Naboo
City of Theed

The courtyard sat on the intersection of two busy thoroughfares deep in the heart of the capital of Naboo. The sun was at its zenith and beat down steadily on the busy Theeders who bustled on the beautiful brick sidewalks and reflected off the chassis of quick moving landspeeders that zipped by on occasion. The courtyard was in itself a microcosm of Theed itself, aesthetically pleasing but highly functional. Large benches, nestled among large planters filled with gorgeous fauna from across the galaxy, were available to the weary, and several fountains shot crisp blue water high into the sky often sending a cooling mist onto passersby. Looking westward, only a few blocks away, you could see the visage of the Jedi temple, only partially obstructed by various other buildings that were in the vicinity.

The large gungan that slowly lumbered into the courtyard turned a few heads, though a pair of well-dressed businessmen blew by the alien as if he didn’t exist. Though at one time the sight of a gungan in the human capital of Theed would have been unheard of, these days it was not a super-rare event. The Sith massacre of the gungans (supposedly led by Lupercus Darksword) had made the sight more uncommon, but it was not unheard of. Thus the Theeders paid only cursory attention to the amphibian as he approached the center of the courtyard.

A landspeeder sped by. Someone who was paying careful attention might have noticed that though the gungan's multiple chins wobbled as he walked, they were not disturbed at all by the sudden gust of wind left in the speeders wake. No one did.

When the Gungan reached the center of the courtyard, he stopped and began peering around. This somewhat odd behavior go the attention of a few more people walking through the intersection. A trio of teens entered the courtyard from the western side of the intersection. Upon noticing the gungan, they started pointing and talking among themselves. One of the young men, the tallest, probably no more than seventeen, with a slender build and jet-black hair, walked up from behind the alien.

"Get out of my way fatso."

The gungan turned at the sound of the boy’s voice. His two friends stood behind him snickering. The gungan said nothing.

"What, are you to stupid to understand basic?"

He laughed derisively. Jutting his lower jaw out like a Neanderthal he mimed stepping out of the way.

Still the gunan remained still.

The boy's face changed to one of frustration.

"Fine. If you won't move, I guess I'll make you!!"

He wound back his arm and sent his fist flying forward.

There was a sharp crack and a howl of pain.

The attention of those milling around in the courtyard, already attracted by the teen's verbal abuse was suddenly on the gungan. Well, what had been the gungan. In its place there was another huge alien, though obviously not a gungan. A gauntleted hand was outstretched, ensnaring the human's comparatively tiny fist in it's armored grasp.

There was an eerie silence. Then someone screamed.

Qive watched with sadistic pleasure as the teen looked up from his crushed hand to the face of his tormentor. His swagger and arrogance had evaporated. Shock and terror had replaced them. Qive’s heart jumped as his eyes met the humans; accompanied by the jolt of exhilaration he always felt when he first entered “combat.” Their eyes were locked for a moment- then someone screamed.

Qive sent his other fist rocketing forward, connecting solidly with the human’s face. Qive released his ensnared hand, and the boy crumpled to the ground. Qive noticed the boy’s friends were hightailing it away. Just about everyone in the courtyard was.

Qive sprung into action. He leapt over a planter and landed in front of a woman who was holding a young child and pulling a slightly older one along behind her. The fear in her eyes as he towered over him was invigorating. He raised a gauntleted fist and she leaned over her youngest child, a motherly instinct of protectiveness. The blow she was expect however, never came. Qive pointed to a nearby bench.

“Sit.”

The command was forceful, and left no room for negotiation. The mother looked up and saw where Qive was pointing. She pulled her older child by the arm over to the bench. Qive reached down to his belt and tossed a metallic disk at the woman’s feet.

“Move…. And you die.”

The woman swallowed and nodded.

Qive turned around and saw that the courtyard was empty… except for an old man sitting at a bench opposite the one where the woman was now seated. He was reading a new periodical, and looked as if he didn’t realize anything had happened.

Qive walked over to him, stopping a few feet in front of the old man. He looked up from his periodical, non-plussed. Qive tossed another one of he metallic disks in front of the man. His eyes followed the path, then returned to Qive.

“Don’t move.”

The old man grinned, then returned to reading his periodical. Qive was thrown off a bit by the old man’s lack of emotion, and turned around rather sharply. The old woman was trying very hard to keep the young child (a boy now that Qive took a moment to look) perfectly still.

“As long as you don’t run you’ll be ok.”

The woman looked up and stared daggers at his hulking form. Qive ignored the look. He returned to the crumpled form of the teen, lying in the middle of the street. He removed one final disk from his belt, this one slightly smaller than the other two, and slapped it on the unconscious boy’s back. Adhesive on its underside allowed it to stick firmly in place.

As he turned and stepped away from the teen, he saw several people running toward the intersection.

In most instances, Qive performed his jobs without wearing any armor. He hated being constricted by it, and because of his unique physical make-up, he didn’t need it. Today’s mission however, had necessitated its use. The hologram projector that allowed him to sneak into Theed undetected was the primary reason. The knowledge he might have to fight a Jedi was the other. Qive feared no man, alien or machine. But he respected the fighting skill of any force user, especially Jedi.

Because he had to wear armor, Qive had decided to don a very useful piece of equipment. He utilized one of his suit’s features, by pressing a small button on the side of the helmet. A mirrored visor slid across his face and Qive activated the optical zoom feature presented to him. He watched with interest as one of the boy’s friends and a pair of Royal Naboo Security personnel made there way toward the courtyard. He pressed the button again, and the visor disappeared back into the helmet.

The three figures arrived at the edge of the courtyard a minute later, the boy pointing at Qive, but hanging back behind the two reddish-brown clad officers. Qive watched as the lead officer’s eyes surveyed the scene, traveling from Qive, to the motionless form of the unconscious teen, to the mother and her restless children, over toward the old man, then back to Qive.

He stepped forward, un-holstering his blaster pistol.

“Sir, I’m going to ask you to put you hands behind your head. You are under arrest, in the name of the Queen of Naboo. Please remain calm…”

He stopped speaking as Qive took a step forward, and raised his blaster.

“STOP!! TAKE ANOTHER STEP AND I’LL SHOOT!”

Qive smiled. He held the smile long enough for the officer to notice.

Then he stepped forward.

As he did so he drew a large blaster pistol from a concealed holster in the side of the armor. The staccato sound of blaster-fire rang throughout the courtyard. The Merr-Sonn 434 “Deathhammer” blaster pistol punched a pair of neat holes in the Naboo officer; he slumped to the ground. Qive looked over at his non-shooting arm, where a small wisp of black was rising from an unarmored spot on his forearm. He spit on the blaster mark, and let out an audible chuckle. He looked up in time to see the boy’s friend running like mad away from the courtyard. The other officer was still there (shaking though trying to conceal it) his own blaster drawn.

“Sir, drop th..”

“Shut up.”

The officer fell silent.

“If you want to live, you will turn around and go immediately to the Jedi temple. Bring me a Jedi…. No apprentices… I want a real Jedi.”

He paused, and twirled the blaster.

“Do it or they”

He gestured behind him at the people on the benches.

“Die.”

The Royal Naboo officer took off running.

tap....


tap...


tap...



Vodd tapped his walking stick on the ground once more as he came to a stop behind Qive.

The Jedi Knight was clad in a homespun brown Jedi robe, covered head to toe. The cowl of his hood was thrown forward, obscuring most of his head, but not his face. He was alien of an unknown race, standing only five feet tall, and completely unarmed.



Well.... almost.


"A real Jedi you have, sir." He said in his quiet, slightly scratchy voice.

He had been meditating near the Theed waterfalls, only a block away when he had felt a surge in the Force. Not a great disturbace, just a mild surge that accompanied the sound of blasterfire.

Blasterfire was not common in Theed.

So he had quickly come to this courtyard, to find some man harassing the local police.

"No one is going to die today." He said again, leveling a stare at the other.

The solid brick consistency of the courtyard conducted sound very well. Semi-enclosed by buildings, some of them made of the same material, the tapping of Vodo's walking stick echoed and reverberated through-out the entire courtyard.

Qive turned slowly to face the one who made the sound. He was met with the visage of what was unmistakably a Jedi, clothed in the distinctive brown robe and carrying a walking stick. The figure was short and most certainly an alien, though Qive could not determine from which species.

"A real Jedi you have, sir."

The smallish Jedi's voice was quiet, but held no fear. Qive could sense a certain amount of confidence behind the Jedi's words.

Yes, this one was the real thing.

The Jedi raised his eyes to met those of the Gen'Dai who towered over him.

"No one is going to die today."

Qive grinned at the Jedi's words. It was almost as if the Jedi had read his mind.

"I concur, master Jedi. No one needs die here today."

Qive put the massive blaster pistol back into its holster.

"I propose a trade. In exchange for the freedom of all you see here in the courtyard, you will accompany me off this planet."

"I propose a trade. In exchange for the freedom of all you see here in the courtyard, you will accompany me off this planet."


Vodo inclined his head slightly, staring up at the massive brute. About four meters seperated them, and Vodo had no doubt that Qive could reach him in a matter of seconds and crush him like a bug before Vodo could even react.

But Vodo was not your ordinary Jedi.

"Interesting. But I have a better trade, you lay down all of your weapons, and accompany me to the Royal Theed Security Office, where you will be incarcerated."

"Interesting. But I have a better trade, you lay down all of your weapons, and accompany me to the Royal Theed Security Office, where you will be incarcerated."

Qive scowled at the Jedi's refusal to cooperate. Still, he held all the cards.

"Master Jedi, with all due respect, you are in no position to counter negotiate."

Qive pointed a massive hand toward the bench where the woman sat, her young child cradled in her arms, and he older son fidgeting wildly as he tried to free himself from his mother's entwined legs. He raised his other hand, extending it in the opposite direction, at the old man who sat reading his peroidical, dead to the world.

"At the foot of both of those benches sits a modified 4HX4 anti-infantry mine. Any sudden movements toward the bench, or away from it will trigger the explosive."

Qive lowered his hands then pointed to the teen lying on the ground.

"Placed on his back is a Golan Arms KE-6 remote mine."

Qive locked his eyes with Vodo.

"At these ranges, you won't be able to find enough remains to put in a ash tray."

He let that sink in.

"Master Jedi, this can all be avoided. I am employed by someone who wished to meet someone of your talents. You will not be harmed in any way if you accompany me."

Vodo closed his eyes, leaning heavily on the walking stick as he called to the Force.

It's comforting power responded immidiately. He expanded his sphere of influence, a Force technique to sense everything within a certain radius, to thirty meters.

The explosives were most certainly there. Vodo knew he could easily dislodge them with a simple command to the Force. But could he do so before they exploded?

He did not like these situations.

He stared at Qive, contemplating how difficult it would be to pick the man up with the Force, and fling him across the courtyard.

Vodo walked forward, toward the brute, grunting each time he took a step with the aid of his walking stick.

"Where are we going?" He asked. He was now close enough to spit on Qive if he chose to.

Qive eyes followed Vodo varily as he took labored steps toward him. The Jedi was comimg closer, slowly but steadily. Though he was leaning on a walking stick, Qive knew that their was more to this Jedi than his outer apperance showed. He was apparently unarmed (though it was possible he had a concealed lightsaber amid his robes) and yet he had showed no signs of fear. He had even suggested that Qive surrender. It was almost a struggle to keep fully alert, as Vodo seemed to pose very little threat. However, in the back of his mind, Qive reminded himself that the most powerful Jedi Master of the old Republic had been Yoda, who was a good foot shorter than the Jedi who stood before him.

Vodo kept coming. He was just a few feet away. Qive's muscles tensed.

"Where are we going?"

The question diffused some of the tension, but Qive's body remained stiffened. He had never felt as uneasy as he did now, with a five foot alien standing just out of arms reach. He was not afraid of Vodo. What unnerved him was that Vodo was not afraid of him.

"My ship is docked in a public hangar bay nearby. I have a set of hyper-coordinates where we will meet my employeer. He is very rarely in the same place for very long. We can be at my ship in five minutes. We can be off-world within the hour."

And so came the moment of truth.

Vodo did not speak at first.

Vodo released himself into the Force. One of his favorite things about the Force was it's ability to give him access to a center of calm deep within himself. When he was calm and serene, he could view the entire situation at hand carefully.

This man walkes into public, causes commotion, kills a Naboo security officer, and demands the presence of a Jedi.

All very, very stupid things.

First off, he was now the most wanted man on Naboo. Already, Vodo could sense the distant flurry of activity that was the Security Precincts. Royal Security would be descending on them in mere minutes. Vodo knew he had to diffuse the situation. He knew he could defeat this huge man, but not without causing much more damage, and possibly bloodshed. As a Jedi, he had a duty to protect the people of Theed, even if that meant taking a little trip.

Could be fun.

Vodo pointed his walking stick at Qive.

"Lead the way."

He followed as Qive led him away from the Courtyard, and toward the docks. Security was now coming in from all sides. Gian and Flash Speeders were arriving, and dislodging LRT (Local Response Team) troopers.

But Vodo was a well-known Jedi, and since he was walking along with Qive, it was automatically understood that he had the situation under control.

As they exited the Courtyard, Vodo waved a hand.


And three metallic disks suddenly shot up high into the air...

If every there was a definition of contrast, then the sight of Vodo Baas and Qive walking away from the courtyard was it. An odder couple would be hard to find- a petite Jedi master leaning on his walking stick next to a towering alien mercenary whose massive strides would put a rancor to shame.

The march to the nearby public hangar was a Qive had described it, very short. This particular hangar was droid operated, and so it after paying a teller droid for his short stay, Qive led Vodo down a turbolift to a lower level of the hangar. He raised a pan-sized hand and pointed toward a rather unimpressive looking Barloz-class freighter. At 41 meters, the ship was fairly large, but its exterior proved it had seen better days.

The two made there way up the freighters enterance ramp, and Qive was forced to remain in a somewhat stooped position to keep his head from banging against light fixtures or in some areas the ceiling. Then Qive spoke for the first time since they had left the courtyard.

"Feel free to go where you please on my vessel, I only ask that you do not enter my personal quarters. The door will be locked, so you will know where they are."

He turned from Vodo and started off in the direction of the cockpit. A minute or two later, the vessel was shooting upward through the clear blue skies of Naboo...