Teamwork Part 2

Hannibal nearly vomited as he coughed and his half-taken shot of whiskey hit the table. "Are you a padawan or a real Jedi?" Myriam almost seemed to grin.

Hector's eyes slowly moved across each of his companion's faces in the circle. Numa grinned and puffed her nargila as she set her shot glass down. Hannibal was now almost doubled over with coughing and gagging. Myriam ordered another round. "None of you have a problem with drinking on the job? Or drinking period? I mean as Jedi…"

"No," was all that Myriam offered as the next round arrived.

"It's not forbidden," Hannibal replied. "Although whatever that was should be….."

Numa puffed again, "Our goal is to end attachment. Yet we all seem to have our vices. Mine is this." She exhaled a cloud of smoke. "Myriam's," the Nautolan lifted her glass. "Hannibal doesn't respect women…"

"I have nothing but respect for women….." Hannibal tried to defend himself.

Hector chuckled, "In fairness, he doesn't really respect other lifeforms in general."

Hannibal pushed his remaining shot and a half across the table towards Myriam, "We all can't be like Mr. Perfect over here." He nodded at Hector.

Numa eyed the clean-cut Jedi for a moment. "Hector struggles with pride. His sense of importance is tied to his abilities with his lightsaber."

Hannibal nearly doubled over again. This time with laughter. "He does enjoy playing with his saber."

Hector tried not to sound offended. "Shouldn't we all be striving to be the best? And I don't need my lightsaber to feel confident….."

"Very well," Myriam spoke up again and pointed with her chin at the cantina door. The two criminals they were waiting for had just entered. "Apprehend those two without using your lightsaber."

Hector hesitated, but slowly rose from his seat. "Very well, I may be the only one in the proper condition anyway."

Numa exhaled another cloud, "We're here if you need backup."

The two criminals leaned against the bar and appeared to be talking shop as Hector strode over to them. He straightened himself and cleared his throat. "Gentlemen, in the name of the Jedi Council of the Republic, you are under arrest."

"Get lost, Jedi," the thug on the right muttered as both pulled their blasters.

Hector extended an empty hand. The blaster of each man slowly rose and turned to point at the opposite's head. Both of their arms struggled against the Force to change directions. "I said," Hector tried not to let his voice shake as he concentrated on each arm, "you are under arrest. Surrender."

"And I said, get lost," the man on the right yelled as he managed to swing his arm back in Hector's direction. The blue blade of Myriam's lightsaber extended just in time to block the bolt from the blaster and deflect it back into the man standing to the left. Without showing his own surprise, Hector eyed the wanted man over the lightsaber hanging in the air as if wielded by an invisible hand. "Surrender," the Jedi repeated. The criminal glanced in shock at his fallen comrade and promptly dropped his blaster.

"Good job, buddy," Hannibal patted his friend's shoulder as he passed to restrain their prisoner. Numa called for security to clean up the dead suspect as she made her way to the door.

The suspended lightsaber shut down and flew back to Myriam's hand as she approached Hector. He reluctantly turned to face her. "You're welcome," she mumbled coldly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Various objects floated around Hector's room as he sat with his eyes closed in the middle of the floor. He attempted to feel the Force flowing through him and around the room. Random objects hovered around him as his mind reached out to them. The power of the Force was definitely alive in his quarters. Now it was time to harness it with some fine tuning. His mind touched the glass of water on the floor about 5 feet in front of him. Remember to move the cup and the water. His master taught him. If you move only the cup, you will spill the water. If you move only the water, you will also spill water.

The glass rose one foot off of the ground. Hector extended his hand to provide the glass a resting place when it finished its journey to him… but this would not be the case. The door to his quarters suddenly slid open. "Hey, I thought we could….." Before Hannibal could complete his thought, the glass and some of the other objects crashed to the floor. Hector managed to catch a few objects with his thoughts and set them gently in their place, but he would still be cleaning for a while.

"Ooops….." Hannibal muttered. Noticing the smashed glass and puddle, he looked in confusion at his friend. "Were you practicing cup and water drills?"

"Yeah….." Hector tried not to sound embarrassed for practicing a technique that Hannibal probably had not even thought about since youngling training.

"Why?" Hannibal's tone confirmed Hector's embarrassment.

"I need to work on my fine tuning. These are good drills."

"But why?" Hector reemphasized. "Because you think Myriam showed you up the other day? We all need to be bailed out from time to time."

"It's not just that, Myriam can fight with her saber without even holding it. Numa can lower shields and activate hyperdrives with her mind. And I couldn't even hold that mynock's arm for a few seconds….. Obviously, I need to practice."

"Eh, Numa's right. You're too competitive. She's nearly a master of course she should be stronger in the Force than us. And Myriam's... well…. Myriam."

"But I will never get to their levels if I don't practice," Hector protested.

"The Force will do what the Force will do," Hannibal rolled his eyes. "You need to get out. Let's hit the streets and patrol a while."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The two Jedi strolled leisurely through the streets. Not too long ago, they would need to be on their guard in this section of the city, but due to their sweeps, most cities on Syllian were nearly crime-free. Just as Hector and Hannibal began to chat about what a great job they had been doing, a child jumped from behind a rubbish bin, grabbed Hector's lightsaber and ran down the alley.

"Hey!" the robbed Jedi yelled as he extended his hand. The lightsaber was immediately snatched from the boy's hand nearly taking his arm with it. The child flew backwards nearly ten feet before letting go.

"Not smart, kid," was all that Hannibal offered as his companion returned his saber to its proper place. Before he could continue to chide the lad, he heard snickering near the bin. A small group of children had witnessed the entire incident.

"They dared me to do it," the boy on the ground protested, rubbing his shoulder.

"Great," Hector rolled his eyes, "We're being taken on by children now. Look, kid…" Hector's own reprimand was cut short when the boy's eyes suddenly grew wide and his face turned pale. He buried his head in the ground as best he could as both Jedi were hit by numerous stun blasts.

Ronisha, the oldest of the kids, stood almost as wide-eyed over the now unconscious Hector and Hannibal with a blaster in her hands. "Where did you get that thing?" Jenaid hopped up from the ground nearly panicked.

"It fell off a transport," she grinned still not quite believing what she had done. She looked around at her companions. "Grab em. We should be able to get a good reward for em."

"Reward from who?" Jenaid started to ask, but quickly changed his mind with another thought. "I get the laser swords!" He dove for the fallen Jedi, searching through their robes for the cherished weapons. He quickly found both of them. His arms felt a charge of excitement that he could barely contain. Then he glanced around the crowd. "Anybody know how to work these things?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jessie's henchmen sat in a semi-circle around his desk. They discussed the usual business or more accurately, how to avoid the Jedi in order to conduct the usual business. The door slid open. Another underling entered to interrupt the proceedings, "Uh, boss. I think you need to see this."

The crowd of children barged through, dragging the Jedi with them. Hector's stun was just beginning to wear off as he was dropped again to the ground, but he continued to play unconscious and stretched out with his feelings.

"What the frosh is this?" Jessie demanded.

"We caught these two Jedi and want a reward," Ronisha poked out her chest and announced matter-of-factly.

"You caught…" Jessie was astounded. He remembered what happened the last time a Jedi had been captured. He ruled out taking them to Zeakwon. He pondered taking them to Pierre, then he thought of what would happen to him when Myriam found out. "Look kid, I'm very impressed, but are you insane? Get them out of here. The Jedi are just beginning to back off so that we can do a respectable amount of business. The last thing we need right now, is this kind of attention."

"But I want a reward," Ronisha demanded.

"Reward? Your reward is that you don't disappear yourself. Now get them out of… on second thought….. leave the Jedi and you get out of here."

Ronisha raised her blaster, "I want a reward."

By this time the henchmen had risen from their chairs. The one closest to Jessie grinned as he glanced at his boss. "I got your reward, little girl." He raised his own blaster and began to squeeze the trigger.

"No," Jenaid screamed igniting the two sabers almost by instinct and leaping in front of the frightened Ronisha. The bolt from the thug's blaster seemed to freeze in midair. Everyone in the room seemed to freeze as well, more from shock than any influence from the Force. It took several seconds before anyone noticed Hector had risen to one knee and extended his hand. The frozen bolt inched back towards the blaster from which it originated as Hector rose to his feet. When he stood full height, it sprung back to life and blasted the man who fired it.

Jessie raised both hands and locked eyes with Hector. "I had nothing to do with this."

"We know that," a groggy Hannibal also rose to his feet. Turning to a shaking Jenaid, he reached for the two ignited lightsabers. "That took a lot of guts kid, but I think you're out of your league."

Jenaid closed the blades and handed them back to Hannibal. "I wanna be a Jedi."

Hector and Hannibal glanced at each other. "Wouldn't hurt to have him tested I suppose," Hannibal offered.

"Least we could do," Hector muttered. He turned back to Jessie. "Let's just forget this whole thing happened.

"Meet us outside," Hannibal ordered the kids. He then handed Hector his lightsaber. "How'd you do that?"

"Not sure," Hector stared at the burnt body. "I just knew it needed to happen and….. well….. it did."

"Those drills do pay off after all, huh?" Hannibal conceded.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Hector sat in the middle of his room. He slowly opened his eyes to view the cup of water. It was floating in front of his face, upside down with the water still inside. Reaching out with his mind, he rotated it in the air several turns before gently setting it on the floor in front of him. The other floating objects around the room slowly descended to their proper place. A satisfied grin spread across his face. Hector struggles with pride. The sound from his comlink broke the silence. "You awake, buddy?"

"Yeah, you test the kid?"

"Yeah," Hannibal sounded a little disappointed. "Lowest count I've ever seen."

"Too bad," Hector offered. "He's got a lot of heart. Maybe we should stay in touch with him anyway."

"Already gave him a communicator. Hannibal out."

Hector cleared his mind again. The lightsaber on his table now rose and floated through the air, landing gently in his lap, a Jedi's weapon. He closed his eyes and took another breath.