GEONOSIS
The Outer Rim
The mis-matched pair of Snake and Fish had traveled from Corellia to Mandalore, and then found themselves journeying on from there into the wilds of the Outer Rim, always on the trail of some mystery concerning the Confederacy of Independent Systems and seemingly always just two steps behind their quarry. At some point, the dynamic duo had crossed paths with a frigate carrying clone troopers under the command of a Zabrak Jedi named Prylar Zek, an acquaintance of the Thisspiasian Jedi's who had drafted the Sentinel and his not-quite-padawan into the war effort.
"The fighting will be brief, he said."
The four powerful arms of the serpent-like Sentinel worked in tandem, the yellow lightsaber staff mowing through an army of droids in a brutal display of the power of the style known as Djem So. The Thisspiasian's lithe body, expanded out and then coiled tightly as the massive creature danced like a sidewinder in and around the combatants massing around him.
"There'll never be any real danger, he said," the bearded snake muttered darkly, as a small green form somersaulted through the air. Landing behind the large Jedi, the young Nautolan neatly parried aside several blaster bolts, before vaulting back through the air and disarming one of the battle droids. Literally. The child's blue shoto hummed with a genuine sense of power, the Jedi having de-activated the failsafe which ordinarily made the youngling's training saber a non-lethal weapon.
For all the bouncing around that the boy was doing, he'd have done just as well to take up Ataru. As it was, the sheer randomness of the youngling probably paired well with Shii-cho.
It didn't change the fact that he was in the midst of an all-out war with a nine year old as the cavalry. "Damn fool of an idealistic crusade," the Thisspiasian growled.
"Uh... I'm right here," a Zabrak Jedi uttered aloud, as the horned man fought at the serpent's back. "I can hear you."
"Good," the Thisspiasian said flatly, paying the Jedi behind him no mind as the bearded snake swept aside one of the B1 series droids and then realized that Zak wasn't bouncing around. Scanning the area, the bearded snake found the boy propping his Jawa toy on a rock that was nearly as tall as the boy was. "Youngling, what are you doing?" the Sentinel asked in the exasperated tone of a wearied parent.
The small boy finished posing his toy and then, head tails bouncing, turned his head up to flash the Thisspiasian a cheeky grin. "Jono wants to watch the battle," the child supplied simply, performing a forward flip through the air and then igniting his training saber as several more blaster bolts came their way.
The Zabrak fought his way over beside the bearded Sentinel, leaning his head over slightly as he spoke. "You know, when you said you'd taken a padawan, I'd envisioned someone..."
"Responsible?" the Thisspiasian asked, trying to complete the man's sentence. "Level-headed?"
Regardless of the fact that there were adults speaking, the green-skinned Nautolan flipped back through the air, turning toward the Thisspiasian. "Master, can... can we get sumthin' to eat after, like, we beat all the droids and stuff?" the boy inquired, oblivious to the more pressing concern of a droid army forming up around them. The boy looked as though the fighting and acrobatics were beginning to take their toll on him, and the sound of what may have been the youngling's stomach gave indication that the Sentinel may have forgotten to feed the Nautolan before dragging him down into war.
"...Older," the Zabrak Jedi stated, completing his earlier thought.
"Ah."
"Does... Is there a Biscuit Baron on Geomosis?" the youngling asked, pausing briefly to deflect a shot from a blaster.
"Geonosis."
"Geonosis."
"Yeah," the child uttered vapidly, as the adults corrected him in unison. "That."
The Thisspiasian had been about to answer when a vibration caught his attention. "DOWN!" the Jedi commanded, knocking Zak aside and using his tail to take the Zabrak off his feet. Through a cloud of sand and smoke, a torrent of blaster fire descended from on high, as droids appeared in the air atop aerial platform which skimmed over the desolate terrain of Geonosis.
A red bolt cut through the air, skimming over the top of the rock where the Nautolan had propped up his toy. The molded action figure came apart in a violent eruption which left only the smoking, smoldering remains of the Jawa's legs.
The youngling drew in a sharp breath, his dark eyes growing large as realization set in as to the fate of his toy. And then, he scowled. Sprinting for the Thisspiasian, the Nautolan bounded off the ground. Springing off the Sentinel's coils, the lightsaber-wielding youngster whirled through the air. His boot barely caught the edge of the repulsor platform, the child grabbing hold of the back of the battle droid as the two suddenly went careening through the air.
"Hey," the B1 series droid complained aloud, trying to pivot it's rigid body to get at the freeloading hitchhiker on it's back. "Stop that!"
Getting his footing, the boy grabbed on to the actual personal repulsorlift and then gave an overhead sweep of his arm that cleaved the droid in two. Shutting down the lightsaber, the child fidgeted with the hilt for a moment as he clipped that to his belt before knocking the remaining part of the droid off the skiff and taking hold of the controls.
He was too short to see over the handlebars, so as he reached his hands up to grab them, he steered while peering to the left or right of the central column. His hands and eyes explored the controls. "Hey, it's just like a speeder bike," the child realized aloud, as a blaster bolt buzzed nearby. "Uh..." the boy uttered, as it dawned on him now that there were other airborne battle droids. Turning his head to the left and right, the child saw another B1 on an aerial repulsor trying to maneuver behind him. "Uh oh," the boy said with a sinking feeling, as though he suddenly knew that something bad was going to happen.
Somersaulting off of the platform, the boy ignited his lightsaber and gave a downward arcing slice that connected with the droid - which he'd planned - but also with the control's of the droid's platform - which he hadn't intended. In his head, Zak had imagined that he'd flip back onto the other droid's platform and just ride it.
Reality? Not so much.
"Oh, FRELL!" the Nautolan swore, making one wonder just where a boy raised in an austere, monastic environment would learn such language. As he slipped into free-fall and saw the ground rushing up from below it seemed appropriate however.
A large, red and black ship came sharply into view, as the Nautolan realized that it wasn't the ground that he was about to hit. All things being equal, however, the ship really didn't look like it was going to be any more comfortable to land on. As he let himself slip into the default panic of screaming like a little girl, some rational part of the Nautolan's brain - woefully underutilized - nonetheless prompted a quick decision about what to do.
Drawing in a breath, the boy balled himself up and then exhaled, shooting out his arms as he channeled the Force into a teacher test worthy featherpush as the ship rushed up to greet him. The child felt himself pushed upward, his descent halted as though he'd just been caught by a bungee cord that had been stretched taunt, as the boy's Force push held him aloft just inches off the hull of the ship.
And then the proverbial cord snapped back, vaulting the boy back into the air as he lost control over the momentum he was attempting to control. Like a sack of potatoes hurled into the air, the Nautolan inarticularly went up, and then he went down, smacking against the hull before tumbling several times. Sliding along the smooth metal, the boy finally skidded to a halt, laying in a daze. Finally, he sat up and looked around as the magnitude of what had just happened began to set in.
"Astral!" the boy exclaimed happily, before flopping back down in sheer exhaustion.
