Indiana Jones and the Sith Stone
Posted by: Darth Danno 03.05.08 12:01am

"I must protest!!" TC-10 proclaimed. " Who are you? Under whose authority do you think you can commandeer this craf... "

Master Tenuto stopped and ran up to the droid. "I am a member of the Jedi Council, and I commandeer this vessel in the name of the Republic. You can either stand down or be shut down!"

TC-10 stared back at the Jedi, turned and looked at Indy, then silently re-took her seat. Master Tenuto turned his gaze to meet Dr. Jones'. For a moment, no one moved, but the look that passed between them spoke volumes. Then the Jedi turned and hurried to get this ship off the ground. Indy wasn't sure what to do next, but he wasn't going to get any answers back here with TC. So he followed the Jedi into the cockpit, where he found the Master furiously throwing switches and turning knobs.

"Come on, come on!" Master Tenuto grumbled to himself. "This ship isn't much different from... "

He breathed a sigh of relief as the engines roared to life. Indy took a seat in the co-pilot's chair.

"You know how to fly this thing?" Indy queried.

"It's not too hard," Tenuto replied. "Now strap yourself down, we're taking off."

"What about the bounty hunter and the droid... are they... ?"

"Temporarily incapacitated. Another reason to get underway before... "

Just then, something started clanging against the ship.

Master Tenuto shrugged, "I guess she regained consciousness sooner than expected, and had a spare blaster. Oh well, hang on, here we go!"

The craft lifted off the grassy plain with a roar. The Jedi Master turned the ship and pointed it in the direction of the enclave, then kicked in the boosters.

Aurra Sing picked the ship up on her scanners the minute it lifted off. She smiled briefly; thinking those she had been sent to track and observe had eluded the Jedi, and were heading off to their next search point. She changed her tune when she realized the craft was heading directly toward her. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she couldn't get involved in a ship-to-ship conflict AND keep the Republic cruiser trapped on the ground. "Time to put one of those seismic charges I brought to good use," Aurra said to herself. "But lets get some altitude between us first."

"She's leaving!" the male Padawan proclaimed.

"Something doesn't feel right," the female added. "She wouldn't just take off."

"I sense Master Tenuto returning!" The Zabrak exclaimed. "And bringing some help!"

The Bothan simply shook his head. "I don't mean to negate everyone's positive feelings at this moment, but I question if our Master will arrive in time, and I suggest we take matters into our own hands."

"You think we should take off?" The female questioned.

The Bothan shook his head once again. "No time. I think we should evacuate the ship and seek appropriate shelter as far away from here as possible."

The Zabrak seconded that. "Something tells me he's right. Let's go!"

"These type of vessels aren't really known for their armaments," Master Tenuto said. "But I'm betting it's since been equipped with some surprises, considering the bounty hunter we left behind back there. Don't suppose you'd know where they were hidden?"

Indy simply shook his head and shrugged. "No clue."

"O... k. Now, if I were hidden weapons, where would I hide?"

He began feeling around underneath the console, running his hand back and forth until...

"A-ha! I think I found..."

He pressed the button he found, and a hatch on the console over his head opened, dropping down a targeting computer.

"Weapons systems operational and armed." The console said.

The Jedi Master continued to look around. "Okay, now to find the firing mechanism."

Indy pointed at the craft's main controls. "Anything embedded in the... steering wheel thingy?"

"The device that controlled the ships direction and altitude was shaped very much like an earthen steering wheel. The Jedi ran his fingers over the device. "Hmmmm, well I'll be! There ARE buttons on here. They're flush with the controls. Strange I didn't notice them before."

"Maybe they're only apparent when the weapons are activated. Kind of a failsafe to prevent the pilot from gripping the controls too tightly and setting something off accidentally."

"Good point! Main thing is, we found them. Now lets see what we've got to work with here. It appears this vessel has been equipped with two concussion missiles, and we also have two turbolasers at our disposal." He pushed one of the buttons, and two red beams of light shot out from somewhere near where the navigation lights were. "Yup! Two turbolasers."

Indy turned his head to look out the front viewport. "Look, there's another ship. And it appears it's leaving!"

"I wish that were true my friend, I wish that were true."

Aurra Sing had reached what she considered a safe distance. Switched on her targeting computer, got the grounded cruiser in her crosshairs, and dropped her deadly payload.

"Hey!" Indy shouted, pointing up. "They just dropped something!"

Master Tenuto nodded, "some sort of bomb. But the Force tells me my students were able to evacuate the ship."

"Then they're safe???!"

"Not likely. Now that we're closer, I can see it's a seismic charge they dropped. When that detonates, they won't have been able to get out of the blast radius in time."

"So what do we do?"

"Hold on, I've got an idea."

The Jedi Master flew the ship in low and fast toward the landing pad. He switched on the targeting computer, and once the Republic cruiser was in his sights, pressed the switch, launching one of the concussion missiles.

"I just hope the younglings have sense enough to duck and cover... NOW!!!" He then banked the controls hard to the right and headed off, out away from the Jedi temple.

The missile hit the cruiser, turning it into an inferno of flames. Pieces of the ship went everywhere, and a huge chunk of the craft blew straight up, meeting the charge as it was still in the air. The resounding explosion made the cruiser's destruction pale in comparison. Waves of devastation rippled over the enclave, and out into the surrounding area.

Aurra Sing watched the destruction below, yet the waves that washed over her at this moment had nothing to do with the explosive charge, and all to do with the Nubian's pilot.

"Blast you Jedi!!" She screamed and slammed her fist down into the arm of her pilots' chair. "We'll meet again Jedi, count on it. This is all far... from... over!!!" She then threw the thrusters of her ship into high gear as she took off, out of Dantooine's atmosphere and into the stars.

Darth Danno