Dyad - A Star Wars Story

Chapter 2 - The Blockade

"Captain," Qui-Gon said.
"Yes sir?" asked the pilot.
"Tell them we wish to board at once," he ordered.
Cora knew she should be paying attention, but she just couldn't. She was too focused on the impression she was making, and what would happen next. Would the Trade Federation really allow an eleven year old to sit in on their meeting? What if things didn't go well? She tried to calm down, tried to breathe, tried to trust the force, just as her journey in the ice caves of Ilum had taught her. But, when that didn't seem to work, she opened her eyes and began to listen to her surroundings, only to be met with Nute Gunray blabbing on about legality and trade deals. She slumped back in her chair and sighed. Why was her mission so boring? Aayla hadn't even needed a first mission, she was already assigned to Master Vos and traveling the galaxy! Meanwhile, Cora was just an annoying shadow. No matter what she did, as long as she behaved of course, the dispute would be settled just as it would were she never there. She had read enough books, she knew the political jargon. She wouldn't learn a thing from this mission. What was the point?
     Soon enough, they were landing on the Trade Federation ship. Cora got up to hide her lightsaber somewhere in the back of the ship. It wasn't like she would need it anyways.
   "Cora, what are you doing?" Qui-Gon asked calmly. Cora jumped. She didn't sense him behind her.
   "I'm just putting away my lightsaber," she responded. "I thought we were supposed to come unarmed?"
   "That lightsaber is your life," Obi-Wan said matter-of-factly, appearing behind Qui-Gon. "You don't leave it behind, even if they take it from you."
    Qui-Gon looked back at him, and then to Cora. "While my apprentice isn't incorrect," he began, "he forgets that a lightsaber is not his strongest weapon." He was looking at Cora, but she knew who he was really aiming his words at. The two men lifted the hoods of their cloaks, draping them low over their faces. Cora re-attached her lightsaber to her utility belt, and found a spare cloak in the closet. She wasn't old enough to have her own yet, but she didn't want to stand out too much.
"What are you doing?" Obi-Wan asked. Cora could only assume she looked ridiculous, with a cloak made for an adult man in a pile around her feet. The sleeves were touching the floor, and the hood covered her face entirely. She couldn't see a thing.
   "I was trying to disguise myself!" She said, embarrassed. Obi-Wan looked to his master for assistance, only to find that Qui-Gon had already left the ship . He sighed and pulled the hood off of her face gently.
    "Just put your head down," he said. "This," he continued, removing her arms from the long sleeves, "will be far too noticeable." He sounded exasperated, but Cora still felt this was the kindest he had been to her. He put his hand on her shoulder and lead her out to where Qui-Gon was standing waiting for them. "Just follow my lead, and you'll be alright," he finished.
   "Are you two ready?" Qui-Gon asked.
   "Yes master," Obi-Wan replied immediately. Cora ducked her head, and followed the two older Jedi. He hair fell in her face, but that was her best disguise. She just watched Qui-Gon's feet and followed closely behind him. She could hear a mechanical whirring all around her, the squeaking and screeching of metallic joints. Why would the Trade Federation need so many droids?
    Suddenly, she heard a door open, and lifted her head just a bit to see a chrome protocol droid. "I am TC-14 at your service. This way please," it recounted. This droid had clearly said those words a thousand times, it was so overly rehearsed. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan followed the droid without saying a word, and Cora quickly ducked her head to follow them.
   "We are greatly honored by your visit Ambassadors," the droid began with bravado. "Make yourselves comfortable, My Master will be with you shortly."
   As the door closed, Cora saw Qui-Gon's cloak shift at the hem, which she took as a sign to lift her own head. They were standing in quite the dull conference room, filled with chairs yet devoid of any color.
   "I have a bad feeling about this," Obi-Wan said.            
   "I don't sense anything?" Qui-Gon responded.
    Obi-Wan looked at his master with a hint of embarrassment. Cora could tell that he wanted nothing but his master's validation. He quickly shook the feeling away. "It's not about the mission Master, it's something... elsewhere. Elusive." Cora could also sense the strong bond between the two men. I thought Jedi weren't supposed to feel attachment?
    "Don't center on your anxieties Obi-Wan, keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs" Qui-Gon reprimanded.
   "B-But Master Yoda said I should be mindful of the future!" he blurted out.
   "Not at the expense of the moment. Be mindful of the living force, my young Padawan," he replied, calm as ever.
   "Yes Master." Obi-Wan murmured. The two began walking towards the room's only window, and Cora followed them, while still keeping a respectful distance. She listened intently, hoping she could learn something from the conversation. "How do you think this Trade Viceroy will deal with the Chancellor's demands?" Obi-Wan asked.
   "These Federation types are cowards. The negotiations will be short," Qui-Gon replied. Cora was surprised by the old Master's snap judgment of the Neimodians. Didn't he know better?
    The two Jedi went to sit at the head of the table. Cora sat across from Obi-Wan, and was delighted to find that the chair could spin. As she came back around, she watched Obi-Wan put his head in his hands.
  "Who. Cares. About. A trade dispute!" He complained, smacking his head against his palms. Cora couldn't help but agree with him, although she kept her mouth shut. She still wished her first mission could have been a bit more exciting.
   "Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon warned.
   "Sorry Master," Obi-Wan apologized, regaining his air of regality and obedience. "Is it in their nature to make us wait this long?"
  Suddenly the door opened, and the droid from earlier walked in, holding a platter of drinks. Cora unintentionally gave it a bit of a side eye, but noticed the other two were doing the same, so she didn't feel guilty. She crossed her arms and laid them on the table, perching her chin on top of them. Qui-Gon continued talking to his Padawan as if nothing had happened. "No. I sense an unusual amount of fear over something as trivial as this trade dispute," he replied, eyes never wavering from the suspicious droid. It first brought a drink to Obi-Wan, then Qui-Gon, then Cora.
As the droid waddled over to her, she smiled. "Thank you!" She said politely, grabbing the final cup. She raised it to her lips, only to make eye contact with Obi-Wan who was shaking his head. She slowly put the drink down. They stayed silent until the droid left.
  "You don't need to thank the droids," he said.
   "But I wanted to!" She replied. "It brought us drinks!"
   "Poisoned drinks," Qui-Gon added. Cora was shocked. It was just some dumb trade dispute, what was the need for poison? Then Cora realized. Obi-Wan hadn't even had to check if the drink was poisoned, because he knew that as a Jedi, as a representative of the Republic, he was automatically a threat to the Trade Federation. That was why he had shaken his head at her, not because of her use of manners with a so-called "lower life form".
   Suddenly they heard an earsplitting boom, a crash, and the ship rattled. The older Jedi stood and ignited their lightsabers, so Cora mirrored them. Then, a strange green gas began to flood the room. "Dioxis!" Qui-Gon said. He turned to Cora, who had quite the confused look on her face. She had no idea what dioxis was, and her face most definitely showed it. "Breathe it, and you're dead!"
   Cora, being a solid two feet shorter than him, tried to climb up on top of the table. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon took a deep breath, and Qui-Gon turned to see her struggling to get to higher ground. Still holding his breath, he picked her up by the knees and sat her down on his arm.
   The door opened, and the three Jedi stayed silent. Then Qui-Gon ignited his lightsaber, still holding Cora as high as he could. Obi-Wan followed, and the two stepped out of the gas to destroy the droids that were waiting for them. Once they were clear of the gas, Qui-Gon set Cora down. She ignited her own lightsaber, hoping she would be some sort of help, even if it wasn't much. She sliced one droid in half, and stabbed another through its mechanical abdomen. By the time she had finished, the Master-Padawan duo was already running up the hallway, leaving a hot, sparking mess in their wake. Cora disengaged her lightsaber and ran after them.
You know, this wasn't what I meant when I said more exciting, she thought, as if the Force could hear her.
   Qui-Gon plunged his green blade into a security door on Cora's left. Obi-Wan watched his back, so Cora, not knowing what else to do, joined him.
   She heard a rattling noise, and saw a blur of copper racing towards them. "What is that?" She asked. Obi-Wan turned, and when he saw them, Cora watched his eyes widen.
  "Master!" He called. Qui-Gon turned to look. "Destroyers!"
  Qui-Gon quickly removed his lightsaber from the blast door, and ordered Cora to get behind him. She did, and the two began to redirect the droids' blaster shots as well as they could.
   "They have shield generators!?!?" Obi-Wan said, shocked.
   "It's a standoff, let's go!" Qui-Gon ordered. The two turned and began sprinting down an adjacent hallway. Cora followed as fast as she could. Qui-Gon ripped the cover off of a vent, and turned around to give Cora a leg up. She ran, stepped on the Master's hand, and leaped up into the ventilation shaft. She, surprisingly, slid perfectly onto the thin metal surface. Obi-Wan followed her with a thud, but only because Qui-Gon insisted on bringing up the rear.
   Seeing the two grown Jedi laying as flat as they could in a space that Cora could almost fully sit up in, made her giggle. Unbeknownst to her, however, there were about six battle droids directly below her. All of a sudden, she heard them on communications with the ship's bridge.
  "Uh.. Viceroy?" The droid said in a high pitched voice. "The Jedi have gone into the ventilation shaft."
  Cora's eyes widened and she slapped her hand over her mouth. She looked to Qui-Gon, wishing she could apologize. But Obi-Wan, seeing her face of instant regret, spoke up. "It's okay," he whispered. "Just go!"
    Cora nodded, and turned back around to crawl down the long air vent. It felt strange to have the experienced Jedi following her, instead of the other way around. Soon, she came to a crossroads. She turned around. "Where do I go?" She whispered, only slightly panicking.
   "Where does the Force tell you to go?" Obi-Wan asked. Behind him, Cora caught Qui-Gon smiling. She turned to face forward, and closed her eyes. Left. She opened them, and, without a word, started down the left tunnel. At the end, there was a vent that faced out the side of a wall. Presumably a very large one. But there was no further shaft to go down once they hit the end.
  "Dead end!" She whispered.
  "No, it's not, keep moving." Qui-Gon guided, so Cora continued to crawl down the tunnel. When she reached the end, she sat up.
  "What now?" She asked.
   "Jump," Obi-Wan replied.
   "What?!" She gasped.
    "Yes, jump!" Qui-Gon repeated. Cora turned back around yet again, and pushed the grate outwards as quietly as she could. She then grabbed onto it with the Force, and lowered it slowly. Then, with a scared look over her shoulder, and a nod from Qui-Gon,she swung her small legs out of the hole, and jumped.
   As she fell, she realized what the two had meant. Just as she had lowered the grate, she had to slow her own fall as well! She, stupidly, realized just a bit too late. Her knees buckled as she hit the ground. It hurt, but there was nothing she could do about that right now. She assumed she was fine, because she didn't hear anything crack. She shuffled to hide behind a large cargo container and wait for the others.
   Obi-Wan came to hide with her, adjusting her so the mass of droid troopers wouldn't see them both.  He peeked over the top of the boxes. "Battle droids?" He whispered. Cora watched his face as the realization hit him. "It's an invasion army!"
  Qui-Gon came to join them, and followed Obi-Wan's gaze to the array of mechanized weapons. "This is an odd play for the Trade Federation," he replied. "We've got to warn the Naboo, and contact Chancellor Valorum." He looked to Obi-Wan and Cora, who were standing at the ready. "Let's split up," he continued. "Stow away aboard separate ships and meet down on the planet." Cora and Obi-Wan nodded, but all of a sudden, Obi-Wan began to laugh.
"You were right about one thing Master," he giggled. "The negotiations were short." Qui-Gon smiled, then set off to his left to find a ship. Obi-Wan and Cora set off to their right.
   Cora followed Obi-Wan all the way to a droid transport before he turned around and noticed she was there. He jumped a bit, but quickly bent down. "Cora, you have to go on your own ship," he said.
    "Alone?" She asked. She watched Obi-Wan study her face. He could probably sense her fear.
   "Yes, alone. I'll meet you down on the planet, but two of us on a ship will be too noticeable. Now go!"
   Cora ran off to the next ship over, and climbed in. The droids were on strange racks, but deactivated. She shimmied up to the top and lodged herself between the two ship walls with her legs. Locking her knees hurt, but she had to. Then Cora meditated, not knowing what she would do next.