Whispers of Menace
A Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Alternate Universe
Chapter Two:
Short Negotiations
The slight change in the cruiser's vibration told me that we'd dropped below the speed of light, and I stood. Master Jinn moved almost as soon as I did, Kenobi only a second or two behind him. The Jedi Master led the way to the bridge, stopping just far enough behind the pilot to avoid being in the comm's visual range. The Nemoidian on the other end was babbling away.
"Captain." Master Qui-Gon kept his voice down, and the woman looked at him over her shoulder.
"Yes, sir?"
"Tell them we wish to board immediately."
"Yes, sir." She turned back around to the comm. "With all due respect for the Trade Federation, the ambassadors for the Supreme Chancellor wish to board immediately."
~Like they deserve any respect at all,~ I thought. The Nemoidian smiled, though he obviously didn't feel like doing so.
"Yes, yes, of course." The atonal lilt of his voice grated on my senses. "Ahh… as you know, our blockade is perfectly legal, and we'd be happy to receive the ambassador. Happy to." He appeared quite the opposite, and had missed the captain's plural. The co-pilot flipped a switch, and the image vanished.
The view through the bridge ports disconcerted me. Over a dozen of the gigantic Trade Federation craft had been visible at first, disappearing as we approached the flagship. And that was only on this side of the planet. Why so many for a planet with next to no military?
Our cruiser set down in a massive docking bay containing a couple of luxury shuttles and about forty tan droids. Many of the mechanical beings carried blaster carbines.
My human comrades raised the hoods of their cloaks, and I followed suit, my headtails slipping into the extra space designed for them as I lifted the material over my montrals. Only then did we leave the ship and head for the single set of open doors. A silver protocol droid waited there for us.
"I am Tee-Cee Fourteen, at your service." Its voice sounded nearly feminine. "This way, please."
The walk took several minutes, feeling like we'd gone in circles before we reached the minimally-decorated conference room. Granted, the viewport opposite the doors offered a lovely view of Naboo, and the simplicity of the furnishings let it truly shine. Master Jinn and young Obi-Wan sat in high-backed chairs at the long table, dropping their hoods, but I couldn't settle my nerves and paced by the viewport instead. The droid had stopped at the door.
"I hope you honored sirs will be most comfortable here. My master will be with you shortly." It left as the lump of ice in my gut grew.
"I have a bad feeling about this." The Padawan frowned worriedly as he spoke.
"I don't sense anything."
"It's not about the mission, exactly, Master, it's something… elsewhere, elusive."
"I'd like to second that feeling." I shuddered as it got a little stronger. "And it's giving me the creeping horrors."
"Keep your focus on the here and now," Qui-Gon told his apprentice, ignoring my comment. "Be mindful of the Living Force."
I snorted, crossing my arms and leaning against the transparisteel to keep my eyes on the doors. Apparently the older man was still sore about my uninvited presence.
"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan ducked his head. A strained pause filled the room. "How do you think the Viceroy will deal with the Chancellor's demands?"
"These Federation types are cowards." I winced at the statement. "The negotiations will be short."
Now I was even more on guard. In my experience, cornered 'cowards' tried to kill you from a distance, rather than allowing you to close in any further. Uncrossing my arms, I pushed my cloak back far enough to rest my hands on the pommels of my lightsabers.
The droid returned, bearing a tray with three small, silvery cups. The others seemed glad to have something to do as we waited, but I demurred. Since the doors had closed and the droid made no move to leave, the coming attack must be something they could have set up ahead of time…
An explosion reverberated through the massive ship, and the Force-presences of the cruiser's crew winked out. A flick of my fingers put cool metal and plastoid against my palms. The Master-Padawan pair leapt to their feet, jostling the protocol droid and bringing their own lightsabers to ready positions. None of us, though, activated our blades.
"There goes our ride," I quipped. Two pairs of eyes glanced at me, each with something different behind them.
'Must you state the obvious?' Kenobi's blue-gray gaze asked. Shards, but the boy was uptight.
'Alright, yes, you told us so,' conceded Qui-Gon's blue orbs. At least he could admit it when he'd been wrong. Well, admit it without opening his mouth.
A sudden hissing startled me, its source making me swallow a yelp. Gray-green fog seeped from low vents all around the room.
"Dioxis!" Surprisingly, my older colleague and I spoke at precisely the same moment, and I shot him a glance as I sucked in as much clean air as my lungs would hold. I saw him shrug back just before the gas concealed him from my view.
We heard the doors hiss open, followed by the protocol droid's muffled apology to someone or something. I couldn't sense anything biological nearby, at least, besides my comrades.
"Go check it out, Corporal." Stars. Whatever it was, it had a stereotypically bad-quality Trade Federation droid vocoder. Fortunately, it meant we wouldn't have to kill any sentients right away.
Master Jinn led our small-scale charge into the clearer air of the corridor, and tan-painted durasteel parts began spinning off in every direction. The closer glances at the droids told me all I needed to know; they were built for one purpose only, and that was war. All compunctions left me then, and I permitted the Force to draw me to the life-forms in the massive ship's main control room.
By the time we got to the bridge, the Nemoidians had closed the primary blast doors, and Qui-Gon wasted no time before plunging his emerald blade through the durasteel. While he threw his weight into cutting a hole, my right shoulder brushed against Obi-Wan's left. His pale blue lightsaber and my two indigo ones wove a barrier of coherent light to cover the older man as he worked.
The anxiety and fear on the other side of the bulkheads rose rapidly as the molten arch being carved through the door grew. There was a series of clanks from inside the walls, and one… two… no, three sets of additional blast doors sealed behind the barrier. The Jedi Master took a half step back, considered, then stabbed again, blade precisely centered in the opening.
Moments after we dispatched another wave of the tan droids, the sound of rolling metal echoed along the corridor. The Padawan at my side stiffened, obviously recognizing the source, though I couldn't place it.
"Master, destroyers!" he called. Two bronze metallic wheels careened around the corner, suddenly sprouting two claw-like legs each. As they rocked forward, their legs planted about ten meters from us, a third leg extended behind them, and the rest expanded into an arch that ended in glowing red visual sensors and massive arms made from cut-down blaster cannons. Last of all, faint blue 'bubbles' sprang to life around them.
A pair of heavy bolts came my way, and deflecting them nearly knocked the lightsaber I used out of my hand. They hit the nimbus around the other droid, then went zinging off in another direction. I bit back a venomous curse.
"They have shield generators!" I shouted. Had I pissed off some super-powerful entity in a previous incarnation? "Plan C, anyone?" As far as I was concerned, negotiating had been Plan A, and hitting the bridge was Plan B. The next round of fire in my direction was met by both of my 'sabers, their powerplants whining as the bolts were cast off to my left.
"Ventilation shafts," Kenobi snapped, grunting as he blocked the following shot. I glanced up to see a grate directly above me, then reached up with my right hand to carve a quick circle in it. But instead of stepping aside and letting the metal fall, I impulsively caught it with my mind, induced a rapid spinning, and hurled the piece of grille at the nearer droid. It tilted before it struck, going straight through the energy field to shear off the 'head' and one arm. What was left slumped to the other side as the shield vanished.
"Go, go, go!" Obi-Wan leapt up into the opening first, followed closely by Master Jinn. Before joining them, I wrapped the Force around the base of the wrecked destroyer and flung it at the other droid. Only then did I propel myself into our impromptu escape route.
We moved through the ducts in silence, using the Force to muffle the sounds of our passage and blind any sensor to our life-signs. It took several minutes to find a decent exit. Another docking bay opened before us, with a stack of crates a few meters from the wall. Qui-Gon let himself drop to the deck quietly, and I made his Padawan precede me. A small gap between a pair of cartons gave us a nice little view while keeping us hidden.
"Battle droids," the kid murmured, watching the tan forms load into hover-transports and gigantic landing craft.
"An invisible army." The words slipped from my lips without my conscious consent as I saw a line of tanks join the droids on the nearest vessel. It was true, though; the less unique and autonomous the droid, the smaller the ripple it made in the Force. There had to be fifty thousand in this bay alone, and I couldn't sense a single one of them.
"It's an odd play for the Trade Federation," the Master commented, stroking his neatly-trimmed beard in thought. "We've got to warn the Naboo and contact Chancellor Valorum." Then he leaned back, looking at us both. "Let's split up. Stow aboard separate ships, and we'll meet up on the surface." It sounded like a sensible plan to me, and I took a moment to fix their Force-signatures in my mind. They had their training bond, and therefore only needed to memorize my signature.
"You were right about one thing, Master," Obi-Wan said as the shadow of a smile tugged at his face. "The negotiations were short." The quip startled a very genuine grin from the taciturn older man, and an amused snort from me.
Then we went our different ways to find suitable hiding places.