Naboo

[Aira Cadan]

I came out of hyperspace in a small E-wing fighter. True to my word, I was going to be nearby in case Aelyn needed me, but I wasn't planning on getting involved. I was excited for her. She was going to make a great Jedi, if only she believed in herself and trusted the Force.

 

My first stop was the planet's surface. I was here to visit a small town on one of the smaller continents. They had requested Jedi assistance with a mining dispute, and I was happy to help.

 

((super short, just to get me there))

[Lusef Aryan]

The local port authority official greeted Aelyn with a wary eye, skeptical of her credentials. Then again, he remembered old stories circulating since the Clone Wars: The Jedi having the "left flank" of an entire operation and managing it successfully. Still, an apprentice.

 

"Apprentice? Is that like a padawan, or more?" the official asked, rubbing the stub of his chin, then shook his head, it not mattering. He handed over a data pad, giving the details of the attacks, showing the escalations. Larger and larger sea life killed before the colony attacks, moving out from Naboo's core, then closer to the city of Keren. The official's fingers clenched as he watched the apprentice read on. "We thought it was a rogue or mutant sando, given how we found the others dead. They almost looked like they'd been mauled, but then there was the colony attacks, and we don't know what to think!" He finished in a whisper, though the urgency in his voice could be heard.

 

"Since the call for help, there's been more attacks. Mostly on Gungan industrial transports, though a few random boats near Keren vanished. We have the region on lockdown and have since grounded all aquatic transports that aren't military. We're at our wits end and panic's starting to spread, especially from our Gungan population. We're worried these attacks could hit Keren, Otah Gungah, or possibly even Theed itself in due time. We don't know what's causing these attacks, but they aren't random. We know that much since there's efforts to ensure secrecy and no witnesses. Beyond that... you're well.... our only hope."

 

"Anything I can do to assist you?" he asked, wringing his hands, showing he was nervous.

 

*****

 

Elsewhere, a shadowy figured slunk over a catwalk, shadowed, the long thin corridor he walked down glowed with an eerie blue light that seemed to run along the circular passage. An angry, whispered muttering could be heard, echoing over and over again. The groan of metal and the steady, constant pulsing thumping, not unlike the beating of a heart, covered the echo as it faded into oblivion.

 

"Messa gunna show'em... Messa gunna show'em all...."

[Aelyn]

"It's going to be okay," Aelyn assured the man. "We're going to get to the bottom of this. I may not yet be a full Jedi Knight, but the Force moves powerfully in situations like these."

 

She reached out with her feelings and took a deep breath. Ever since she had first touched the Force, it had given her a very keen perception of the things that were on the hearts and minds of the people around her. She could feel the official's desperation. He had a family. Part of him wanted to get far away from Naboo, but an even bigger part of him was fiercely loyal to his planet. Everything he knew was here, and it was his responsibility to do what he could to help the Palace and the military find out what was happening. If it came down to it, he would take his wife and kids and flee offworld, but only if the danger came directly to Theed's doorstep.

 

She expanded her awareness. Beyond him there were thousands of similar stories. There was confusion and anger, and somewhere beneath it all there was a sense of danger. Whatever was behind this plot, there was a malevolence to it, and she knew that Theed would not stay safe forever. It had fallen to her to protect it if she could.

 

"I need access to physical evidence of what has been happening," she said after a moment. "Samples that have been recovered from the attack sites -- wreckage, debris, anything that might have belonged to one of the victims. I'd also like to see a map of the attacks; has there been a trend in their location?"

 

She would start with what she knew how to do, and hopefully the Force would take her down the path that would prevent further loss of life.

[Lusef Aryan]

The official looked somewhat skeptical still. It was hard to be Force agnostic these days with all the trouble the Sith were causing. All the same, it was the only hope he had. "Apologies, miss," he said, self-aware he was letting his feelings show. "I know you came a long way to help." He turned away to mask his feelings, once more wringing his hands, trying to conceal the very feelings that the Jedi sensed in him.

 

Leading her an office bustling with other military and investigative officials, he made brief introductions. Of the dozen or so investigators, ten were human and the other two were Gungans. The reception was much warmer and a sense of relief could be felt washing through the room. The official pulled up a holo-display, a very details map of Naboo's core and the surrounding regions. The trail of destruction seemed to snake upwards from the core area, then the disappearances covered a wide swath of ocean around Keren City.

 

More images flashed, showing the dead sando aqua monsters. They looked like they'd been shredded by something, almost impossibly large rents looked like tooth or claw marks. "When we originally found them, we thought a bull aqua monster or mutation among the breed caused it, but now..." He shook his head. "At the same time," he frowns, pulling up another image. "There's the attack on the mining colony here." The images showed the once bubble like mining colony built into the rock, the structure subtly showing signs of being blown inward by a massive burst of energy. "Some kind beam or energy weapon we think?"

 

An urgent beeping was heard, sending the room into a frenzy. One of the Gungans ran over to a console switching it on. A panicked voice came in, a Gungan, calling in from another smaller mining colony of about 8 or so dozen individuals on the ocean floor near Keren, lighting in up on the map.

 

"Issa coming! Issa big! Really, really big! It-" There was a sound of static ad the communications were cut off.

 

A stunned silence filled the room, followed by a somber, sober assessment from the official.

 

"We unfortunately have a fresh lead..."

[Aelyn]

Aelyn paled. What was happening!?

 

"We need to respond to this immediately," she asserted. "The military is standing by, right? I need to go with them, get to the site of the attack." She pushed down the raw fear that was bubbling up within her. What was it? A monster? A machine? The attacks were becoming more frequent and more people were dying. They needed to get to the wreckage and see if anything was left. Sure, there was some risk that any search party would also fall under attack, but maybe with military presence they could defend themselves from whatever it was.

 

Either way, the Force would guide her. "Let's go!" she said. Maybe if she pushed herself ahead she could ignore her instincts that were telling her to get as far away as possible.

[Lusef Aryan]

There was frenzied activity around the Jedi as comms went out, returned by silence and no answers, as if every comm channel, transmitter or holofeed to the location went dead. "I don't understand," came one angry, frantic cry as a fist beat on a console. "It's like everything in the area just went dead."

 

"We have a military response on the way. I don't know if they'll get there in time or not though," the official escorting Aelyn said. "The target was chosen well. Too well," he added with a shake of his head and then rubbed his temples. "Let's hurry."

 

The officer, named Wayson Tapalo, lead the way, heading down to a naval dock at a brisk jog. "We considered using some beefed up Gungan tech once these disasters started, but didn't think a bongo was going to cut it." He gave a small lip curl of distaste. "We almost budgeted for some AT-AT Swimmers, but thankfully we got some top of the line Mon Cal kit instead." He gestures towards a newer Mon Cal Amphib starfighter, capable of navigating space as well as the deep seas and armed with standard laser cannons as well as torpedoes. He makes to jump into the pilot's seat, then pauses, scratching his chin. "Change of plans. If something goes down, I'd rather have the Jedi at the controls," he said with a straight face, no smile in his voice or eyes, showing just how serious he was. "I can navigate."

 

*****

 

At the sight of the disaster, two large, bulbous eyes watched the devastation unfold as the colony started to collapse. One hand drifted over a console, fingering a bright blue button, the same color as the walls and ceiling. Another round of attacks was likely unnecessary, and once he was able to scan his surroundings again, he'd be able to deal with any support craft or military vessels in the area. The need to secrecy was being balanced against the need to feed and grow, as well as harvest the power needed for his most wondrous creation. Soon he'd show more than those idiots who exiled him. With the help from his new backer, he'd now be able to show the whole Galaxy.

 

"Messa showed'em. Showed'em good," came the angry muttering. "Issa time to eat, my precious."

[Aelyn]

"Um. Okay," Aelyn said as she sat down in the pilot's chair, chewing on her lip absently. She actually had never flown another ship than the Open Road, and she was really just a "point A to point B" type of pilot. But the controls looked basically the same, there was just some water-specific instrumentation and a lever that switched the craft between outer space, atmospheric, and underwater operational modes. She took a moment to try and find everything while Wayson ran through the prelaunch checks. She noticed that the craft also had a targeting computer and the control yoke allowed her to toggle between and fire the weapons systems, but she had no intention of using them and mostly noted their locations so that she knew to make sure the safety was toggled on in case she bumped the firing trigger.

 

After a moment they launched and she immediately discovered that the throttle was way different from her own ship's as the starfighter rocketed out of the dock. She began to skim low over the surface of the water, figuring the repulsorlifts and atmospheric thrusters were faster than the underwater tech, then stretched out with the Force. The officer had asked her to pilot not because he figured a random 20-something girl with an obvious Coruscanti accent had experience with fighter craft, but because he knew that as a Jedi she could glimpse the future and react to developments far faster than even an experienced pilot without it. As she focused, she could immediately feel the Force both calming her and calling her towards the distant trouble like a beacon.

 

Her hand steadied as she cleared her mind of her uncertainty and inexperience. Just like she could somehow position a lightsaber blade in the incredibly precise position to intercept a stinger bolt from a remote without a thought, the starfighter itself could also become an extension of herself if she would just get out of the way.

 

She opened up the throttle, determined to make good time. She could see the ocean stretching out ahead, but its relatively peaceful surface belied the chaos that she could feel ahead of them. Subconsciously she guided the starfighter not quite along a straight-line path to the attack, somehow knowing that there was a safest route which was not apparent to any sensor. "Please watch the scanners, Wayson," she told her copilot. "I can feel the disturbance ahead of us, but somehow I think sensor data is more in line with what Theed is hoping to receive when we make it back."

[Lusef Aryan]

Tapalo's mindset went from skeptical to believing the Jedi could fix this to assuming if a Jedi was sent that said Jedi would be an instant expert on anything needed to solve this crisis, not thinking that a Jedi couldn't not be an ace pilot in the lines of the Skywalkers. The joys of being a minor official with no vaping clue on what a Jedi did other than using the Force, fighting with laser-swords, and being the Galaxy's preeminent protectors. As such, any doubt or concern Aelyn voiced went right over his head, though he also knew too that Jedi and their dark side counter parts could sense danger and see the future. He hoped that'd be an edge needed, though he didn't know how reliable or not it'd be. He took the co-pilot's seat and kept punched into the different communications and reports, listening much, saying little back through those channels.

 

"Figure it's better to listen in than broadcast our presence too widely," he explained as they skimmed across Naboo's oceans. "I'd rather not paint a giant target on our backs," he added. He saw the course deviation veer off, moving away from the attacked colony. He was confused at first. He kept a careful eye on the scanners, giving a nod of acknowledgment at the directions to keep at them.

 

The sense of disturbance grew as Aelyn got closer. There was the rent in the Force from the loss of life. It wasn't a Wound or anything, but the mark it left could be felt. The disturbance had something else too that seemed to throb and pulse. It was something alive, yet not, and it felt... Dark, like whatever it was had a taint to it in the energies of the Force. This preceded the sensor data, which showed several smaller sized, but still heavily armed military craft converging into the affected area. A sudden sense of danger, sharp, mortal, and piercing could be felt.

 

"There's something there," Wayson reported, listening in, his voice somber, thick with fear. "The ships ahead of us are picking up something moving on the ocean floor. It's almost a kilometer in size. It looks to be a mass of sea life, but there's something el-" He broke off as a blue burst could be seen ahead, a bright shiny booma-plasma blue ray that shot into the sky, breaching the surface and boiling the water around it. At once, the ship's systems went haywire and started to shut down, starting with the most sensitive electronics including computers and communications, though the engines remained working for now, even if they seemed shaky.

[Aelyn]

A spike of adrenaline and fear shattered Aelyn's meditative calm, but she fought to get it back. Her copilot's heart rate skyrocketed and he became hyperalert, knowing that they could be moments from death if they made the wrong move. She forced herself to take a deep breath. The starfighter's systems were going haywire but they were still moving and she found that she could still maneuver, if sluggishly. "Let's see if we can dive," she said. She threw the lever and was relieved when the underwater propulsion systems came online. Dipping the starfighter below the waves, she continued its arcing path towards the mining colony, now descending but not risking getting too close to the strange being down below.

 

That being was the focus of her renewed attention to the Force. On some level it was alive, despite the energy weapon discharge. She stretched out with her feelings, trying to connect with any sort of intelligence. She remembered the technique she'd been taught by Aira and immediately put to use infiltrating the kinrath cave on Dantooine. She poured a soothing sensation into the Force, trying to calm whatever lurked far below. We don't need to be enemies! she thought.

 

Her hands gripped the controls firmly. She trusted that the Force could calm any beast no matter how big or malevolent, but she couldn't calm a machine, and whatever kind of hybrid that thing was might not respond to her attempts. They would need to be ready to evade and escape if that happened. Until then she still hoped to visit what was left of the mining colony, see if anyone had survived and was in need of help -- maybe even find some further clue about what they were dealing with.

[Lusef Aryan]

Thoughts of exile and revenge welled in one dark soul in the ocean floor as he tried to wrestle with the controls for his most wonderful, unique creation. Well, unique for now...

 

Exile. The fools called him dangerous, deranged. But he had powerful new friends, new tools, new creations, and he was showing them.

 

Gungan technology was bio-organic at its core, items from bongas to their cities grown through care, usually from coral or other bioforms, then mechanically overlaid, specially powered through the unique plasma found on Naboo. Ages and ages ago, he'd proposed something more ambitious than his peers dared dream of, a living war machine that could wipe out the surface dwelling outworlders and then allow his people to reclaim Naboo for their own. They sent him away, exiled him as a trouble maker, warned never to return.

 

Now with his most precious creation, he was able to exact his revenge and start to harvest the plasma he needed to grow his "child". His benefactor of many years, even before his seeming death years ago, had provided information on how the Sith grew their abominations through alchemy and other powers. A scientist, there was no way that he could reproduce those exact results of mysticism, but a seed, given by his benefactor contained those energies allowing it to grow in line with other Sith fellbeasts. Naboo would only be the start of his revenge. That was what he had to promise. An easy bargain.

 

He fuddled with the controls, feeling something like resistance, a calming of his creation. It was struggling against his directions. The last EMP generating plasma burst knocked out the latest platoon of ships en route to try to deal with his Aqua-Leviathan progenitor, but now something was causing interference. The EMP couldn't have damaged the controls, but there was something else. He would have to wait until scanners came back online. He could feel the thrumming of a heartbeat around him, as if it was growing forcibly calmer, more relaxed.

 

"No! No! Youssa cannot relax!" came a guttural growl, followed by a fist on the controls. "Wessa gunna show'em all. Send'em all to their dooms!" He walked over to another console, moving with a faint limp, and started adjusting levels of various chemicals in the creature's brain and bloodstream to increase aggressiveness.

 

*****

 

The creature's dark nature pushed back. The effects calmed it, but there was a boiling cauldron of emotions: Rage, destruction, all deep in the Dark Side as if there was a tainting overlay that went to the thing's spirit.

 

There was another emotion too born of something Lighter driven into its instinct filled mind, but twisted: A protectiveness, a desire to harbor and protect.

 

At once, something injected more rage into the creature and the calming effects where thrown off.

 

*****

 

Sure the creature was back within the parameters it needed, the creature's creator started to steer it away from the ruined colony. He wondered if other hormones and changes that had been induced into the past several days were causing it to react. Until now it'd been functioning perfectly. Time to retreat back to the Nest. He could do a more thorough exam, and see about processing the plasma he harvested. It wouldn't be long now...

 

****

 

Wayson Tapalo, for his part, just deathgripped the dashboard of their vehicle, face pale, wondering why he hadn't stayed in the safety of his office. As they broke into a dive, going under the waters he finally found his voice. "Wha-what on Naboo just happened? What's going on?!" he asked not bothering to hide his fear.

[Aelyn]

"He's retreating," Aelyn said calmly. She'd actually shut her eyes for a moment and the starfighter continued to dive through open waters to the remains of the mining colony, but now she opened them to look to her copilot. "Wayson, the attacker is both a creature and a machine. I was able to connect with it, calm it, but it has another master. It felt almost... protective of something." She looked a bit puzzled. Protective of its master? Of its home? If she had that answer maybe they could find a solution that didn't involve killing the beast. After all, if it wasn't really responsible for everything that had happened, it didn't deserve to die unless there was no other way to stop the attacks.

 

She was tempted to follow it, but she couldn't be in two places at once and she didn't think they had enough information to deal with the problem yet. "Did anyone else make it? I think it's going home. If someone could follow it there it could help inform our next move."

 

Finally they approached the mining colony and she focused her senses and the scanners on it. First she wanted to determine if there were any survivors and help them in any way she could. Then she wanted to survey the damage and see if any parts of the structure were intact. Along the way she was hoping the Force would lead her to something that, using her other gift of psychometry, might provide her with another clue. The Force interacted somewhat unpredictably with objects during an event like this and it was difficult to say what psychometry might let her see. But the best case scenario was that there was some piece of the biomachine dislodged during its physical assault on the site that she might use to get a glimpse of its origin. Or maybe the Force would lead her to another object, something that belonged to one of the Gungans caught here.

[Lusef Aryan]

Wayson gives Aelyn a look that could have either been appropriate because he sort of followed what she said, or because she had suddenly grown a third eye out of her forehead that could juggle. "Uh... ah... okay, Jedi stuff," he concluded, just nodding. He latched onto the one part he could follow. "A cyborg droid is doing this?" He tried to picture out. "What, how, why? So is like someone controlling it then? Why couldn't you find that person or thing and stop them?" he asked, trying to understand how that worked.

 

Wayson punched in a few comm calls, whispering fast and furiously into his headset. "We'll have some pursuit craft tailing after it. It's going to be tricky, trying to stay close to whatever our not-so-mechanical monster is without getting its attention." He nodded a few more times, still talking quietly to relay what Aelyn said and keep themselves updated.

 

As they reached the mining colony it was obvious things were in bad shape. It was a large dome like structure built into a small cliff deep in the seabed, or rather had been. It looked like a large blast puncture the dome and cut through the colony, sending a torrent of destruction as it continued on. The place looked almost without power, the place utterly dark. Wrecks of various defense craft could be seen in the area, floating around the colony or sunk to the bottom. Unlike all previous attacks, there were survivors this time. Though the military presence hadn't done observable damage to the attacker, it looks like the sustained alerts and firepower made it more cautious in its assault. The colony was completely flooded though, so there was no way to get out without getting wet.

 

Wayson brought along a couple breathing devices, similar to the ones a pair of Jedi once used ages ago a decade before the Clone Wars. "What do we prioritize?" he asks before they depart. "They have an account on how this... thing launched itself at the colony and tentacle-like feeders started attacking it, going after civilians and other things. Do we interview survivors, examine the area it struck, or what? Your call, Jedi."

[Aelyn]

((PMed you a few days ago but maybe you don't log in except to write.))

 

Although she was unaccustomed to giving orders, especially to older men and women with more experience in matters such as these than she had, Aelyn pressed ahead. Not only did her training and her trust in the Force equip her to do some real, tangible good here on Naboo, but this was her test to become a full-fledged Jedi Knight. She was being called to step up and she would do everything she could to prove that the trust everyone was putting in her was not done so in error.

 

"We'll have to get to both tasks even if it takes a while," she said as she accepted the breathing apparatus. She didn't really know how to use it, but it was meant to be intuitive, right? "We should talk to the survivors first and then get them evacuated from the area, just in case it decides to come back." Honestly the whole evacuation thing wasn't being handled in a satisfactory manner if you asked her. The creature's range was increasing according to the map they'd been looking at back in Theed, but even if it was difficult logistically to evacuate a large area and bring them onto the land where it was safer, lives were being lost the longer it was put off.

 

"Please lead the way. By continuing to listen to the Force I might be able to get some more insight even while we go about it."

[Lusef Aryan]

Wayson fitted his aquata breather into his mouth, preparing to dismount from the craft. He realized he hadn't quite dressed for this kind of endeavor, but he felt the urgency of not wanting to lose any time when there were potential, even likely survivors in the wreckage. He glanced over at Aeyln, seeing what looked like confusion when he handed her the aquata breather device, which he thought at one time was part of the Jedi's standard field kit, then drew his mouth back, showing he the device fit in.

 

His speech came out garbled, chiming in. "That sounds like a good plan. We have emergency craft on the way to help with the evac and any medical treatment." Wayson's voice also showed his anxiety, echoing some of Aelyn's thoughts. "Do you think we'll have to evac the entire ocean? I mean... is anything safe under the water on this planet?" He shook his head. "How does one stop something that can do... this?" he said, doubt and even despair creeping into his voice.

 

Survivors started queuing up at the colony's edge, eager either to get aid or to just hopefully get out entirely. The wounded were also carted up on actual and makeshift stretchers. As the craft parked, Wayson checked his breathing device once more, even putting on googles to help him see.

 

Stepping up to the craft was an aged looking Gungan, looking half-matriarchal, half-business oriented in her bearing. She looked up with a face that was grave, but full of a hopeful expectation, making eye contact with Aelyn through the cockpit. A manager of the mining colony, they thought they were safe and on alert, and along with some of her fellow leaders thought it enough to keep them safe. She felt like a fool and the deaths weighed heavily on her. She didn't know that Aelyn was a Jedi, but some gut check, some intuition told her that hope had arrived.

[Aelyn]

"We don't necessarily have to kill it," Aelyn told Wayson as she fiddled with the rebreather. "We just need to stop the man who's controlling it, making it attack these places."

 

The mining colony had certainly seen better days. It was largely dark except for a few surviving emergency lights and glowing Gungan plasma, so she lit the closest bubble up with the starfighter's surviving flood lamps before transferring over. The water was cold and dark down here, and the colony was mostly flooded, but there were pockets of air left over which she could thankfully use to have a conversation.

 

Soon she was sloshing through waist-deep water on her way over to the gathered Gungans, her Jedi robes doing little to insulate her from the frigid depths. They did, when combined with the lightsaber dangling visibly from her belt, serve to identify her as a member of the Order, and she could feel the gathered survivors react to seeing her with relief that she wasn't entirely sure was earned. One thing that had become clear to her over the course of her training was that, no matter how certain groups might try to portray the Jedi as something other than what they were, to the common sentients of the galaxy the Jedi were powerful beacons of hope and wisdom that could work miracles. Aelyn would do her best to make sure their faith remained intact when this was over.

 

She bowed as she approached the well-dressed Gungan woman in front of the gathering, trying to keep from shivering as the water soaked her clothes. "I'm Jedi Aelyn Talis," she introduced herself. Her voice was calm. "More ships are on their way to evacuate all of you. I would be happy to transport any of you that are left when I leave, but my mission here is to learn everything I can about this attack and I'm going to look around for a little while."

 

There was a groan as something deeper within the colony shifted. She might not have unlimited time. "But first, I need to hear anything you can tell me about the attack. Anything could help get to the bottom of this."

 

She immediately started getting a mix of stories, starting with the manager. Most of them called attention to the definite hybrid organic/machine nature of their attacker, its EMP attack, and its enormous size. This thing wasn't just big. Sando aqua monsters were big. This thing was in a weight class of its own. Several hundred meters long and armored, it was practically the size of a small space cruiser. One thing that was new to her, however, was the apparent fact that it had been targeting their plasma tanks, the viscous blue-white semi-fluid that powered Gungan technology, harvesting or maybe even feeding on the stuff. That didn't mean a whole lot to Aelyn, knowing as little as she did about the technology, but she bet that someone in Theed would know what to do with the information.

 

By the time she was satisfied, some of the other evac ships were arriving. She didn't really like the prospect of swimming around from bubble to bubble in the freezing waters, but she knew she had to get to the sites of the attacks. Any surviving piece of material from the monster could both serve as important evidence and might just react to her psychometry. Steeling herself, she started her exploration, drawing the Force around herself to guide and protect her.

[Lusef Aryan]

Wayson looked skeptical at Aelyn's comments. He didn't know how to respond to that, a mix of doubt and feelings that came close to hope and shame coalescing. Could it really be that simple? All the same, Wayson observed the change in mood as the assembled Gungans recognized Aelyn, silently nodding in approval as she had her lightsaber on her belt to signify her relationship with the Jedi Order. Given his background, he slid away to have a talk with the remaining security forces within the colony itself and get a field debriefing.

 

The Gungan woman returned the bow. ""Thank you for coming Jedi Talis. I am boss Augura Lora of this colony." Her Gungan accent was very strong, but she spoke Galactic Basic with a practiced ease, annunciating the words properly. "Please look around, but be careful. We don't know the full extend of the damage."

 

She motioned for one of her aides to accompany Aelyn on her initial survey and detail the attack. The first sign of trouble as power going out. They were able to evacuate to shelters right away, but then the creature attacked. "Idda looked like a serpent. Really, really, REALLY big, anda idda breath a blue booma blast." That was the best description of the creature. "Idda started to attack the colony uppa really close. Things then came outta its mouth, like squid or a kraken. Attacked many buildings inside." The aid shook his head, a mournful frown on his face. He motioned towards a tree trunk sized appendage in the water almost a dozen meters long. It looked charred where plasma had hit and severed it, and disturbingly still quivered, not quite dead. "We fought it off, but idda kept eating. Going aft'a us... even going aft'a our supplies." The tentacle looked like almost solid muscle, but it was laced with a lattice of coral-like stands and under that... metal?

[Aelyn]

The dismembered-but-twitching tentacle was the stuff of nightmares, but Aelyn didn't think it could hurt them. Finding some good footing and a little bit of space in a surviving pocket of air, she drew upon the Force. "Let's have a closer look, shall we?" she told the Gungan. At her coaxing, the tentacle began to rise toward them out of the water. As it crossed the gap to them, she twisted it around so she could get a better look at the place where it was severed, noticing the glint of metal. She produced a small, thankfully-waterproof datapad from the inside pocket of her robe and took a holo-image of the stump for documentation -- they might not be able to tow the whole tentacle back to Theed, so her examination would have to be thorough enough to take advantage of the opportunity.

 

Once the tentacle had been settled upon the deck at their feet, Aelyn wrinkled her nose at its strong odor and the thought of what she would have to do next. Slowly she reached out and put her hand on it, feeling the flesh squish under her fingers. But she stretched out with her feelings as she did so. The air and the water here had a strong impression of fear from the attack, a violent and sudden emotional event which had left a strong impression on the invisible currents of the energy field that was the Force. Beyond it, however, she felt what had given this place character before the monster had appeared; Gungans were dutiful, honorable, and proud people, a fact sometimes belied by their exaggerated mannerisms and unusual speech patterns when speaking Basic. This place echoed still with the chorus of their honest hard work, the latest fruits of which had had now been commandeered for some unknown purpose.

 

The tentacle had echoes of its own. A history told in the impressions in the Force that clung to it. Aelyn knelt, fighting off the unpleasant sensations of being cold and soaked and focusing on those impressions. There was no guarantee it would work, but just maybe the Force would allow her to reconstruct a scene from the monster's past, give her a hint as to its origin or the identity of its master....

[Lusef Aryan]

A connection was made:

 

• The Force resonated with Aelyn, both furthering and resisting its calls to action within the creature. There was a connection there, once more adding to the feeling of something of the Dark Side behind this, like a shading or taint over the dismembered body part.
   
  The tentacle's most recent "memory" could still replay, picked up through the echoes it left in the Force: Crashing through the panicked colony. Striking out and capturing Gungan guards there, throwing it into a fiery blue maw here, then lashing back out into a damaged building, puncturing through it. It needed the blue stuff, and Aelyn would recognize it as the plasma that the Gungans worked with. The tentacle's brethren joined in, seeking out both prey and plasma in equal measure, pulling it in, not quite devouring it, but placing it where it was needed. Where Father ordered it.
   
  Memories flashed back more of similar hunts in the ocean, connected to the larger whole: Feeding on other sea life, feeling the pull on its senses to direct it hither and to, the mechanical pull and push. The senses continued, a familiar push behind them. It could feel exhaultation as it attacked others, and killed, and the aggressive murder brought a sensation of joy to the thing's heart. It was tempered by only two softer emotions. For its Father... and now, recently for...
   
  There was a further flashback. It was the sensation of being in a large, confining tube in a dimly lit room. Wires and smaller tubes were hooked into its body. It could feel itself growing, and a shadowy figure, silhouetted in the dim blue light watched. There was a sense of wary affection for this being. Father. The Dark Side feeling was strongest, as if there was an infusion of those passionate, angry energies running through it... like... rage...
   
  "Youssa gonna grow big. Very, very big, my precious. Wessa gonna show'em. We going to show'em all. We gonna show the whole Galaxy...."
   
  The sensations ended as the tentacle's memories came back full circle, feeling a sharp burning pain as a plasma grenade hit it square, severing it from the whole, causing it to fall off. There were no emotions, just sensations and stimulus response of pain and the cold water it lay in. The Dark Side taint remained, growing stronger as death took it.

 

With that, the thing died, having exerted its own energies to give Aelyn the show it needed. The Dark Side taint that empowered the beast at its creation had endured, and while it resisted what Aelyn was doing, those same energies fed into her movements too.

[Aelyn]

As the vision ended, Aelyn was shivering uncontrollably, not only soaked to the bone in frigid water but any body heat she had left stolen away by the brush of the dark side. She stepped back from the tentacle, rubbing her arms, clamping her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering. She remembered learning about how to control her vitals with the Force when Aira had taught her about healing trances, and she forced herself to take two deep breaths to see if she could manage to drive off the deep chill, but it didn't seem to be making much of a difference. She swore to herself to practice variants of the technique later.

 

One thing was clear. The dark side was directly involved here. The monster itself still didn't seem to be at fault -- it was being fueled by something truly evil. She had a big piece of the puzzle now. She still didn't know if she could confront the monster's Gungan master, and she didn't know where he was, but she had some good leads. Maybe a fully trained Jedi Knight like Aira or a great Master like Darex or Onderin Starlisk would be ready to kick down some doors, lightsaber blazing, but she couldn't quite fit all the puzzle pieces together and she still rather hoped a lightsaber wouldn't be necessary.

 

She turned to the Gungan who had accompanied her. "Th-thank you for br-bringing me here," she managed. "We n-need to get out of here." She then commed her copilot. "Wayson, th-this is Aelyn. P-please meet me back at the ship. I have information that n-needs to get back to Theed."

 

Without another moment's delay she started the walk/swim back to where she'd parked the half-fried Mon Cal starfighter, trying to move quickly to get her blood flowing again.

 

As soon as she was aboard, she sat down, pulled out her datapad again, and wrote down what she had seen in the vision so she didn't forget anything, including the exact words of the shadowy Gungan that had appeared. By the time she'd finished, Wayson was aboard, having seen the remaining survivors safely onto the other transports.

 

Thankfully the starfighter's climate-controlled interior was quite warm, so although Aelyn was still quite uncomfortable, at least her shivering had stopped. She began the startup sequence, hoping that everything was working well enough for them to make it back. "There's a Gungan behind this," she told Wayson. "The monster is being driven by the dark side of the Force and the will of its master. It was here to harvest plasma -- not to eat it, but to take it back to its home base. This is going to keep getting worse unless something is done, but maybe someone in Theed can figure something out with this information. At the very least we might be able to predict its next target if we can't find its origin before then."

 

The launch sequence had a few missing lights and at least one hopefully minor system wasn't working, but the engines started when she hit the activation toggle after trying for several seconds to remember where it was. She took another calming deep breath and let it out. "Just keep moving," she told herself quietly as Wayson released the docking clamps and they headed out.

[Lusef Aryan]

Wayson did what he could to help the huddled survivors while Aelyn did her Jedi Force thing, working with Lora to get supplies out and take statements to ensure the evacuation went smoothly.

 

He answered the comm at once, slushing through the chill water and get the ship warmed up, both figuratively and literally, knowing how much the water got to him. Watching the first of the military and evacuation crews, he tried to stay alert. He didn't think it too likely, but there was a gnawing worry in the back of his mind that whatever did this could return to finish off the survivors. If that happened, he didn't know what he'd do to help the Gungans, much less himself.

 

When Aelyn finally returned, he heard her comment about a Gungan being this, snorting and thinking she was telling a joke. His expression quickly grew serious once he realized she wasn't pulling his leg. His expression grew even more grave once he heard about the Force itself being used. The Dark Side? He knew even less about that than he did Jedi. The Force was all one thing, but Sith and Jedi just used it differently. He understood plasma harvesting and at once several things fell into place for him.

 

On their ride back to Theed, he kept his comm lines open. "Heard back from Lora the evacuation's concluding successfully. It's just her and a few other staffers left at this point. They'll be right behind us. He tapped a headset. "Plasma... We should have seen it. I think that explains the EMP we felt earlier. For some reason Gungan weaponry is strong against droids and other machines, as the Trade Federation found out ages ago. Whatever's doing this is knocking out the power to its targets, then attacking." He grimaced. "Brilliant, but scary. You said a Gungan was doing this? Are you sure?" He felt a bit embarrassed as he spoke, knowing he reflected old human prejudices on Naboo despite the best of intentions. "Why would a Gungan be attacking one of their own?" He shook his head. "And you do think Theed will be in serious danger now?" he asked in a quieter voice.

 

*****

 

Moving along the control room, a figure paced. He snarled, giving an angry muttering that echoed in the dimly lit blue room. The defenders were ready for him. Not enough to stop him, but enough to damage his precious. There would be survivors this time too. It was inevitable. He knew it was almost time, with how his lovely creation had been growing and feeding, that the time was right to really bring this show to the wider Galaxy. Even so, the thoughts of striking at the Capital, of driving home his revenge weighed on him.

[Aelyn]

Aelyn was relieved to hear that the evacuation was complete, but she knew this wasn't over and there was still the possibility that more people would be hurt if they didn't act quickly. It was difficult to weigh going in with a plan against expediency when there were lives in danger, but knowing that the monster was going after plasma would help them keep innocents out of harm's way.

 

"I don't know if Theed is in danger yet," she admitted. She paused to concentrate on taking the starfighter above the water so they could fly the rest of the way. "The Gungan seems to be driven by revenge... against his people or the Naboo I'm not sure. I think given time he will become a danger to everyone, and we have to stop him before then. For now we need to advise the Gungans to evacuate every location that might have large stores of plasma that might attract the monster. It's better to let it go than risk lives staying there."

 

Already they were approaching the city -- the starfighter could really move. Aelyn loved the Open Road dearly, but she could admit it would be nice if her ship could perform like this one if her life was going to have her facing this kind of danger with any sort of frequency. She circled around a little before spotting the hangar from which they'd disembarked, and landing was a little tricky with half the instruments dead, but one bump later and they were on dry land again. Aelyn, of course, was still far from dry, and her waterlogged travel boots squished audibly as she and Wayson headed back toward the command center.

 

As soon as she got there, Wayson helped her get the attention of the right people and she gave her report. She described the EMP attack, shared the account of the assault as told by the Gungans present, shared the holos she'd taken of the severed tentacle, and explained what she had seen through the Jedi technique of psychometry. She was sure to share the exact words she'd heard the Gungan say, and gave the same advice she'd told Wayson about evacuating facilities that stored or mined plasma.

 

"The way I see it, we have a lot of leads that might pan out," she continued after her account was complete. "We need to try to figure out who this Gungan might be based on his stated motive. We need to come up with a way that we might be able to stand against the monster if it comes down to it, but I admit I have no idea what might be able to shrug off an EMP attack. Then we need to find him. I think we can end this without fighting the monster directly -- without its master controlling it, it should stop being aggressive. I don't suppose anyone was able to follow it home?"

[Lusef Aryan]

Wayson's demeanor changed when they were above water again, finding the warm Naboo sun a welcome relief. He listened to what Aelyn said, nodding glumly. "That's going to be a tall order," he concluded. "Doable, but hasn't been done since the Federation Blockade." He shook his head. "A lot of the Bosses aren't going to like that, not are my superiors, but I don't think we have a choice."

 

He remained buckled in through the landing, on line with his superiors and getting them assembled. He gave a very high level overview. It was rough, but he could tell Aelyn took to piloting this type of ship very well indeed. Though they were greeted by more chill and blowing air once they were in the hangar. "Yeah..." he said, following her, leaving a wet trail behind him. "Next time, we need something better equipped for aquatic travel." he observed, trying to wring out the hem of his uniform off to the side of the hall before stepping into the command center.

 

There was a bustle of activity in the command center once Aelyn had been fully debriefed. There was some disbelief as Aelyn relayed her story, but one of the Gungan attendants had an "ah-ha!" moment and a feeling of grim excitement could be felt running through him. A short time later, a likely suspect appeared.

 

Dr. Malu Maloba was once a preeminent Gungan engineer, but very isolationist in his policies, believing that Naboo belonged to the Gungans alone. He'd advocated on using political, and if necessary, military means, to force Humans and other species off Naboo. Brilliant, he knew how to work with the Gungan's unique plasma, as well as bio-engineer Gungan ships and other structures. Agitating too heavily, he was exiled from Otoh Gungah. He pretty much vanished, save for a blip where he came up on the radar, associated with some suspicious financial activities around a figure known only as Marlowe White who was linked to various wars and conflicts on other star systems and seemed to have disappeared completely a few years back. Holorecordings of the trial where Maloba was exiled would match with what Aelyn saw.

 

Dealing with the EMPs was going to be a problem. Ion shielding could work, but not underwater. "We could power down during those initial blasts," suggested a decorated admiral, "there seems to be down time between those waves based on data we got back from the colony attack, but we'd need to know exactly when those were happening so we could avoid having our ships and weapons fried and then coordinate that with precision." The admiral gave Aelyn a meaningful look.

 

One other problem emerged as they dug into Maloba's work, one that made this a lot more dangerous. The doctor had been known to build creations like this, bio-organic constructs like almost everything else the Gungans created. Most of the time, and there was thought this wouldn't be an exception, was that they weren't creatures left to their own devices and controlled remotely, but also vehicles...

[Aelyn]

"I can help coordinate that," Aelyn said with a solemn nod. It was a big responsibility, since if her own timing was off, a lot of people could die in the direct aftermath.

 

She seemed to think things over. "You think that its Master might be aboard it, controlling it directly?" she asked. "That would make sense from what I was feeling. Plus, otherwise we might have been able to track whatever signals he was sending to control it. In that case, maybe a direct battle is unnecessary or should only be the backup plan. If we can get me aboard, further bloodshed might not be necessary."

 

It was a dangerous proposition. Aelyn was talking about inserted alone or with very little support into a potentially hostile area, armed only with her wits and a lightsaber that she had learned to use but never carried into a real fight. But she considered it worth the risk if they could avoid a full-out battle against the monster. She chewed her lip absently. "As I described in my debriefing, I was able to calm the creature down for a short time," she said. "If I could give it my full attention, it may make it possible for one ship to approach it and get someone on board."

 

She ran a hand through her wet hair, fixing one of the red strands that had gotten stuck to the side of her face. "All that assumes that we can find it again."

[Lusef Aryan]

The admiral, more familiar with the Force in an academic sense than Wayson, had heard of techniques like battle mediation, having studied the great battles of the Clone Wars when the Jedi were at their prime. He could sense the Aelyn's concern, realizing he was placing a lot on her shoulders. His armada, and all of Naboo if things went wrong could depend on her. All the same, just like his staff and the various Gungans before him, he had faith in the Jedi and the hope they offered in these dark hours.

 

A Gungan engineer brought up records of Maloba's work, retrieved from records transmitted from Otoh Gunga. Some of it was shared, much of it classified since he'd been a military engineer, but he had a reputation for a certain "hands on" approach. The best guess was he'd be inside it, making it half-ship, half-creature. It wasn't definite, but it was looking that way.

 

"Thessa speculation, Jedi Ael'een," the Gungan said, working through a hologram that tried to render together various accounts of the creature that attacked the mining colony. "But we thinks 'dat if the doctor was gun'a control his creation, he'da wants a direct neural interface." Despite the somewhat broken sounding Basic, there was a knowledgeable confidence in the Gungan's voice, pointing towards the head. "If he's'a able to process 'dat plasma he stole, there's a gots to be a filt'ar or some'ting in the mouth to catch it, ya?" He gave a grimace. "Notsa saying you should let yourself get swallowed though," he added hastily, "but it'a seems the only way to get in without blast'n it open." His tone however suggested he'd like nothing more than to destroy the creature entirely, and several looks in the room showed most of the others shared that sentiment.

 

"We don't know where he'll strike," the Admiral said gravely. "Theed is of concern, especially since he hates humans and wants us wiped off Naboo's surface. "But, he also reportedly had harsh words with his people when they exiled him. Otoh Gunga is also a prime target." He gave Aelyn a direct look. "We can split our forces to protect both areas. We'll need to actually," he said, shaking his head. "Unless he's going after more mining facilities and settlements, and we've started to evacuate them, he's going to lash out now that we're onto him. Alternatively," he said, bringing up a map of Naboo's ocean region. "His attacks started in the core area, near the Naboo Abyss. We could try taking the fight to it." He stirred, looking uncomfortable. "We know Jedi are keepers of the peace, not soldiers, but a lot depends on you and there's only one of you. What would you do?"

[Aelyn]

Aelyn chewed her lip as she thought over the options. No matter what she picked, there was a chance that something would go horribly wrong and people would die. If she picked Theed or Otah Gunga, she would be there with the defenders, but the other city or even a totally different location could be attacked and the best she could do would be to rush there and hope to do whatever good she could. If she went out looking for the monster, she would be combating it on better terms where it was less likely to hurt others, but if she couldn't find it in time before it attacked one of the cities, again they would have to defend without her to help them handle the initial EMP, and a lot of people could die before she could do anything.

 

Doubt crept into the back of her mind. She wasn't a soldier and she wasn't a Jedi Knight yet. She was just a girl that had chanced upon some special skills and now was being trusted to use them to protect potentially thousands of innocent lives. Even if she found the monster, there was a very real chance she would get herself killed, and failure could have dire consequences for Naboo. Maybe Aira was nearby and could still fix things, but the cost would be huge. Perhaps it would be the correct decision to call on Aira now and ask for help. After all, the lives that could potentially be saved were far, far more important than her proving herself a Jedi Knight by acting alone.

 

The Jedi apprentice took a deep breath and touched the Force, feeling its steadiness, its current. She attempted to quiet herself, forget about the girl who was in over her head and instead focus on who she needed to be. Her hand fell gently upon the pommel of her lightsaber. Though it was a weapon, the crystal within always seemed to resonate with her and remind her of her purpose, filling her with courage to walk the difficult path. She could hear it speaking to her when her mind was quiet; not a voice exactly, but a direction. Just like there was no mistaking the path of a river, she knew where it was pulling her.

 

Her eyes opened. Everyone was giving her somewhat-concerned looks, but she could feel that they trusted her; their trust was truly upon the Force, for she was its vessel. "I'm going out after it," she stated. "I believe that with the Force I will find it before it attacks again. But the situation here is much more dire than the Jedi Council had originally believed, or else they would have assigned more Jedi. If something happens to me out there, you will need someone to fight for you, and I believe Jedi Knight Aira Cadan is perfect for the job.

 

"Give me a few minutes to call her. I would greatly appreciate if you could procure a wet-suit or something that might fit me and do better underwater than these robes," she said, gesturing at her soaked attire and the trail of water she'd tracked through the command center. "I'd like to head out as soon as possible after that, and may the Force be with us."

 

Taking another deep breath, she immediately grabbed her commlink and looked for a quiet corner where she could explain to her Master everything that had happened so far....

[Lusef Aryan]

Wayson, at the admiral's behest, set out at once to see about procuring something to Aelyn's specifications for creating a dedicated wet suit. The other staff, from the admiral on up, had ignored the wet and dripping Jedi and her escort for a couple reasons, one simply because the need for decisions and a quick debrief was too great, and second, they understood that both just came in from the field.

 

As Wayson set about to get that wetsuit, and the admiral started working with his various counterparts to coordinate an offensive to find Maloba's leviathan, the mad Gungan made preparations on his own, unknowingly setting a clock for Naboo's defenders, and placing more weight on Aelyn's shoulders.

 

Doctor Maloba was deep in the bowels of his creation, moving through a small conduit that looked like a sewer and smelled about as fresh, hunching over to avoid hitting his head. Even so, it gave him access to one small, but key part of his creation's body. He would have his demonstration and revenge by one last strike that would leave its mark on Naboo, but his aims were to leave a mark on the Galaxy. His benefactor had been very clear on that piece, and he also had to exercise more caution now with his precious creation in these advanced stages.

 

Descending a ladder, Maloba looked over a room that looked like a cross between a fleshy sack and a torpedo bay, standing upright finally. Large gelatinous pods grew in the walls, black and looking not unlike oversized caviar, which would be apt. Aelyn had sensed the thing's protectiveness, and while it knew its "father", the creature, a she, was also protective of its young, finally ready to hatch. Infusions of the alchemic drugs his benefactor left, coupled with the plasma he'd harvested and grown would ensure this batch of spawn would grow big and strong.

 

Maloba scuttled over to a panel in the room, looking at the pieces. He was an expert in biotech, but scavenged parts would work here too to get his spawn where they needed to go. Some would hatch here on Naboo, but he and his benefactor agreed on this point. The wider Galaxy must know that they'd mess with the Gungan race at their peril, and after those fools who exiled him had been made to pay, they would know that for sure.

 

"Mon Calamari," he said, his tone frenzied, but with a mantra like reverence as he read the various missile bays in this room. "Manaan... Kamino... Zeltros... Selonia..." A half dozen other names he rattled off, each with their own set of missiles, all equipped with hyperdrives. Once he'd finished with those fools here on Naboo, he would bring his creature to the surface, and the missiles would launch skyward and then go into space to crashland in the oceans of those chosen worlds, unmarked, unnoticed. They would grow in those foreign oceans, and feed, and while they would be unable to send their spawn out among the stars without help, Maloba's mark would be made on the Galaxy once they grew to size, spreading chaos and terror unlike anything that had been seen before. Cackling insanely, the Gungan made his way back to the bridge, gleefully rubbing his hands.

[Aira Cadan]

The situation on the Nubian moon had been resolved much more quickly than I had expected. It turned out that merely my presence was enough to settle the dispute, and it ended with both sides happily compromising. I was extremely pleased; situations where Jedi were involved somehow rarely worked out as well as this one had, although that was always the goal. It was good, I reflected as I headed back to my hotel, that I hadn’t sent Aelyn on this mission; she wouldn’t have been sufficiently challenged for her knighthood.

 

I had just made it back to my room when I felt my comlink buzzing in my pocket. I fiddled with the passcard to get into my room, opened the door, keyed it shut behind me, and set down my purchase of some local fruits before fishing it out of my pocket and answering. It was my padawan, and she seemed upset but spoke clearly, filling me in on all the details.

 

My heart sank. While my mission had been simpler than expected, it appeared that Aelyn’s was much more complicated than I had intended for her to be dealing with. Nevertheless, I was confident in her abilities, and told her as much. “I’ll be at Theed in…” I checked my chrono, “maybe two standard hours. Too late to help you directly, but you’ll be okay. Trust your instincts, and trust the Force. It will be with you, padawan.”

 

With a click, I shut down the connection and pocketed the device. If I was going to get down to the planet in two hours, I needed to move.

 

--

I made it in two and half. If General Slaughter had been here, I would have gotten a blunt reprimand. My thoughts flew to my former CO as I headed out of my ship towards the main defense base in the city. I’m sure he would be uncomfortable with the new E’lann-Zinthos treaty that had been announced on the holonet. It’d be amusing to see him attempting to play nice with the Remnant.

 

I shook my head, smiling. He was a good man, and a good officer. The galaxy needed more people like him. As I presented my ID, I was shown inside the base and an aide came up to me. “Jedi Talis left an hour ago,” she informed me. “She said to expect you.”

 

I nodded. “I’ll help protect your people in any way I can. Take me to your commanders, and let’s see what the plan is.”

 

((OOC: From my understanding, I’m just here as narrative backup, so no need to actually integrate me into your storyline aside from acknowledging that I’m helping coordinate the defense of Theed/Otah Gunga if needed.))

[Aelyn]

Her comm call complete and Aira on her way, Aelyn headed back into the comm center and found Wayson, who had managed to pull a wet suit out of some equipment locker somewhere. Aelyn disappeared into the refresher to change into the skin-tight garment, putting her belt with her lightsaber and finally her outer robe back on over it. She could always ditch the cloak when she actually needed to swim, but for now she wanted to hang onto it.

 

When she got back to the command center it was abuzz with activity. Command had accepted her plan of action and was putting it into effect, apparently fully willing to accept her advice, just like somehow Supreme Commander Tenebris had been. But she had made up her mind not to think about such things anymore, at least until this was over. Right now she was a Jedi, the Force was guiding her, and everything was going to work out fine. She'd made it this far, and the more she felt and the less she thought, the more the Force seemed to guide her.

 

And so she found a place to sit and focus herself, closing her eyes and trying to find that calm. She peeled away the layers of sound around her... the frenzied conversations, the click of footsteps, the whine of machinery, the faint sound of the ocean coming through an open window... until she found the background hum of the universe. A hum generated by Naboo breathing, its life thriving and competing as it spun through the much greater tapestry of the cosmos around it. There was no sense of peril to be found there. No matter what happened in the next few hours, the universe and the Force would continue on. But it was neither passive nor uncaring. It had called her to be here, and in all the vast workings of all of existence, there was a purpose for her existence and her presence. And she felt where it was telling her to go... towards a confrontation that needed to happen.

 

Aelyn's eyes opened and she spotted Wayson nearby. "I know where to find it," she told him. "But I have to move now, whether or not the other ships are ready." She was ready to go out alone if needed.

[Lusef Aryan]

Admiral Egan kept at work, trying to get everything prepared. The type of assault they were preparing for was going to be difficult, Naboo's government more worried about heavy duty threats from spacers and pirates from above than serious trouble deep in their oceans. Even so, a sizeable armada was assembled, the largest part of it coming from the Gungans. Their craft were ironically designed to help ward off and protect against the mega-fauna in Naboo's oceans, but nothing on the scale, both in size and threat they were facing. They were aware of the Jedi quietly meditating. A few thought she was sleeping and recovering, but the decorated Admiral, along with Wayson and many others knew that she was likely becoming one with the Force, and "doing Jedi things", making sure she wasn't disturbed unless there was some emergency.

 

Assembling at Theed, the armada was ready for an assault, preparations made to quick-kill the electronics in the craft to avoid having them fry out permanently. Wayson reluctantly volunteered to accompany Aelyn one final time. He trusted the Jedi, but on hearing she'd likely have to get deep inside that beast, which meant getting all too close, he had a lot of doubts, all reasonable. In the end, he went ahead, not wanting to let his planet down. "You're still piloting," he said in a level tone, dressed in his own wetsuit.

 

"There's more forces on the way," Wayson explained, taking his co-pilot seat. "But if we have to leave now, we're not going to wait." He gave her a penetrating look. "How do you do it?" he asked. "There's so much resting on your shoulders, and yet just going off what you feel and believe? I mean, what if the Force is wrong? I ah, sorry, forget I said anything," he said, breaking off into an apology and strapping himself into his seat. Dozens of small ships, from attack subs to support bongos were arrayed.

 

After the crew departed, Admiral Egan's command staff greeted Aira on her arrival, one of his lieutenant's greeting her. The lieutenant, young for her age, gave a run down of the plans, focusing most of their defense on Otoh Gunga. "It's not that we don't think Theed's in danger, but based on what we know of this creature, we're better positioned to defend ourselves on land against it and can muster conventional air defense against it."

 

The mad doctor made his own preparations. So little time. So very, very little time. A final infusion of drugs and their alchemic magic would make the young ready to launch. He gave his creation a couple more hours to rest, wanting it in fit fighting form for his assault. He wondered if they'd survive the attack on the city, but as long as his "grandchildren" were able to launch, he'd consider it a risk. Win or lose, his genius would be known, though he still envisioned leading Gungan survivors under his fist, cleansing the surface, liberated from their moronic, short-sighted bosses. Finally back in the control center, deep under layers of protective scales, metal plating, and the creature's coral and bone cavities, he checked the plasma cannon's power outputs. With the plasma stolen from the colony, he could unleash a salvo that would burn the city to the ground. It'd need to be at close range, but he could... he would do it. Giggling like a madman, he went to the main console. His leviathan's serpentine body was curled up in a deep slumber near the core, recouping after the attack. Slowly it woke, sinuously straightening out, preparing for its assault.

 

The creature itself was uneasy. It knew it's young were ready to hatch. It could feel the extra rage and anger running through it, that need to destroy. It felt uneasy though. While not Force sensitive despite being a dark side creation, at least in the conventional sense, its dark taint could feel Aelyn's rising light in its future. It didn't know where or how, nor when, but it knew it was there, coming to challenge it. Letting out a roar, it let itself be worked itself up into a frenzy.

[Aelyn]

"The only way I'm able to do it is by knowing the Force is far greater than I am," Aelyn explained to Wayson as she ran through the prelaunch checks. This wasn't the same ship they'd taken before, and all the little systems that had been fried by the EMP blast on the other one were working. "Before my Jedi training, I was nobody, traveling around to see if I could find myself. There were no grand adventures or perilous missions in the future I saw before me, much less anything like this. All this being on the shoulders of some recent university graduate with a liberal arts degree would never provide any path for Naboo's salvation."

 

The last light in the checklist went green and Aelyn eased the craft out of the hangar. "The only way this will work is if I remove myself from the equation," she continued. "Being a Jedi isn't just some abstract belief in a cosmological entity that may or may not exist... it's not a religion. I feel it guiding me, making me more than I am. I'm sure you would find it as remarkable as I do. It doesn't make us infallible, and I don't know how this is going to turn out. In fact I'm worried about what I might have to do, what I might have to sacrifice. That monster out there is real, this isn't a storybook, and I'm not a storybook heroine. But we're doing the right thing and that's how this is going to end."

 

She sped off over the waves, letting the Force guide her. "When we find it, I'm going to try to get inside the monster. If and when I do, I want you to take the ship to safety and wait for backup. I'll try to stay in comm contact. I still don't think anyone or anything else has to die, but if it comes down to it, do what you have to do to keep the planet safe."

 

Already Aelyn could feel the lurking threat of the creature growing in the Force as the ship sped towards the inevitable confrontation. Switching the craft back to underwater mode, she directed it down beneath the waves. For the moment, however, she kept her distance, wary of an EMP blast but trying to reach out to the monster again and make some kind of mental contact. Immediately she could feel the shadowy taint of the dark side wreathed around the enormous beast, and as she reached out it seemed to reach back. The quickest thing to be stirred up within her was her fear, something she didn't think she could ever be rid of. Her opponent dwarfed her physically and in the Force both, a gargantuan source of power that made her mission seem futile.

 

But there was also nuance to it. Aelyn gritted her teeth and maintained mental contact, trying to combat the darkness with soothing calm that she was having trouble finding within herself. There was something layered beneath the darkness... a protective instinct she had felt before. This time she examined it, trying to divine its nature and origin. Once she had thought it was for its Master or its home, but suddenly those things didn't really make sense. No, this was deeper, more primal. She could swear she had felt it before... in the kinrath cave on Dantooine...

 

Aelyn's knit eyebrows suddenly lifted. "She's carrying young," she said aloud before renewing her efforts. She pressed herself against the vast lifeform's consciousness. Don't you recognize me? I am one of your children as well. Please make me safe....