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Now I Know Part 3

by: Laheara

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Both seemed at ease but kept looking at each other; however, they did not speak of these anxieties. They vividly remembered the dream that showed what would happen here. Anyone else would have most likely turned around and left, but they were Jedi and the people of this world needed their help.

The ship's captain had been conversing with the co-pilot on how to land without instructions from the surface.

"Why do we not have communications with the surface?" Qui-Gon asked.

"We just heard that the planet is engulfed in a Civil War for the last 3 days. What was left of the government just collapsed." The co-pilot was scared the planetary problems may erupt into orbit as well. "We're not going to be able to take the representative back with us. He's likely dead by now, with the rest of his government. I suggest we turn back now before they start shooting at us too."

"It is against the Jedi way to leave a planet in this kind of condition without asking if they need help. We will land and offer. If they reject we will leave. If not we will stay and you may return to Coruscant without us," Qui-Gon seemed so calm, even though he knew what could happen if they went down there.

The co-pilot was ashamed that while he panicked like a coward they were willing to stay. He forgot for a moment he was talking to Jedi, not his usual breed of passengers. After he controlled his concern, "No, we will remain if you do. We *were* sent as your escort by the Senate."

"It is not necessary that we all risk ourselves. If we do stay, you must return to orbit to wait for us. As you said they may resort to violence above as well as below." Qui-Gon saw the thankful look in the man's eyes.

"As you wish sir," the captain said calmly but she also seemed relieved.

"Take us down on the outskirts of the capital. We don't want to draw more attention then needed," Qui-Gon instructed the captain.

"We will go to prepare. Contact us when we've landed."

"Yes, sir."

* * * * * * * *

Having left the bridge, Qui-Gon found Obi-Wan further down the corridor, staring at the planet so intently he could have burned a hole in the view port he was standing in front of. Qui-Gon assumed he was worried about what would happen to them should they land.

"I can feel the people's down there's anger and fear. The suffering. There are many injured, and something...I can't...quite...grasp. I've never felt it before and I don't want to feel it again..." Obi-Wan looked to his Master for help. "What is that?"

Qui-Gon could feel curiosity but also sadness in his Apprentice. He knew that feeling all to well, and didn't really want to subject his young Padawan to it so soon. He leaned in closer to the boy, a notable flat unhappiness in his voice. "It is one of the most unpleasant feelings to sense. The feeling of devastated parents mourning their children. I have been in places like this before and it is unfortunate that anyone should have to live this way."

"If it is strong enough to be felt in orbit, it must be even more powerful once you land," Then with honest curiosity and sadness in his eyes, Obi Wan asked, "Do you really think there's anything we can do for them,".

"I hope so. We must try," Qui-Gon said looking out the window, wondering the same thing. Then his attention returned to his Padawan. If it were any other child, Qui-Gon would never have let him see this. But Jedi are called upon to deal with these types of problems. He looked into the boy's eyes and asked, "Are you sure you want to go into the capital with me?"

Obi-Wan looked back as if there was no choice to make here, "I'm not letting you go alone. Alone, one is vulnerable, together we can watch out for each other. They always told us at the Temple, 'two is better then one'"

Then Obi-Wan remembered the dream again. Qui-Gon had thrown him to the ground to protect him from the explosion. Had he been alone, he may have taken cover and not been hurt. At this thought, Obi-Wan grow very scared. What if going is why his Master was hurt?

Qui-Gon sensed the wave of bone-chilling fear that had just come over his apprentice. Very concerned, he put a hand on the boy's shoulder and asked, "What is it Obi-Wan?"

Trying to stay in control, the boy closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to push the feeling away enough to talk. He looked up into his Master's concerned face and said, "The vision. You protected me. You felt the danger, and instead of diving for cover, you pushed me down to protect me. If you hadn't done that, you may not have been injured. You were hurt because you were more concerned with my safety than your own... maybe it was trying to tell me I should stay here to protect you from having to care for me."

Qui-Gon put a hand in the air to stop the vocal panic attack Obi-Wan was having. Leave it to Obi-Wan to find a way to make a bad situation worse. He studied the boy's worried expression and said, "That may be true, but we don't know what happened before that. Maybe because you were with me, you managed to save us both earlier." Seeing the comment had merit and could be true, Obi-Wan looked a hint less scared. "We don't know what happened before or after that one period we saw. The Force doesn't tell us these things to make us fearful, it warns us so we may be more careful. As you put it once 'if we always crawled under a rock at the first hint of trouble we would never see the sky again'. You were right."

A disembodied voice from the bridge announced that the ship had safely landed on the outskirts.

Calm settled in Obi-Wan, but there was still considerable worry. "We've landed now, we can't start second guessing ourselves here. I need you in control and alert. Are you with me," Qui-Gon asked with a serious look.

Obi-Wan took another deep breath to calm himself. He stood straight and looked to his Master, "I'm ready, master. Let's go."

"Good," the Master smiled back. "Captain, we are disembarking now. We will call you when we have the representative or when we are ready to leave." As they left the ship Obi-Wan took one look back, not wishing he was still aboard, just wishing something....

"Yes, sir, we'll be waiting in orbit." The captain said as the two Jedi moved away. They raised their arms to protect their faces from the engine backwash, and watched the small red and white ship lifted off.

Back on board, the co-pilot mumbled, "I hope they know what they're doing."

The captain turned and looked down at the planet once they reached a standard orbit, "They're Jedi. They always know what they're doing."

* * * * * * * *

The two men cautiously entered the war-torn streets of Tisinia, the Recellan capital city and found it a little strange there were not more people around, as it was they had seen maybe 20 people since arriving. The population of this city was more than 20 million. Since the planet's largest spaceport, Lonsino, was located here, many people followed because of the highly commercialized and industrialized metropolitan centre.

Now the once proud stone monuments and antique buildings where either barely standing or in piles where they once stood. It was almost unthinkable all this had happened in a little over three days.

When the shaky Provisional government contacted the Jedi Temple for help, Yoda immediately called his old friend and newly elected Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum. The Senate convened an emergency meeting and decided to send relief medical supplies to care for bombing victims.

That had helped for about a day, but then the orbital bombings started. First they were isolated: political buildings, transport platforms, but not Lonsino. Then they became less concerned with public safety and bombed two city centers, killing over 4000 people. Once the people saw the government was falling apart, panic set in. Riots, looting, attacks, break-ins, all started.

People noticed Lonsino wasn't being targeted, so hundreds of thousands started pouring into the space port for shelter. Ships were leaving every 20 minutes taking people off world. Then a call was put out that any ship leaving would be shot down.

Then the violence escalated. The terrorists started an all-out offensive against the government, not caring if the people were caught in the crossfire. They started bombing random sites around the cities until there was nothing left. Most of the residents had fled, leaving a few scattered families unwilling the leave what's left of their homes.

As they walked through one of the bombed out neighborhoods, Obi-Wan stopped cold. He stared straight ahead at something, and when Qui-Gon followed his gaze, he almost lost his composure.

Ahead in one of the areas of rubble they saw only the small hand of a child completely buried in the debris. He looked to his apprentice and saw the blank shock and horror. A half meter from the hand was a young woman partly visible. It looked as though she had also been buried in the rubble but managed to dig her way party out. Still buried was her right side past her waist, and her right hand was reaching for that of the child's, undoubtedly hers.

Obi-Wan couldn't look any longer and turned away, taking a labored breath. Qui-Gon moved closer to him, and to his surprise the boy moved like lightning and drew his arms around the larger man in an instant. Qui-Gon instinctively held the boy as well. As Qui-Gon had warned they both felt the sense of despair even more strongly now that they were in contact with the suffering.

After a few moments they separated, neither crying, just relieved that the other was there at the moment. Qui-Gon looked down into his apprentice's eyes and asked, "Are you sure you want to continue? It will only get worse. I've dealt with this kind of thing before, it's not pleasant."

Obi-Wan was more then half tempted to take the chance to run back and call for the ship to pick him up. Then his Jedi training took over and he came to his senses, "No master, we should stay together as backup for each other. Like you said 'it will only get worse'."

Qui-Gon could sense the indecision in him, but his voice was strong and determined. Qui-Gon was proud of him for being willing to face this at such a young age.

"Let's keep moving," Obi-Wan interrupted his Master's thoughts, "We have to find the capital and the representative so he can explain to the Senate what happened here." Obi-Wan continued.

"Yes, we must continue," Qui-Gon answered, thinking about what the main part of the city must look like. They stepped away, not turning back around, and took a new path out of the ruble of this neighborhood.

* * * * * *

It took about 2 hours to make it around all the dangerous zones and safely to the Capital Building. Strangely enough, it didn't seem to be as badly damaged as the rest of the city. Then they heard a hum coming from the building and looked closer. Somehow the people inside had rigged a deflector shield around the first level of he building. Evidently one of the techs from the hangar had gotten creative. Qui-Gon made a mental note to talk to that person. Nothing like had ever actually worked before. They could put shields around power cores, but never building, the energy drain would always be too much.

Fortunately someone inside happened to be looking out a window and saw them approach. She signaled to the guards to open the shield enough to let the Jedi in.

Once inside, the representative came toward them very quickly. He was a small man, no more then five feet tall, with gray, almost white hair cut short. He had the most arresting green eyes and his facial features were strong but worn from the years. He was dressed in the typical elaborate deep blue robes of a man of office here. However, the decorated right shoulder of his robe was ripped slightly and a cut noticeable underneath. He had mostly likely been outside when the bombing started.

"I a Senator Alorn Wallan. Welcome to Recellan. You are the two Jedi Master Yoda sent me. A pleasure to finally meet you both," Wallan greeted in all diplomatic pleasantries.

"Senator, I am Qui-Gon Jinn, and this is Obi-Wan Kenobi. Yes, we are here to take you to Coruscant. I wasn't aware we were bring back a Senator," Qui-Gon questioned.

"Yes, I came here two days before everything started going downhill," the Senator directed the Jedi to a meeting area. "My government believed the people would react having a member of the Senate here to oversee the problem. And it worked for a short time; however, my hands were tied. I did not have the Senate's permission to intervene on their behalf and my own governors weren't telling the whole story. So I decided to meet with one of the faction leaders and get his side of the story. What I heard and saw there disturbed me greatly. That is when this started to fall apart and I called for Jedi help."

The assistant to the Chief Electorate entered then, flanked by official guards in deep crimson wardrobe, their faces covered by helmets, carrying blasters. The people in the room bowed slightly at his arrival. The man was dressed similarly to the Senator but in an off white color. He looked at them with surprise and said, "You are the Jedi?" They nodded and bowed slightly and the man looked confused but pleased, "I knew you were on your way here from Coruscant but I thought you would have turned back when you heard want happened here." Then he remembered his manners, "I pologize, my name is Raflon Goranti, I am assistant to the Chief Electorate of Recellan. He sent me to find our Senator, but I am pleased to find two Jedi as well."

Qui-Gon introduced himself and Obi-Wan as before, and Goranti graciously shook hands with both of them and nodded. Then he looked about and signaled to his guards to begin downloading important records from the main archives. He then turned to the Jedi again, "I don't like to be so abrupt, but it is no longer safe here. Our sources tell us the terrorists have been able to hire some mercenaries to help them destroy what is left of the government here. They will be arriving soon and will most likely attack this building first. We must vacate the area."

At this, the others politicians in the room began to move around gathering personal effects and weapons. Senator Wallan looked to Assistant Goranti and said matter of factly, "We have no way to leave, all the ships in the hanger here are damaged beyond repair and no more can land since a bomb a few hours ago destroyed the hanger door controls. It would be to dangerous to try to load a ship from outside. How will we meet the Chief Electorate at the shelter?"

Qui-Gon broke in, "We have a ship waiting in orbit: however, as the Senator said, we need a hanger to load it in."

Goranti looked puzzled for a moment, then a female politician in the background pointed out, "If I may Senator, there is a hanger less then three kilometers east of here used for flight training. From what we can read, so far it hasn't been damaged too greatly. The Jedi ship should have no problem landing there safely."

The Assistant waved his thanks to her, "Yes, I know of it. Chouncillor Alora is correct, it is large enough for a diplomatic shuttle to land in." Then he looked concerned, "It is a treacherous route there, I'm afraid. Much of that area was heavily bombed early on. There are a few Medical units in that area trying to save as many as they can."

"You should prepare to leave," Qui-Gon said loudly enough for everyone to hear. "I will contact our ship and give them the new co-ordinates. We will leave as soon as everyone is assembled here again." Qui-Gon walked a short distance away and took out his comlink. Obi-Wan in the meantime, helped the Senator with a shorted out system. When it came online, he joined Qui-Gon.

His Master had just finished the message and received conformation. He returned his comlink to his belt and saw Obi-Wan approaching. "I just got a look at the area we're going to be traveling through. Senator Wallan wasn't kidding when he said it was badly damaged. And they are still attacking it, trying to kill the Medical teams. This isn't going to be easy."

Qui-Gon nodded, "I suspected as much. What else did you see?"

"Nothing that could help us. There is very little shelter should they see us, and even less the closer you get to the hanger," Obi-Wan reported. "The only good thing is that the Chief Electorate's sheltered very close to the hanger. It's been decided we will meet there."

"Very well," Qui-Gon replied, then joined the Senator to help prepare for leaving.

* * * * * * *

In a little less then an hour the people were ready. The polictians had changed into colors that matched the outside better then their offical robes. Everyone was ready to start the long trek to the hanger across the city. The Jedi took point, followed by the polictians who were encircled by the Chief Electorates guards. They had also brought with them the shield used on the Capital Building.

Senator Wallan moved forward to speak with Qui-Gon, "It should take us a bit longer then two hours to get there if we take it slow and careful." Qui-Gon simply nodded and continued to scan the streets for possible problems or traps, while Obi-Wan kept an eye on the sky.

About 15 minutes away from the Capital Building Obi-Wan pointed to movement in the sky, "Master, look. The mercenaries must have arrived," he said and signaled to the guards to be on the alert. The group moved closer to a bombed out building as protection from being seen.

Suddenly without the sound of incoming fire, the Capital building burst into flames and collapsed, shooting fire in all directions. Fortunately the group was far enough away that they were not affected. Most seemed stunned as they watched it burn.

"Master, I didn't hear anything. Could it have been a bomb on the inside?" Qui-Gon watched the building burn, and wondered the same thing.

When Obi-Wan asked he looked to him, "Let's hope so. I don't like the idea of weapons without sound." He then signaled for the group to continue.

TBC