DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc and 20th Century Fox. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.
"Glusher!" Obi-Wan screamed, jumping away from the railing, hand on his lightsaber. "Fire up the thrusters, now!" His eyes fixed on the small beige dot that was his master, but he couldn't go back. Couldn't risk the others...
"Not out of bay! Thrusters then," Glusher replied crankily, his voice muffled from inside the pilot's cabin.
Obi-Wan bit the inside of his cheek, frustration welling up inside of him. "Glusher, I said now!" he shouted again, pulling the lightsaber from his belt. The bright blue blade shot from the hilt, humming and held up as Obi-Wan took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and leaped over the edge of the boat...
... and onto the back of the monstrous snake.
Qui-Gon's jaw dropped as he saw the blue lightsaber ignite like a torch, then spin off the railing to the water below. His apprentice... had just jumped onto the sea monster.
Enough... is enough!he thought angrily. The Force swirled around Qui-Gon, filling him with its power, tensing every muscle in his body. Then it shot toward the creature like a torpedo, catching it in the middle and yanking it back.
With a strangled cry, like a piece of string, the monster was dragged through the water, away from the rocking Seaspray, its massive body sending a tidal wave skyward, then back down... and toward him. Qui-Gon only had time to draw one breath before the water swamped him.
For a moment, he flailed in the green-blue water, struggling upwards toward the rippling light above him. His lungs burned with the abuse that he had just put them through, muscles shot through with twinges of pain. Focus on the Force, he repeated to himself. With a burning slam against his back, he shot over the water like a seabird, arms spread...
Obi-Wan teetered and almost fell as the thing writhed under him. Red eyes glared from the diamond-shaped face, hovering on a long neck as thick as a tree trunk. Obi-Wan slashed upwards at it, and it drew back... for a moment.
Then it jerked its body in a slithering motion, hissing and spitting at the young Jedi. The sudden undulating of the leathery creature beneath him almost sent him over into the water. He tried to keep his mind focused on defeating it, finding a weak spot...
Obi-Wan!
Master?
A rush of joy streamed through Obi-Wan as he saw the beige-clad figure, hurtling through the air like a gull diving. Qui-Gon's blue eyes flashed as he landed squarely on the snake's back—close to the head. The snake blinked at him, then yawned that cottony mouth. Qui-Gon stared back fiercely.
"Catch!" Obi-Wan screamed, Qui-Gon's lightsaber ripped from beneath his robe. Qui-Gon barely had a second to look back in surprise, and hold out his hand as Obi-Wan threw it.
As it landed in the Jedi Master's hand, the creature's long, undulating head lunged forward.
The green beam shot from the hilt, and Qui-Gon struck with all his strength at the hideous beast that drew back a little at the attack, blinking its eyes, unused to the blinding light of the laser blade. Qui-Gon waved it a little. "Still want to take me on?" he murmured.
As the monster lunged again, Qui-Gon struck at its neck. Under the green blade, the fishy scales went black, and just before he fell backwards, his head smacking the leathery hide, he smelled flesh burning.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the long, pointed tail rising from the water like a sodden whip, coiling next to the Seaspray. The patched, pathetic vessel was fleeing, engines squealing in protest, but it wasn't enough. That tail will leave a hole as big as those caverns in the hull...
There was a brief flash of red, and the pain-maddened eyes of the snake stared into his, the mouth emitting a hissy squeal of rage as it dove toward the prone Jedi.
He struck upwards with strength born of panic, and the head vanished. As he leaped to his feet, watching the injured monster recoil, screaming and lashing its head through the water, he shouted, "Obi-Wan! The tail!"
Obi-Wan heard the cry. His head snapped around, his burning eyes widening at the sight of the tail thrashing in the whitecapped surf next to the ship's hull.
Remember what he did before? Leaping across the water with the Force?
He felt the Force gathering around him like his cloak, felt it slam against him like a tsunami, and hurtled through the air like a feather in a hurricane. His feet hit the leathery tail hard, and he felt onto hands and knees, the lightsaber almost flying into the water.
Oh no you don't, he thought wryly, reactivating the blade and holding it above his head. I'm not going to dry you out again...
He struck at the tail, searing through hide, flesh, and bone with a whiff of black smoke. The tail thrashed, then went limp, sinking underneath him. Obi-Wan hit the water hard, his last memories a scream of pain, like a raging animal gone completely mad, and a blue flash from his lightsaber. A faint electrical shock went through his submerged body.
And now I have to dry it out,he thought, just before blacking out.
Qui-Gon felt the shudder go through the beast, and saw the tail whip away from the Seaspray and into the water with a huge splash. The Seaspray's battered antigrav engines began to heat up, sending the battered craft across the water.
Go, he thought with a faint flicker of relief.
For a moment, he stared up into the eyes of the creature, maddened by fury and pain. He lifted his lightsaber, as that horrible, slavering mouth gaped again...
And a trunk caught it in the side of the head. It wavered, as if dizzy by whatever had struck it. Qui-Gon glanced at the Seaspray, where a lithe female figure and a giant insect were flinging large objects over the railing, one with slim hands and the other with powerful mandibles. Most of the missiles missed, but a rare few hit their target.
Qui-Gon leaped upwards, and hacked once at the snake's head. The green blade shot through its scaly skull, then vanished as he collapsed back on its body.
For a moment, despite the hole between its eyes, it stared down at him, as if surprised. Then the head slipped into the water, with a faint stream of bubbles. The body beneath him fell away, leaving the Jedi flailing, exhausted.
Qui-Gon winced slightly at the sting of the salt water on his chest, lapping over his neck and shoulders, but a relieved smile worked its way onto his weary face. Then the smile vanished, as he looked around quickly. "Obi-Wan?" he called, voice rising in alarm. "Obi-Wan?"
There was a burst of water and bubbles next to him, and Obi-Wan surfaced, his short hair slicked close to his skull, his face reddened and drawn. "Master?" he gasped, his arms moving in frantic circles. "I'm sorry, it knocked me off, and my lightsaber shorted." He waved the long metal cylinder, with an air of almost comical regret.
Qui-Gon smiled at his apprentice, and began to swim with long, steady strokes toward the Seaspray. After all this, I deserve to go slow.
A few minutes later, two sodden Jedi were hauled aboard in what appeared to be modified, torn-apart fishing nets. Glusher's pale eyes glared down as Myla's strong arms encircled Obi-Wan and pulled him onto the deck, collapsing into a soggy beige heap.
As Qui-Gon lurched over the railing, he flashed a grateful smile at the ecstatic Tr'rok and Myla. The Twi'lek woman's red eyes roved over his legs and chest, wet clothing clinging to them, then reluctantly held out Qui-Gon's robe.
With a small smile, he pulled it on and slumped against the railing, eyes closed, as if it had exhausted him.
"Let's get out of here," he murmured.
"No argument," Glusher agreed, vanishing into the pilot's cabin.
"None. None," agreed Tr'rok delightedly.
As Tr'rok and a reluctant Myla crept belowdecks, Obi-Wan said softly, "Master?"
"Mm?" Qui-Gon replied, eyes still firmly shut, his robe wrapped around his chilled, sodden torso.
"I wish we hadn't had to do that," Obi-Wan said quietly. Qui-Gon opened his eyes and looked carefully at his apprentice, crouched next to him on the railing. "I wish we hadn't had to kill that creature."
Qui-Gon sighed, feeling an uncomfortable shiver jangle along his spine, sending his legs jerking. "I wish we hadn't had to as well," he replied softly, closing his eyes again. "In its own way, it was beautiful..."
Four hours later, the floating remains of a ship drifted into port, held together by crude welding and the remains of tables and bunks. It was a crazy quilt of leaks and patches, and only shreds of the blue paint remained on the hull.
The people aboard looked no better. Two humans, soaked to the skin, one with a crude bandage around his broad chest. A giant insect, clacking his mandibles and picking up discarded jewels from the deck. A Twi'lek woman, curled up on the deck, fast asleep, her skimpy gold clothing torn in half a dozen places. And the captain and pilot, looking sad rather than injured.
The Seaspray slowly ground into its place, amidst a crowd of staring locals, marveling at it coming in at all. Tr'rok poked Myla in the arm, squawking, "Wake, wake!" She came awake with a start, and a little squeak of momentary fright.
Qui-Gon glanced over them calmly, then stepped down the plank. His booted feet hit the stone dock with a loud thud, Obi-Wan landing right behind him. "Master?" the apprentice asked quietly.
"Yes, Padawan?" Qui-Gon replied calmly, squinting at the shuttle platforms atop some of the pointed, crystalline buildings.
"Are... all our missions going to be like this?" Obi-Wan asked timidly.
Qui-Gon smiled again, turning to look at his new apprentice. The boy looked almost scared! "Oh, no. Most of them will be far more interesting." He glanced upward at the stars, Obi-Wan's gaze following his master's.