The swamps of Naboo....


Otah Gunga; the magnificent underwater capital city of the Gungan race on Naboo. Though actually seen by few it's beauty was spoken of throughout the galaxy, as most wondered how a race such as the Gungans were capable of building such an admirable feat of technology.


Now all that remained of the symbol of Gungan pride and prosperity was a dark, gloomy and wretched tangle of debris. In the Sith's last attempt to take over the planet of Naboo and purge the Jedi from the galaxy, the city of Otah Gunga had been ravaged beyond repair. As Theed had begun rebuilding it's wounds the Gungans had struggled just to recover from the loss of their great city. They had fled to smaller, out of the way underwater cities, and gradually over time the bumbling Gungan race had grown less in prominence on Naboo, though that hardly meant they had ceased to exist... the Gungans of Otah Gunga had planned to one day restore their great city, but when their leader General Ceel had dissapeared....




****



Confused, the Wookiee Azakhaban scrolled through the information on his datapad for the tenth time. The merchant had told him that this information was a little old, but this was ridiculous!!! His temper flaring, he pounded a hairy fist on the console of his SUV (submarine utility vehicle).


According to his datapad, the main residence of The Jedi Order was in Otah Gunga, on Naboo. And according to his navigation console, the battered remains of the city sprawled out in front of him was Otah Gunga. Now he could've been wrong, but something just did not match up here.... He had not come all the way here from Coruscant only to be stopped now! He had to find the Jedi....


Grumbling under his breath, Azak returned his attention to the navigation panel, and typed in a query. The capital city of the planet was Theed: if there was ever a good place to start his search, it would be there. To journey there would be to go several days over the lease agreement on his sub, which he had procured from a different city on Naboo. But once.... if... he found the Jedi, the information he had in store for them would probably sway them to convince a meager dockmaster that a few days didn't matter...


The navigation console beeped merrily as it plotted the fastest possible course for Theed. Apparently, his trip would take him through the planet's core....


Azakhaban didn't know that traveling through a planet's core was even remotely possible, and he did not like the sound of it at all. But, he had dedicated himself to completing his task long ago, and by all means would he see it through.


The Wookiee resignedly swung his sub around to a new heading, and set out on the start of what would turn out to be quite a trying journey.

(OOC: I'm going to assume this is set a few weeks after Silent Night - my duel with Silus.)


<i>"Jedi wisdom is a gift, Silus."

"You know, you are rather violent for some Jedi."...

"What's this? The mighty Jedi is angry? Oh no, this will surely lead him to the dark-side!" Silus said....</i>



***



When Vodo came to, the medical droid in front of his stepped back carefully as it reacted to his sudden movement.

"I'm sorry if I startled you sir..." It started to apologize.

"No. It's okay." Vodo said, forcing a smile.

"I've finished with the bacta treatment. Your abdomen area is almost completely repaired." The medical droid said.

"Thank you." Vodo said, sliding off the treatment bed and onto his feet. The droid handed him his walking stick and Vodo exited the infirmary, into the bright sunlight of Naboo.

Theed was a beautiful place, Vodo thought. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of years old, the spires of the city were the subject of thousands of canvas paintings, and he was proud to note that he had seen quite a few. Artists, it was said, would come from the other side of the galaxy just to get a glimpse of the majestic buildings, each and every one of which were works of art themselves.

However war was no stranger to Naboo, with the now-infamous Trade Federation blockade and the Clone Wars ravaging the city. However - years later it still held it's pristine beauty.

The Jedi Apprentice walked slowly through the city, walking stick in hand, toward the docks. He liked sitting beside the water. It was the perfect place to meditate.

He had recently returned from Coruscant, where he had been tracking a mercenary who had been conducting his business near the Naboo trade lanes. Derk Simman was reknown through this area, and Vodo had departed, determined to stop him. He succeeded, but was forced to defend himself from a Sith Apprentice - Silus - who had been hunting <i>him</i>. The duel was a draw... more or less... with both combatants suffering injuries but neither gaining the upper hand. Vodo had suffered a grevious stab wound to his abdomen, while Silus had multiple lashes from his stick and a broken rib.

He had been in medical treatment ever since his return, and after each session he retreated to the water where he could meditate and heal in peace.

Pretending to rely heavily on his stick for balance, Vodo reached the docks and found a secluded place behind some discarded, empty crates where he could rest.


Closing his eyes, he retreated within himself, calling upon the Force to speed the healing process the 2-1B droid had begun...

Azak rumbled a sigh of relief as his sub surfaced in the harbors of Theed. The journey had been taxing and gut wrenching... who would have thought that such impossibly large creatures lived in the depths of the ocean!?


The Wookiee guided his sub into an unoccupied docking berth and popped the sub canopy, taking in a long breath of fresh air. A dock worker was already approaching, most likely to collect a fee. Azak grabbed his pouch from the back and limberly hopped out of the sub and onto the dock. Slinging his pouch over his shoulder, he pulled out a few credits and handed them to the dock worker, who nodded and handed him a slip in return.


That being taken care of, Azak looked up in wonder at the skyline of Theed stretched out before him. Now this looked like a city that the Jedi Order would call home.... but where to start looking?


Azak began to wander around the harbor, perhaps there was someone around that could help him or at least give him some direction....

There is a technique that the Jedi use to maintain direct control over their immeidiate surrounding enviroment through the Force. It was called the 'Sphere of Responsibility', as Vodo's masters had taught him. He practiced the technique tirelessly, whenever he had free time. He could sense anything and everything within it, and he was always trying to push it to be bigger. Lately he had been able to expand it to within one square mile, which contained the entire dock area.

He instantly noticed the new presence as it entered his gradually expanding sphere. He tried to focus on it, but found he couldn't.

<i>Odd.</i>

He focused harder, but couldn't get a direct lock. His training was still inadequate in some areas, he knew. He would have to work on his technique more. But for now, he wanted to meet this new presence.

Standing up and pretending to lean on his stick like he always did, he slowly hobbled toward the presence, still within his sphere. He rounded the corner of a large wharehouse, and the presence came in sight. Strangely enough, it was a large Wookie, who seemed to be in a great hurry. Perhaps Vodo could help...

"Hello sir," He spoke in his grave, scratchy voice, "Are you looking for something?"

A figure hobbled up to Azak, appearing to depend heavily on a wooden stick as he moved. Azak wasn't quite sure what the figure was, most of it's features were hidden by a large dark brown hooded robe. As the figure spoke, the voice gave away the figure's identity as male.


Will he even understand my response? Not many individuals fluently understand Wookiee....


Reluctantly, Azak slowly rumbled a response.


[I am looking for the Jedi Order. I have an urgent message for the Jedi...]

Vodo inclined his insect-like head as the Wookie let loose a long growl. Vodo obviously didn't understand <i>shyriiwook</i> (the native language of the Wookie race), but perhaps there was another way...

Vodo had noticed when he first began to toy with the Force to get a feel for it, that when people speak, their meaning is implied in the Force. It was the same as sensing the different feelings of other being. He couldn't understand the Wookie word for word, but he did understand the meaning behind them, at least roughly.

He got the sense that the Wookie was looking for something... something very important.

But what?

Vodo touched the Force and allowed it to flow freely through him. The Wookie, getting impatient, spoke again, and Vodo noticed it was the same thing as before. <i>I'm looking...</i>

Vodo pushed harder, using the Force to discover the meaning behind the words. And thats when he understood.

<i>Jedi.</i>

"You're looking for the Jedi?" Vodo asked, knowing the answer, "Yes of course, I will take you there."

Vodo guestured for the Wookie to follow him as he headed toward the Jedi Temple.

"You're looking for the Jedi?" Vodo asked, and the wookiee nodded emphatically even as Vodo added, "Yes of course, I will take you there."


They started off on foot through the busy streets of Theed. The pace was slow as Vodo hobbled along with his stick, slow enough that Azak had to make an effort to refine his usually long, loping strides to keep pace with Vodo's small ones.


The city was beautiful, nothing like the city landscape of Coruscant that Azak was accustomed to seeing. Even in the most built up portion of Theed there was still greenery, fountains, birds... there was little pollution, and Azak figured Naboo probably saw a rather large amount of tourists each year...


After a considerable while of walking, Azak noticed they were approaching the two most dominant buildings in Theed. One was located on the edge of the cliff overlooking the water, and the fancier architecture than the other buildings seemed to signify it as a place of public importance, such as a government center. The other building not far away from the first was a bit more modest in architecture, but it's size and bright grandeur gave off quite an impression. Azak peered up at a thin tower that rose out of the top of a building, and noted that it was the highest point in the city. What could go on there?


Azak anxiously continued to follow the hobbling robed figure, hoping they were getting close...

<br>
<br>
Vodo went slowly, using small steps to give off the impression of being weak and slow. His robe went all the way to the ground, the bottom of it dragging slightly, covering his entire form. If the robe were removed, one would see a very strong and powerful physique. But with the robe, he didn't look very formidible, which he excelled at. He had heard that other Jedi had done the same thing in the past, always being underestimated.

So he continued to hobble along, using his staff to "help" him walk. Vodo could feel in the Force that his companion was getting impatient, so he quickened his pace slightly.

They neared the Jedi Temple, which was located a little past the Palace. Vodo had never been in the palace before, and not many other Jedi were allowed inside. After the blockade, and Darth Maul's death in the adjacent power generator area, the area north of the palace always felt... strange to Vodo. Dark, like an empty space.

He could feel it even now but he pushed the thought to the back of his mind as they reached the main entrance to the Temple. As they entered, Vodo sent a surge through the Force, alerting Master Solo to their arrival.

"This way." He said to Azakhaban, taking a side corridor to a turbolift.
<br>
<br>

Even though Leia had been alerted to their presence a few minutes ago by Vodo's Force message, she still found herself surprised when she ran into the Padawan and his furry newfound companion. At first she could think of nothing to do but wordlessly crane her neck to gaze up at Vodo's companion. It was a wookiee; male, who appeared to be quite antsy. She had never seen him before... what business did he have here?

With a tinge of humor, the phrase 'life debt' came to mind.

Leia blocked the smile that almost escaped onto her lips. Noooo, that was not why they were here.....

She'd run into them in the hall halfway between her office and the turbolift they had used to get to this floor of the Academy. As Leia was rarely sought out this time of day, she immediately assumed that whatever they wanted, it had to be important.

The wookiee offered nothing, probably assuming that Leia would not understand anything he said (which was quite erroneous - Leia was probably the only other Jedi on the premesis besides the wookiee padawan Dewurra who could understand him) and instead looked to Vodo to take the lead. Being quite uninformed, Leia did the same....

<br>
Vodo stopped as Leia stode up to them in the small corridor leading to her office.

He bowed respectfully to Leia, giving the Wookie his first hint as to who Vodo really was, "Master."

He placed his walking stick in front of him, leaning on it slightly as he gave Leia a half-smile, "I found him wondering around the dock area as I began my morning meditation." Vodo inclined his head to glance up at Azakhaban, "He told me he was looking for the Jedi. And he seemed to be in quite a hurry."

Vodo knew that Leia could understand <i>shyriiwook</i>, which was one of the reasons he brough the Wookie to her, "I had hoped you could help him." Vodo said in his grave, scratchy voice.