Before - Legends Swings and Roundabouts (JA - RR) *Final post *

Sombre and touching last line. Like how the drink nearly got thrown on poor An-Paj (the man who has so much on his hands already!) and his assertion that threatening a healer was of the dark side!

*****

"Are you absolutely sure," Qui-Gon asked as Jemmiah wheeled past him, steering the chair in the direction of the huge dome that housed the simulators, "that you want to do this?"

Jemmiah turned her head and offered her guardian a breezy smile. "Why?" She asked him. "Afraid that I'll beat you?"

"I was thinking more in terms of your feet, which you have been at great pains to assure us all are in absolute tatters." Qui-Gon replied calmly, refusing to be goaded. "And no; I'm not remotely afraid. Is there a reason I should be?"

The Corellian stiffened, pausing at the top of the ramp. What precisely was Qui-Gon angling at?

"I mean it's not as if you're used to riding swoops for under your own efforts, is it?" The master continued, striding up the platform with huge, loping, business-like strides. "In theory I should be able to wipe the floor with you?"

"Master!" Obi-Wan tutted, catching the wicked gleam in his master's eye.

Qui-Gon was unrepentant. "I can't foresee this taking too long, Tangles. Whilst I fully expect you to put up your customary tenacious Corellian fight it does seem to me that I have an unassailable advantage. For a start, you are crippled and can barely put your feet on the ground. Now," he held up his hand, "joking apart, I don't want you suffering purely because you feel you have to take me on at this."

Jemmiah's lips formed an indignant pout. "I'll manage."

"If you're sure." Jinn reached into his pocket and fished out what appeared to be a golden hair clip. Slowly he swept the long strands of his hair backwards, noting the amount of grey strands that now appeared mixed in amongst the natural dark colouring: most of them caused no doubt by the over-confident individual sitting in the wheel chair before him. It was the reason behind that confidence that puzzled him. Self-belief aside, did she really expect to beat him? It wasn't just a case of taking her injured feet into consideration: he had the force at his command! With the force as his ally he could see potential hazards before they even appeared on the horizon. His reflexes would be naturally that little bit quicker. In many ways it was the ultimate in unfair advantages.

He didn't want to see Jemmiah disappointed should he win. No, not should: when he won. It was inevitable. It was always good to learn the lesson of humility but he wasn't sure that it was something Jemmiah would appreciate having to do in such a public place with all her friends around her. Of course he could always let her win - but she wasn't stupid. She'd know if he deliberately threw the contest away and would likely resent him all the more for it. If only she'd agreed to back down when he'd given her the chance! That way all the potential heartache might have been avoided.

That coupled with the fact that he had more than enough experience riding swoops: not that he was about to admit that to anyone else. There was only one other person at the park that day who knew precisely how handy with a swoop he, Qui-Gon Jinn, could be?

"Quite sure." Jemmiah replied, promptly wheeling her chair into the barrier next to her. Obi-Wan raised his eyes to the heavens. If she couldn't even steer a chair then what chance did she have on a swoop simulator? It was that stubborn, unrelenting Corellian pride again! Not for the first time had Obi-Wan felt cause to be grateful that she hadn't been the one gallivanting round the park on the repulsar chair when the infernal contraption decided to suffer the equivalent of a mechanical nervous breakdown. She could have been seriously hurt?

The idea of Jemmiah on a swoop was just as ludicrous - and about as appealing. He'd been with her when she'd taken her first speeder flying lessons. Just thinking about it made the bile in his stomach leap uncomfortably upwards?his enthusiasm for flying had been forever damaged

 

Mouse - I thought you'd recognise the Python tribute in the Simeon/phrasebook plotline - although it's probably just as well I didn't include some of the words and phrases that made it into John Clease's version!

 

Jemmiah - SQUEAK-SQUEAK-SQUEAK - ROTFL! Can just picture the three of them trailing round the amusement park with Qui-Gon's nerves fraying! We SAW the Simeon-sized gap in the wall that had been lazered out by what must have been some kind of metal cutting device." - Again LOL! He should have been more careful! "But Simeon doesn't speaks Hrobek - Oh poor Simeon!!!!!!! That was so mean. Even when he was in the proverbial doghouse, that was the place he belonged?and always would. - Awww sniff.

DI - What you intend to do, however," he continued, producing two datachips, "requires a waiver, a liability release, and video surveillance. You must produce proof of insurance coverage, two forms of legal identification, and an emergency contact." - What sort of ride is that? Probably a good thing they were interrupted!

Jemmiah - Every now and again it would attempt to raise itself a few stuttering feet into the air on its repulsar lifts accompanied by phuttering noises of an unhealthy nature only to fall back in an apathy of mechanical exhaustion. - Oh that poor chair! Can't wait to see An Paj's reaction but I imagine that he has more important things on his mind. "I'm not even remotely jealous - Obi-Wan's impression of a non jealous boyfriend wasn't entirely convincing!

DI - Then every Jedi from Yoda down is a Sith and very proud to be one." - LOL! She has a point!

Jemmiah - "You evil reptile! You know I promised I'd never let you use my place again for your romantic trysts and now - Poor Rela. She walked into that one! How is Qui-Gon going to react to Lilith's appearance?

Phew finally caught up

 

The park services area was quiet, concealing the hive of activity inside and giving the three Padawans a temporary oasis of calm. Set away from the rest of the amusement park, the medical centre, where the injuries treated usually ranged from the odd cut knee to blisters, was now an emergency med unit.

Inside Leona and Dimallie had carried out a detailed examination of Kyleen?s skull fracture before the Healer had ushered her padawan out of the med room. Exchanging glances with Dex, who was still shaken by events, she told Dimallie to join the others outside. As a healer, Leona knew that Dimallie would face many terrible situations in the line of duty and she wanted to shield her from the worst for just a little while longer. Returning to the exam room, she let herself have a moment of pride in how Dimallie had worked by her side.

The park chief medic was waiting for her. ?What now?? He asked, casting a worried look at the still form on the bed.

?I?ll contact the Temple and arrange for transportation.? Leona replied. The man nodded and left the room.

Dex watched him disappear down the corridor. With a small sigh he sank into a chair, once Kyleen was back at the Temple then they could deal with other matters. How the accident occurred would have to be accounted for. Closing his eyes, the Jedi Master leaned back in his chair, who would have thought that a simple, innocent trip to the amusement park could end like this twice but the sudden flash of emotion from the exam room told him that it wasn?t over yet.

Dashing inside he found Leona listening to the grainy holo image of An Paj.

??accident, Fione managed to save the passengers but?? The Healer trailed off, shaking his head. ?We?ll be ready when you get here with Kyleen.?

?Thank you.? Leona ended the transmission. ?I?ll go and tell the others.?

Dimallie, Rem and Mia sat side by side, the screams from the park barely registering as they took in the news of Master Fione?s death. Dimallie?s Master had just disappeared back inside the centre. Before doing so she had caught Mia?s eye and Mia had nodded in response to her wordless question.

?Are you alright?? Rem asked, looking at her with worried eyes.

?Yes.? Li had friends who would help her through this and she knew from experience that An Paj would have the situation under control. ?You did a good job Dimallie.? She told her, turning to healer.

?Thank you,? Dimallie whispered back.

Rem watched her in admiration. The healers had the most difficult job he decided. We turn to them to patch us up but they have to deal with tragedy every day. Li was not the first Padawan to lose her Master and she would not be the last?

 

"Li was not the first Padawan to lose her Master and she would not be the last?"

Now, what I want to know:

Was that last sentence foreshadowing? Did it refer to Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon? Or somebody else??? Nice sombre tone you've set with this post: you always write Dimallie so well, making her a much more understated and gentle character, that it makes me blush when I look at how I write her! Rem's devotion is entirely understandable.

 

"This is it?" Maye pointed at the raised rostrum. "Call me ignorant but this doesn't look much like a swoop to me."

The others gathered around the platform, eyes raised towards the giant holo projection screen that dominated the scene. To either side of the central platform there stood a chamber, as wide as a standard turbo lift and roughly the average height of a Wookiee with perhaps half a head to spare, but as far as Rela could make out there was nothing visible that was discernibly swoop oriented. She turned to Simeon, her expression one of confusion.

"Okay, I don't get this." She scratched her head. "I always thought that in order to have a swoop match you at least needed a couple of swoops!"

"What's in there?" The padawan wondered, craning his head in the direction of the two chambers. "It's not the sort of set-up I expected. Are they going to lock them in those things, do you think?"

Rela shuddered. Given her recent experiences in the maze she didn't especially wish to dwell on the idea overmuch. A few yards away she could see the mildly confused Qui-Gon trying to work out exactly what was required whilst Jemmy wheeled her chair to the bottom of the dais and applied the breaks. Her expression seemed to say it all.

Find out what's going on, it said, or I don't budge another micrometer.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Just had to sort something out back there?"

For a moment Rela held her breath, convinced that it was Ricksen again. It was beginning to get ridiculous! There was only so many times she could keep dodging out of the way without it looking suspicious! Then to her considerable relief she saw not Ricksen but another member of staff, dressed in the same kind of uniform, slowly winding his way through the padawans and pausing with his foot at the bottom of the ramp. Nice, pleasant smiling face thought Rela: not outstandingly attractive but jolly and evidently quite laid back. It made a change to see someone who was content with their lot, especially given the amount of customers who would complain and whine and pour their hearts out to her over a glass of Cutlass Ale at the bar.

"Right." He clapped his hands together and rubbed them in anticipation. "Swoop racing, wasn't it?"

Qui-Gon finally voiced his puzzlement. "Yes?we were wanting to use the swoop simulators but?"

"Changed your mind?" The man asked, not sounding remotely phased. "Not to matter. We've got all kind of sims here. Speeder racing?aircar racing?nargots, if you've a mind to try something a little more temperamental?pod racing, track and tyre racing?"

"Skip racing?" Rela asked innocently, receiving a smack on the arm from Jemmy.

"No, the swoop racing is fine." Qui-Gon replied, smiling to cover his increasing bafflement. "Perhaps if you could show us?"

"Not a problem." The man grinned merrily, his rosy cheeks reminding Rela of a ripe petal fruit. "Could the two competitors make their way to the top of the platform, please? Then I'll explain a little about what's going to happen."

Qui-Gon glanced across at Jemmiah. "Can you manage?" He asked, genuinely concerned that she might not be up to the task. Typically the Corellian waved his anxiety away, reversing the chair slightly so that she could get a better run up the ramp but, on watching her struggle with the contrary wheels for a moment, Qui-Gon finally stepped up behind her and pushed the chair until they both reached the summit.

"I thought that I might as well give you some assistance now, seeing as how it will be no quarter given in the actual contest." Jinn smiled at her, ignoring the withering look Jemmiah was aiming at him. "I am going to give you one last chance to withdraw from this clash." He held his hand honestly over his heart. "It was unfair of me and I should never have suggested it in the first place. If your feet are bothering you at all then we can simply call it a day and return to the temple. Nobody will think any worse of you for it?"

"You really don't think I'm going to do well here at all, do you?" Jemmiah felt totally defl

 

Qui-Gon's acting a little full of himself for a Jedi. I have a bad feeling that he's not giving Jemmy as much credit as she deserves. Same goes for Obi!

Obi you may have tricked Rela this once, but I have a feeling that she's going to be on her guard against you from now on.

Uh oh. Qui-Gon, Lilith, and Jemmy in a swoop simulator. I have a feeling that this is about to turn ugly.

Wonderful post Jem!

I have to wonder with Jemmiah on that last sentence Sabe. Was it a sense of foreshadowing? It still managed to give me chills.

I love Dimallie's quiet strength that's shining through. No wonder Rem is so smitten.

Awesome post Sabe!

"Skip racing?" Rela asked innocently, receiving a smack on the arm from Jemmy. Hehehehe!!

I have a sneaky suspicion that the gallery is going to be Qui-Gon's downfall.

Faboo Jem!!

 

*Sigh* Yes, it was pretty fab

 

"Tell me what happened."

Dex remained seated in a chair outside of the medical room in which Healer Leona was trying to help Kylenn, waiting for any further progress reports that might come their way via Dimallie. Beside him sat a plainly shocked Kryztan, his face pale and taught with disbelief. He'd barely moved a muscle during the last ten minutes, so much so that Dex wondered if he'd actually drawn breath the whole time he'd been with him.

"Do you feel able to tell me?" He asked his padawan gently. "Can you remember what happened at all?"

Kryztan's eyes didn't so much as move an inch from the ground.

"I?" He began, his thoughts truly disordered. "I?I'm not sure. She was there?sat next to me. Everything was fine."

His master waited for Kryztan to find his voice again. "Go on." He encouraged with a slight smile.

The padawan didn't blink once.

"We'd had a good day, master. As good a day as I'd had in the last few weeks." Kryztan admitted with a heavy heart, feeling Dex's spirits sink along side his own the moment he alluded to the cantina crawl incident again. "I felt?I don't know. Embarrassed. Ashamed that I was there enjoying myself when I knew that I didn't really deserve it?knowing that somewhere in the park Obi-Wan and all the others were doing the same. And I felt lonely and isolated."

"That's ridiculous." Dex sighed, placing his hand on Kryztan's shoulder, wondering what this had to do with Kylenn's accident. "There's no need for that at all."

"I know." Answered Kryztan simply. "That's what Kylenn told me. Master, it isn't fair! Why did this have to happen?she's never hurt a fly in her life! She's the sweetest of souls in the galaxy." He gave an ironic chuckle. "Spent the whole morning trying to convince me to cheer up and have some fun for her sake. And I tried my best: I didn't want to drag her whole day down when she was trying so hard to get me to enjoy myself." The padawan looked down at the folded hands on his lap. "There's no justice."

"The accident, Kryztan." Dex had a further attempt at getting his padawan to focus. If he could just concentrate and work his way through the mire of shock and fear and not let his thoughts wander?"How did it happen?"

Kryztan closed his eyes, willing himself to recollect. "I didn't want to go on the ride. It was her idea, but she just seemed so?enthusiastic that I daren't say no. I thought she'd keep on at me until I agreed so I just gave in." He turned pleading eyes to his master. "If only I hadn't! If I'd dug my heels in then she would surely have changed her mind!"

"We'll never know that for certain." Dex patted Kryztan's arm affectionately, thinking back to the accident with Lydia all those years ago. Qui-Gon had believed the same as Kryztan. And just like his padawan, Qui-Gon had blamed himself. Still did, truth be known. "The only one who can say that for certain is Kylenn. Maybe when she gets better you can ask her."

"Will she?" Harkley was the embodiment of intensity.

"What?"

"Get better?" Again the blue eyes begged Dex to tell him what he wanted to hear.

Berlingside took a deep breath. "They're doing all they can, I promise you that much. Now please?if you want to help Kylenn then the best thing you can do is describe what happened in your own words. The healers might need to understand what caused the accident. Perhaps it might be important in the way they treat Kylenn's injury, do you see?"

Kryztan's face took on the familiar, haunted expression that Dex had first witnessed on his reunion with the young man.

"We each took a seat." Replied the padawan slowly. "She was on the left and I on her other side. She was so excited, master?just like a child! I was surprised because I've known Kylenn since we were both in the crèche together and it didn't strike me as being her kind of thing, and I?" His head hung slightly in shame.

"Continue." Dex urged him.

"I felt slightly annoyed, I must confess. I thought she was patronising me. Trying to pretend enthusiasm just for my benefit. I should have known she woul

 

Re forshadowing - Yes it was referring to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, couldn't resist

Jemmiah - It wasn't as if this humble game - which was all it was in reality - would have any significant bearing on the future. - Hmm, now you've got me even more intrigued! Why did Hwa retract her story? The plot gets ever thicker.

Quick question - What did happen on the catina crawl to make everyone turn against him?

 

What happened on the cantina crawl? Oh, boy. For one thing, he drugged Jemmiah and made very indecent advances on her, he and Obi-Wan got in a huge fight... Well, maybe I'd better let the rest explain.

Jem, that was a very sad post!

 

Hmmmm... First off, was it an accident that caused Kylenn to fall or something else? But this goes to show that Dex can calm down and be master-ish when he wants and needs to. He is such a calming influence to Kryztan during this.

But why did Hwa change her story? What does she have against Kryztan?

Awesome post Jem!!

 

The answer to what happened on the Cantina Crawl can be found on page 8 (I think) of ANTAR:

A night to (almost) remember

It's roughly half way down the page - and worth reading for Qui-Gon's reaction.

 

I'm trying to find out where the heck the rampant homosexuality hides. Maybe i'm just naive.

 

Ish, the rampant what?!?

 

Okay, I'm lost. I read on here someone saying something about rampant homosexuality hiding behind...and now i can't find it...

 

Edit->Find on Page... You can do a quick simple search for it, Ish.

 

Thanks, Lilith.

 

Posting early tonight because...it's not mine!

To explain, Lilith Demodae kindly wrote the following post, so again let me say a big, huge thank you to her for helping out! Cheers Lil I won't spoil it for the others except to say that I had great fun reading it, infact it made me want to see the good Captain around more in fanfic, and yes - I'm still envious of the smooth way you write action scenes!

******

After getting the same set of instructions from Ed that Qui-Gon had received, Jemmy accepted the helmet and popped it on, despite the mess it would make of her hair. She managed to get astride the swoop with a minimum of pain, and settled herself as comfortably as she could. The holo rezzed up around her, showing her the starting line and a bit of straight away before the track curved away to the right, out of view behind a simulated hill.

Jemmy hadn't been racing swoops long, but she'd studied harder for this than for her school work and practiced whenever she could steal the time. Quiggy had the advantage in experience, but that didn't mean he was just going to walk away with the win. She would make him fight for it.

The countdown flashed to life, steadily blinking down the seconds, and she took a deep breath. This was it. No backing out now, even if she'd wanted to, which she didn't.

3 ... 2 ... 1 ... Buzzz!

The swoop jolted to life under her, and she was off. The wind whipped up, no doubt generated by some fan hidden in the darkness of the booth, and tugged at her clothes. Jemmy grinned, thinking how Qui-Gon's robe would be flapping like a flag. In a real race the drag that created would be a serious handicap. In a simulator it would just be annoying.

And then the first turn was upon her and there was no more spare time for thoughts of her competition. She cruised easily around the turn only to be instantly confronted by a low wall across the track. Rancor Pit, she thought, and hopped over the first wall with a goose of her altitude controls. Dropping instantly, she ducked the second wall that blocked the upper half of the course, and then hopped over the third low wall, clearing the first obstacle cleanly.

She could do this. She was doing this. Now, if only she could see where Qui-Gon was to judge her progress.

*******

There had been no warning. The low wall across the way had come as a complete surprise, as it was no doubt meant to, hidden by the first turn of the course the way it was. Qui-Gon recovered fast enough to keep from slamming into any of the three walls, but the surprise lingered, for there had been no warning from the Force.

Had Jemmiah hit one of the walls? Surely she wouldn't have come to any harm. It was just a game. Would it allow her to come back up to speed and continue? That would be a more sporting way to do it, if unrealistic. Slamming into one of those walls at high speed in real life would do serious damage to any being.

He dodged through a series of upright poles set in the track and slewed around the next corner as he thought about Jemmiah and the lack of input from the Force. "Sithspit. It's not real." It was all just a simulation. The wind, the grit in the air, the obstacles, none of it was real, so there was no real danger. And no warning from the Force.

His advantage was not so great as he had supposed, but still ... it wasn't like Jemmiah raced swoops every weekend or anything. He still had quite an edge in the experience category. He slipped through a ditch with some sort of tractor beam pulling him toward the sides, narrowly missing scraping the side as he exited.

Two fast hairpin turns pointed him straight at a roaring waterfall. Holographic indicators showed two paths here, one through the waterfall and another over. Lifting the nose of his swoop, the Jedi master headed over the pile of rocks.

*******

Coming out of the Gravity Well, Jemmiah wished again that she could see where Master Qui-Gon was, whether ahead or behind. She felt she was winning, but quietly feared that she wasn't. It was all so very fru

 

oh dear, I think Qui-Gon would remind you of one. Such a sad and forboding last line there! - Thanks for pointing that out HL! Have edited the post so it makes sense

 

That was awesome!