Chapter 87: 87. Chapter: (Shared universe 32.)

-From the perspective of Nizzal-

When we eventually got back to the restaurant, what we found there was surprising. The clones were indeed defeated, but it was clear from a single glance that at least half of their injuries were not made by a lightsaber. Instead of that, their armor seemed to be broken by a brute physical force.

I looked at one of the nearby corpses with curiosity. The sight was similar to bullet holes created by old-fashioned weaponry. Those that were using physical bullets instead of plasma or energy beams. 

I couldn't remember how much time has passed since I last saw anything like that, besides a lot of holo movies and historical documents. Also, this particular weapon must have some absurd caliber to break the plastoid composite armor in such a manner. 

Obi'Wan also checked the bodies lying about. His curiosity was raised by the unusual injuries. He also realized that they were made by physical bullets, but didn't know what exact type of weapon would cause it. Nor did I, but it must be a monster gun.

He, however, noted another observation that I didn’t think of.

-It is actually not that bad of an idea to use something like this. The armors in production nowadays focus on deflecting energy weapons, and for that reason most of the lower quality ones are weaker to physical damage than energy based damage. 

I nodded silently. It was an astute observation. On the other hand, I was not sure if anything would survive a bullet of this size, and from the injuries, it might even have some explosive qualities. It was scary... I wouldn't want to be on the wrong end of that gun. You would expect that using the force to stop physical bullets is relatively easy, and I admit, it is much easier to do that than to freeze energy based ones. However, there are other ways to deal with them, like absorbing the energy and such. You can’t do that with physical bullets.

You can’t use your lightsaber to block them either. As the bullet would not melt that quickly and flew through the plasma beam of the saber, or even if it melts, you will be splashed with molten metal that is not much better than being hit…

Of course, if you are strong enough in the force, you might be able to simply stop the shroud of bullets shot at you and drop them to the floor without being injured. However, that is always a gamble. Just as there are high caliber plasma cannons of which shots you can’t deflect because of their momentum and weight. So there are higher caliber bullets that you won’t be able to slow completely.

People with little knowledge about the force will often tend to see trained force wielders as almost invulnerable godlike warriors. Only those with proper battle experience against such fighters will realize how vulnerable we can be towards certain types of attacks.

Especially the jedi, who, in their arrogance, completely disregarded the use of armor… I would literally never would head into battle without a proper armor… As a force wielder, you are always dancing on the edge of a blade, most of the time on the frontline. A single error, a mistake caused by tiredness or unexpected environmental hazards, would cost you your life in such scenarios. Armor must be worn, since it allows you to possibly survive those mistakes.

Obi'Wan straightened up after he crouched down to take a closer look at a dead clone. He seemed more tired than ever. Now I was feeling bad for throwing him into the trash pile... Ugh... but what is done is done... 

With that thought, I shook my head and turned towards the restaurant. Oh, no... the building was damaged. Its outer exterior was filled with blaster bullet burns, and more than a few windows were blown in. There was a loud argument going on inside. People were shouting at each other quite emotionally. 

I heard Anakin's voice, and Ava's too, with Luminara's voice shouting over the competition from times to times. There was a loud bang, likely a door forcefully closed. Soon I saw Luminara's form appear in the door, looking extremely frustrated. 

Our eyes suddenly met, and her already dreadful expression managed to darken even more. She pointed at me, completely ignoring Obi'Wan standing only a few steps from me, and shouted in a shrill voice that caused me to wince in discomfort.

-YOU! You little pipsqueak, stop right there! No, better yet... come over here, right now! No suspicious movements or anything!

I blinked. I didn't need any sort of foresight to see that going there would not end well for me... as the jedi master was clearly beyond enraged at the moment. I looked at Obi'Wan, hoping that he would help me out, but the bastard took a single glance at the situation, saw the extreme frustration that surrounded Luminara, and simply turned away. Checking over another dead clone, this one was killed by a lightsaber.

My mouth fell open, seeing the shameless, cowardly action playing out in front of me. 

Without any warning, I was grabbed by my left arm roughly and pulled towards Luminara. I looked at my arm, which was being pulled by an invisible force, but clearly not the mysterious type. 

I felt as if I was physically grabbed by a hand, one that I could not see, and this took me by surprise. There was no warning from the force either, and that confused me even more. An invisible person, hidden from both force sight and normal sight. Such a person was extremely dangerous... If that person wanted to kill me a few seconds ago, they could have done so easily... 

I gulped down my accumulated saliva as this realization settled in my chest. As I was now, it was extremely rare for me to meet with a potential danger that I had literally no way to handle or protect myself against it. I was far from invincible, but I had my tools to face most dangers and at least run away from it confidently.

I silently vowed to myself that whoever this person was, I must not get on his... or her bad side... 

While I was thinking in such a way, I was unknowingly led in front of Luminara. The moment I realized what had happened was when her shadowy and angry form was towering over me. I looked up at the frustrated woman, who was looking down at me with such scrutiny that I shuddered from it. 

What... what was her problem now... Is she still going to try to lock me up? I won’t let that happen, even if I had to throw her into the trash pile this time.

-So... 

She started to speak at last.

-I heard from Anakin just now... that you are the girl from this mysterious Temple of Grey, and you are Obi'Wan's padawan while being here... You could have told me that earlier, and we would have resolved a misunderstanding much easier. 

I nodded, feeling agreeable for the moment, but I had serious doubts if she would simply believe such statements… She accepted my nod and continued.

-I also hear that Anakin visited your temple just now, and he said that you are not Sith, but something different, even though you use dark side techniques... I would recommend you to avoid using them while staying here... some jedi, like me, might take that as a provocation and accidentally attack you, like I did. These are extremely troubled days… so you shouldn’t be surprised if someone mistook you for a Sith.

Was that supposed to be an attempt at apologizing?

She whispered silently, more to herself than to me.

-Not that I am convinced that you are ’t one…

This woman… sigh. Probably it wasn’t. Even so she was right…

I nodded once more, feeling kind of stupid... Being at home for so long, I got used to not hiding my abilities and in the moment of chaos I forgot to hide or not use them in front of others... It's so easy to get used to being lazy and not caring about such annoying things.

I saw that Luminara was getting angrier with every word, while Obi'Wan was still occupied with looking around the street. Shameless bastard! Was he praying for the fallen soldiers’ souls or what?

I saw as Luminara's left eye ticked dangerously after I refocused my attention on her. She also saw that I was distracted by what Kenobi was doing and was even more annoyed by this.

She grinned at me and asked ominously. 

-I also heard what you shouted at the clones a few minutes ago... You lying little devil… 

A dangerous glint crossed her eyes that made the small hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

My eyes widened in fear. As a force warning ringed through my skull, I tried to step back, but the invisible arm from earlier was still holding me.

I panicked. 

Luminara stepped even closer to me, while giving off a threatening aura.

-So... do you think of me as some sort of gorilla that rampages through Coruscant's streets, breaking into restaurants and destroying them?

I was shaking my head crazily to deny such an accusation. While also denying it with my words.

-No... naturally not... 

-So you say that I misheard of what you said? Now you are accusing me of lying? 

-I... ehm... no...

-So you said what I heard after all? 

-... 

I looked at my feet guiltily... This conversation wasn't going my way at all.

A second later, another, this time a much clearer force warning hit my senses. I looked up in fear, then I felt both of my cheeks pinched painfully.

I was in denial.

What...? Is this really happening? Why? I am a Grandmaster... a Grandmaster of an entire Order that is expanded over multiple galaxies! How could this humiliation happen to me?!

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This was the first thought jumping into my conscious mind as I understood what had happened. The extremely angry woman was shaking my head left and right, while pinching my face! 

This was completely ridiculous! I screamed internally.

Then I heard her voice ring out in my ears... 

-Well, aren't you going to apologize!? 

This... this is torture... I hate her. Why is she doing this!? And why should I apologize to her?

However, as the seconds passed in such an unbearable manner, the shame slowly became absurd. In the end, I decided to be the one who gave out, especially as the woman was clearly not in her right mind.

-Okay, okay!... I am sowwyyy... let me go aw'eady!

After that, I waited to be released from this pinch, but that simply did not happen.

This woman! Did she lose her mind!? I cursed internally… then I heard Kenobi’s voice finally appear behind me.

-That's... quite enough Luminara, you shouldn't escalate this situation any further...

Stated Obi'Wan in a calm act...

Hearing those words, my face was finally let go.

I looked at the bastard with a hateful gaze. He clearly had a hard time holding back his laughter. Especially after he watched me covering my painfully pulsing cheeks...

Luminara, after letting me go, turned towards Obi'Wan. 

-Escalate, you say... don't make me laugh! Would you remind me Kenobi, whose ex padawan is fucking with the Naboo senator exactly? Hmm? Isn't that the prime jedi... you? 

Obi'Wan looked like he was physically slapped at least three times in a row, listening to those snarky words. His face was even redder than mine now... I laughed internally. That’s what you deserve for letting me suffer... I grinned while watching him squirm like a worm under the terrifying gaze of Master Luminara. 

Luminara continued to roast Obi'Wan without mercy.

-Now, I see that your new padawan is just as stupid as the earlier one was...

What!? I... I can hear you... you know... 

-If there is anything remaining of the jedi council... They will hear about this... and this time it will be you, who had to explain quite a few things... I look forward to your explanation!

Obi'Wan swallowed drily, then started to speak.

-Luminara, Anakin will take responsibility for his mistakes, just as I will... But you shouldn't hope that your failure in letting the senator be kidnapped from her own residence will be forgotten just because of these recent events.

Now Luminara seemed to be the one who was slapped.

Their argument continued, but I was not interested in it anymore. Instead, I reached out with my free arm and curiously touched the invisible arm that was holding me. 

Just when I did that, the person hidden under the strange cloaking technology turned off the effect and appeared out of thin air, shouting into my face, while simultaneously letting go of my arm.

-Boo!

This unexpected lunatic like behavior, and the lack of any force warning scared me really badly. My keenly honed reflexes activated, and I stepped back immediately. Unfortunately, this person was anticipating this move, and had already put out her leg to trip me over.

So I fell on my butt with all the grace of a dropped bag of potatoes.

Thud.

-Ouch... 

My face burned in embarrassment.

I heard the sounds of smirks around me.

What is wrong with all these idiots today... 

I looked up in annoyance and saw that familiar mercenary from earlier crouching over me with a wide grin plastered over her face.

-So you came back to play, little girl?

Her eyes looked down at my chest... I followed her gaze and realized that in my fall; the cloak fell off of me.

The woman's eyes glinted like ones belonging to a predator.

-Aww... you have such a cute bra. It’s a shame that there is not much under it. How suitable for a scared kitten like you. I swear I never saw anybody running out of a building as fast as you did...

I blushed... Damn; I guess I already managed to get under her skin... she is quite pissed off, probably didn't like that I was initially planning to let her be sold by Hondo... Fuck... And did she just insult me like that... this bitch... I am still young... it’s unfair!

I scrambled to pick up the cloak from the ground and cover myself in it hastily.

She laughed, seeing my flustered reaction.

-Hah, someone is embarrassed. Did you rip your shirt while running away? Hmm? Sigh... no matter, your alien friend will probably have something for you to wear. Follow me, kitten.

I asked, annoyed by her calling me names...

-Why are you calling me like that? 

Is she stupid?

-I will call you whatever I want. 

-I have a name, you know... 

I complained, but still stood up to follow her, as I was far from comfortable with a half ripped off shirt dangling from my body.

-That's usually how it used to be.

I felt confused.

-What? 

-Having a name, I mean.

I rolled my eyes in disbelief, and people called me a weirdo! Look at her!

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