Undertaken (#Wattys2015) (Star Wars)

Chapter 11 -Contacting the Council

"You've seen a comlink before, haven't you?" Obi-Wan asked the boy while unpacking the content of his heavy backpack. Making a mess was not Kenobi's habit, but his needed communication device just didn't wish to be found. He has got everything already from robes to holopad charger, but not the tiny object.

"Of course I have," Bost Highhold replied as he watched the three Republicans getting comfortable. "Not too long ago, I managed to put my hands on one. It belonged to a droid. Sadly, it was deactivated afterwards. I didn't get to hear a single sound of their plans." He leaned on the table where Obi-Wan poured out the content of his backpack. "Need help?"

"No, actually, I'm good," The Jedi master answered as he practically disappeared in the large bag, digging for the missing comlink. "But tell me, have you ever interacted with the droids? Like destroying them?"

Bost laughed embarrassedly, "I tried once, it was a bad idea." He sat up on the table next to the master's backpack.

"Why?" Obi-Wan questioned from deep inside the bag. His voice was muffled as the thick deep orange, nearly brown material surrounded him.

The boy looked at his sight before answering, "The beige, weak droids are easy, I can finish them off with a few kicks. The larger grey-black ones challenge me."

"Super droids," Alpha spat, "Those are some nasty clankers, I've met a few during my time as a cadet." He said during unpacking his apparatus; a variety of blasters with extra bullets, droid bombs and a few other useful weapons. He watched the Jedi master searching for his communication device amusedly, before offering him his own.

"Thanks," Obi-Wan grabbed the clone's comlink and pressed a few buttons before turning to Highhold, "Boy, you're about to see the Jedi Council's Grand master, Yoda, and Mace Windu. Just stay polite, they'll like you." He placed the device on the messy wooden table. After a few seconds, the comlink came to life. Two figures were visible in transparent-blue color, a small sized, older specie standing by a tall human male. Both were wearing the exact same robes master Kenobi had on.

The tall man spoke first as Obi-Wan stood by Highhold and Alpha, "Master Kenobi, it's great to see you. I believe you're here to report the status." He said formally as he glanced at the three of them.

"Yes, master Windu," Obi-Wan approved. By hearing him address the Jedi "Windu", Bost automatically memorized which person is which. "We've arrived to Dagobah yesterday and spent the night in nature," Obi-Wan continued, "Today, we're come to know the size of the droid army on the planet. My padawan, Anakin is studying their status just as we speak. According to what we've been seeing until now, the status is extremely critical."

"How much?" The smaller Jedi, Yoda spoke in a raspy voice, asking Obi-Wan.

Bost was the one being fully aware of Dagobah's status. He knew when and where the droids went, he'd been keeping an eye on the army for quite a while. He thought about risking to irretupt the formal conversation, -but he let the idea vanish.

"This part of the planet is flooded by droid armies." Obi-Wan explained briefly.

"If I may," Bost spoke at last, "I've been looking at droid activities since the day they've been transported to Dagobah. They're not here to terrorize the living life forms -there aren't any left."

Windu studied his appearance with concern before asking who he is exaxtly, in a solid, polite way. The boy managed to reply in his smoothest way, hoping to earn the Jedi master's accepting.

"May I speak with master Kenobi privately for a moment?" Mace asked. It was the type of question that is more of a request, you either say yes, or disappoint one. Alpha nodded respectfully and walked out of sight, back to his unpacked bag. Bost studied the Jedi holograms for a few more seconds before walking off with a face of concern. He stopped by the table and watched as Obi-Wan lifted the comlink up to carry it further away, getting a few moments of privacy.

"Was I wrong?" Bost questioned. Obi-Wan had told him about the Jedi about half an hour ago, and the boy really wanted to get accepted by their Council. If he's about to become one of them, it would be great to make a good first impression.

"Don't worry," Anakin Skywalker stepped away from the lookout holes, staring at the walls. It took him a few seconds to adjust his eyes to the darker lights after peeking outside for such a long period of time. Once he could see clearly, he approached Alpha, "You'll be fine, Bost. Even I got hardly accepted."

"Really?" Bost questioned, "But you're the Chosen One!"

"They said my future's clouded," He made a furious face as he leaned down next to Alpha, "Such excuses."

"What if they won't accept me?" Bost asked, more to himself than to the other two. He leaned his back onto a wall and watched the sun creeping inside through the lookout holes, lighting up the darker area inside the tree. "If it's a possibility, then... Hey, are they strict?" He glanced on Skywalker.

"Depends," The padawan straightened up, "Mace is. He really is sticking to the rules. Obi-Wan's a lot more open towards challenges."

"So it's Mace Windu, that I should worry about?"

"And Yoda!" He raised his pointing finger up to highlight the importance of the message, "He senses everything. If he senses a mistake, he'll go for it!"

"Wonderful." He worried.

The three of them either sat or stood silently inside, waiting for something; anything to happen. The rising sun had illuminated the room and highlighted its features. Alpha studied the place to make time pass, Anakin yawned, Bost was thinking. A few minutes passed.

"How uneventful," Skywalker spoke at last, "There are hundreds of droid units out there and yet, all we do is standing around."

Silence followed his sentence.

"True," Alpha said, "We should get commands from General Kenobi to leave."

"He wouldn't let us go by ourselves!" Anakin sighed and sat up on the wooden table.

"What about planning?" Bost asked them, "Any attack ideas?"

The Chosen One smiled sacrastically as he watched the boy trying to come up with things. Attack ideas? Planning? Who needs those? He, Anakin Skywalker, never needs plans. "Your instincts will tell you what to do. No need for "planning" here."

"So, you just rush in?"

"Don't question me, Highhold."

"I wasn't!"

"Good then," Skywalker got himself off of the table and walked towards the exit of the tree habitat. He wanted to speak with Obi-Wan. It did bug him that they were gazing around during hundreds of droid armies worked on the surface. Anakin had enough of talk, he felt the urge to step into action here, for all of them. He wished to be back on Coruscant in his confortable room, being surrounded by his spaceship or podracer maquettes. He could always think there, think about anything. Although, that could get extremely boring after a while. One thing was sure; he was ready to slice droids now.

A little behind him, Alpha stood up. He streched his muscular arms that were not too visible due to the armour that covered his entire body.

"Nice armour," Bost mentioned, "Have the Republic provided it for you?"

"Yep," The clone replied, "all of my brothers wear these. We've got different colors and shapes painted on them too."

"Nice," The boy nodded, smiling, "I also have something like that, just barely a few parts."

"Really?"

"I've got the shoulder pads. Also, I made arm protection too."

"What for?"

"I did try to fight the droids. I don't know about the shoulder pads, I guess they just look good, but the arm cover did make sense."

"You seem to be braver than what I thought you would be." Alpha reached out to put his hand on Bost's shoulder. The boy looked up to meet his eyes. He looked just like a true soldier with the strong facial expressions of his, a clone's face. Bost let a greatful smile creep up and spread across his chin.

"Now," Alpha broke the silent moment, "let me introduce the weapons to you. This may be a task of a soldier, but it would be no harm if you'd know which thing is which. First up, here's a droid bomb..."