LIVING HISTORY
by ardavenport
= = = Part 25
Obi-Wan was sure that he was being punished.
He had asked to view another holo-drama that morning since their viewing of Skyways had gone reasonably well. After an erractic search for biographical information about Director Tykon they had ended that with a viewing of 'Green Leaves', a recent drama that Tykon was praised for by Yana and her friends. It had been about a man regaining the love of his family after his years of profligate excess had driven them away. Tykon played his companion, who was also re-thinking his life-style. His part was critical to the story, but small. All it told them was the Tykon was capable of portraying himself as being both loud and kind at the same time. Qui-Gon had not looked too bored by the drama, he even smiled once and he conceded that Tykon's performance was memorable.
So, Obi-Wan thought that they could safely view another holo that the performers were using as reference material for Jedi. They still had a whole day before they would be needed for the History Play's dress rehearsal. But his choice of Two in the City had been a huge mistake.
The two main characters were supposed to be Jedi, a darkly hued Staretisi and a pale Huctus, but they violated the Jedi Code at least three times in the first few scenes. They liked to go to parties; they shared an apartment full of useless adornments in what was supposed to be the Jedi Temple, but the interiors were unrecognizable. They did secret good deeds for 'down and out' persons in the lower levels of Coruscant, often disobeying the Council's direct orders; they accepted gifts and rewards from grateful admirers. They got into fights every chance they got with persistent jokes between them about where they would accidentally stick their lightsabers and make holes in things.
It was excrutiating. But when he got up to get rid of the offending images, Qui-Gon told him to sit down and watch. Even worse, when the Castle Custodian arrived to tend the garden, Qui-Gon would not let him shut the holo-recorder off. The woman in her low-ranking pale blue tunic only paused briefly on her way outside during a scene of the two main characters arguing about their new speeder (a gift) and who was going to drive it first.
Humiliated, Obi-Wan sank low in his seat as the Custodian went around the garden. She could clearly see through the windows what was playing on the holo-recorder as she worked. And this holo-drama had a lot of suddenly expanding images, often going to twice normal size, nearly floor to ceiling,
One of the worst punishments that Jedi Masters could inflict upon their Padawans was to give their Padawans exactly what they asked for.
When the woman returned, she stopped and, seeing a pause in the noise and action, asked if Qui-Gon was enjoying the holo-drama.
"Oh, no," Qui-Gon answered in a pleasant tone. "This is very bad. It completely mis-represents Jedi in every way. Except for the fighting, which does appear to be very accurate in form, Otherwise, this is mindless poodoo and it is quite disturbing to me that this was chosen as a reference about Jedi for the Play."
The Custodian stood for a moment with her mouth open; Qui-Gon's conflcting words and attitude confounding her before she recovered and excused herself.
Obi-Wan was out of his seat as soon as she was gone. "Master, may I turn this off, now?"
Sitting back, Qui-Gon folded his arms over his chest. "Have you not been watching, my young apprentice?"
The two Jedi characters had just chopped up a table and were trying to figure out how to stand the pieces up so no one would know they had been there.
"I believe that your assessment of this drama is accurate and that we would be wastng our time continuing with it. Should we not be training instead?"
Qui-Gon's eyebrows rose and Obi-Wan's body went rigid as he suppressed a flinch. The older man stood.
"Perhaps we should train." Leaving the holo-recorder on, Qui-Gon led Obi-Wan to the large open area of floor, conspicuously crossing over the black mark from Obi-Wan's lightsaber. Facing each other, Qui-Gon pointed first at him and then at the holo. "When they start fighting again, you will follow every move that the shorter Jedi character does. I will follow the taller one.
"We will modify our actions only to stay in place. And," Qui-Gon's eyes flicked toward the black scar on the floor, "unlike them, we will mind our blades."
Obi-Wan gulped. The holo played on; the two Jedi characters had given up on the table pieces and now slowly approached a large closed door.
He bowed. "Yes, Master."
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Qui-Gon inhaled deeply, his arms folded into the opposite sleeves of his dark brown robe. The sun had just set. He stood at the outer railing of the balcony garden, the lesser moons overhead in Maarzim's sparse starfield. Nearby, three tiny fliers pecked and batted at each other over a berry bush along with some slow moving, bumbling night insects. Down below a deep and very low hum rose from the enormous shield bubble blocking the way to their usual gardens. Distant thunder rumbled from towering clouds over the mountains behind him, matching the rumble from the enormous, faintly glowing energy shields over the castle below.
Darth Yarr's Mystery remained unresolved for him; his late afternoon meditation had brought him no new insights. The flashes of vision he'd had seemed to be connected to the Sith artifacts, especially the lightsaber. But he was unwilling to test his hosts' patience again. It would be up to the Council and the Archiveist's to determine what had really happened to the Sith Lord after they were returned to the Jedi Temple.
Tilting his head back, he inhaled the living scents of plant, flower and soil. The apartment was a life-givng and life-sustaining place, and as far as prisons went, not an unpleasant one. He heard Obi-Wan moving inside and sensed another presence.
"Master?"
He turned. Custodian Tykon stepped onto the veranda with his apprentice. He bowed to the older woman. "How may I serve you, Custodian Tykon?"
"Master Qui-Gon, I have come to beg a favor of you and your acolyte." She sighed, clasping her hands under her large bosom. "Tomorrow, I will come to escort you to the rehearsal in Tamwa Hall. Your part there is very small, only a rehearsal of your presentation to the audience. After that you will not be needed until the reception tomorrow night with the officials of the Living History Lands and the representatives from our government and this sector. I have a request, from Sebo. If you could, when you leave tomorrow morning let us move you to another room for the night before the Play? Sebo wishes to spend one last night alone in the tower."
Qui-Gon raised his brows at such a simple request. "Of course, we would be happy to. We have very little and we will take our travel packs with us."
Custodian Tykon smiled gratefully. "Thank-you. But I feel I must warn you, because of all the dignitaries staying in the Castle, the only rooms we have for you have, well, historically accurate facilities. Maybe not quite what you're used to on Coruscant." Her eyes darted toward the inside of the apartment. Qui-Gon laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder, leading her inside with Obi-Wan following.
"You have been very generous to us during our stay." He gestured toward the food prep area, the sleeping areas and the fresher unit. "I can assure you that both I and my apprentice have been to many worlds with many different facilities. I am sure that yours will be most satisfactory."
She smiled with some relief. "Thank-you, Master Qui-Gon. Your Council told us that you were very minimal and flexible in your needs, but I've had to deal with some visitors, "she said this last word in a tone that suggested a less flattering description, "who I would have expected to know where they were staying, but found reason to be unpleasant about it anyway." She went to the lift, positioning herself on it. "I will return at sunrise for you."
Qui-Gon bowed his head to her. "We will be ready."
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Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon both heard the lift and stood. They had eaten and finished reassembling their travel packs, now on the floor of the food prep area. Custodian Tykon rose up thrugh the floor in the circle of wood pillars around the lift. She smiled, obviously pleased to see them ready to go. She stepped off the lift.
Obi-Wan tensed.
Both Jedi looked around. Something was wrong. A second later an alarm sounded from outside.
Hhhooooooop! Hhhooooooop! Hhhooooooop! Hhhooooooop!
Running to the nearest door, Qui-Gon opened it and went out onto the balcony, Obi-Wan close behind hm.
"Oh, NO!" Tykon followed them out.
Not really knowing what he expected, Obi-Wan scanned the skys beyond the town. It felt like the right direction. And Qui-Gon was already looking there.
"Master Qui-Gon, please! We have to go inside, there's been an intrusion! We cant't stay here!" Tykon pleaded over the alarm.
Obi-Wan's eyes fixed on a small dot coming around a steep forested hill. Two dots, getting bigger. They were seekers, but they looked too small to be armed.
"Master Qui-Gon, please! You'll just encourage them!" Tykon fretted, dithering between staying and fleeing. Qui-Gon pointed to a spot next to a large bush.
"There."
Obi-Wan took his position, knees bent, both hands on his lightsaber hilt, the tall leafy bush by the outside railing on his right side.
"Wait for it to come to you, Obi-Wan."
He nodded.
Custodian Tykon half-crouched away from the older Jedi, trying to keep hidden from the prying seeker eyes. "Please! Come inside!"
Obi-Wan's eyes flicked to the side, but all he saw was thick dark green foliage. An approaching whine rose over the Castle's whooping intruder alert. Qui-Gon stood at attention, his arms tucked into his robe sleeves as if in greeting to the fast approaching spy droids.
The on-rushing whine whizzed past, the tone immediately lowering as the two seekers split up short of the apartment and circling around. Obi-Wan thought of nothing, a haze of perception in the Force covered his senses. The droids were bright, jarring points of light, zipping around in opposing arcs. The lightsabe hilt was warm in his hands.
FFFFFffff-fffzzz-zzzz - - mmm - - ppppttt - - tttTTT!
His lightsaber upswing cut the body of the seeker coming from behind him in half.
"Wwwwhhhaaaaa - -!"
The spy droid vocalized only half a word of surprise as the two pieces crashed and skidded onto the balcony, shedding sparks and broken bits and knocking over two potted plants. Custodian Tykon cried out and jumped back away from the half that rolled up to her feet. Obi-Wan extinguished his saber, mindful of the plants. The remaining droid whine shot upward. With Qui-Gon right behind it.
Obi-Wan saw his Master crest over the droid, his bright green saber blade cleaving it in half as he descended past the flash and exploding sparks. He vaulted off the roof, flipped in the air over the jutting spikes and landed in nearly the same spot he had calmly stood in only seconds before. Extinguished saber in one hand, he seized Custodian Tykon by the arm, yanking her toward him. Rolling down from the roof, half a seeker droid, squealing and spitting, crashed to the floor boards of the balcony in the spot where the large older woman had been standing. The other half followed it a second later.
Exhaling, Obi-Wan relaxed his focus, the Force fading from his view leaving only his exhileration behind. Custodian Tykon panted from the excitement, looking from one section of cleaved seeker droid to another. Patting her chest, she glared up at Qui-Gon, who had folded his arms again, his lightsaber safely tucked away on his belt under his robe. Obi-Wan assumed the same posture.
"I cannot approve of your methods, Master Qui-Gon, but," she scanned the damage again. "I cannot say I am displeased with your results, either." She went inside and the Jedi followed. Pausing only to com to her staff that the snooper droids had been neutralized and to order a clean-up, she went down the lift first. The two Jedi followed, standing close together on the descending platform.
Obi-Wan followed Qui-Gon, who followed Custodian Tykon down the long spiral staircase of the tower. Golden dawn sunlight shone through the windows on one side. Their boot steps echoed from the stone stairs. The sunbeams scanned up and over Qui-Gon's travel pack, a much smaller burden on the larger man's broad back than Obi-Wan's was for him. He had grown in the last year and probably would in the next, but it was clear that he would never be as tall as his Master.
After all the delays and waiting, they were finally nearing the end of their mission. After their minor contribution to the final rehearsals, they would not be needed until the evening formalities with the dignitaries who would be attending the History Play. After that would be the day of the Play itself and the party afterwards at which they were obligated to make an appearance. Custodian Tykon had promised a transport to take them directly to the spaceport with none of the missteps and problems that had accompanied their arrival. Apparently their disorganized and poor reception, and Qui-Gon's illness, had filtered all the way up to the top levels of the planetary government. Someone had realized that Jedi had the diplomatic rank of ambassador in the Galactic Republic. Maarzim would be providing them a transport to take them directly back to Coruscant as soon as they were ready to leave.
They finally reached the bottom and went down to the gallery where they were met by a tall young man with excellent posture , very short dark brown hair and a complexion as smooth and perfect as dark polished wood. Standing beside and slightly behind his Master, Obi-Wan scratched a spot on his chin before suppressing the impulse.
"This is Custodian Grawden, one of my assistants," Tykon introduced him. "He will take your bags to your new rooms and then escort you there when you are finished here."
Grawden bowed; he wore long pale tunics with a very fine line of sliver along the edges. He took their bags and left. They followed Custodian Tykon into the gallery. It had become another place.
At one end on the left was a large, ornate security cage with several Castle Custodians and people in blue and silver body armor conferring over data terminals on a long table. Their command post was decoratively complimentary to the stonework of the Castle, and it formed a gate, blocking the staircase leading up to the gallery. On the right was a platform, stairs leading up to it to allow people to mount one of the hover plaforms lining the railing of the gallery. Around that was a crowd of people, Castle staff in blue, people in loose tunics and skirts. Obi-Wan recognized some of the faces from the stage construction crew. Most of them had signs hanging around their necks with names on them, 'Chancellor Mwetta', 'Sub-Chancellor Gemour', 'Secretary Lemwak', 'Councilor Twirot' and more. Below the gallery, Tamwa Hall had been converted into a very convincing theater with rows and rows of seats for a very large audience, the mostly black stage and seating for the musicians between them. Daylight and the tall windows were gone under false walls. Decorative clusters of artificial lights hung from the ceilings and walls. Morning or the middle of the night, it would have looked the same. Discordant musical sounds rose up from the orchestra.
Custodian Tykon led them to the group. All of the people with signs around their necks stayed a few respectful paces away when they recognized the Jedi and the head Castle Custodian. Assistant Stage Director Eris Mwat, still unshaven and disheveled, climbed up on the platform and raised his hands for their attention, shapeless gray sleeves hanging from his skinny arms.
When he had their attention, he welcomed them and had Custodian Tykon and her senior assistants join him. They would be herding the dignitaries for the Play the next day. The planetary dignitaries came first.
Mwat had the people bearing the names of the Living History Lands officials line up. He pointed at a handheld comp screen and gave it and two more to Tykon and her assistants.
Next came the Maazim Councilors, their staffs, a few off-world ambassadors and the off-world Venerates, the Jedi.
"Now this run-through is for the stage techs to work out any problems with the presentations. Custodian Tykon will be here to help tomorrow."
"I believe that we can remember our place in line," Qui-Gon assured him.
Last came the Castle Venerates, Tykon and her senior staff. Each group, in twos and threes would be presented to the audience below, stepping onto their floater only after their names were announced. Then they would be carried to their viewing platforms where they would stand for a moment, bow and then be seated. The next people could not be introduced until they sat down. Black curtains had been hung by the gallery railing and now they were closed so that only the platform could be seen from below.
Mwat's eyes scanned up and down the names on the signs, then he commed that they were ready and Tykon confirmed that on her own com that she produced from an inside pocket of her tunic. The line moved forward. The lights suddenly changed, dim to bright. One. Two. Three. Four.
"Sentients! Communicants! Devotees!" A booming, exited voice called out, filling the huge room along with a swell of music from the orchestra. Colored light beams flashed in random directions. "Welcome! To the Naardin Castle of the Naardin Living History Lands! Welcome to the Presentation of the TRAGEDY OF DARTH YARR!"
= = = End Part 25