WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE, AND HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET OUT OF THIS ONE?

As the shuttle flew low over the crystal clear blue waters, Indy and Honj scrambled around the confined quarters looking for something, anything that may help save their lives.

Indy continued to glance out the front viewport. “How far out do you think we’re going?”

The Jedi Master opened compartment after compartment, not sure what he was looking for, it could have been just a way to expound some nervous energy. “They’re probably flying us far enough out so there would be no possibly way we could swim back to Ahto City.”

“That’s comforting. I don’t know why they just didn’t shoot us?”

“Now you’re critiquing their methods? At least this way, we’ve got time to figure out a way to escape.”

“Figure out anything?”

Honj shook his head. “Not a thing.”

“Couldn’t you use your lightsaber to cut us out of here?”

“The GenoHaradans took it from me, and even if I were to get us free, the only place to go is…down into the water.”

“Can’t your Force powers get us out if this??”

“I don’t see how. There’s no way I could use it to transport us AND this craft all the way back to the docking bay.”

“Well, we better think of something fast. Cause we’re going dowwwn!”

Darth Maul didn’t sit idly by while out in the wastes of Tatooine, waiting for the Jedi and the Archaeologist to arrive. Every morning, long before the suns began their ascent, he was awake and up, out running for miles. Once it got too hot, he found the shelter of a nearby cave and would do calisthenics, meditate, or practice his lightsaber techniques until he received a coded holographic transmission from his Master.

Immediately, he dropped to one knee and lowered his head.

“Rise, my apprentice.” Sidious commanded.

“What is thy bidding, my Master?”

“The Jedi are sending one of their Masters to intercept our wayward pair. Mace Windu, to be exact. It’s not that I don’t think you’re more than up to the challenge; we are just not ready to reveal ourselves to the entire Order. Now is not the time. I have contacted the Hutt and instructed him to bring his bounty hunter back here. I have also instructed Jango Fett to give the one who brought the archaeologist to our galaxy one more chance. Hopefully those three will be able to clean up this little mess they all had a hand in creating.”

“Those bounty hunters will be no match for the Jedi, Master.”

“Perhaps. Or perhaps they will surprise me…but I highly doubt it. As for you, Lord Maul, you are still to be very much involved in this escapade; I’m simply changing your mode of attack. Be patient, my apprentice, your time will come. Very soon, the blood of a Jedi Master will be on your hands, and that will be a very good thing!”

Maul nodded, and returned his Master’s smile with an evil grin of his own.

The GenoHaradans sat in a local bar in Manaan’s west side, drinking and laughing at Indy and the Jedi’s expense.

“I can’t believe they fell for that,” the Aqualish chuckled. “Here I thought Jedi were smarter than that!”

“Does it really matter how smart they are?” A Rodian asked. “Now all they are is wet!”

“And Firaxa food!” and Ithorian added.

Everyone roared loudly at the joke, and ordered another round.

The Aqualish downed his drink in one gulp, wiped his mouth on his sleeve, and continued. “I sometimes wonder if anyone worthy will ever come along to take this off our hands.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the crystal lens, which he how had wrapped in some cloth. “I think the Sith are nothing but a memory anymore. Oh well…”

“What are we going to do with the lightsaber?” An ugly looking Bith queried.

“And the whip! Not to mention this nice looking blaster!” A Devaronian chimed in, holding Indy’s antique weapon, given to him in the Shadowlands of Kashyyk.

“We should sell them!” A human with an incredibly scarred face replied. They’ll fetch a fine price! Plus there’s the ship they came in. We can either sell it as is, or scrap it and sell off the parts.”

Everyone nodded in agreement to that, but then started arguing over how much they should price the items at. The heated discussion continued until a voice coming from the entrance to the cantina interrupted them.

“I think we’ll take the weapons, and the ship too. At no cost to us of course, especially after all the trouble you put us through.”

“The group all glanced up simultaneously and saw the Jedi Master standing there, with the intrepid archaeologist standing over his right shoulder. Both of them were drenched, but very much alive.

The Aqualish stared at the duo. “What? How??”

The Rodian reached for his blaster. “Never mind that, kill them!” He brought his pistol to bear, but Honj used the Force to pull it from his grasp and throw it across the room.

The Bith reached for the lightsaber, but Tenuto reached out with the Force, yanked it off the table, it flew into his hand, he ignited it, and charged in as the other members of the guild were aiming their rifles and blasters in their direction. Indy reached out for his whip, but remembered he didn’t have Honj’s Force ability. Simply shrugging, he charged in and leveled the Ithorian with a flying tackle.

First a fist to the gut, then a kick to the face, tables were broken, chairs were smashed, and bodies went flying everywhere. Tenuto slashed his blade, Indy cracked his whip, and in the end, they were the last men standing. Most of the Guild were dead, or at least severely incapacitated due to missing limbs. Everyone else in the bar at this time had either hurried out or had run for cover. The bartender peeked out over the bar, and was none to happy to see the condition of his establishment.

“Not to worry, friend. I’ll see that the Jedi Council reimburses you handsomely for the damage done.”

“Can you say that?” Indy whispered.

“It sounds good for the moment. Besides, I have to leave this fine gentleman here with some sort of hope for restitution. I’m certain once the Order gets my full report on our goings on as of late, they’ll be more than happy to aid in funding the reconstruction.”

“Indy wasn’t so sure. “You hope.”

“After all, we Jedi ARE the guardians of peace in the galaxy.”

“Well, right now the only “peace” we have are the many pieces that once made up this bar.”

Tenuto ignored the Professors joke and called out to the remaining customers. “Anyone else in here looking for trouble? We don’t want to fight, but will do so if provoked. We just came to retrieve some things and be on our way.”

“Take what you came for and be gone!” The barkeep cried. “Look what you’ve done to this place. It will take months before I’ll be open for business again!” He then came around the bar and began digging through the rubble, looking for anything that still remained in one piece. No one else in the place desired to challenge the Jedi, so he simply bent over the dead Aqualish and began rummaging through his pockets.

“Where is it? Come on, it’s got to be here. I just hope it wasn’t broken in the…A-HA!” With that, he pulled an object wrapped in a small piece of cloth out of the assassin’s vest pocket, carefully unwrapped it, and held the lens up for inspection. “The Force is with us, Indy. It remains in one piece!” He quickly re-wrapped it and got back to his feet. “Now let’s be off. We don’t need to look for a clue as to where to journey next as there’s only one world left!”

“Tatooine.” Indy replied.

“Correct!” Honj said as Indy grabbed his blaster, and the two exited the cantina and made their way back toward the docking bays, their wet clothes still leaving a trail behind them. “I must say, despite the run in with the GenoHaradans, this has got to be our quickest visit yet! We’ll be of this water world in no time and on our way to…”

“HALT!!” A voice shouted from behind them.

Both men whirled around, ready for a fight with what they thought to be more members of the assassin’s guild. What they saw was a security detail of droids, much like the one they ran into guarding the Sith Base. Each droid was armed with a blaster rifle, and behind the droids were four Selkath, also armed and pointing their weapons in the duo’s direction.

Honj whispered to Indy, “Stay here. Let me handle this.” He then proceeded to raise his arms, indicating he meant them no harm, and approached the party. The Jedi spoke with the lead Selkath a few moments, then turned and walked back to Indy.

“Well???” Indy asked.

Tenuto sighed. “From what the Selkath told me, poachers have been coming here lately for Firaxa. They are a delicacy on certain worlds, and their skins can be used to make some very high end products for those who can afford them. So the sharks have become an endangered species.”

“What does that have to do with us?”

“It seems that when our shuttle crashed into the sea, the leaking fuel and exhaust from the damaged craft killed some Firaxa that were in the area.”

“So we’re being detained because we harmed the local wildlife!!”

“That and for the damage we did to the bar. Plus we’re also being questioned as to the bodies we left behind.”

Indy couldn’t believe it. “So what happens now?”

“We’re to be taken to the high court to stand trial, where five Selkath judges will determine our fate.”

“Then what?”

“Well, it seems our visit to Manaan won’t be quick after all...”

Darth Danno

“Indiana Jones and the Sith Stone” will return in 2 weeks. Next week, my annual report from WizardWorld Chicago. I am already sensing a disturbance in the Force as far as WWC and CreatureCantina.com are concerned. Fear not, dear readers. Darth Danno will make sure the sanctity of our fair fansite is maintained…at all costs!