Muunraker/Chapter 2

Muunraker

Chapter 2 Another Jedi

The trip to Fondor was pretty uneventful. Shasta Moonreaper, Pandolfo Taproot and Gruu Funkistann had looked over the information that was uploaded to their personal datapads regarding the mission. It was mostly information about Fondor.

The MI5 transport Durasteel Rancor touched down on the surface at the spaceport in Obsidian City. This was a city on Fondor that was quite run-down compared to Fondors other industrialized cities. Obsidian City was where criminals liked to gather and make contact with other criminals. A lot of deals went down here. It seemed like a perfect starting point to tracking down the stash of weapons.

One of the workers at the spaceport watched as the three Durasteel Rancor passengers stepped off the ship's ramp. The worker, a Human named Clod, immediately noticed the Jedi robes the Gungan was wearing. As the three MI5 agents walked past him, Clod commented, "Another Jedi?"

They stopped and looked at him. "Excuse me?" Pandolfo asked.

"What have we done to make Obsidian City so popular with you Jedi?" Clod asked.

"Another Jedi?" Gruu repeated. "Have you-sa seen other Jedi come through here recently?"

"Yeah," Clod responded. "Two of 'em arrived earlier today. Don't you guys have anything better to do than bother us?" The chubby Human shook his head as he walked away and continued his work.

"Are there other Jedi here on Fondor?" Shasta asked Gruu.

The Gungan Jedi shrugged. "Could be. We-sa Jedi are all over da galaxy. But me-sa spends most of da time wit' MI5. Me-sa rarely goes to da Jedi Temple. It's possible dat two Jedi are on a mission here."

"We should try to track them down," Pandolfo suggested. "They may be after the same guys we are."

"Hold on a moment." Gruu closed his eyes and concentrated. He let the Force flow through him. He searched for other Force-sensitive beings. Within moments he was able to feel two strong presences in the Force. "Yes," he said opening his eyes again. "Dare are two here. One of dem is very close by."

Shasta said, "Okay. Gruu, you find the Jedi. They might have come across something that could help us. Pandolfo and I will search the spaceport, see if any large shipments of weapons came through here."

Pandolfo added, "We may also try hacking into the mainframe. There might be a record of it."

Gruu nodded in acknowledgement.

Shasta said, "Everybody keep your communicators at the ready. We'll rendezvous back here later."

- - - - - - - - - -

As Gruu ventured through the spaceport, all the other beings couldn't stop staring at him. First of all, he was a Jedi. And, apparently, the arrival of Jedi was a recent occurance on Fondor. Secondly, he was a Gungan. He knew Gungans weren't very common outside of Naboo. Sure, there were some, but not like other species. Some of these spaceport beings had probably never even seen a Gungan until now.

Gruu just continued walking, minding his own business, following the presence he felt in the Force.

The presence was stronger now. He was getting close. As he passed one of the spaceport terminals, he heard a voice say, "Gruu?"

He recognized the voice. A fellow Jedi he had not seen for quite some time. Gruu turned to see the long-haired Human and smiled. "Master Qui-Gon! It's good to be seein' you-sa again."

"Indeed," Qui-Gon Jinn said, approaching Gruu and shaking his hand. "It's been a long time, my friend. How is MI5 treating you?"

"Good as can be expected," Gruu answered. Since Gruu spent most of his time with MI5, he rarely saw other Jedi and spent little time at the Temple. He met Qui-Gon Jinn years ago. It had been a while since they saw each other.

"So what brings you-sa to Fondor?"

"My padawan and I were sent out here to investigate the disappearance of one of the top officials at this spaceport," Qui-Gon explained. "A Sullustan named Den Drumb who disappeared yesterday. What brings MI5 to Fondor?"

"Dare's a shipment of illegal weaponry dat we-sa are trying to track down," Gruu said.

There was a slight pause between them.

"You don't suppose our two missions are connected?" Qui-Gon said.

"Day may very well be," Gruu responded.

- - - - - - - - - -

Elsewhere in the spaceport, Pandolfo was able to successfully slice into a computer console. He and Shasta had to break into, and take over, a small control room. They flashed their MI5 badges and commandeered the computers. Typing away at the screen, Pandolfo said, "Okay, let's start with the largest shipments that came and went within the last few days."

Shasta's communicator beeped. She answered the call. "What's up, Gruu?"

The Gungan's difficult-to-understand Basic came through the comm. "If you-sa guys hack into da databanks, search for a spaceport official named Den Drumb."

"Den Drumb," Pandolfo repeated to himself as he keyed in the name.

"Dare might be a connection wit' him," Gruu continued. "He-sa went missin' yesterday."

Pandolfo watched as the information scrolled up on to the screen. All the data indicated that Den Drumb was performing his usual tasks in the beginning of the day yesterday, but he never clocked out to go home. Drumb used his identification card to enter certain areas of the spaceport that were for authorized personnel only. So Pandolfo was able to track all the activity regarding the ID card.

Digging deeper into the data, Pandolfo found that Drumb left one of the control rooms and then entered a garage that housed work vehicles belonging to the spaceport. That was the last time the card was used. "Here's where he may have gone missing," Pandolfo said, pointing at the last line of data.

"Can you pull up any security footage?" Shasta asked.

"Let me see..." Within moments, Pandolfo found security video. They watched the images of a Sullustan climbing into a speeder and leaving the garage. The speeder got too far out of view, but it appeared to leave the spaceport entirely.

"Back it up," Shasta said. "See if you can track him back to before he entered the garage."

Cross-referencing the time-code with multiple video feeds, Pandolfo found the security footage of Den Drumb before he entered the garage. He rewound the video feed, switched to the next camera shot, rewound some more and then noticed Den Drumb talking to a tall Human male in one of the docking bays. Hands were being waved. It looked like an argument.

Shasta quickly leaned in closer to the screen. She recognized the tall Human. "Jaws."

Pandolfo zoomed the wide shot in closer and it became clear that the Human had a metal jaw. "Frak. It is him."

Shasta said, "See if that speeder Drumb took has some kind of tracking device or global position unit built into it."

"It's a company vehicle," Pandolfo stated, "so it most likely does."

"Good. See if you can find out where that speeder is now."

- - - - - - - - - -

Back in the busy terminal, a few beings slowly walked past Gruu and Qui-Gon. They were looking at the Gungan.

Qui-Gon turned to see them and they hurried along. "They don't get many Gungans on Fondor."

"Yeah," Gruu said. "Me-sa is a Gungan Jedi. Me-sa is used to beings staring at me-sa."

"I'm sorry to say," Qui-Gon started, "that many people throughout the galaxy look down on Gungans as an inferior species. But they are actually quite a resourceful race. Combining biological energy and mechanical technology is brilliant."

Gruu never liked hearing the words Gungan and inferior in the same sentence. He knew Qui-Gon was only making a statement and not trying to insult him. But those words stuck in his mind. "Yes. Me-sa is certainly one of da more intelligent Gungans. But dare are many..." he hesitated, thinking back to the time he spent on Naboo throughout his life, "many Gungans who are...not quite as intelligent." He tried to find a way to put it mildly.

"Every species has those, my friend," Qui-Gon said with a smile. "How long will you be staying here? My padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, is on the other side of the spaceport. He'll be back soon. I'd like you to meet him." Before Gruu had a chance to speak, Qui-Gon added with a smile, "Plus, I don't believe he's ever met a Gungan."

Gruu had a little chuckle. "No, no. Me-sa has to get back. Me-sa fellow MI5 agents are waitin' for me-sa." Just as he finished his sentence, his communicator beeped.

Shasta's voice could be heard. "Gruu. We've got a lead. Get back to the ship."

"You better be going then," Qui-Gon said, shaking Gruu's hand again. "Good luck on your mission."

"You-sa too, Master Qui-Gon. And may da Force be wit' you-sa."

Qui-Gon smiled when he heard that line in Gruu's Gungan-speak. "And also with you."

Chapters: Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Epilogue