~ The Chu'unthor Incident ~
by AJ Marks
Disclaimers: The two main characters look like Xena and Gabrielle, who I do not own, wish I did though. Yoda, the Chu'unthor, and the Star Wars universe I do not own, and I borrowed from George Lucas.
Subtext: Yes this story involves love between two women, nothing graphic.
The Chu'unthor: It is a Jedi training ship for those who are not familiar with the Star Wars universe. I was not able to find a date for when it was built as I found conflicting dates. So I'm using it anyway.
Part 2
"This is just a precaution ma'am." One of the guards said as he approached her. Xara nodded her head and allowed the man to cuff her, nothing she could not get out of is she did not want to.
Xara began walking with the guards when she saw a familiar form on a stretcher coming down the hallway. The strawberry blonde hair could only mean one thing; Bri had been close by when the explosion had occurred.
"Wait!" Xara said to the guards as she tried to get to Bri to check out her injuries. The guards tried to refrain her but she was stronger than they had expected her to be. She could have easily overpowered one of them, but two of them were a bit more difficult to do. They managed to wrestle her to the ground. She shrugged them off of her to try and get to Bri.
Everyone was standing there watching the scene unfolding in front of them. Most of them were in shock, except Cal who had a bit of a smile on his face as she continued to struggle.
She broke free again and managed to take a couple of steps towards the stretcher when she heard a click hiss. Cal positioned himself in front of Bri and used the Force to knock Xara down. He then jumped in front of her yelling that she was a traitor and that only someone like her could have damaged the engines and communications at the same time. Xara blinked as he continued to rant.
Cal brought his blue blade up and brought it down to end her life when a small green blade intercepted it. Cal seemed at first angry that he had bee stopped then looked at who the green blade belonged to.
"Judge and executioner, you are not." Master Yoda said looking hard at Cal who disengaged his weapon then turned back.
"I saw her come out of the engine room minutes before the explosion, she has the abilities to do something like this." Cal said pointing at Xara as he spoke. "I'll be late for my mission because of her."
"In charge you are not." Yoda said calmly taking over the room with his presence. He turned to look at Xara before speaking. "With the guards you go, update you I will about Bri." Yoda said with a promise and Xara could tell he was speaking the truth. "Precaution only until all facts I have."
Xara nodded her head in agreement then got up and with one last look to Bri she allowed the guards to walk her out.
"We have all the facts Yoda." Cal said not believing what he was hearing. "Surely you can't believe her over me, I'm a Jedi Knight."
Yoda turned to Cal and narrowed his eyes at the man. Cal unconsciously backed up a step. "All facts I do not have. Only member of council on board the ship, my decision you must respect." Yoda said with a note of finality on it. He then turned to check on his former padawan.
Cal stood there for a second before realizing that he had been dismissed. The activity that had been stilled for a bit was renewed as the doctors and medical staff began to go back to their duties.
Yoda noticed that Bri had a several cuts on her and a bump on her forehead. He wondered if she was injured anywhere else that he could not see. Only time would tell for sure.
Yoda then walked over to the head doctor and asked that when he was finished with the wounded to call him. He wanted to talk with the survivors for clues as to what happened. The doctor gave his word to the Jedi Master and watched as Yoda walked out deep in thought.
Yoda walked over to a meditation area where one could look out and see open space. He was the only member of the council on board the Chu'unthor; therefore the responsibilities fell on him to guide the investigation. He looked up as the captain walked into the room.
"Master Yoda, I have a report of what damage has occurred and if we can fix it." The captain said. Yoda nodded his head and the captain continued his report. "The engine room was hit quite well. Both the hyperdrive and ion engines were hit. My engineer says that he can have both engines back up and running in a day. The communications room will have to be fully repaired. Our back up will allow short range communication, but the long range communications have been destroyed."
"Thank you captain." Yoda said as he went over the damage to the ship. Something just did not make sense to him, but he could not figure out what it was. He would have to meditate on it.
The doctor finished putting away his instruments after making sure that they were clean. He had been busy for most of the evening and his stomach growled in protest of not eating. He shrugged out of his clothing and put on some new clothes. He then paged Yoda and wondered how long it would take before the Jedi Master arrived.
He mentally went over the casualties. Eleven people had died, most from the communications room. The engines were large and sparsely populated. He had a couple of people who were unconscious, one was a Jedi Master, and the other was a crewman from the engine room. The crewman had suffered sever internal injuries and his chances were not good. The Jedi he figured had a concussion, and a couple of cracked ribs that came up on the x-rays. It was the head wound that concerned him the most. If it went down tomorrow then the possibility of a complete recovery was excellent.
Yoda came walking into the room and the doctor looked down at the powerful Jedi.
"Master Yoda, thank you for coming." The doctor said. "Do you mind if we grab something to eat while I go over the casualties?" He asked. Yoda said that he did not and the two took off down to the nearest cafeteria.
After getting his food the doctor went into details about several of the injuries. He explained the injuries suffered to Bri and the crewman and what he thought their chances were of recovering. Yoda nodded and wondered where Bri had been. The doctor did not know as he had not asked, but it would just be a matter of finding out.
Yoda learned of the eleven people who had died in the explosions. One thing that did disturb him was that they knew it was not an accident. The bombs planted were done on purpose. If a person had wanted it to look like an accident then they would not have his the communications. The explosion in the engine room would not have been difficult to make it appear like an accident. He did not believe that Xara was responsible for it, but many others knew that she was a bounty hunter and that her skills in this would lead to a logical conclusion that she did it.
Yoda thanked the doctor and then left the room to head to the cells for the prisoners.
Xara sat back in her cell wondering what had happened to Bri. So far there was nothing coming from her link to the Jedi. She could only assume that meant good news. Conta Paq had mentioned that he knew when his wife had died; it was like a piece of him left forever. Xara did not have that feeling so she could only assume that the Jedi was still unconscious. That thought still did not ease the knot in her gut or her worry about Bri.
Xara had tried to meditate but her worry got in the way too much and she allowed herself to focus solely on Bri. She still had not felt anything when Master Yoda walked into the guard area.
"Master Yoda." One of the guards said as he entered the room. The guard had been assigned to make sure that the suspect did not try an escape. So far all his prisoner had done was sit on the bench.
"Talk with Xara alone I will." He instructed the guard. The guard just nodded his head and walked out of the room.
Xara looked up as she noticed Yoda approach. Her heart thumped in her chest, as she knew he would tell her what type of condition Bri was in and she was not sure she really wanted to know. She spoke without much thought however. "How's Bri?"
"Unconscious." Yoda replied Xara as they looked at each other for a few seconds before continuing. "Chance of a good recover she has, if swelling doesn't worsen tomorrow." Yoda told her truthfully.
"She'll survive." Xara said with convection. She had complete confidence that Bri would be all right.
"Yes she is." Yoda responded knowing that how strong Bri could be. Now that he had told Xara about Bri he knew that he had to get down to the basics of what had happened. "Remember much about what happened?" He asked getting down to business.
"I was making my way around the ship trying to get my bearings. Bri kept getting lost on the ship when we tried to make our way to the museum, cafeteria and our own quarters." Xara said with a bit of a smile. "I got a bit turned around and found myself in the engine room. A crewman helped me out by giving me instructions. I saw the man injured later in the medical lab." Xara said truthfully.
"Hmm, Cal said that he saw you come out of the engine room just before the explosion." Yoda said.
"I know, he yelled it at me in the med lab." Xara said remembering the incident quite vividly. "He seemed to be quite upset for some reason."
"Lot of noise he is making." Yoda replied recalling the argument he had with the Jedi. Cal was known to be a bit of a troublemaker. For this reason Yoda did not want him to be in charge of the investigation. "Put myself in charge of the investigation I have."
Xara felt a bit relieved at that. At least she would not be immediately thought of as guilty if Yoda was in charge of investigating what happened. "I'm glad." She told him.
"Believe you did it, I do not." Yoda told her, however that led to another thought. "Disturbing this is, many will believe that you did it. The skills you have." He said and they both knew it as the truth. "But hurt Bri, I do not think you are capable of."
"You're right, I don't think I could." Xara said. "We dueled, and neither of us were able to inflict harm on the other. For some reason we were not able to even fight at full strength." Xara said telling Master Yoda about the fight.
"The abilities of a soul mate." Yoda replied still learning about their unique connections.
"Yes, I wish that I had been able to talk to Conta Paq a bit more before he died." Xara said.
"He found happiness at the end." Yoda said knowing from recent experiences what a soul mate goes through when one loses their partner.
"Yes he did." Xara replied.
"See anything out of the ordinary did you?" Yoda asked getting back to the investigation at hand. He would not be able to stay much longer as he had pressing concerns that had to be attended to.
"No, I really don't know the layout of the engines so I don't know what would have been suspicious." Xara replied thinking about it some more. "There's something wrong with it, but I just can't place it yet."
"Let me know when you find out." Yoda said getting up. "Stay calm and focused for now."
"I will." Xara replied watching as the small Jedi walked out of the room and was replaced by the guards. She leaned back and rested her head against the wall and tried to just relax as much as she was able to. But her thoughts kept coming back to Bri even though she knew the condition of the young woman she still wanted to see her.
Yoda walked down the corridor thinking about what Xara had said and he felt it as well. She was not responsible for this, yet the only other person could be a crewman or, even worse, a Jedi. Another thought came to him. The person responsible could be part of the troubles on Sissis, and if that was the case then he would have to sort through everyone who had contact with the planet and its people.
He went to the find the captain. He would probably know if anyone of his crew was from Sissis or had contact with the planet. He figured the captain would either be on the bridge or his ready room. He walked past the burnt out room of the communications room and glanced around to see if anything caught his attention. After a brief glance around he did not notice anything. The room was a complete disaster. Walking onto the bridge he noticed the captain looking at the charts with the navigator.
"Something wrong?" Yoda asked as he stepped into the room and felt the tension in the room.
"Ah, Master Yoda." The captain said standing up and greeting the Jedi. "I'm afraid that there is. My navigator has just told me that there is a large asteroid in the area, and according to calculations it will hit us before we can complete the repairs to the engines."
"Move it out of the way we can." Yoda said thinking that they would be able to gather enough Force energy to deflect the danger.
"We can't, if we do we endanger countless hyperspace travelers. This asteroid has enough mass to destroy a ship in hyperspace. It has been calculated into every hyperspace computer in the system." The navigator replied and Yoda knew that he was right.
"Wait, what if we blow a landing bay? Would it have enough force to move us out of the way?" The captain asked suddenly.
"It might." Yoda said thinking about it.
"It would have to be done right away." The navigator said as he thought about which bay to use.
"Do it." Yoda said. "Let me know when we are clear. I'll be in the meditation room six, and I would like to speak with you captain." Yoda said getting an acknowledgement form the captain then walked out of the bridge.
It did not take Yoda long to reach the meditation room. This room had a large space window where one could look out and see outside giving the illusion that the room was not so small. Yoda noticed that they were slightly moving and knew that the operation had begun.
He was sitting down when he felt another person come into the room. He opened his eyes to see Cal standing there.
"Master Yoda, have you decided anything about the guilt of Xara yet?" He asked with a bit of impatience in his voice.
"Another concern has arisen." Yoda said watching the man's face turn to disbelief.
"What could be more important?" He replied and Yoda knew that he was losing his grip and his famous temper would flare.
"A large asteroid headed right for us." Yoda deadpanned.
"I don't believe you." Cal replied and was about to say more when the captain came into the room. He looked at Yoda then at Cal and raised his eyebrow in silent question if he was interrupting anything.
"Master Yoda." The captain said deciding to go on ahead and tell him the situation. "My navigator has informed me that he believes that we will miss the asteroid."
"Good news that is." Yoda said. "I will wait to continue my investigation until we have passed the asteroid. What is the status of the engines?"
"My chief engineer says that he should have the engines back up and running in twenty eight hours." He said and was about to continue when Markus came into the room with an urgent look on his face.
"Master, I have some bad news." Markus said giving a bow to Yoda.
"What has happened Markus?" Yoda asked wondering what could have happened in such a short time and he hoped that it was not Bri.
"It seems that someone has stolen the Exir Stone from the museum in all of the confusion earlier in the day." Markus said referring to the stone that had Dark Force properties.
"Disturbing this news is." Yoda said. "Captain, conduct a search of all quarters."
"Everyone's?" He asked knowing that some of the people on board would object to the search.
"Everyone." Yoda replied.
"Just search Xara's quarters, I'm sure you'll find it there." Cal said confidently.
Yoda narrowed his eyes at the Jedi for a moment but said nothing. He had given the order to the captain and felt confident that he would do what he felt was right.
"I'll get started right away Master Yoda." The captain said and walked out of the room.
"You'll see that I'm right." Cal said looking at Yoda. "We can't trust Xara at all." He said then walked out of the room.
"Markus, go see how Bri is doing in the Medlab and stay there, do not let Cal near her." Yoda said not sure he liked what he felt coming from Cal.
"Yes master." Markus said then walked away headed to the med lab.
Yoda did not like the feeling that he was getting about the investigation. He felt like it was about to take a turn for the worse. He had spent the remainder of the evening looking over the damage of the engine room to see if he could find anything wrong or out of place. Unfortunately he had not been able to find anything that might clear Xara.
He was almost at his quarters when the captain came up to him.
"We found the Exir Stone Master Yoda." The captain said. "It was in Bri and Xara's quarters, more specific it was with Xara's stuff."
"Afraid that you would captain." Yoda replied.
"What do you mean?" The captain said not really understanding. As far as he was concerned Xara had been behind everything.
"Come with me." Yoda said leading him down to the cells where Xara was being held.
Xara watched as Yoda and another man came into the room. She wondered what else could go wrong now.
"Tell her." Yoda said to the captain who at first looked confused but Yoda insisted.
"We found the Exir Stone among your stuff Xara." The captain said watching as confusion clouded Xara's features.
"The Exir Stone? What's that?" Xara asked not sure what it was as she looked at Yoda for an explanation.
"A stone that has in it the Dark Side of the Force." Yoda replied seeing as Xara made the connection.
"That ugly stone, why would I want that thing?" Xara said. "And when would I have had time to take it."
"During the chaos of the explosions." The captain said.
"Impossible, I went straight to the medlab to see if I could help out." Xara said.
"Hmm, getting confusing this is." Yoda said, he would have to check with the doctor as to when Xara had arrived in the Medlab. "Tomorrow set up the court, we will get to the bottom of this then." Yoda replied then saying goodnight to Xara left the room.
"I lost eight good men in those explosions, they deserve justice." The captain said before walking out.
"Not good." Xara said to herself. She felt tired and decided to see if she could get any sleep. The cots in the cells were not very comfortable but she managed to fall asleep anyway with her thoughts on her partner.
Xara felt a weight on her chest that she was not expecting. There was also the crackle of a fire nearby which made her open her eyes in alarm. The first thing she noticed was the fact that there were trees overhead, which surprised her a bit. She shifted a bit and looked down. There were furs covering whatever was lying on her. She lifted the fur just a bit and noticed strawberry blonde hair and knew who it was with her, Bri.
Xara shifted slightly and slowly extracted herself from the sleeping form. She watched as Bri mumbled a bit then snuggled back into sleep clutching the furs that she had just been on. Bri would usually wrap herself around the pillow if Xara got up first.
Xara looked around the campsite and felt like she had been here before. She then decided to see if she could get Bri up so that they could talk. She shook the sleeping form and watched amused as Bri groaned a bit.
"Too early Xena." She said which caused Xara to arch an eyebrow at the name. 'Xena', that name sounded familiar. Where was it she had heard that before? Then she remembered, they had dreamed liked this before. Bri had called her Xena, and what was it that she had called her, Gabrielle that was it.
"Gabrielle, get up." Xara said watching as green eyes blinked open and she watched as confusion set in.
"What, where, how?" Bri/Gabrielle said. Xara was not sure who was in control yet.
"Bri." Xara said caressing a cheek.
"Xara? Where are we?" Bri asked still a bit confused from sleep.
"Remember the dream where we were Xena and Gabrielle?" Xara asked watching Bri nod her head in answer. "Well, we in it again. You called me Xena before you woke up."
"This is weird Xara?" Bri said getting up realizing that she had slept nude and wrapped herself in the sleeping furs.
"There's a lot going on Bri." Xara said sitting down next to the smaller woman. Then she picked her up and set her on her lap. "There much better."
"What happened?" Bri said. "My memory is a bit of a blur."
"Where to begin." Xara said. "What's the last thing you remember?" She finally asked.
"I was walking past the communications room trying to find the cafeteria when, lets see, what did happen." Bri said thinking about it for a few seconds. "I think I remember an explosion?" She said not too sure about her memory.
"There was an explosion. Do you remember the first one?" Xara asked watching as Bri thought then nodded her head. "That one knocked out the engines."
"We're dead in space?" Bri asked not sure she liked the course of the conversation.
"Yes my Jedi, we are." Xara said. "Right now I'm in a holding cell, and you're unconscious in the medlab." Xara said telling her the truth.
"In a holding cell?" Bri asked wondering what was going on.
"Cal's on board and he's telling everyone that I'm responsible for the sabotage of the engines and the communications room."
"I don't believe that." Bri said not liking what she had just heard. "Master Yoda doesn't believe that, does he?"
"No, he doesn't, but I think he has a uphill battle. I think Cal has done a good job in making me look like a bad guy." Xara told her wrapping her arms around Bri's waist.
"Hmm, so what's my condition?" Bri asked not really wanting to know.
"A concussion, swelling in the head, and a couple of cracked ribs. The swelling is what's worrying the doctor the most." Xara said truthfully.
"I guess it could be worse." Bri said as she snuggled into Xara's embrace.
They sat there for a while just savoring each other before Bri spoke again.
"What type of damage was done to the engines and communications rooms?" Bri asked quietly as a thought came to her.
"Both the hyperspace and Ion engines were damaged, and the communications room was completely destroyed." Xara replied.
"It wasn't you." Bri said looking up into the blue eyes with such confidence that Xara blinked. "With your skills you wouldn't have needed that much explosive and I think you would have done a better job with the engines."
"You're right." Xara said thinking about it. "I wouldn't have damaged the Ion engines, that would have been dangerous, and I would not have attacked the communications room. It would have seemed like an accident. And whoever did that also put the Exir Stone in with my stuff."
"The Exir Stone?" Bri asked a bit curious about that.
"Oh yeah! Someone stole the stone and put it in my stuff." Xara said. "I think I now have enough information for my trial tomorrow." Xara said. "Thanks." She gave the top of Bri's head a kiss.
"Any time, right now I'm a bit tired." Bri said.
"Don't worry, I'll see you soon my Jedi." Xara said holding on to the form until she too fell asleep.
Xara woke up a bit disoriented but feeling much better than she had earlier. She needed to talk with Sara soon about this dream thing that it seemed that she and Bri shared. She thought about what they and talked about and realized that Bri had gotten lost again. The cafeteria was two decks down from the communications room.
Xara realized that Bri was right about her conclusion about how Xara would have done it. The only problem was not how to help Yoda convince the rest about what had happened. She only wished that she knew what type of explosive had been used in the blasts. That might give an indication of who had done the sabotage of the ship. The only reason she could come up with would have to do with their current mission to Sissis. Xara knew that she did not have the time or equiptment to see who could have been responsible for the acts.
She looked up as the door swung open and Master Yoda walked into the room. He strode confidentily into the room. She wondered about his look and if he any new information about her case.
"Good morning Xara, I have one question for you." He said. "No one ever saw you near the communications room. So you either had an accomplice or someone else did it."
"Didn't think about that, your right I did not go near that room." Xara said. "That, and Bri reminded me that I wouldn't have sabotaged the Ion engines, just the hyperspace engines. That and it would have looked like an accident." Xara said to him getting a strange look for her remark.
"Talked to Bri you have?" He asked a bit confused by the information.
"Ah, that's a bit more difficult to explain, but yeah." Xara said wondering how to explain this to the Jedi Master.
"The soul mate connection then is very strong between you both." Yoda replied realizing for the first time how strong the connection was. "Talked to the doctor I have, confirmed what you said."
"That's good news." Knowing that it might just diffuse talk of her stealing the Exir Stone. She then thought of something else that she had not really realized until just now. "I ran into a Jedi on the way to the medlab when the second explosion occurred."
"Find this Jedi I will." Yoda said to her. Her innocence was becoming more and more clear with each piece of evidence that was coming out. The only thing he had to do was counter anything that Cal said with evidence that pointed to the contrary. He also did not want any of the other Jedi to be swayed by Cal anymore than necessary.
"I guess its time to start my trial." Xara said wishing it was already over and she was beside Bri's bed holding her hand. She reviewed her last thought and snorted a bit to herself. Some big bad Sith warrior turned out to be wanting to only be with Bri. She thought to herself but she knew it to be the truth.
"After breakfast, come on." Yoda said to her, as her cell was unlocked.
"You're letting me out?" Xara said not really sure she understood what Yoda was saying.
"Only into my custody, until we establish your innocence." Yoda replied back to her.
"What about Bri?" Xara asked wondering if she would be able to see her.
"Stop by the medlab we can." Yoda told her as they walked out of the holding area.
Yoda walked beside Xara after they had cuffed her hands in front of her. Xara did not like the idea of the cuffs, but Yoda told her it was just a precaution and that he was not worried about her trying to escape as they were on board a stranded ship. They made their way to the medlab first as Xara wanted to check on Bri as soon as she could.
They walked into the medlab and Xara made her way over to where Bri was lying. She had a bandage on her head and was covered by the sheets. Markus was standing nearby watching and went over to Yoda as soon as he saw his teacher enter the room.
"Doing how is she?" Yoda asked Markus as he approached.
"The swelling has not gone down yet, and it does concern the doctors a bit." Markus answered truthfully. Xara stiffened at the reply and tried not to dwell on what it could mean.
"I am concerned about her Master Yoda." The doctor said as he walked into the room. Xara glanced at him and noticed him to be the same one who she had tried to help yesterday before Cal came into the medlab and accused her of the sabotage.
"She also has not moved since she got here." The doctor went on to say then gave a bit more complete list of her injuries. Bri would not be lifting anything for a few days, at least until the ribs had healed a bit more. The most pressing problem was the swelling. The doctor did not want to perform any surgery as anything involving the brain was dangerous and could have complications involved with it even with the advanced medical breakthroughs.
Xara turned back to Bri and allowed her hand to caress Bri's cheek for a few minutes. She thought that she felt Bri lean into the touch so she just kept it up and then stroked her hair for a few seconds. She turned to look at Yoda who was talking with the doctor and she knew that it was time for her to eat and begin the trial.
"I'll be back my Jedi." Xara said giving her a quick kiss then straighten up and walked over to where the rest of the group stood. The doctor had been watching as well and was not sure what to make of what he had just seen. He glanced at Yoda who did not seem to be fazed so he just took it in stride.
"Are you family?" He asked her.
"You might say that." Xara said hiding her real reply.
"Sometimes a patient recovers better when family members are nearby." The doctor said. "And for the record I don't think you did anything Cal said. He rushes to conclusions to quickly from what I see." The doctor said. "I'll let you know if anything develops."
"Thank you." Xara replied as they then walked out the door leaving the doctor and Markus in the room with the rest of the patients.
"A friend you have." Yoda said they walked down the corridor to the cafeteria.
Xara looked at him with a bit of a puzzled face not really understanding what he was saying.
"Trusts you the doctor does." Yoda said as Xara looked at him. "Does not trust easily, only those he feels are worthy of trust."
"As long as he takes care of Bri." Xara replied back.
"Worry not, best hands she is in." Yoda said knowing that the doctor was one of the best in the universe. "Spoke to me he did about you. Said that there was no way you could have taken the Exir Stone during the confusion and be in the medlab at the same time."
"Will that stand up during the trial?" Xara asked wondering how much she would have to defend herself.
"Well received he is, his word is his life." Yoda replied giving the only answer he had to as they walked into the cafeteria.
End Part 2
Continued in Part 3
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