The Approaching Storm (звёздные войны)

by Alan Dean Foster

  "If it is within our ability," Luminara replied guardedly.

  The senior male took up the dialogue. "You have already shown that you are quick and skilled, with abilities that exceed those of even the most skilled Borokii. The Jedi are known, even here, as supreme fighters." When he leaned forward, she noted that what remained of his mane was entirely gray. "Our traditional enemies, the Januul overclan, are encamped not far from here. Help us deal with them once and for all, and you will have earned the friendship and concordance of the Situng Borokii forever! This is our price for doing what you ask of us."

  The smiles vanished from the faces of the two Padawans. Had she been standing, Luminara would have been rocked back on her heels. Of all the requests the Borokii might have put to them,

  of all the challenges and demands, they had chosen one that the Jedi could not possibly grant. It was absolutely forbidden for Jedi to take sides in an internal dispute among individual ethnic, clan, family, or political groups. If the Order was ever seen to be favoring one or another on matters that were no province of the Republic as a whole, its vaunted reputation for evenhandedness would be lost. There was no way they could help the Borokii fight and defeat these Januul-no way under the sun. Any sun.

  But if they said as much, then the Borokii would refuse to enter into the carefully crafted agreement with the Unity of An-sion's urban dwellers. Seeing nothing ahead for them within the laws of the Republic but continued conflict with the peoples of the plains, the delegates of the Unity, in turn, would likely vote to secede.

  It was an impossible conundrum, impossible. A glance showed that Anakin and Barriss realized it as well.

  Obi-Wan, on the other hand, was nodding solemnly. "Of course we agree. We will be glad to help you to deal with your traditional enemies."

  Anakin's lower jaw dropped as he gaped at his master. As for Barriss, it was the first time in her apprenticeship that she had ever seen Master Luminara shocked.

  The Borokii council was visibly pleased. "Then it is agreed." The elders rose, some more slowly than others. A few had to be helped to their feet. "The bond is forged. We march tomorrow." One by one they filed out of the meetinghouse. When the last had departed, the visitors followed.

  They were barely out of the building when Luminara and the Padawans crowded close around Obi-Wan.

  "What are you thinking?" a disbelieving Luminara asked him. "How could you promise that? You know we can't take

  sides in this kind of dispute." Her voice was tight with frustration and confusion. "We don't have time for this!"

  The Jedi did not appear in the least upset by her accusatory tone. "We had no choice, Luminara. Either we agreed to help them, or they were going to refuse to sign the treaty we've brought with us. They said as much."

  "But Master," Anakin put in, "the first Januul we kill will prove to this other overclan that the Jedi Knights side with the Borokii. When that happens, the Januul will become our enemies as well. If we help the Borokii defeat them, the Januul survivors will not honor any agreement we put before them."

  "And like the Borokii," an anxious Barriss added, "these Januul must have many allies among the Alwari. They'll also refuse to go along with the treaty."

  "The Padawans are right." Luminara was uncharacteristically mystified. Obi-Wan's ready agreement to the demands of the Borokii elders had left her angry as well as confused. "It doesn't matter which side we favor in this: Borokii or Januul. Once we've demonstrated partisanship, we've lost a significant number of the Alwari. For the concordance with the Unity of the city and townsfolk to work, all the Alwari clans need to be on board."

  "If you'll give me a chance, I'll try to explain," Obi-Wan murmured when the flurry of accusations finally died down. As they turned a corner, the visitors' house loomed just ahead, with its promise of privacy, rest, and refreshment.

  "I hope you can, Obi-Wan," she muttered, "or none of us is going to get much sleep this night."

  Though he felt that he knew his teacher better than any of his companions, Anakin still had no idea what his Master could have been thinking when he had consented to the elders' request.

  "What's to explain, Master Obi-Wan? Either we help these Borokii, as you say we are forced to do in order to gain their cooperation, or else we do not. There are only the two choices."

  Looking over at his bewildered Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi ventured that knowing, thin smile of his and replied softly, "No-there is another."

  It was a march of several days to the Januul camp. It would have taken much longer had the entire Borokii clan made the move, but only warriors undertook the trek. When at last they ascended a long, low hill overlooking their destination, Lumi-nara saw that the Januul encampment was laid out much the same as that of the Borokii. With its herds and neatly aligned temporary structures, it appeared to be of similar extent.

  As the designated official contact between the offworlders and the clan, Bayaar rode alongside the visitors. "The Januul and the Borokii have been at odds for as long as anyone can remember," he told his new friends. "Who should have preeminence among the Alwari has been cause for fighting for hundreds of years." He looked up at her from the back of his sadain. "While as a warrior of the Situung Borokii I look forward to victory today, I am personally sorry the elders saw fit to involve you in this."

  "Not as sorry as we are," she told him as she directed her suubatar to kneel. Dismounting, she moved to join her compan ions in the forefront of the Borokii line.

  Below, the Januul had assembled on the near side of the small river that formed the western border of their camp. Despite the best attempts of the Borokii to achieve surprise, skilled Januul outriders had detected the approach of the column of warriors a day earlier. Drawn up in three lines opposite the hill, the soldiers of the other overclan stood ready to meet their traditional enemy.

  Beyond, within the camp, controlled chaos was the order of the day. Businesses were being shut tight, children herded into homes, and groups of reserves positioned among the many mobile buildings. Farther out on the prairie, the great herds of surepp were being watched over by armed adolescents too young to participate directly in the anticipated forthcoming battle.

  Many were going to die this day, Bayaar knew as he surveyed the Borokii's opponent. But with the help of the powerful offworlders, his clan would prevail. Today's battle, he felt instinctively, would decide which clan among the Alwari was going to predominate for a long time to come.

  Studying the Januul multitude drawn up before them, Lumi- nara made a hasty estimate of their numbers. Less than a thousand, she guessed, but all of them well armed and clad in striking, hand-worked armor. Standing alongside her, Obi- Wan concurred with her assessment.

  "No heavy weapons." He leaned slightly forward as he care fully scrutinized the tightly packed lines of warriors. "No laser cannons, no launchers of any size." He remarked on this to Bayaar.

  Their friend looked horrified. "Haja, no! If either the Borokii or the Januul were to employ such deadly offworld de vices, one clan or the other might well win this and all other similar confrontations, but they would be shunned by every other clan on the planet. Besides, such an escalation would mean that the opposing side would have to acquire similar weapons to defend itself. And then where would the proud Alwari be?"

  "Staring down the barrel of self-extermination," Anakin ven tured from nearby. Though he would never have admitted to it, he personally found the barbaric display, with armored Ansionians riding equally flamboyantly garbed sadains and a few magnificently invested suubatars, oddly beguiling. From a purely academic point of view, of course, he hastened to assure himself. While today's confrontation might mean a great deal to its Ansionian participants, to him it was only another episode in his education.

  Barring, of course, the possibility that he and his friends might die.

  "So these are the Januul." Luminara indicated the massed warriors. "They are pretty impressive."

  "Along with the Situng Borokii, the Hovsg
ol Januul have al ways been one of the overclans, yes," Bayaar admitted. "But with your help, the matter of who reigns truly supreme among the Al-wari will finally be settled."

  "I hope so," Obi-Wan told him quietly. "That's what we're here today to decide. By setting an example for both the Borokii and the Januul."

  Now, that seemed a strange thing to say, Bayaar thought. But then, the flat-eyed offworlders often seemed to speak in riddles.

  Having been ordered to stay out of the fight and remain back with the noncombatants, Kyakhta and Bulgan were in an agony of frustration. They had promised their lives to the offworlders who had helped them, and yet now they would be forced to stand and watch as their new friends risked their lives on behalf of fellow Alwari. It was almost too much to bear. Tooqui, on the other hand, had no difficulty whatsoever in agreeing to stay out of the forthcoming fight.

  "There are only four of them." From their vantage point slightly higher up on the hill overlooking the river and the Januul encampment, Kyakhta strained to see. "Strong and skilled as they are, how can our friends possibly make a difference in the midst of a battle among so many?"

  "I don't know." Bulgan rubbed nervously at his eye patch. "But you know as well as I that these offworlders are full of surprises."

  "Tooqui know what going happen." The two much bigger

  Alwari turned to look down at him. "Jedi going do something stupid stupid." He moved to the edge of the slight overlook, trying to keep Barriss in view.

  Frowning, Kyakhta was sorely tempted to smack the little Gwurran. "You're lucky Master Luminara ordered me not to hit you. You should show some respect. Whatever happens, I'm sure they're not going to allow themselves to be killed. Their mission here is too important to them."

  Tooqui looked back up at him. "Who say somethings about them get killed? Tooqui not say that." The Gwurran returned his attention to the unfolding spectacle below. "Tooqui say they do stupid stupid. Maybe they think of something stupid stupid to do all over stupid stupid heads of Alwari."

  The guides exchanged a confused glance with the equally puzzled Bayaar. Then, realizing that it was a waste of time to try to make sense of something as patently nonsensical as Gwurran gibberish, they all moved to the edge of the slight overlook the better to follow the proceedings unfolding below.

  Up close, the savage spectacle was even more impressive than it was from the top of the hill. Having arrayed themselves in their triple defensive line opposite the Borokii force, the assembled Januul presented a panoply of pugnacious attire and attitude. War paint adorned their faces, bare heads, and rippling manes. Leather and composite armor was festooned with individual, family, and clan ornamentation. In addition to traditional bows and arrows, throwing spears, and swords, they carried imported blasters and rifles. Their grim expressions were those of people bent on defeating any attackers, no matter the possible cost.

  Forming a solid line opposite the arrivals, the soldiers of the Borokii offered a no-less-striking display. Flaunting attitude as well as weapons, individual warriors jostled for position, each heavily armed male striving to gain a place near the front. Clan leaders mounted on rearing sadains took up forward positions, shouting instructions to their troops. The air was thick with anticipation and the Ansionian equivalent of adrenaline. Gazing down from the crest of the hill, the apprehensive Kyakhta and Bulgan saw that full, unrestrained combat could break out at any moment. Standing between them, Tooqui was unnaturally silent.

  Unexpectedly, the screeches and cries and shouted impreca tions arising from both massed forces died down. Heads were craned and weapons lowered. The center of the Borokii line parted. Advancing in single file, the two Jedi Knights and their Padawans marched out into the center of the budding battlefield. Up on the hill Kyakhta, Bulgan, and Tooqui held their collective breath.

  A number of the Borokii murmured expectantly among themselves. Although only a few of them had seen what the offworlders had accomplished among their surepp several nights before, by now most had heard about it. As for the Januul, they were sufficiently puzzled by the offworlders' unexpected appearance to wonder aloud at their presence in this place. Given the flat-eyed, maneless aliens' precarious position directly in front of the Borokii line, their intentions were clear enough to every soldier of the Januul. No matter. The offworlders would die as readily as any snigvold Borokii.

  Having halted halfway between the two opposing hosts, Lu- minara and Barriss turned around to face the massed Borokii. While a grim-faced Anakin confronted the Januul, Obi-Wan raised his voice. The Borokii waited expectantly for their off-world ally to throw down the formal challenge. Turning a slow circle as he spoke, the Jedi addressed not just the Januul, but both of the assembled armies.

  "Listen to me! I am Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Knight of the Jedi Or der. Standing here with me are the Jedi Knight Luminara Unduli and her Padawan Barriss Offee. Beside me also is my Padawan Anakin Skywalker. We have come to your world to make a lasting concord between the Alwari and the city folk of the Unity of Communities, so that the people of Ansion may remain within the galactic Republic confident that its laws and regulations will be applied equally and fairly to all." Raising an arm, he encompassed the sky with a single wave. "Out there, beyond Ansion, greater forces than you can imagine are at work. Enormous issues of vital importance to every sentient in the galaxy are moving toward resolution. Ansion is a vital part and parcel of what is happening." Still turning slowly as he spoke, he lowered his arm.

  "We have come here because we know that wherever the Borokii and the Januul lead, the rest of the Alwari will follow. We ask that your elders, the elders of both sides, sit down with us and discuss these matters anew. Matters that are of greater import than those you propose to kill yourselves over today." Among the massed Borokii, an uncomfortable stirring had begun. What kind of challenge was this for an ally to put to an enemy?

  "You must learn to work together," Obi-Wan continued. " With each other, as well as with those who dwell in the towns and cities. If you do not," he concluded, "then you risk losing that which you fight for to greedy meddlers from outside like the Commerce Guild-and others, who see Ansion and its people as nothing more than a pawn in a greater game."

  Save for some confused murmuring in the ranks of the Borokii, silence greeted his speech. Then a Januul officer advanced on his ornamented mount. Pointing a ceremonial sword at the calm, composed human, he replied angrily.

  "We know nothing of which you speak, offworlder!"

  Obi-Wan responded serenely. "Of course you don't. That's because you have yet to hear us. Give us that chance."

  Behind him, a Borokii leader moved forward. "What kind of assistance is this? What happens here today doesn't involve other worlds, offworlder. Attend to the business at hand, as you promised the elders!"

  "Ansion is part of the Republic," Luminara replied. "Within the Republic, all quarrels are the business of the Senate. And the Jedi Council."

  The Borokii reacted with a smirk. "So instead of helping us, you've decided to save us from ourselves? So be it, then. We don't need your help. The Borokii have always taken care of themselves." A defiant cry rose from the massed fighters assembled behind him.

  It was matched by a challenging shout from the Januul, whose officer was not finished with the visitors. "Get out of the way, offworlders! We will settle this as we always have, in the traditional manner. Whatever your intentions, it is too late now to interfere. The Borokii have come, and we are ready for them." Raising his sword, he let out a wild, high- pitched whooping no human could have replicated, and urged his sadain forward.

  Concentrating hard, raising a hand to aid in mental focus, Obi-Wan thrust his open palm sharply in the direction of the charging officer. It was as if the sadain had run into a wall. Despite its six legs it went down in a heap, more baffled than hurt. Sent flying over the blunt, stunned head, its rider landed hard on the grassy ground. The impact sent his sword flying from his three fingers. With a cry, the line of eager Januul immediate
ly behind him raised their weapons and surged forward. Bellowing and hissing defiance, the Borokii responded in kind.

  Arrows came flying, spears were flung, and most dangerous of all, blasters were brought into play. Anything that came near the Jedi was deflected by lightsabers that seemed to spin and whirl as rapidly as the lightning itself. Missiles sent flying overhead were deflected by judicious and skilled application of the Force.

  Three Januul tried to jump Luminara. Three strokes of her lightsaber disarmed the first, melted the blade of the second, and knocked down the heavy club wielded by the third. She was too busy to acknowledge their stunned stares. Weaponless, they backed slowly away from the olive-skinned dervish, retreating toward their own line. In this they were accompanied by more and more of their companions as Luminara and her comrades methodically neutralized one group of bewildered warriors after another.

  Firing blasters, a pair of furious Borokii rushed Anakin. In stead of fleeing, he advanced toward his attackers, the blade of his lightsaber deflecting one shot after another. Two quick strokes swept the weapons from their hands. It would have been a simple matter to bring the lightsaber around, cutting off both their arms with a single swift stroke. But Obi-Wan's instructions as they had marched from the Borokii line out onto the field of battle had been explicit.