put this cloak on, Mister Man." Jazmine said, shoving the brown Jedi cloak into his arms before walking away with Cindy and Ming following her with chuckles and whipping noises directed fully at him.

Obi-Wan had been privilege to see the usual scowling Jedi Master making faces behind his wife's back.

---

The small cruiser slowly made its entrance into the hangar of the Trade Federation command-ship, deploying its' landing gear before coming to a stop on the platform, docking clamps locking the ship into place to indicate it was fully docked. The loading ramp of the Republic cruiser opened, and five cloaked figures disembarked slowly, making their way across the hangar where they were met by a silver protocol droid.

"Greetings. I am TC-14, at your service. This way, please." The droid greeted, before proceeding to lead the quartet from the docking bay, completely ignoring the droid activity going on behind them.

They were led down several corridors, before being guided to a large blast door. The door opened prior to their arrival, revealing a rather formal conference room in which they are led into.

"We are greatly honored by your visit, ambassadors. I hope you will be able to make yourselves comfortable here. My master will be with you shortly." The droid said politely with a rigid bow before leaving the room as the door shut with the normal hissing sound.

Turning around, the five cloaked figures lowered their hoods, and looked out the bay windows, each giving them a glance at the lush blue and green planet of Naboo.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I have a bad feeling about this." Huey said as Obi-Wan seemed to agree whole-heartedly to the comment.

"I don't sense anything." Qui-Gon said, looking at his fellow Master.

"Nor do I…" Ming said, but she was fingering her lightsaber under her cloak as she leant against a side wall while looking at the planet of Naboo.

"It hasn't changed much…" Jazmine mused as Huey let a small smile grace his features. It was one of the only planets he knew that were almost always peaceful.

Well, except for all those Human-Gungan wars and such… Still, it was pretty peaceful compared to most other planets like the Hutt-controlled ones.

Qui-Gon put a hand on his Padawan's shoulder, patting it reassuringly as they stood together.

"Keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs. Remember; always be mindful of the Living Force." Qui-Gon said to his student as Cindy nodded, being a Master of the Living Force herself.

"I believe young Benny is simply eager to get to the real action." Ming said as she smirked at the sighing Padawan.

"Madam Ming, could you please not take up your fellow Master's bad habit of calling me by that or any new versions of a name, please?" Obi-wan said before turning to his own Master, "Master Yoda says I should be mindful of the future."

"Yes… true, but not at the expense of the moment." Cindy said, knowing that the future could change in a heartbeat, but the now was always within grasp.

"Please, be mindful of the living Force, my young Padawan." Qui-Gon said as Obi-Wan conceded.

"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan said as Huey felt they needed a change of subject.

"How do you think the Trade Federation Viceroy will deal with the demands we carry from the Chancellor?" Huey asked as Jazmine scoffed at him, getting the attention of the others.

"If the Trade Federation is like I think it is; being made up of a bunch of merchants and the like, then they're a bunch of cowards. The army is all for show if my thinking is correct." Jazmine said as Qui-Gon agreed.

"I believe the negotiations will be short. Whether that is a good thing or not remains to be seen though."

---

Nute Gunray looked at his protocol droid in shock.

"What? What did you just say?"

TC-14 repeated itself as it wanted to sigh in annoyance, "The five ambassadors from the Supreme Chancellor are Jedi Knights, I believe."

Gunray's companion panicked. "I knew it. They were sent here to force a settlement. We're done for."

"No, we're not. Distract them, keep them occupied. I will contact Lord Sidious." Gunray ordered his companion.

"Are you brain-dead? I'm not going in there with one Jedi, much less five!" He then turned to TC-14. "...Send the droid."

"Hmm...very well. Bring them some refreshments, and try to keep them complacent." Gunray replied as the TC-14 looked reluctant, but obeyed.

Damn it's programming…

They waited until TC-14 had walked away, then turned to one another. Gunray merely nodded, before turning to his center console, pressing several buttons in sequence. Soon, a hologram of a cloaked figure appeared, seeming to stare down upon the Nemodians like they were not worth the cloak he were (which they weren't to him).

"What is it?" Sidious asked in mild irritation as he looked them over. Dear Force they looked scared, and it wasn't of him!

Before Gunray could respond, his companion, Daultay Dofine, interrupted, "This game of yours has failed, Lord Sidious! The blockade is finished! We dare not go against the Jedi."

Sidious twisted his face in contempt of the spineless creature that dared to stand before him, and tell him that his plan was doomed from the beginning. He would have the muckworm killed in the next hour if he could, but resolved to have the cowardly whelp killed tomorrow. He then turned slightly to face Gunray as he spoke, displaying his contempt visibly.

"Viceroy... I don't ever want this stunted slime in my sight again."

Having been cowed, Dofine shoulders slumped as he scurried away. He had no wish to be killed by the Sith Lord, and so he moved away as fast as he could.

"This turn of events is… unfortunate." Sidious pondered, as he thought of ways to dispose of those blasted Jedi, "We must accelerate our plans… Viceroy, begin launching your troops."

Nute Gunray blinked in surprise, but chose his words very carefully, "Umm… My Lord, is that… you know… legal?"

Sidious snarled at him for daring to question his power and control over the situation, "I will make it legal."

The Viceroy knew that after the stunt Dofine pulled, he was treading on thin ice with the Dark Lord, and so as not to end up dead by morning he simply moved on, "And… the Jedi?"

"The Chancellor should never have brought them into this; kill them immediately." Sidious said with nothing more than a harsh tone as Nute Gunray paled, but did not allow his fear to show in his disposition (even though Sidious felt it through the Force). Gunray merely nodding his head as the transmission ended, "Yes… uh, yes, my lord. A-as you command."

---

Traban and Riley watched as their contact left, Riley not bothering to hide his irk at the lack of information they were able to obtain.

And for 600 credits! He could have got his rocks for half the amount, too…

"That was a fucking waste of time." Riley said with a hint of disgust. Traban sighed, but was nodding in agreement as they stayed in the bar.

"All we learned is that someone is somewhere between the Mid Rim and the Outer Rim planning something." Riley said as Traban shook his head.

"I'd like to think that we gleamed more than that, though if I'm correct in my assumptions." Traban said as Riley snorted.

"Nigga, the Outer Rim is always the spot for galactic events; whether they be legal or not, and they usually are illegal, so that doesn't help us much in narrowing down what could be going on." Riley said as Traban shrugged, sipping at his water since they had to pay the informant all their credits.

"Yes, but there is a major event we know of as of now that has caught the attention of the Supreme Chancellor and the Galactic Republic. In fact, it was in the news our dear informant has left us." Traban said as he tapped at the news data-pad on the table still. Riley looked over at it, and saw that it featured a rather long and large article on Naboo's situation with the blockade.

Riley and Traban rose from their seats as they walked out of the bar. With no food, or money they would have to either contact the Republic (which they both knew that on a Hutt-world could get you shot faster than you could say "Damn") or they would have to find an odd job to do.

Riley blocked Traban's path with a hand as he used the other to point at large holo-screen that displayed two being (a Trandoshan and a Gammorean) fighting in an arena with people literally throwing credit chips as they betted on the outcome. Riley turned to Traban with as Traban could feel Riley's excitement through the Force.

"There's an idea." Riley said as Traban grinned back at him.

"It's a job, and we need money. I'm sure the esteemed Council will forgive us… if they ever hear about this." Traban said as Riley and he ran through the dirt-paved streets, intent o earning their money through bloody knuckles, and lots of ass-kicking.

Damn was being an unorthodox Jedi fun!

It had only been an hour after they found the place, and they couldn't be happier.

"Oh, hell yeah, nigga! I don't give a fuck about being a damn Jedi no more! My black ass is just fine and happy here!" Riley yelled back at Traban while he watched his opponent; a Twi'lek and a damn tough one, crumple to the ground.

"Can we go now?" Traban asked in mock worry as Riley returned to his corner of the arena, drinking the water Traban handed him with a laugh.

"Go? Ha, ha! Nigga, you funny. You know we ain't leaving this bitch until w won it all!" Riley said as Traban joined in on the laugh.

"We're cleaning house, huh?" Traban asked since he enjoyed watching the small Riley take down much bigger opponents. He could survive off the irony and humor for days.

"Nigga, you know it!" Riley said as Traban sighed in amusement. He had placed a few bets on Riley with the very few credits, and now he was holding nearly eighty thousand credits after only five fights.

"We'll have to remember to bring Ben-boy along next time." Traban said as Riley nodded. That damn kid needed to learn how to loosen up, and they were just the two to teach him.

After all they were the Masters after all…

---

"Oh, nigga look. They got three of 'em this time." Riley said watching a Gammorean, a Trandoshan, and a Rodian enter the dueling arena. Traban seemed to look on a bit more seriously as he leant over to Riley.

"Be careful, Riley. Something about this doesn't feel right…" Traban said with caution as Riley's look of joy sobered up. He nodded as he felt the suppressor shut down, and looked to where the controller was supposed to be. The damn Quarren that had been controlling it was nowhere to be seen.

Well damn, they were really tryin' to fuck him up…

"Aye, nigga. The suppressors down." Riley whispered as Traban nodded, feeling the shields rise around the arena floor, meaning there was no escape, and that things were about to get heated.

"What do you want me to do? It's your chose, Riles." Traban asked as Riley looked back and grinned at him.

"Nigga, do what we always do; bet high and big on me kicking ass and taking names." Riley said, and with that he was moving to face his much larger opponents. Traban gave a loving sigh at Riley's love for ass-kicking, gambling, and all the things he loved in general.

"I think I've finally fallen in love! Ha!" Traban joked to himself as he bet nearly all their credits on Riley.

Riley had just ducked several blaster shots from the Rodian when he felt a darkened presence in the Force. He used his broken staff (since the damn Trandoshan broke it in half) to knock out the Rodian, and thus eliminated the blasters.

He jumped high and nailed the Trandoshan with a backwards spin kick he had picked up from Ming. He only half expected it to work, and was completely surprised it not only worked, but drove the alien into the arena wall, knocking him out of the fight temporarily.

"Well damn…" Riley said to himself as he rolled picked up the dropped vibro-sword. He glanced about as e saw Traban's eye moving around, a frown on his features as Riley was sure his friend was trying to figure the fight out.

"I'm not going to draw my lightsaber or my blaster unless I really need to. Until then, I don't have to. The last thing I need to do is get them damn Jedi-Hunters and Bounty-crazed jackass on our case. Huey and Traban would never let me live in down if I did."Riley thought as he avoided the slow axe swipes from the pig-like creature.

Riley cursed to himself as he saw that the Trandoshan was back up, and had picked up its other blade.

Riley unleashed more curses as he ducked under another axe swipe, and with a slash gutted the Gammorean like the pig it was. He was a little disturbed though as the blade continued through the fat alien's body like a knife through butter. He couldn't focus on his disgust either as he pulled the blade out to block a strike from the Trandoshan, but was knocked back and to the ground by the creature's superior physical strength. He got back to his feet with ease, using the Force to help him push back the lizard-like alien as he did so.

"You three came in here to kill me." Riley whispered harshly to the alien as he and it stalemated in their strikes. He the dark feeling he had from the Force either had been their every intention of ending his life from the moment they entered the arena.

"Why?" Riley demanded as he attacked, several bloody gashes littering the Trandoshan's arms as the being moved back away from him.

"Paid to… You were winning too many fights…. It was… nothing personal." the Trandoshan said in Basic as Riley growled at him. Nothing personal his ass, they had wanted to kill him for one reason or another and were taking great pleasure in it.

"Oh, no… not at all." Riley said, immersing himself in the Force as he continued to do battle against the alien.

"Nothing personal, but my partner over there is getting impatient." Riley said as he spun his blade, knocking the alien's from his scaled hands. Traban did look worried, but Riley actually doubted if he was impatient over the fact that he was still alive and winning.

"Game over." Riley said, kicking the Trandoshan's blade up into his hand and crossing them over the creature's neck, but threw both weapons back as he summoned a large push in the Force and blasted the alien's chest with it, sending the being flying directly into the shield barrier. Being caught between two opposing forces of energy, the Trandoshan didn't stand a chance; as he dropped to the ground a burned mess, yet still alive.

Riley turned to see Traban collecting his- he meant their winnings hurriedly before moving toward him. As the shield dropped Traban moved their levitated a blaster into Riley hands as he gazed at it for whatever reason Traban wanted him to, and after a few moments he saw why.

"This damn thing was set to kill." Riley muttered as Traban nodded.

"I suspected as much, but with that shield up, I couldn't have helped you much. I did increase the power of that kick to the Trandoshan, but it wasn't enough to knock him out for long." Traban said as Riley looked at him in annoyance.

"Damn… and I had thought I was getting super strength or some shit." Riley grumbled with his arms crossed.

"So?" Traban asked as Riley blinked at him.

"What?" Riley replied as they exited the lower level arena.

"Did you have fun?" Traban asked with a smirk as Riley grinned at him.

"A life-threatening situation and the odds stacked against me? Nigga what do you think? That shit was a blast!" Riley said as Traban chuckled at him, "So, how much we rake in?"

"Two hundred and thirty thousand credits! You were an animal out there, and being human made them doubt you'd survive." Traban said as Riley laughed.

"Niggas should know by now that my black ass ain't dying no time soon! And to never bet against Jedi Master Escobar!" Riley said as he pumped a fist in the air and rolled it as he made his own cheering effects. Traban simply laughed at him as he gazed down at the credit chip all their winnings were saved on.

"You know, as Jedi, we're supposed to live a life of poverty." Traban said, reminding his friend as Riley scoffed.

"Nigga please. You already know my black ass need money. What the fuck I look like being poor just cause they asses say so?" Riley said as Traban shook his head.

"Still, it's way more than we can go back with without them taking it from our accounts and putting it into the Jedi Temple cost or something like that…"

"Damn, well… Aye, didn't you say they got refugees here?" Riley asked, remembering the last time he came to the Jedi temple on Ilum with a ton of cash. He still can't believe them mother-fuckers went into his accounts and redirected the money to funding crystal mining in the caves around the planet.

"Yeah, come on." Traban said, already knowing what he was thinking as they moved to the Refugee sector.

---

In the hangar of the Federation ship, the Republic cruiser sat idly as the pilot chatted away the time on the holo-phone with his wife to ease his boredom.

Unbeknownst to him, the droids that had once been scuttling about their repetitive programmed tasks had stopped what they were doing, and were moving away from the consular ship.

As the droids were making their escape (not as subtly as they should have), a defense gunner began to slowly lower itself into firing position; its cannons aimed at the Republic cruiser.

In the cockpit, the pilot signed off on his wife and began checking the ship's equipment making small adjustments here and there for the time that they took off. Looking up, the pilot spotted movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he came face-to-face with a locked-on laser turret.

Pointed directly at him… Crap… and he had just told his wife that he'd be home late… When she received heaven after him, she'd never let him hear the end of it…

As he thought those final words, the turret fired off three concentrated blasts at the cockpit, cutting through the hull, and setting off a chain reaction that resulted in the complete destruction of the Republic cruiser.

TC-14 entered the conference room while the five Jedi were seated at the table and talking amongst themselves. Huey, out of habit, sniffed the air with his Force-enhanced senses, trying to smell even the faintest poisons, while he watched Jazmine and Qui-Gon do the same while Ming and Cindy were glancing at them. Jazmine was the first to sip her beverage while she gazed out at Naboo, seemingly lost in thought.

"Something wrong?" Huey asked Jazmine from his seat beside her wife as she shook her head.

"No, not really. It's just; the last time I was here was with Riley and Yaddle to help bury one of my Padawan and their mother in their family crypt." Jazmine said somberly as Huey gently took her hand and rubbed it with his thumb.

"Is it in their nature to make us wait this long?" Obi-Wan asked, obvious to the conservation across the table, and seemingly annoyed at the drawn-out nature of the whole mission.

Qui-Gon frowned, his senses picking up much anxiety flowing throughout the ship as Ming scowled at the droid.

"No… no, I sense an unusual amount of fear though, especially for something as trivial as a trade dispute."

"Then…" Ming pressed as Jazmine's saddened look disappeared under one of shock as Cindy saw a shatter-point in the Force.

"It's a trap!" Cindy yelled as she shot up to her feet, the others following as they heard an explosion go off from the hangar, followed by a small hissing noise. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan tensed, their lightsabers already ignited as a mist of some kind entered the room from the vents.

"Gas." Obi-Wan stated as he and Qui-Gon began using the Force to create a air bubble around themselves.

Jazmine sniffed at the poison, recognizing it immediately as one of the more common ones and relaxed since she, and her friends were immune to it. Huey, seeing that she was breathing did the same and saw that he didn't die. Ming and Cindy soon followed as Jazmine reached into her medical pouch and took out a syringe. She poked Qui-Gon with it, ejecting half of the contents into him before she did the same to Obi-Wan with the other half.

"Ow!" Obi-Wan yelped as the gas blocked his view of whatever had stabbed him. He gasped as he realized too late that he took in the gas and once again took in more. Though, the weird part was, that he wasn't dropping dead!

"One shot for more than 100 of the most common poisons. This poison was number ten on the list of poisons I cured with this shot." Jazmine said, though no one could see her, as she put the needle away.

Huey drew his lightsaber and ignited it, Ming doing the same as Cindy reached out with the Force.

"Those sneaky, cowardly bastards! There's a small squadron of battle droids outside the door." Cindy said as Ming rolled her eyes and smirked at Cindy.

"I guess Qui-Gon was right. These negotiations didn't last long." Ming shot back as Cindy glared at her, "And you used to say that I always went looking for trouble. Maybe next time you'll believe me when I say trouble goes looking for all of us." Ming finished as Cindy rolled her eyes as they continued to wait for the doors to open.

---

A hologram of Gunray, surrounded by battle droids, appears in the conference room hallway.

"They must be dead by now. Destroy whatever is left of them." The hologram said before fading as the command droid replied with a "roger, roger".

One of the battle droids opened the door as the gas came billowing from the room. The gathered battle droids cock their weapons as a figure stumbled out of the smoke. It was TC-14 carrying an empty tray; jumping in surprise at all the weapons pointed its way.

"Oh, excuse me!"

The protocol droid passed the armed droids, who stood there and let it pass with only mild annoyance. The battle droid with yellow paint on it, designating it as the commander, turned to another battle droid.

"Check it out, Corporal. We'll cover you." The command droid ordered as the corporal droid saluted.

"Roger, roger." the corporal replied.

The poor droid had not even taken two steps before two blades, one a kickball-red and the other a deep ocean-blue, flew through the deadly green mist; slicing the droid Corporal in thirds and returning to unseen individuals, followed by three more individuals igniting their own weapons.

The commander took a step back in programmed fear as he saw the lightsabers, "Uh-oh, blast 'em!"

The command droid had barely got the words out before Qui-Gon's green saber sliced his head clean off, the body clattering to the floor as Huey emerged from the room. He charged headlong into the group of droids as his light-blue saber began deflecting blaster fire while cut a vicious sway through their ranks.

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon quickly followed, deflecting blaster fire back towards the droids as Ming systematically dismembered any droid that crossed her path, arms and legs flying as her light-red lightsaber hacked through the assembled crowd.

Cindy walked out of the cloud, striding forward with a purpose as she used her ocean-blue saber to deflect blaster bolts. Jazmine strolled behind her with her own pink saber ignited but not being used while Huey and Ming cleanly cut through the blasters, torsos, and necks of an unfortunate droid that was not quick enough to get out of their way. Jazmine, seeing droids about to get a blast off at Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, flicked her hand outward as the three of remaining droids were flung across the corridor with such ferocity that, upon impact with the floor, they shattered into parts.

"I don't often do this, but I will not stand by and watch people be hurt." Jazmine said at the looks the others were giving her.

---

Alarms sounded off on the bridge of the Trade Federation ship as Gunray turned toward one of his bridge officers.

"What is going on down there?"

"We've lost the transmission, sir." the officer responded. Gunray walked away from the communication wall with his second-in-command.

"Have you ever encountered a Jedi Knight before, sir?" his new second-in-command asked as Gunray shook his head.

"Well, no… not exactly, but I don't think…" Gunray said, but then paused as he turned to one of his crewmen.

"Seal off the bridge." Gunray ordered as the alien nodded.

"Yes, sir." the alien replied as Gunray breathed a sigh of relief. Now those blasted Jedi couldn't possibly-

"That won't be enough, sir." His fellow Nemoidian, Rune Haako, said as he nearly sighed in annoyance.

And the day had started off so well, before this crap!

"I want Droidekas up here at once!" Nute Gunray shouted as he and his second watched the blast doors to the bridge closed tightly, Rune shaking his head.

"We will not survive this." Rune said as Gunray grunted.

Yeah wanna bet he would?

---

Qui-Gon, feeling just a bit outdone by his fellow Masters, cut down several more battle droids, a shower of sparks and metal parts flying as the droids met their untimely end. Obi-Wan, feeling the same, raised his hand and sent several battle droids flying into the wall hard before sparking and dying.

They both turn to see Huey and Ming finishing the few remaining droids off, both Jedi impressed as the pair looked like they were dancing (or even fighting!) with each other, their movements in perfect sync with the other as their sabers spun a whirlwind of lost limbs, scorched metal, and sparking wires. The droids were just falling into a heap on the floor before them as Jazmine and Cindy walked up to them muttering about show-offs.

Huey and Ming stood upright as they cut down the last droid, and nodded to Qui-Gon. He nodded in return as he made his way toward the bridge door, slamming his lightsaber into the door. He slowly but surely began carving a hole through the metal plating.

The bridge crew gave pause as a loud hissing noise was heard. They all turned toward the bridge door as a green blade was poking through it. The Nemodians became increasingly worried as the blade began to carve a hole through the durasteel, making the metal falling off in chunks of scorched and twisted steel.

"Close the blast doors!" Gunray yelled out in frantic panic.

A huge, very thick blast door slams shut, followed by a second. There is a loud hissing sound as the doors seal shut around Qui-Gon's blade, the lightsaber already beginning to melt the edges of the blast doors.

That had to have worked!

"That will hold them." Nute Gunray claimed boldly as he turned up his nose.

Qui-Gon paused, hearing the clanking noise of the blast doors closing, before he stabbed deeper into the door again with his lightsaber. Seeing his trouble, Huey joined him and together the two blades begin to melt through the doors faster. A large red spot appeared in the center of the door as even more hunks of molten steel were falling off.

"They're still coming through!" Rune Haako groaned out as he and Gunray watched the door helplessly.

"Impossible! This is impossible!" Nute yelled out in complete disbelief.

And his father had always told him not to fuck with the Jedi…

"Where are those Droidekas?" Rune yelled to one of the techies as the guy shrugged.

Out in the corridor, with Ming, Cindy, and Obi-Wan standing guard, Jazmine stood off to the side while Huey and Qui-Gon were making progress with the blast doors, having nearly penetrated through the final one, when they hear the sound of clanking metal.

Four wheel-like droids rolled down the hallway at top speed, heading straight for the five of them as Huey glanced up and cursed. Just before they reach the end of the corridor, they stopped and un-coiled themselves, revealing two twin blaster cannons in tripod-form, various carbines interconnected with one another allowing a withering assault of blaster bolts to be shot from those cannons. Cindy recognized the design immediately while Ming snarled at the droids. Huey gritted his teeth as he was sure they'd make it just in them. They were nearly through the last one-

"Master, Destroyers!" Obi-Wan shouted out as the four destroyer droids activated their built in deflector shields right before they opened fire on the Jedi-scum.

Blaster bolts flashed as Huey, and the others started deflecting, bolts ricocheting off sabers only to do the same off the shields, destroying the hallway.

"They have shield generators!" Obi-Wan said in surprise, causing Ming and Cindy to roll their eyes as they used their two blades to beat away incoming blasts.

"It's a stand-off. If we stay here, they'll kill us. We need to move. Let's go!" Huey said, knocking a laser into the ceiling above the droids and causing sparks to mess with the robots' shields and sensors.

The five Jedi force-dashed down the corridor, avoiding blaster fire as they continue to move away from the bridge.

The Viceroy and his people watched the spectacle from the security camera smirking at the retreat of the Jedi.

Take that, father!

"See? They are no match for Droidekas." Gunray said in a pleased tone.

"Umm… Sir." One of the bridge-officers said as Gunray and Rune turned to him, "They've gone up the ventilation shaft."

Gunray sighed as he slapped his forehead.

Damn Jedi…

---

Several minutes later, Huey and Qui-Gon re-emerged from a large vent-duct into a rather large hanger bay. Huey caught Jazmine and Cindy while Obi-Wan and Ming dropped down on their own. They paused as they saw activity in the hangar, but stopped as they saw the charred remains of the cruiser they had come in on. Huey groaned as he knew that if Traban found out about this, he'd never let him and the others live it down.

They watched from the shadows of large crates as thousands of battle droids were being loaded onto numerous Multi-Troop Transports (MTT's).

"Battle droids… thousands of them." Obi-Wan said in awe at the sheer number of manufactured robots.

"It's an invasion army." Huey hissed in annoyance at the whole damn thing.

"Isn't this an odd play for the Trade Federation to make, though?" Ming pointed out as Cindy nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I mean, they've never really been known for being overly aggressive. In fact, they are the exact opposite. Normally, they'd run away rather than actually fight." Cindy said as Qui-Gon shrugged.

"In any case, we've got to warn the Naboo and get in contact with Chancellor Valorum." Qui-Gon said as Jazmine nodded.

"We'll split up; each of us should stow aboard a separate landing craft, and meet down on the planet." Jazmine suggested as the others nodded to her plan.

"You were right about one thing, Master; the negotiations were short." Obi-Wan joked as Huey, Ming, Cindy, and even Jazmine rolled their eyes at just how lame the joke was.

---

"Now this brings back memories." Traban said as he and Riley looked over the various crates that were home to many of the beings in the sector.

Riley looked over the state of men, women and children of numerous species in disinterest, but shivered at the waves of sadness that seeped into the Force from the people.

"In the course of at the least three hundred years, this has remained almost exactly the same." Riley said flippantly, but Traban could feel his true anger at the situation these people were in.

"Yeah you're right, the smell's the same, the crates look a bit newer, and some species I don't recognize, but it's the same." Traban said as they began walking again

"I still don't see why the Republic hasn't done anything about this?" Riley growled as Traban raised a brow, noting the fact that Riley was actually speaking proper English (or Basic, or whatever you wanted to call it in this crazy galaxy).

"It's located in Hutt Space, Riles." Traban said with a shrug, "They don't allow the Republic into their territory without a whole lot of protest. Plus, it's far too costly for them to seek out trouble here. So, they let the Outer Rim worlds fall apart without putting in much, if any, effort into keeping them clean, and stopping the… well, this."

Riley really wished he could argue Traban's points, but he was sure that if anything could be done about it then either Jazmine, Cindy, or Traban could do it. Plus there was the fact that while the Mid-Rim and Core Worlds thrived with security enforcement from most passing JedI or officers, the Outer Rim worlds were mostly ignored do to the JedI base being in the Core Worlds. He could only think about how wrong it was that these (probably) good people were left to stagnate, decay, and eventually die off in their poverty and insufficiency.

"So where do we-?" Riley was asking before Traban jerked on his arm to follow him.

Come on, Riley. We need to find someone." Traban said as Riley looked at him in bewilderment.

"Who?" was all Riley could ask as Traban smirked.

"An old friend." Traban said, tugging at Riley to keep up and follow, "We're going to a place, that shouldn't have been disturbed."

"Huh?" Riley blurted out, completely perplexity (a word he picked up from Cindy, who heard it from Ming, who Traban used in a conversation that he learned from Jazmine, who took it from Huey after an argument they had).

What the hell was going on?

---

Back in the command center on the bridge, one of the technicians turned in his chair to regard Viceroy Gunray. "Sir, there is an incoming transmission from Naboo."

"Put it on screen." Gunray said with a nonchalant wave of his hand.

The image of Queen Amidala, the benevolent ruler of Naboo dressed in full royal garb, appeared on the screen as Gunray and Rune jumped in surprise, but hid it under their looks of peaceful old men.

"Ahh, it is Queen Amidala herself." Gunray commented.

"At last, we are getting results." Rune said with a slight bow.

"Once again, you come before us, Your Highness." Gunray said arrogantly as the Queen shot him a look.

"You will not be so please when you hear what I've to say, Viceroy." Queen Amidala replied, "Your trade blockade of our planet has ended. Remove yourself from our space immediately."

Nute turned towards to Rune, completely caught off-guard with this formal declaration and its effects. He turned back to the screen.

"I was not aware… of such failure." Gunray commented as the Queen's regal look didn't ease in the slightest.

"I have just received word that the Chancellor's ambassadors are with you now, and that you have been commanded to reach a settlement." Amidala said as Nute Gunray chuckled.

"I know nothing of any ambassadors. You must be… mistaken, my Lady." Nute said slowly as if speaking to a child.

Which he was!

Amidala's eyes hardened at the condescending tone in his voice. He had nearly flinched back, but remembered that he had a Dark Lord on his side, and soon Naboo would be his.

"Beware, Viceroy. The Federation has gone too far this time." Amidala said as she sent him a chilling look.

"We would never do anything without the approval of the Senate." the Viceroy replied as he gave a humble look of pitiful cowardice (he had heard that he was quite famous for it), "You assume too much."

"We will see." Queen Amidala said in parting words as her image dissolved from the screen. Both Gunray and Rune seemed in a panic of what to do as Rune Haako turned to Viceroy Gunray.

"She's right. The Senate will never-"Rune started, but Gunray rounded on him.

"It's too late, now!"

"Do you think she suspects an attack?"

"I don't know… but we must move quickly to disrupt all communications down there. We cannot let a word of this get back to the Senate, or we are finished."

---

Meanwhile, on the planet's surface, in the capital city of Theed, the Queen and her council were having discussion with their representative Senator, Palpatine.

"The negotiations haven't started because the ambassadors aren't there?" The holo-image of Senator Palpatine asked in confusion. The Queen nodded as he looked even more confused.

"How could that be true? I have assurances from the Chancellor that his ambassadors did arrive."

Sitting around the holo-imager was the assembled council of Naboo, the queen positioned at the head of the gathering as she looked pensively.

Suddenly, the hologram of the Naboo Senator began to waver and skip.

"Senator Palpatine?" Queen Amidala queried, confused as to why the image all of a sudden started becoming unclear. The words of the Senator became distorted and unrecognizable, and before long the connection was severed completely.

"What's happened?" the Queen asked to her council.

Captain Panaka, head of her security, turned to one of his soldiers.

"Check the transmission generator."

As the man moved to comply, one of the assembled councilmen spoke up, "A communications disruption can mean only one thing… invasion."

Queen Amidala immediately dismissed it, "The Federation would not dare go that far."

Panaka agreed, "The Senate would revoke their trade franchise, and they would be finished."

Amidala nodded as she wanted to upstain from violence, "We must continue to rely on negotiation."

The same councilmen scoffed at her naivety and youth, "Negotiation? My Lady, we've lost all communications. And where are the Chancellor's ambassadors?"

Panaka stepped forward, seeming to understand the implications of these recent actions as he gazed about the room with critical care, "This is a dangerous situation, Your Highness. Our security volunteers would be no match against a battle-hardened Federation army."

Amidala merely looked around the room, catching the eye of every individual present. "I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war."

---

In the space orbiting Naboo, hundreds of landing crafts proceed to fly toward the surface of the planet, each flanked by a squadron of droid star-fighters. On one of the many, a very bored Huey Freeman wasted no time in basically slaughtering the many droids about him. He was sure that by now Ming had done just that and had probably started on the next three in her own boredom.

"If anyone is listening, I'm not paying for this." Huey said aloud as he kicked a droid head away from his feet.

"You broke them already, didn't you?" a voice inside his head said with a large amount of amusement. He growled as the voice only seemed to laugh at him for the act.

Damn Cindy and for Force-telepathy…

"Yeah, well… it's not my fault nothing their the enemy." Huey said indignantly as he tried hard to ignore Cindy's mocking laughter at him.

"Yes, well in any case, you did good, but Ming did it as soon as the ships took off. Then she moved on to another, and another… and another… I think she's on her twelfth now… Anyways, it's one less group to deal with on the surface. I've advised the others to do the same, and even Jazmine has consented to the idea. Good luck, Hue-man the Droid Killer. Ha!"

Oh, damn Cindy and her mocking laughter…

Huey sighed as he leaned against the wall. He picked up a droid's head, mentally chuckling as he was reminded of Shakespeare.

"You know… umm… Bob! Yeah, Bob… So, you know Bob, for something that's designed for war, you all break real easily." Huey said, crushing the head in his hand with the Force and tossing it over his shoulder.

Great, now he was bored again…

He decided, this time, to have a look around. After all, he now practically owned the ship since the only droids he had left alive were the ones piloting the thing.

It was good to be "Droid Killer Huey Freeman"…

---

Naboo was just as beautiful as she remembered.

Jazmine stood upon a high branch and watched as the other drop-ships unloaded their armies. She could tell that since a large amount of the tanks didn't move after they were dropped and some ships crashed over the horizon Ming had been busying herself ever since they entered fresh air and maybe even before then. She did sometimes wonder how Ming picked up on Traban's Instant Transmission move, but shrugged it off since she had no use for it and Ming was using it to great effect.

Suddenly, Jazmine's eyes widened and she looked off in a direction as the Force warned her about something. She leapt from her branch and took off in the trees to get to the source of the disturbance. She had only just got there when Obi-Wan ducked down while Qui-Gon's green lightsaber deflected large blaster-fire back at the STAP or Single Trooper Aerial Platform-riding battle droids, causing one to careen into a tree, and explode upon impact. The second droid didn't learn from the first one's demise, and fired as well only to have it's bolts deflected back at it, catching it directly in the engine and exploding as charred pieces rolling off into the underbrush.

It was then that Jazmine noticed a Gungan standing up behind the Jedi Knight. She jumped down to the other as she smiled at both the blinking Obi-Wan and the stunned Qui-Gon.

"Umm.. Are you two okay?" Jazmine asked as they simply stared at her.

"You attacked a local!" Qui-Gon said as Jazmine blinked in surprise.

"What? No, I didn't." Jazmine said as Qui-Gon pointed at her feet. She looked down, and blinked as she saw that the Gungan from before was sprawled out underneath her boots.

"Heh, heh… Oh… Sorry…" Jazmine chuckled nervously while she got off the poor alien. Her laugh became even more embarrassed as Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow at her.

A snort drew their attention as Ming was laughing from the branch she was sitting on.

"Oh yes, Jazmine; stomp on the dangerous Gungan. It's the most threatening thing around here since that one squirrel died." Ming joked as Jazmine threw her a dirty look.

"That was one time!"

"Master, what's a squirrel?"

"I have no clue, my Padawan, but I have a feeling we'll know at some point."

"Yes, Gungans are a threat. Remember, Ming? That one time you stole one of their fish." Huey's voice lofted over the scene as he came from the bushes, picking branches and other earthly things from his afro.

Back-flipping off the branch, Ming landed next to Huey. She held out her hand, and Obi-Wan's lightsaber was in her hand the next moment.

"Hmm… water-damage, huh? Don't feel too bad, Ben. I used to go through lightsabers like Huey goes through sarcastic comments… Well, maybe not nearly as much, but you get my point." Ming said with a sly smile aimed at Huey as he growled at her cheap shot, "Luckily this is easy to fix now. When we get a free moment back at the temple, have Traban make a few modifications to it…" Ming said, trailing off as she took apart young Obi-Wan's lightsaber.

After separating the hilt and the top, she opened up the casing. She removed some individual parts, and blew on them to dry them out as she simultaneously used the Force to take water off the parts. She put it back together, and with it signature sound, the blue-blade weapon came to life. She deactivated it, and levitated it back to the embarrassed Padawan, who chuckled nervously as he grabbed his saber from the air.

They heard a grumble below them, and saw the now conscious Gungan getting up from his dirt nap.

"Messa wanna-" the Gungan began, but Huey waved a hand in front his face, making the Gungan's eyes became vacant.

"Should we?" Huey asked as he glanced at Ming and Jazmine.

"I say we send the poor thing home before Jazmine the Gungan-Masher wants to hurt him more. And you call yourself a doctor of peace…" Ming said as Jazmine rolled her eyes.

"He could be useful… but getting him involved would be a bad thing." Jazmine said as Huey nodded.

"You will go home, and forget any of this encounter ever happened. You will be careful, and warn your people of the incoming battle droids." Huey said as the Gungan nodded absently, its ears flopping about as it rushed off to do what it had been suggested to.

"Couldn't we have used him to find our way out of this jungle?" Obi-Wan asked after the Gungan had left.

"Forest, and besides it's more of a hassle than its worth." Huey said as he glanced at Ben, "Also the Gungans don't trust outsiders, and I doubt that's changed in the last three hundred years." Huey finished with a sigh as Jazmine nodded.

"…especially with how aristocratic the Naboo are…" Jazmine said quietly as Huey's gaze softened on her.

"Since we've taken out about thirty of their ships and cargo, we can salvage a few speeders from one of them and use that to get to Theed." Ming suggested as Huey suddenly looked at them with a grin.

"Oh no…" Jazmine groaned out, putting her head in her hand as Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were confused.

"Oh yes, I'm on it." Huey said, pulling out a com-link as Qui-Gon raised a brow.

"Now I'm not as skilled as Traban or Riley at these things, but I do manage to stumble through a few ideas of my own once and a while." Huey said as he puffed out his chest.

"What is it this time?" Jazmine asked in exasperation while Huey cleared his throat.

"Bob, would you be a sport and bring the car around." Huey said into the device in a pompous proper tone as the others turned to a rumbling from their side.

One of the droid tanks came crashing through the underbrush, before grinding to a halt in front of them while Huey watched it with a smug smile. Jazmine turned toward him, and raised an eyebrow as she gestured to the thing.

"Should I even ask what you've been doing in your boredom to have come up with this?" Jazmine asked as Huey gave her an impassive look.

"No." Huey replied blankly as Jazmine started shaking her head.

Jazmine and Ming patted his cheek as they climbed up toward the hatch, opening it to reveal the augmented-droid inside of the tank. It immediately poked its head out and stared eye-to-eye with the two females as Jazmine blinked and sighed again.

"Droid-" Jazmine began as Huey shook his head.

"Bob." Huey corrected in an insisting tone as Jazmine pinched the bridge of her nose in an attempt to calm herself.

"Fine…Bob leave" Jazmine said as the droid saluted her.

"Roger, Roger." The battle droid replied, climbing out and stepped towards a tree.

"Good job, caddy. Power down, Bob." Huey said as he smirked at Jazmine's evident frustration.

"Roger, Roger." Bob replied deactivating himself as he slumped against a tree trunk.

The five Jedi climbed aboard the tank as Jazmine took out a planetary map she had brought with her. The others had gathered around her as she pointed at a point on it that was labeled as the passage of Theed.

"We'll need to cut through here to beat the army to Theed."

"No, we're too late. Look here." Qui-Gon said as he pointed to the capital city. Jazmine brought it up.

"They've already taken control of the city? Wow, they really planned this invasion well." Jazmine commented.

"We can use the tank to sneak in with the rest of the army. We need to grab the queen, and sneak out without anyone the wiser." Jazmine said as Obi-Wan looked at her.

"Why?"

"Because they want her to probably sign their trade agreement to take control of the planet legally. If the Senate had proof that they invaded Naboo before the treaty, then they take away the Federation's trade franchise." Jazmine explained as Ben's eyes swirled with the political mumbo-jumbo.

"And this is why you're a Jedi, kid." Ming said as Jazmine slapped her on the arm.

"You know, I've always wanted to rescue a princess." Huey said as Jazmine crossed her arms and gave him a look.

"That was Traban who always wanted to rescue a princess, and it's a Queen we're saving anyway. You and Traban, I swear…"

"What? He's not here, and I want things not to be so tense… Where's Cindy?" Huey shrugged, but then looked around and noticed that their blond-headed friend/sister wasn't their.

"Oh, so now you people remember me." Cindy's voice sounded in their minds as Ming and Jazmine gave a nervous chuckle.

"Sorry Cins…" Jazmine and Ming said as Cindy sighed.

"I'm already in Theed. Just get here and we'll save the Queen together." Cindy said as they all gave her their agreement.

"I want to ask about that, but I think I'll do so after this is all over with." Qui-Gon said as Huey glanced away from him when he said that.

"Never wait for what may never come…" Huey muttered to himself, but Qui-Gon overheard him.

"Huh?"

"Nothing!" Huey said quickly as Ming snorted from the pilot's seat. Huey quickly joined her in the tank as he brought the systems online.

Qui-Gon merely blinked in confusion before shrugging it off as nothing.

It wasn't like he was gonna die anytime soon… right?

---

Cindy sighed peacefully as the waterfalls of Theed sparkled brilliantly in the mid-day sun. The city was seemingly out of some picturesque romance novel. What with its billowing clouds that framed the body of water while it cascades downward to collect in a shimmering pool of crystal clear waters. Were she here under better circumstances, and Riley or Traban along with her, it would make for a very romantic setting that she could enjoy.

Cindy jerked up from her resting place as a droid tank came from around the corner and under the architectural overhangs. The tank halted to a stop, and through the viewports, her friends and the Master-Padawan pair looked out at the city from across the river.

"Hasn't really changed in appearance from four thousand years ago." Cindy said to herself as she watched her friends.

The Jedi begin to climb out of the tank. As they finished disembarking, a lone battle droid stepped out of the nearby foliage.

"Drop your weapons." The droid stated as Huey turned on it with a roll of his eyes. He was about to lop it's head off, when he noticed that Cindy was casually walking up behind it with her un-ignited lightsaber in hand.

"I said drop 'em!" the droid ordered again as Huey glanced back to see Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan with their sabers out, about to turn them on as they watched Cindy as well.

Cindy sighed as she stepped up to the driod, tapping it on it's shoulder before it turned around to her. She quickly ignited her saber and cut off it's arms before it could even get off a blaster shot at her. She then cocked back her left arm, and gathered the Force in the palm of her hand before slamming the miniature bomb of energy into the droid's chest. The attack sent the robot flying into the nearby river where the current carried it over the waterfall to the rocks below.

Cindy turned to look at the group before her with a mildly irritated expression as she dusted her hands off.

"That is what's gonna happen if you people ever forget me ever again." Cindy said firmly as they all nodded quickly to her threat.

Cindy turned up her nose to them and turned from them as she began walking toward the bridge leading to the city. As the others followed her, Obi-Wan looked from where the droid had been moments ago, back to the waterfall it had gone over. He gulped as he tucked on the robed sleeve of his Master. Qui-Gon turned to him with a curious expression, since he rarely ever saw Obi-Wan so… unnerved.

"Master, I have a favor to ask of you." Obi-Wan stated slowly as he kept glancing from the path and the waterfall.

"What is it, Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon replied as he was quite interested to hear what his Padawan had to ask.

"Whatever may happen in the future, I beg of you; don't ever let me anger Master McPhearson enough for her to do that to me. I… I'm not quite sure I'd survive it." Obi-Wan said as Qui-Gon nodded, though looked at the waterfall in afterthought as they pasted it.

"On one condition, my young Padawan." Qui-Gon responded as it was Obi-Wan's turn to look curious.

"And what would that be, Master?" Obi-Wan asked as Qui-Gon laid a hand on his Padawan's shoulder while they walked.

"That you'll do the same thing for me." Qui-Gon said as Obi-Wan smiled while they shook hands, sealing the deal to never allow the other to anger the blonde-female Jedi Master.

The six Jedi carefully slip around the city streets and alleys, avoiding the droid patrols with only a few close-calls. They had finally reached the inner-city plaza, just in time to see the Queen, her handmaidens, advisors, and guards being escorted out of the palace by ten battle droids.

With quieted jumps and well placed footing, they reached a higher walkway above the prisoner transfer. Ming pulled her lightsaber from her belt as she readied it for battle while Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan nodded to one another.

The group of battle droids were leading the Queen and her company through a side passage, away from the droid and tank-infested Central Plaza of the city. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan wait for the droids to near their position before leaping down, igniting their sabers and catching the leading battle droids off-guard. Ming soon after flipped down to join in the fray and the droids, not having the time to react, were knocked down with a double heel kick from the Asian Jedi Master. The two attacked droids fell backward to the ground, sparking from shorted circuits before shorting out all together. Now that the others were aware of the ambush, the remaining battle droids start firing their rifles, doing their best to protect their high-value prisoners from being rescued by the Jedi.

Leaping down as well, Huey ignited his own ghost blue blade, mimicking Ming by carving a swath of destruction through the platoon of ten. The commanding droid, seeing his troops being slaughtered right before his optical-circuits, grabbed his radio and brought it to his faceplate.

"Alert, alert! We are under attack! Send backup, roger, roger!" the droid yelled into the radio… or at least it thought it had, because when no response came it looked down to see that its hand and arm were gone, severed at the forearm and taking the radio with it. It looked around and saw Ming smirking at it with her light-red saber in one hand, its severed arm (plus its radio) in the other. She wagged her index finger back and forth as she shook her hand, walking up to the droid like a predator stalking its prey.

"Tsk, tsk… You should know better than try and call for others. This is our party, and it's a very exclusive gathering." Ming said, before simply impaling the fearful droid with her saber, embedding the red blade fully into its chest. When the droid went slack, she yanked the blade out before deactivating it as the droid fell to the ground.

"That's… the last of them." Qui-Gon said, a little intimidated by the way she had killed the droid in such a… Sith way.

"For machines that are purposely designed for heavy combat, they build them quite fragily. Especially when they know these buckets of bolts may do battle against Jedi." Ming quipped, kicking the downed commander as Huey shrugged and raised up his hands.

"Preaching to the choir, my sister." Huey said as Cindy and Jazmine jumped down from the overhead walk way.

"I think it's quantity over quality. The more they have, the longer the battle will draw out. So, their main purpose isn't true battle, but more of…" Cindy said trailing off as she tried to find the right word.

"Cannon fodder?" Obi-Wan supplied as Cindy snapped her fingers and nodded.

"Yeah, cannon fodder! Thanks, Ben!" Cindy said as Obi-Wan's eyebrow twitched from the nickname.

"We should get out of here. No telling what could be lurking about if we simply stay in the streets." Qui-Gon said as he and the others moved the Queen and her surprised group to the safety of a nearby alley.

---

"Your Highness, we are the ambassadors that were sent on behalf of the Supreme Chancellor." Jazmine said in introduction as she and the others bowed to her.

"Well, your negotiations seemed to have failed, Master Jedi." said an elderly statesman named Bibble as Jazmine shook her head.

"I'm afraid that the negotiations never took place. Your Highness, we must make contact with the Republic." Jazmine said.

"Impossible, they've knocked out all of our communications." Captain Panaka, of the Queen's Royal Guard, said as he stepped forward.

"Do you have transports?" Huey asked from where he stood next to Ming and Cindy.

"They're in the main hanger." Panaka said, gesturing with his hand for everyone to follow, "It's this way."

The hallway outside the main hanger was angled, so the group used the cover to spy into the hangar. Qui-Gon and Huey peered over Panaka's shoulder as the rest of the large group waited behind them. They were able to see several Naboo spacecrafts, all guarded by a large number of battle droids; maybe thirty to fifty of the things.

"There are too many of them." Panaka said with a frown.

"That won't be a problem." Qui-Gon said quickly, sharing a look with Huey and Ming, before letting his gaze move over to the Queen.

"Under the circumstances, Your Highness, I suggest you come with us to Coruscant." Qui-Gon said as Jazmine and Cindy exchanged looks.

The Queen looked at Qui-Gon, her dark gaze never leaving his as she replied, "Thank you ambassador, but my place is here, with my people-"

"They will kill you if you stay." Cindy interjected as Jazmine rolled her eyes.

"They wouldn't dare!" Bibble said in surprise as Ming scoffed at him.

"How can you be so naïve at your age?" Ming said as Huey raised a brow at her before she realized what she said and face-palmed herself with a sigh.

"They need her to sign a treaty to make this invasion of theirs legal in the courts. They can't afford to kill her." Panaka interjected as Jazmine nodded her head in agreement, Cindy shook his head.

"There are far worse things to do to someone other than kill them. Torture is but one, and yet it's most common." Cindy said as Qui-Gon felt the need to interrupt before the blonde could unnerve the Naboo councilmen and guards even more.

"The situation here is not what it seems. There is something else behind all this, Your Highness. There is no logic in the Trade Federation's move here. My feelings tell me they will destroy you." Qui-Gon said as Bibble, who was steadily unnerved by the conversational talk of torture and the Queen's death, looked at her with fear evident on his face.

"Please, Your Highness, reconsider. Our only hope is for the Senate to side with us. Senator Palpatine will need your help in getting it." Bibble said as Panaka shook his head.

"Getting past their blockade is impossible. This course of action will expose you to a greater risk." Panaka said as Ming crossed her arms.

"Any escape has the potential to be dangerous. It's what you do with your chance to get away that matters." Ming said as the captain of the Queen's guard shot her a look, but Ming didn't notice as she was looking into the hanger.

"I will stay here, and do what I can. They will have to retain the Council of Governors in order to maintain control, but Your Highness must leave." Bibble said as the Queen turned to her handmaidens, specifically the one on her direct right Huey, Jazmine, and Cindy noticed as well as Qui-Gon, though he wasn't exactly sure why.

"Either choice presents a great risk… to all of us." the Queen said as she looked at the one on her right, who looked unfazed by the mention of danger.

"We are brave, Your Highness." the handmaiden said as the Queen nodded to her.

"If you are to leave Your Highness, it must be now." Qui-Gon said, feeling the Force warning him of intimate danger.

"Then I will plead our case before the Senate." the Queen said as she turned a kind look to Bibble, "Do be careful, Governor." she said, not seeing the look Jazmine and Cindy were giving her and her handmaidens.

"Do you think…" Cindy said, leaning over to Jazmine as Jazmine nodded.

"Yes, I mean, it has happened before." Jazmine said as Cindy and her exchanged a look and shrugged in unison.

---

"Okay, I take back what I said when we first got here. This place smells worse than a muckworm's ass. It's like a… damn, I can't even think of something with this smell!" Riley said as Traban shot him a look. They well below the moon's surface, and still descending lower as Traban led the way. He moved with no true haste as it seemed like he knew where he was going.

Riley held his favorite pistol-style blaster in his hand and at the ready as they moved about the maze-like catacombs below the surface. Traban was about to shoot back a comment for Riley's earlier quip, but didn't as they stopped outside of a large set of blaster doors.

Riley sighed as he looked at the control panel, running his finger along it as he wiped away a thick coating of dust from the panel.

"Well?" Traban asked patiently as Riley turned to him and showed Traban his finger.

"This panel has been out of use for a long ass time. Plus, the wires beneath are cut, which mean it's been dead for just as long. It'll probably take awhile to cut through." Riley said as Traban raised a brow.

"Yeah, or we could just shatter-point it." Traban said as Riley grinned.

"Oh! Let me do it! Cindy been teaching me how to do it for about a few years now, and I finally mastered it. Watch." Riley said as he closed his eyes and ran his fingers along the door, letting himself get lost in the Force while focusing on the door. It wasn't long before he saw it. He quickly moved his hand to it and used the Force to blow the door apart with a loud explosion.

"Must you be so noisy? What if someone heard that?" Traban said as the dust and debris from the door's explosion settled after he used the Force to make it do so.

"Then we would just kick they ass." Riley said with a grin as stepped through the opening and stopped. Traban raised a brow as he watched Riley sniff the air and gag.

"Eh! It's all stale and shit! I don't think anyone's been here for over three hundred or so years." Riley said as Traban stepped in next to him and nodded.

"That's just what I was hoping for." Traban replied as Riley gave him a look.

"What do you mean by that?" Riley asked as Traban ignored the question while he tried to remember the way.

"I think… yes, it's this way." Traban said, pointing toward the left corridor as he walked, with Riley beside him.

"I can sense traps… and a lot of death. A lot of beings died down here." Riley said, slightly unnerved by the overwhelming presence of dead entities he was feeling.

"Yeah, I was a long time ago before Huey and I returned to the Jedi Order. I had to kill a Hutt here, and take control of the moon for a short time. I discovered this place when the Hutt used a trapdoor in the cantina above to try and kill me." Traban said as Riley looked at him in surprise. He and the others had never heard of that, but then again, Huey and Traban didn't talk much about what they did during their time away from the Jedi Order.

Riley was about to ask Traban to go on with the story, but something caught his eye, and when he actually saw what had he stopping altogether.

"What is it, Riley?" Traban asked as Riley went wide-eyed.

"What in the hell… Of all the crazy shit… is that what I think it is?" Riley said, pointing through a glass window to an arena below.

"Huh? Oh… Oh! Yeah, that's a rancor, and an old one at that, dude." Traban said as he gazed at the rancor.

"Nigga, that damn thing is still alive!" Riley said as Traban shrugged.

"Look up, Riley. See those lines on the ceiling? Trapdoors." Traban said as he pointed to the many hidden trapdoors on the ceiling.

"I bet one of them leads to the Jek-Jek Tar. They probably toss bodies down here after a fight to dispose of evidence. They probably also don't even know what's here." Riley said, his shock and awe at the rancor forgotten.

"Yeah, plus the beastie most likely spent long periods hibernating, seeing as it looks like it hasn't been fed in quite some time." Traban said as he and Riley continued to look down into the arena, analyzing the decrepit old bones of fallen victims.

"Well, I guess-"

"We'll have to either sneak past it, or kill it." Traban said as Riley gave him a look.

"Whoa, whoa, nigga! Kill it? Ain't that a little extreme? I mean, look at the damn thing! It's old and shit." Riley said, having some measure of pity for the aged creature since it was probably older than they were.

"Well, I need what's in that room." Traban shot back as Riley looked between him and the rancor. Finally he sighed in defeat as he crossed his arms and fixed Traban with a look.

"Fine! How do you suppose we get past it?" Riley said as Traban sighed.

"We don't have any grenades, so we'll have to do this the hard way. Though since you're so bent on not killing it, I'll settle for knocking it unconscious and letting it guard any tresures we wish to hide here. Okay?" Traban said as Riley nodded with a smirk.

"Can I fight it then?" Riley asked as Traban shot him a look.

"No, you fought in the Jek-Jek Tar, so now it's my turn." Traban replied as Riley rolled his eyes.

"Fine! Be a little bitch then, but don't come bitching to me when yo ass a stain on the ground." Riley said as Traban merely laughed at him.

"I won't, and you're the best wife-y ever." Traban said mockingly as he jumped away from Riley's ignited green saber with a bark of laughter.

Riley muttered curses as Traban landed at the entrance and pressed the hatch release, watching as the doors opened with rumbling and screeching sounds from long inactivity. The rancor was awakened by the noise, and yawned (or at least, Riley assumed the grumbled roar was a yawn), before it got up on its stubby legs. It seemed to glare at Traban's smiling face for having disturbed its peaceful slumber, but licked its lips as it must have realized he could be food. Riley moved to the shadows of the arena, his blaster ready to shoot the rancor's already identified shatterpoint if Traban got into trouble handling it.

---

Riley walked up to Traban as they both gazed down at the unconscious rancor.

"You enjoyed that, didn't you?" Riley asked as Traban glanced at him with a smirk.

"What? It roared at me. I just wanted it to know that simply because it was bigger than me, didn't mean I couldn't defeat it. Just because it's teeth are the size of my body doesn't mean a thing." Traban said as Riley shook his head while Traban moved on.

They both approached the door as Traban waved his hand, triggering the door's release as they stepped through.

"Hmm… well, I'll be damned. They're all still here." Traban said once the lights of the room flickered on. Taking another step into the room, he stopped as a holocron on the floor sensed a living presence in the room and sprang to life.

"My goodness… Mast Anko." Traban gasped, seeing the image of his former Jedi Master.

"Hey, Squirt. I knew you would come back." Anko Tao said as she smiled at him and Riley, "I never doubted it for a second."

"Well, you've seen better days, Master." Traban said as his eyes gazed over the silver hair and wrinkles that he had not seen last time he had opened his Master's holocron.

"Yes, it would seem that this holocron has been updated to be in conjuction with my last. That must mean that someone has opened my final holocron and been through it for this one to have been updated as such." Anko said as Traban crossed his arms.

"But who?" Riley asked as Trabn narrowed his eyes.

"One of those damned Council members probably. That means they've… been in my vault… Oh shit!" Traban said as Anko snorted in laughter.

"Ha! Still keeping porn in that think for those lonely nights, huh?" Anko teased as Traban coughed and Riley snickered.

"Oh this is good." Riley said as he thought of all the blackmail material he could get on Traban from his former Master.

"I have never kept porn in my vault. Though the things I have kept in there over the years I wish was porn if someone's been rummaging through it." Traban said as Anko's face turned serious.

"What have you kept in there?" Anko asked seriously as Traban looked at her.

"Dark things. Not nearly all of them, or even a fourth of my possessions, but enough that could get me into a shouting match with the Council and a resulting headache from them as well." Traban said as Anko nodded, but she smirked somewhat as her eyes landed on Riley. She placed her hands on her hips and swayed in place as Riley tried to keep his gaze above her chin.

"And who is this handsome little man, huh? Not one of those Harem Boys you had back when I was alive, I hope." the Anko-holocron asked as Traban coughed heavily while Riley sputtered out nonsense and his face went red. Anko's image merely doubled over in laughter while her former Padawan and his friend were too shocked and appalled to do anything.

No! And I had servants, not Harem Boys! This is just Riley, goddamnit! Remember, you shriveled up old prune, my little half-brother and Huey's little brother! Goddess, you're sick!" Traban said as Riley went to making gagging and vomiting sounds.

"Well, can't blame a girl for trying to see some hot guy-on-guy, right? Yo there, little Riley. I remember you now. You were the one that passed out after you saw me in the shower naked while we had that joint mission to Dagobah." Anko said as Riley's red face went ever darker.

"Er… what's up." Riley replied awkwardly, trying very hard to suppress the color in his face. Anko always had a way of making him uneasy.

"It has been a long time since my image has been called forth in this particular holocron, and there are messages recorded in here for you, Traban. Listen to them at your leisure, but for now you two had best be going."

"Why did you put her? Or rather, her holocron?" Riley asked as Traban glanced at him, and then back at the image of his former Master, seeing her curious look as well. He sighed in defeat as they both smirked, knowing that they could get him to do just about anything for them.

"It was a "on the run" idea since I was being hunted as a Sith Lord at the time. After I killed the Hutt that owned this moon, I thought I'd come back to Nar Shadda at one point or another to solidify my rule over this stupid rock. Considering my… less than impressive track record, I guess I was right about the idea when I hid my possessions here." Traban said as Riley and Anko nodded.

"How long has passed since my death?" Anko asked conversationally as Riley shivered. He always hated how the holocrons of Masters would speak about their own deaths as if conversing about the weather. Thankfully, Anko had died of old age rather than being cut down in battle.

"Over six hundred years, my Master." Traban said sadly as Anko laughed.

"Then I'm afraid the Falcon must be gone, huh?" Anko said as Traban shrugged, and then snapped his fingers. He walked over to a wall with shelves on it and picked up a capsule that he showed to Riley and Anko.

"Nope, it's right here… I think…" Traban said, trying to get a closer look at the capsule before shrugging and pocketing the thing.

"Good, now collect this holocron, and all your other crap. We'll speak more when you get a free moment, but now is not the time." Anko's image said as Traban and Riley nodded.

"Thank you, Master. I've missed you, you know." Traban said as Riley raised a brow.

"Miss ya too, brat." Anko said before she stuck out her tongue at him (even though she looked about sixty years old) with the holocron shutting itself down. Riley picked it up while Traban went around collecting all the capsules in the room and storing them in a bag.

"Let's get off this forsaken rock. I'll be back to take control of it and my other planets later." Traban said as Riley grinned.

"Go help me take back mine?" Riley asked as Traban glanced back at him with a smirk.

"Now why would you want me to do that? You've always had more fun doing the conquests by yourself." Traban said as Riley's grin grew.

"I know, but I just needed to be sure you didn't get in my way." Riley said as Traban laughed.

"You know, Riley dearest, I could always…"

"No, dammit!" Riley said, his face flushed as he knew what Traban was about to say.

"Just checking." Traban said as he ran, Riley hot on his heels as the younger Jedi yelled about how he was gonna murder the older one.

---

Back on Naboo, the doors to the main hanger opened as Ming and Huey lead the way with Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Cindy, and Jazmine escorting the Queen, Captain Panaka, two other guards and three Handmaidens. They broke off with the Queen and headed for the sleek chrome spacecraft. Behind them at the door, Bibble and the remaining handmaidens and guard, looking distressed as they watched the others march forward into the hanger.

"We need to free those pilots." Panaka as he leant over to Qui-Gon, pointing toward where twenty guards, ground crew, and pilots were being held prisoner in a corner by several battle droids.

"I'll take care of that." Obi-Wan said with Ming following him toward the group of captive workers.

Huey and Qui-Gon led the Queen and the others as they were approached by a droid guard at the ramp of the Naboo ship.

"Halt! Where are you taking them?" the droid demanded as Cindy rolled her eyes.

"We are the ambassadors for the Supreme Chancellor. We're taking these people to Coruscant." Qui-Gon said as the droid took on a confused look (if it's rubbing it's nonexistent chin was any indication) while Huey and Jazmine shared a look.

"Where are you taking them?" the droid asked again as Cindy sighed loudly, folding her arms as she tapped her foot impatiently, making Jazmine giggle at her antics.

"To Coruscant." Qui-Gon repeated as the droid searched it's memory for any mention of the planet.

"Coruscant… uh… Does not compute… uh, wait, uh…You're under arrest!" The command-droid said as the droids behind it were bringing up their weapons, the commander pointing its own at Qui-Gon.

Before the weapons could even fire, the droids were cut down as Qui-Gon's and Huey's lightsabers snap to life. Qui-Gon sliced off the commanding droid's arm before decapitating it while Huey's blade slashed the necks of the three droids behind the commander in a wide arc, shearing heads from bodies in a quick and clean manner.

As the two Masters cut their way through the droids guarding the spaceship, Ming and Obi-Wan were demolishing the droids guarding the captured pilots and guards. Ming barking for them to get out of the way while Obi-Wan went offensive, as more droids start to appear from around the hangar. Obi-Wan's blue lightsaber whirling as it deflected blaster fire from nearly all angles.

Ming, meanwhile, was in the thick of it battle, slicing off arms, legs, blaster tips, and heads. Tossing her lightsaber at a droid commander, the red blade hit its mark mere seconds before the yellow-painted droid grabbed its radio, slicing through the limb and carving through its upper torso before returning to the Asian Jedi Master, who back-flipped away in order avoid a barrage of blaster fire. She landed in the middle of the group of droids, deactivating her saber as she brought her hands toward her body. She gathered the Force around her, and as quickly as she did she expelled it in a repulsive blast of energy.

Obi-Wan looked up as droid parts begin to rain down all around him, avoiding some and slicing though others as he looked to where they all came from. He saw Master Ming with her limbs outstretched as he could still feel the ripple in the Force she caused. Obi-Wan nearly shouted for her to get down as a lone droid aimed at her back, but sighed in relief when he saw the blast being deflected by her re-ignited lightsaber, deflecting the shot back at the droid and taking its head clean off.

Huey and Qui-Gon were already in the process of rushing people aboard the Naboo spaceship while others ran to Bibble and his group. After everyone had gotten aboard (Huey making sure all his group had gotten on, especially Cindy), Huey and Qui-Gon rushed up the ramp as it sealed behind them. Even inside the ship they could here alarms sounding, and saw droids rushing into the hanger as the ship lifted off. The droids had opened fire, but thankfully the deflector shields were absorbing the rain of blasts with no problem while the starship took off out of the hanger.

The sleek spacecraft speeded away from the planet of Naboo in record time, heading straight into… the Trade Federation blockade. Huey cursed as the pilot began navigating toward the massive battleships. Behind him, Qui-Gon and Panaka were watching, hear the man mutterings as they all waited with baited breath.

"Dammit! The communications are still jammed." the pilot said as Huey sighed in annoyance. These Federation-types were being awfully thorough in their plans… It was obvious that someone else was pulling the strings here, but the real question was; who.

Jazmine smiled as she saw Obi-Wan making sure the Queen was safe and secure. Ming could only rolled her eyes as she turned her bored attention to an adjacent hold, only to see a small room filled with those moving trashcans that were known to all others as Astromech droids. They had spotted her apparently as they all turned toward her and began beeping in what she could only assume was a greeting.

"Aww, they're always so cute." Cindy cooed from over Ming's shoulder as she watched the little things.

"They are not cute. They're little moving trash bins that fix and navigate ships." Ming said furiously as Cindy gave her an annoyed look.

Right when they were about to get into another argument over the droids with Cindy (much like two hundred years ago back when they had met up on Earth) when the ship (which had been jostling slightly know that they paid real attention) suddenly gave a lurch, nearly throwing Cindy off her feet and Ming off balance. Cindy and Ming turned back to the small astromech droid as they formed a line and vanished up a tube.

"Where are they going in such a rush?" Ming muttered as she rubbed her hip, having hit it against the door.

"They're going outside the ship to make repairs. We must have taken some pretty bad damage with that heave just now." Cindy said as Ming looked at her in disbelief.

"But we're in mid-flight." Ming said as Cindy nodded.

"I know, but they've been improved since a hundred years ago." the blonde Jedi replied as she gave a shrug to which Ming returned.

"Damn! The shield generator's down." the pilot cried out as he began flicking switches and turning knobs, "the droids have been deployed to repair it, but with the constant fire we're under who knows if they'll survive long enough to even do so."

"Well, this may not do us much good. We're losing droids. Fast." Qui-Gon said calmly, though the anxiousness in his voice was still heard as he looked at the on-board camera while yet another droid was blasted into scrap-metal.

"If they can't get the shield generator fixed, then we'll be sitting ducks." Panaka commented with a frown as the two remaining droids left was quickly turned to one, a stray laser blast catching the poor astromech droid, sending it screaming into oblivion.

"The shield's completely down." the pilot said as Jazmine was growing worried, "If they manage to hit the cockpit-"

The pilot was cut off by a beeping sound that came from the center console. Everyone watched in amazement as the diagnostics changed rapidly from very bad to very good.

The pilot smiled broadly as he looked at the console in disbelief, "The power's back! He did it! That little droid did it! He bypassed the main power drive!" the pilot exclaimed proudly as he flipped several switches, the shields roaring to life as they began immediately deflecting multiple barrages of laser-cannon fire.

"Deflector shields up at maximum." The pilot said as the screens that had been previously showing error readings changed to clear, green screens. Jazmine, Huey, and Qui-Gon all breathed a sigh of relief in unison before looking at each other and chuckling.

They all turned their attention back to the exterior camera as it showed a lone blue astromech droid finishing the repairs before going back into the ship. Their little ship managed to get past the blockade with little trouble after that ordeal.

---

The pilot looked at the fuel-cell screen, sighing in defeat as he read it.

"There's not enough power to get us to Coruscant. The hyper-drive is leaking." the pilot said as Qui-Gon sighed.

"We'll have to land somewhere to refuel and repair the ship." Qui-Gon said as Obi-Wan pulled up a star chart on a monitor, looking for one of the closet possible inhabited planets.

"Here, Master." Obi-Wan said, getting the attention of the three Masters and two workers as he pointed to a small, barely noticeable planet, "Tatooine. It's small, out of the way, and poor. The Trade Federation has no presence there."

"How can you be sure of that?" Panaka asked gruffly as Qui-Gon turned back to him from across the cockpit.

"Because apparently it's controlled by the Hutts." Qui-Gon stated as Panaka looked as if he was about to have a heart attack. Huey put his hand under his chin as he began to get deep in thought.

"The HUTTS!" Panaka exclaimed in concern for his Queen.

"It is risky, but there isn't much of an alternative." Obi-Wan said, defending his choice in places to basically crash-land at.

"You can't take her Royal Highness there! The Hutts are gangsters! If they discovered her-"

"It would be no different than if we landed on a system controlled by the Trade Federation… except the Hutts aren't looking for her, which gives us an advantage." Qui-Gon countered as Panaka looked like he wanted to argue but didn't as he took a deep breath and sighed in frustration.

"Actually, if I remember right, then we may not even have trouble from the Hutts away." Huey said as he dug into his pocket and took out a small datapad-like device. Jazmine seemed to know what it was as the others watched him in confusion.

"Who are you calling? You know we don't get good service in the far reaches of outer space." Jazmine said as Huey used speed-dial to call someone.

"Traban." Huey said as he moved out of the cockpit when the phone started to ring.

"What was that thing?" Qui-Gon asked as Jazmine seemed to become aware that she wasn't just with Huey.

"Umm… it was a contact device that can't be tracked in the galaxy. It's too primitive to anyway." jazmine said with a shrug as Huey came back in a few minutes later.

"He and Riley are meeting us on Tatooine in three normal days. We should arrive there at least one standard day before them though, so we'll just have to wait." Huey said as he pocketed his phone. It was a good thing that their phones could still work with the Sprint tower they had setup on Coruscant and other planets centuries ago. Thankfully their descendants still believed the towers to be "sacred" or something another.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Obi-Wan muttered as he traded looks with his Master Qui-Gon.

The pilot only sighed as he made the necessary coordinate adjustments, heading the little Naboo spacecraft off in a new direction. Toward both danger, and surprise, for none of them knew what could possibly await them on the desert planet of Tatooine.