Chapter 3
Well, you guys might have noticed that this story was just Star Wars: Episode III with changes, and one of those is that Qui-Gon and Dooku are married to no one, and I'll just say that Dooku's simply not going to be.
Time: 948 YASW, 11th Month
Location: Space, just above Coruscant
"Can you pilot a cruiser like this?" Dooku asked, trying to hide his emotions
"You mean… do I know how to land what's left of this thing?" Qui-Gon asked back, calmly
Qui-Gon quickly sat at the pilot seat, there was a great jolt the immediate moment, Dooku walked forward toward Qui-Gon, and decided to keep questioning.
"Well?" Dooku asked, concerned
"Under the circumstances, I'd say that the ability to fly this thing is irrelevant. Strap yourselves in." Qui-Gon ordered, concentrating on bringing the cruiser to smoothly land
Senator Damask quickly did what Qui-Gon asked of him, sitting on one pilot seat, there were more than two pilot seats in this cruiser. Dooku quickly took another pilot seat and attempted to help. The cruiser still fell down, very fast despite Qui-Gon and Dooku's attempts to slow it down.
"Steady… Altitude… 18 degrees" Dooku muttered, Qui-Gon widened his eyes, realising something, "What?", Dooku asked in concern
"Pressure's rising, we've gotta slow this wreck down. Open all hatches, extend all flaps and drag fins!" Qui-Gon ordered, and got the results in a few seconds, all the hatch doors opened, the flaps extended quickly from the cruiser
"Temp steady, hatches opened, flaps extended, drag fins" Dooku did not get to finish that, being interrupted by a quick jolt of movement by the ship. That was due to the weight of the cruiser shifting.
In short, a large part of the cruiser broke away.
"We've lost something" Dooku uttered
"We're still flying half a ship" Qui-Gon half-joked, a small smile growing on his face, he looked at the controls and his smile faded, with his noting "Now we're really picking up speed. I'm going to shift a few degrees to see if I can slow us down." Qui-Gon quickly attempted to do exactly that, frowning and gritting his teeth at how hard it was.
"Careful, we're heating up" Dooku warned, voice rising
"What's the speed?" Qui-Gon asked, quickly
"Eight plus sixty-forty. Eight plus sixty-twenty. Eight plus sixty. Temp ten thousand, nine thousand, we're now in atmosphere" Dooku's voice held a tinge of fear, though it was mostly calm
Qui-Gon quickly pointed at a lever on the controls. More fear gripped Senator Damask, they were obviously not going to land smoothly. Dooku looked to where Qui-Gon had pointed and raised one brow in confusion.
"Grab that, keep us level" Qui-Gon instructed, voice stern, he had no time for manners right now
"Got it" Dooku grabbed the lever and pulled it back, though it was very hard to do so.
The ship was roughly pulled back, Damask clutched the armrests on his chair, the experience of being inside a cruiser that isn't whole and is crashing into atmosphere at a really high speed was exhilarating. One day, Qui-Gon would look back and laugh at this memory.
"Hang on. This may get rough, We lost our heat shields" Qui-Gon reported, as parts of the ship caught on flames, one of the opened hatch doors came off the cruiser.
"There are fireships on our left and right" Dooku reported, as the comm. make a static sound before a voice came on
"We'll take you in" The voice sounded like one of the Republic's troops, Dooku smiled at hearing it
"Copy that. Landing strip's straight ahead!" Dooku noticed, Qui-Gon looked ahead to see the grey and white landing strip being talked about. The Jedi Knight then realised that there were flames on the ship, from the front
"We're coming in too hot!" Qui-Gon exclaimed, in a mix of concern and fear of death. He never rejoiced death like the other Jedi who followed the Code more than the Force.
"Easy-Easy" Dooku's voice's volume raised, as the ship was aimed at crashing at the landing strip.
It was an amazing sight, as the very damaged ship hit the duraplast that made the landing strip. That landing strip was cracked by the sharp front of the cruiser, as it landed very roughly. It slid for a moment, Qui-Gon and Dooku both tried to pull the brakes. The ship slowed down considerably, until it came to a complete stop, leaving cracked duraplast behind it.
The three people who were strapped in to the cruiser quickly took off whatever was strapping them into the seats, and stood up. Qui-Gon groaned in tiredness. Dooku swore that he would request permanent land-duty after reporting this to the Council.
"Another happy landing" Dooku half-sarcastically joked, once they came out, Qui-Gon chuckled at that joke.
The three were immediately escorted by Jedi Master Mace Windu, to a small Jedi shuttle, which was headed for the Senate building which housed the Republic for thousands of years. More specifically, a landing pad there.
Qui-Gon and Dooku both normally didn't like Coruscant, due to it's blinding darkness in the Force, but this was one of the moments where they were both relieved to be back in the capital planet, because this was the planet where they rested for the entirety of the war.
Despite it was kinda boring sometimes.
The musings ended when the shuttle stopped. The door opened Dooku and Qui-Gon both stood up after the Senator did, expressionlessly, like the Jedi they were. Qui-Gon followed Dooku until the door, where he just stood beside Windu. Dooku took a few steps before he made a confused glance at his former apprentice.
"Are you not coming?" Dooku asked, in said confusion
"No. You contributed to most of what happened in the rescue. You planned it, you led the entire operation, you killed General Grievous, and you rescued the Senator while carrying me on your back." Qui-Gon listed all the accomplishments Dooku managed to do in the rescue operation
"But you saved me from the cruiser and made sure another cruiser does not crash, I think we both deserve the great… endless… speeches" Dooku made the decision, as Qui-Gon quickly, but formally walked out of the shuttle
Immediately after Qui-Gon stepped off the shuttle, Senator Damask and his entourage walked towards Windu, who immediately bowed, along with Dooku.
"Senator Damask" Dooku greeted, tone neutral
Qui-Gon resisted the urge to roll his eyes, as he bowed himself. Despite he just saved this same Senator, he didn't trust him, because somehow, this Senator managed to win the influence of the Chancellor and the entire Jedi Order, excluding himself.
"Senator Damask, what a welcome sight!" Windu exclaimed, relief in his tone, then he turned serious and asked, "Are you alright?"
"Yes, Thanks to your Jedi Master and Jedi Knight" Damask only told it that way to uplift Dooku's ego, "They killed General Grievous, but Jango Fett and his father has escaped once again"
"We all know that the Fetts are anything but cowards, so if they escaped, that means that they have something planned." Windu put his hand on his chin, apparently thinking of the news
"I will vote to continue the war until that is done" Damask assured, calmly
"And I will suggest to the Jedi to make finding the Fetts our first priority" Windu emotionlessly replied
By then, Qui-Gon had already to go see a Senator he was friends with… an 40-year old Senator who gone by the name of Bethrilia Da'atarka. She represented the planet of Chameta, and had a liking for Qui-Gon ever since he was young, heck, he wouldn't even be a successful Jedi Knight had it not been for her advice.
He wouldn't have survived the war much either, and they were purely friends, Qui-Gon was half her age and she was already married long time ago, with a 17 year old child Qui-Gon never met.
That was one of the reasons he liked Chameta in the first place, the other reasons included the clear nature of the planet and all the nice people in the village where the castle which formerly housed the Sultans of Chameta, now Senators of Chameta, was built.
"Senator" Qui-Gon bowed, in respect for his friend
"Qui-Gon, there is no need for formality, we are friends, are we not?" Bethrilia calmly asked, ageing obvious in her voice, she had silvering black hair and wrinkled tanned skin, obvious characteristics of an ageing woman
Qui-Gon straightened himself and answered "Of course."
"Congratulations on your efforts to save the kidnapped Senator and stopping the invasion" Bethrilia complimented, Qui-Gon smiled at that
"Thank you, but it couldn't be done without my Master. He did most of the work." Qui-Gon pointed one of his palms at Dooku, who was talking to another Senator.
"That may be so." Bethrilia paused for a moment, then changed the subject, "Qui-Gon, you know I will retire after the war ends and the Republic cleans up it's government"
"Yes" Qui-Gon suddenly became solemn, he will miss her advice and kind words
"I recently talked Nabooan governor, Governor Naberrie, great man, but he was concerned…" Bethrilia paused, letting the information sink in
"Concerned? Of what?" Qui-Gon asked, curiosity getting the better of him
"Of the coming times, Naboo is a very unusual planet" Bethrilia explained
"Yes, I know, it lacks a core" Qui-Gon recalled facts from his youngling days, years before
"That is true. But all the people are more force-sensitive there than they let you to believe… something to do with their midi-chlorians" Bethrilia came closer to Qui-Gon
"Why did you tell me this? I am a Jedi you know." Qui-Gon asked quizzically
"Because you are a friend I can trust. So, the Governor felt darkness erupting subtly, but effectively, he believes that the Sith are responsible, and are trying to take over. I believe that the Sith are trying to push the next step of their plan, you know how the Sith's plots always relate to taking over the galaxy, right?" Bethrilia asked, patiently waiting for Qui-Gon to answer
Which he did immediately, "There is that pattern", he noted
"I believe, that to effectively master that plan, they need to be on Coruscant" Bethrilia's volume lowered to a whisper "Can you kindly keep this to yourself?"
"There are limits to a Jedi's discretion, and to investigate this, I'll tell the Council that I have a lead on the Sith Lord we've been looking for, one if not both of the unidentified Sith we've been looking for" Qui-Gon assured
"Good, I'll be relieved if you do that." Bethrilia saw another Senator approach Qui-Gon from behind him, so she greeted him goodbye.
Qui-Gon turned to talk to the Senator behind him, but he kept Bethrilia's lead, and his own guesses at the Sith's identities. He swore to himself, that he would find who the Sith are and would end their threat for good.
Unlike Anakin, Qui-Gon is calmer, and has the patient to think about the subtleties no one else notices, I mean, Anakin was ultimately the Chosen One, he bought Balance to the Force, and only Qui-Gon figured that out at the beginning. So Qui-Gon having thoughts about the Senate and the Sith in the past few chapters is just an example of that part of his personality
As for the fact that I only showed on Senator Bethrilia Da'atarka's conversation with Qui-Gon only at the end, that will be explained later, everything that's been put in this story will be explained later.
By the way… who is Bethrilia, you ask. Well, Bethrilia's supposed to be the paternal grandmother of my OC, Bethrona Da'atarka (a prime appearance of her is Yoda's Reformations). Despite she's my own character, it was really hard to write her character though, Bethrilia's personality comes for what I have already developed on Bethrona, except, a lot wiser since Bethrilia's 40 right now, and 33 years after this chapter, which is the time of Revenge of the Sith, Bethrona's 16, so… you guys get the point
If anyone who reads this plays F-Zero along with watching Star Wars, I made a crossover fan fiction of those two franchises named Captain Jedi.
I'll stop rambling here, hopefully this chapter was good and see ya in the next one!