Well, we are getting closer to the end of Part One of Iile…wow it feels kind of neat that I actually have a story that is composed of parts. Anyway, I've been adding and subtracting sections (I got Bounty Hunter for Christmas and that has helped on the info big time…GREAT game by the way) and overall Iile has become pretty huge. I told the major plotline to a friend the other night and just telling it took a whole hour and a bit. So here is chapter 16! Yay :)
Iile
Jango didn't return until noon the next day. He opened the hatchway to the bedroom and stared down in puzzlement at his son, it wasn't like Boba to sleep so late. He silently moved across to the side of the bed.
"Boba?"
His son shifted under the cover and cracked open an eye.
"What time is it?" he asked unevenly.
"Twelve hundred hours."
Upon hearing this Boba immediately sat up and tried his best to shake off his drowsiness.
"Sorry, I didn't realize…"
"That's alright," Jango reassured him. He crossed over to his bed and began sorting through a bag. "I just came back to see if you wanted to come with me and interrogate the Jedi we caught last night."
"A Jedi? Is it the same one from before?" Boba inquired confused, for they had supposedly killed him in the asteroid field.
"Yes. A Geonosian guard caught sight of him up on the cliff bluff and sounded the alarm."
Just how many lives does this guy have? Boba wondered.
Jango finished reloading his blaster and exited the room. Boba sat up and gathered the few items he wanted to take with him, he was in a foul mood today, the anger and depression seemed to have crept back into his mind while he was asleep and he felt as he had those days long ago when he had been tortured by nightmares and demons. He doubted that he would ever get over these feelings entirely. There was nothing he could do about it at the moment though, his dad was at the very top of the list of those people who he didn't want to tell, he wasn't at home so he didn't have Taun We's advice, and really the only person he wanted to tell he hadn't seen for over two years. He sighed and scuffed the stone floor with his boot; now clean from last night's bloodshed. The hunter's satisfaction he had felt yesterday tried vainly to rise and possibly improve his mood but it was easily overpowered by the negative pressures within him. How come it was always the bad things that clung to you?
"Maybe I'll find out one day," he mumbled before going after Jango.
His father was waiting patiently outside in the hallway and nodded when Boba appeared. Jango felt something was amiss with the boy today but was unsure of what could have happened. Possibly the Count would know since every little thing or occurrence that happened within the walls of the Geonosian palace was immediately brought to his attention. Jango made a mental note to ask Dooku about it after they were through with the Jedi. He knew that he could ask Boba but dismissed the idea; his son didn't look as if he would be willing to say much of anything at the moment. Jango momentarily inspected his son over again and noticed dark circles forming under his eyes and the way his footing was slightly uneven. Boba even seemed to be nursing his shoulder today. But it was the defeated look that was shadowed within his eyes that made a lump of dread begin to form in Jango's stomach.
He had always treated Boba as if he were an adult and in return Boba had always been open and honest with what he was thinking in the past but at the moment Jango felt that somehow whatever was on his mind now was to be approached cautiously. Jango frowned, the past few days had been stressful with all of the Duke's orders and also dealing with the Jedi on three separate occasions. Jango was sick as hell of having to repeatedly try and kill the man; usually it only took him once to execute someone.
The holding room where the Jedi was kept appeared and Jango saw Dooku standing outside the doorway, dressed in his finest attire and with his oddly curved lightsaber out in full view as if he were trying to impress everyone. Jango frowned annoyed knowing that the Count would be trying to get the Jedi to try and see his way of things, after all one could always use more accomplices in these matters, but something about the Jedi Knight made Jango feel that Dooku's attempts would be unfruitful. Jango followed Dooku into the chamber with Boba trailing slightly behind him.
Obi-Wan looked up as the Count entered with the bounty hunter, Jango Fett, and his son. He was slightly surprised to see the child there; perhaps this was going to be some type of lesson. The energy field kept him moving in a constant circular motion and it was almost humiliating to have to face his enemies by this. The boy moved to stand by Jango and Dooku chuckled slightly at Obi-Wan's discomfort.
"I told you my friend, if you do not agree to side with me it will be an almost impossible matter to have you freed from those bounds of yours."
"And as I told you before as well, I will not side with treachery," Obi-Wan said, his voice trying to remain calm as well as forceful, something Mace had taught him during his training.
"That's a shame for now I have no choice but to turn you over to the Geonosians where they will certainly sentence you to death."
"I have committed no crime," Obi-Wan gritted out through his teeth. He knew that Dooku was just toying with him and in fact it would be the Count who made the final decision in his fate, not the tiny insectoid creatures running about outside. Dooku merely chuckled at his words and stroked his beard.
Obi-Wan caught Jango's eyes watching him with carefully covered menace and perhaps even annoyance. Jango obviously had no say in the matter and was merely there to accompany the Count as one of his body guards. Kenobi felt himself smile inwardly in humor realizing that the bounty hunter was probably the one who wanted to carry out his death sentence more than the others since Jango had already tried to kill him twice before and failed. Jango's eyes darkened as he saw the slight upraise to the Jedi's lips but he remained silent.
Kenobi's gaze moved over to the boy who stood with his head down and stared at the ground. He wondered if the kid knew which side his father was dealing with.
"It is a shame to see you like this Master Kenobi; after all I hear you are held in high regard back at the Jedi Council. Does it not affect you to know that you will be sorely missed?"
"They will figure out the truth and come to shut you down Dooku."
"Ahh, yes yes, that might happen. But in the meantime, how would you feel if something were to happen to that young apprentice of yours? Anakin I believe was his name."
Obi-Wan's eyes pierced into the Count and his voice was icy. "If you touch him…"
"And what about that pretty girl who seems to always be in your company, the Senator Amidala. Jango Fett here will be on his way to dispose of her after your sentence since there still is the matter of the bounty on the fair Amidala's head. However, I could perhaps lift the bounty and pay hunter Fett to leave her alone," Dooku told him.
Jango didn't like being used as some ploy in the Count's plans, however he was still under his hire and could do little about it…for the time being that was.
Boba tried hard to pay attention to the event happening before him but found that he was too weary to stay alert. The Count's words jumble together with those of the Jedi and he wished that he could somehow just go back to bed for the rest of the week. No doubt his father wouldn't approve of that.
Suddenly a shrill beeping made the conversation come to an end and Dooku grumbled irritably at being interrupted. He quickly went out of the room with Jango and up to the Geonosian guard who stood outside with the message of what was going on. Boba stayed where he was since his father hadn't told him to move and resumed looking at the floor. However he suddenly felt eyes on him and lifted his head to see the Jedi watching him.
"The Jedi are not the enemy you know," Obi-Wan said, not knowing exactly why he felt the need to say something to the boy.
"Neither is my father," Boba warned quietly before realizing what he was doing. He immediately shut up and turned his head away from the Jedi to the doorway. Kenobi felt the anger in Boba through the force during that brief second and at the same time he felt something else... Terror and self-hatred and vast depression. He wasn't prepared for the emotions he felt and could fathom why such a young child would feel these things. He felt his heart tug slightly; he had always been soft when it came to kids, even those that had fathers such as the extremely dangerous Jango Fett.
"Do you know what side your father is on?" he asked softly, trying to coax something from him again.
"I do not need to explain my father's business with you," Boba said shortly.
Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head. "I just want you to realize that the Jedi are peaceful. It is not in our nature to hurt others, it is our job to protect those who are in need of help…"
The Jedi's words were salt on a raw wound to Boba. He dimly heard his father call him from the hallway outside and as he turned to go he looked back up at the floating man trapped in the energy beam.
"Well…you're not doing a very good job…"
The sentence was so soft that Obi-Wan nearly missed it but the full force of the despair behind it shook him to the core. He watched as Jango's son quietly left, unable to do anything but continuously circle in the center of the dark room. The heavy barred door slammed shut and he was alone again with his thoughts.
Has it really gotten that bad? He asked himself. The Jedi are diminishing in numbers and that does puts a strain on the entire galaxy, but who else out there will help us? It's rare that we find new Jedi pupils, only a mere handful has been recruited in the past three years.
Obi remembered back to a time before he had even heard of the Jedi, when he was merely a boy no higher than the skirts of his mother. He remembered seeing poverty and anguish everywhere he went with his parents and it pained him to know that a galaxy with that existed. He glanced down at the small scar on his right hand where he had nicked himself with a vicroblade on the day they had come from the Jedi council to take him away to be trained. He had vowed that he would do everything in his power to change the galaxy for the better…much like Qui-Gon's views…
Obi-Wan wished that his old mentor and friend was still with him, for he always had an answer to everything.
Does it really take a war to make us open our eyes to see the truth?…
At the very start of this chapter I had MAJOR writer's block but then a day later the gates just opened up and "poof"! I have another chapter (yay). Wow, between homework, writing, and drawing I really have no time for anything :( Hmmm since I love writing and drawing maybe the homework should go :P (yeah right like I could ever bring myself to do that…) Oh yeah today is my 20th BIRTHDAY!! Happy b-day me!! Today went pretty well, I found a guy who actually has the Star Wars Holiday Special (which I want just because Fett happens to be in it…no matter how bad it really is). Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter!