Chapter 7 - Into the Factory (Teagan)
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Looking around inside the ruins of the factory, I notice that the destruction isn't nearly as bad over here. Although there's not a ceiling left, the walls are still somewhat intact. There are piles of debris surrounding us on all sides, which has me confused with how we'll be going anywhere in all this mess. Nothing is even left here.
"I don't think there's any way to get to where the others are without going in the same way," observes Anakin as he eyes the wreckage.
"Which was?" queries Ramona.
"On the other side."
"Then let's go in that way," I advise. There's no point needlessly wasting time looking around here if we can't do anything. The longer we stay, the more risk we're taking.
We climb back out of the hole and begin sneaking around the ruins to get to the other side. As we walk, Artoo rolling along behind, a sound catches my ear. A voice. It's not one that I've heard much for real, but I still recognize it from the movies. A battle droid.
"Do you think that pile of debris will fall on us?" it asks, obviously talking to a fellow droid. Why do I always find the way they talk and what they say so hilarious?
"I don't know," replies the other. The three of us sneak a few steps closer, trying to make as little noise as possible. Ramona's foot hits something, and it skitters across the ground, quietly clanking with something else.
"I hear something," says the first droid. Instantly, we all stop moving, practically holding our breathe as we glance nervously at each other.
"I didn't hear anything," objects the second. "I don't hear anything," it insists again several seconds later, as they both presumably listen attentively.
"But I did," argues the first, "Do you think there are any Jedi around here?"
"There shouldn't be," soothes the second.
Anakin looks over his shoulder at us. "Come on," he grins, "Let's go say hello." He scrambles around the corner, igniting his lightsaber. Ramona and I dash after.
"Jedi!" shouts the first droid as it prepares to fire.
"Don't shoot," the second droid warns the first a second too late. The first one fires at Anakin who immediately deflects it right back. It strikes the droid in the center, and it falls back to the ground, destroyed. Anakin's already swinging his lightsaber through the second droid as we catch up to him.
"Let's just hope no one heard that," I worry, glancing around. Hopefully, no one will come by, see the droids, and realize we're here.
Shrugging my concern away, I tentatively follow Anakin through the opening that the battle droids were guarding. This side of the factory is in much better condition. The ceiling and walls are falling down, but it's still not completely open to the sky. There isn't as much debris here either. Maybe the construction here was stronger. Or maybe it's just that the main brunt of the explosion was caught by the other side. I can hardly believe that we're really inside this place. Reaching out with the Force, I catch a hint of danger permeating the air around us. We must remain cautious.
We silently make our way down the hall and reach a door which is slightly ajar. Anakin pushes it open to reveal two battle droids standing in the doorway, backs facing us. If they're supposed to be guarding, they're not doing a very effective job. Anakin swings his still ignited lightsaber, cutting through the two droids and leaving the second one's scream forever unfinished.
Stepping through the doorway after Anakin, I spy a staircase heading down into the darkness. Even the blue glow from the lightsaber, doesn't give us much light. I doubt it'll be much lighter down there than it is up here. Reaching out with the Force, I get a faint hint of approaching danger, though it's nothing serious.
Anakin doesn't even hesitate, immediately taking the lead and moving down the stairs more silently than silence itself. I wonder what we'll encounter here anyways. More battle droids, perhaps. Or maybe a herd of those Geonosinian "bugs." Or maybe the mind controlling worms that started wreaking havoc during the second battle of Geonosis. I shudder in disgust at the thought. Those things are gross.
As soon as we reach the bottom of the staircase, Artoo uses his rocket boosters to fly down after us. The room immediately on the right of us is quite large, though it's rather dusty. Ramona and I ignite our lightsabers to get additional illumination while Artoo shines a flashlight around. I can see traces of recent activity in the disturbances of the dust, but I don't think anyone has been here for many years other than that. It must have once been a control center as there are control panels along some of the walls, in addition to some computer ports.
"Artoo can use that," Anakin observes, obviously noticing the same things as me. The droid beeps in confirmation before rolling across the room and plugging himself in.
As the seconds tick by, I do what I often do while waiting for something – I reach out into the Force to sense anything dark or dangerous approaching. The foreboding sense of danger is growing stronger. Something is imminent, but considering that Anakin is here and that we all have our lightsabers, I'm not terribly worried about it.
Finally, Artoo starts beeping again. "There's another droid accessing the computer right now," Anakin translates, "Which means they are trying to get something on it. Whatever it is, we want to know."
I nod in agreement. "If there's something they're trying to get now, it's definitely something we need to know," Ramona concurs.
Suddenly, Artoo beeps again. "Get those plans!" exclaims Anakin authoritatively, "I want those plans!"
"What?!" Ramona and I demand simultaneously. If it wasn't so difficult, I would take it upon myself to learn binary, so I wouldn't always have to ask Anakin to translate. It's becoming increasingly annoying to wait for the information to be relayed.
"They're getting the detailed plans for the factory," he informs us. I frown. There's no reason they would want the plans, unless they're considering reconstructing the factory elsewhere, right? While unsurprising, the thought is highly disturbing. After everything we've been through, what if they restart the Clone Wars? The Sith are here, so it's not nearly as improbable as I would have thought a month ago. Is this the darkness we're all sensing?
Artoo beeps again. "I don't know if I should be elated or terrified," Anakin replies, suddenly sounding – and looking – worried.
"Why?" we both inquire, holding our breaths.
Anakin exhales harshly, narrowing his eyes. "Artoo found and started downloading some of the plans for the Death Star." The Death Star?! The plans for the Death Star are here? That's not comforting in the least, but at least we're getting a copy of them. I can only hope they hold all the pertinent information about its design.
"Well, I'm sure that means that they're still working on it," I comment, trying to remember more about the construction of the Death Star. From what I can recall, it was being built not far from Geonosis. I'd kept a close eye out the viewport for anything suspicious after we dropped out of hyperspace, but I didn't see anything. Maybe it's not nearly as close as I thought, or maybe I wasn't looking in the right direction.
"That probably means we should be terrified," Ramona remarks. "I'm sure they're still working on creating the Empire."
"Of course they are," he replies, "That's what the Sith have always wanted. Just because Sidious is dead, that doesn't mean they're going to stop." He lets that linger, and none of us speak as the words sink in. I don't want there to be an Empire. I don't want to be forced to fight for the New Republic, but what if we aren't given a choice? Artoo suddenly beeps again, the sound urgent.
"We better get out of here," Anakin decides, before turning to us. "Artoo just got kicked off the network, so they obviously know that someone else is here." The astromech unplugs himself from the computer port and rolls after us as we hastily approach the exit.
Anakin opens it, and we file into the hall. Suddenly, a warning of approaching danger flares through the Force. I whirl around just as a door at the end of the hall opens. I spin my lightsaber, holding it defensively as a dozen battle droids march out.
"There they are! Blast them!" hollers one of the droids, who must be the captain. They immediately open fire, and we begin deflecting the bolts back at them. After a few of them are down, Anakin races forwards, swinging his lightsaber to cut apart the remainder. Ramona and I follow right behind him. The entire encounter couldn't have lasted more than a couple minutes.
Casting a glance into the room, I make out the outlines of two super battle droids coming towards us. They, too, begin firing. Who knows how many more lie within the room?
"Time to run," Anakin decides as we hear the clanking of more droids heading our way. Ramona and I obey, backing towards the stairs while systematically deflecting blaster bolts. Artoo flies to the top to wait for us.
As soon as we reach the landing, Anakin darts after us. Racing through the door, Anakin closes it behind us, giving us another moment of freedom from pursuit. I know the super battle droids are pursuing us. Throwing an occasional glance over my shoulder, I follow the others down the hall and back to the entrance of the factory.
After checking to make sure that the coast is clear, we hurry back to our ship and get inside, closing the boarding ramp behind us.We're safe for now, at least. Without speaking, we take up posts, watching the Separatist ship through macrobinoculars. It doesn't take long before a strange looking being comes into view from around the ruins. It's being followed by a number of battle droids. They board the other ship, and I see the engines fire up. They must be preparing to leave.
Anakin turns to Ramona and me with a smirk. "I was supposed to tell the Council before doing anything, so do you think you could fly this ship while I go give my report?"
"Sure!" we both agree happily. Neither of us are very experienced with flying, which is expected, considering that we've only been practicing for six months. But with both of us in control, it shouldn't be hard. Besides, it shouldn't take long for Anakin to report. I know we can control the shuttle until he's done, since we aren't going into battle. At least hopefully not. He turns, swiftly moving further back in the cockpit and allowing us to take the controls.
I slide into the pilot seat, and Ramona gets into the copilot seat. I flip the levers to turn on our engines, keeping my hands steadily on the controls. The other ship lifts off the ground, flying upwards into the atmosphere. After a moment, I follow, guiding the shuttle on a course which will keep us right on the other's track, though I'm careful to keep a distance in case the other ship decides to attack. There's no way to know if it will.
Even without looking over my shoulder, I can hear Anakin contacting the Council. Windu and Yoda appear in the hologram – I don't think anyone else is there – and they all exchange greetings. "We spotted a Separatist ship when we first landed on Geonosis," Anakin begins to relate, his voice calm and collected as he gets right to the point. "We followed them inside the ruins of the old battle droid factory. Artoo hacked into the network and got the plans for the factory as well as some basic schematics for the Death Star before being kicked off. They know we were here, but we managed to get away and install a tracking beacon on their ship."
I'm listening more to his report than watching the path ahead of me, so I'm completely taken by surprise when the Separatist ship begins firing at us. Maybe I got a little too close, or maybe, now that we're in space, our pursuit was far more obvious. With a squeak of surprise, I send the ship plummeting down, the blast flying harmlessly overhead. A space battle was not something I'd been expecting, though maybe I should have been. Despite my apprehension, I realize how thrilling this is. Maybe I can understand Anakin's love for flying in battle after all.
I sense more than see Anakin tense, as he looks towards us. "Artoo, put more power to the front shields," he orders, before turning to us. "Don't freak out," he adds. "I'll be right there."
I'm not freaking out, I think cheerfully, letting the thought go unshielded. I'm actually rather thrilled right now. I catch a hint of amusement from Anakin, but it's gone before I can comment on it.
"What's going on?" demands Windu.
"We're following the ship, and they just spotted us," Anakin explains nonchalantly.
"Follow them you must," Yoda says after a moment of silence. The call ends at that, and Anakin immediately comes to steal the pilot seat from me. The Separatist ship fires several more shots at us, one of which strikes the front shields, so Ramona takes control of the guns and starts returning the fire. Her aim isn't the best, but I suppose it's good for a first time.
"Artoo, calculate their trajectory when they enter hyperspace," Anakin commands as we pursue them farther from the planet. I have no doubts that they're bidding their time and preparing an escape. Just when I think they'll leave us alone, they launch two missiles. No way do I want to be in control now. I'd probably be panicking too much to think and get us all killed.
I clench my hands on the arm rests of my seat – I'm behind Anakin now – because I know I'll get another firsthand experience of Anakin's skills. I'm rewarded as the ship dives away, spinning in circles to make the missiles hit one another. They explode behind us the same second the Separatist ship, which has gotten a sufficient distance away, disappears into hyperspace.
Artoo whistles, somehow having remained in place, plugged into the computer port. The words appear on the viewing screen. "They could have gone to one of three destinations."
"What are they?" questions Anakin. The astromech obligingly answers, the names of three planetary systems appearing on the screen. The first two are unfamiliar, but I freeze as my eyes fall on the last. Mentin.
"Mentin?" I exclaim in shock. Of all planets, I would never have expected that to be one of them. I remember that we had thought that these missions were going to lead up to something. It looks like we were right. There's no way that this is a coincidence.
Anakin's expression hardens. "We're going there," he declares firmly. "Artoo, program the hyperdrive." The droid beeps an acknowledgement. Moments later, we make the jump to hyperspace, the reddish-brown ball of Geonosis disappearing into the white and blue blur streaking past the windows.