Anakin could hear the soldiers behind him crashing through the foliage as
they ran. A blaster shot flew wide to his right and smashed into a tree
trunk ahead.
"We've got to slow them down!" Padme shouted from in front of him. The Naboo Senator turned and fired her pistol, dropping one of the clone solders.
Anakin kept running, trying to ignore the mind-numbing pain in his right hand. He pulled out his comlink.
"Get ready to cover us!" he said to the corporal back at the ship manning the repeating blaster.
He sidestepped and flattened himself against a nearby tree trunk and took his blaster in his left hand. Turning, he aimed, exposing only enough of his body to get a decent shot. One of the Mandalorians was waving his men forward and shouting. "Take out the leaders!" he said to Padme, who had dropped prone and was taking aim with her own weapon. Hopefully, with the squad and platoon leaders down, the enemy pursuit would lose effectiveness.
Anakin fired, hitting his target in the chest. Padme's shot caught the man behind him in the shoulder. Another Mandalorian opened fire on Anakin, who returned to his improvised cover. They were getting closer now, and soon he and Padme would be killed or captured. He saw Padme remove a concussion grenade from her belt and Anakin followed suit with one of his own grenades. He removed the safety clip and hit the activator button with his thumb. HE stepped out into the line of fire again and lobbed the weapon toward a group of three clones only a few dozen meters away, then threw himself to the ground.
His grenade was dead on target, as was Padme's, aimed at another group of clones. The ground shook under the explosions. "Go!" he yelled, rising to his feet again, breaking into a run, Padme to his left doing the same. They crouched low, looking for cover, trying to obscure the line of fire from the remaining enemy.
**
Typho, his squad, and the handmaidens arrived at the ship. He heard the sound of blaster fire and grenades exploding behind him, knowing that Anakin and Padme were in trouble.
"Set up a perimeter," he ordered, "Get ready to lay down cover fire!"
The Naboo soldiers and the handmaidens assumed positions around the ship behind cover in a semicircle covering the ground between the Jedi and Senator's approach route and the ship. Typho, however, rushed to the vessel's cabin, where he deposited the unconscious Obi-Wan Kenobi on the table in the room's center.
**
Anakin's lungs burned, his legs felt as though they could collapse from under him, and his heart pounded with exertion. Padme, too, looked winded, as they had ran as fast as possible toward the ship, only stopping to fire at the enemy to slow them. Blaster bolts had singed Anakin's robe, as the pursuing clones paused periodically to fire accurate shots.
However, as he looked through the underbrush and saw reflective silver, they had almost made it to the ship.
**
Sabe heard the sound of figures running, and Padme and Anakin burst into view, heading for the ship's boarding ramp. "They're behind us, and close!" Padme told her.
**
Corporal Arrie saw half a dozen gray-armored soldiers running towards them, blasters at the ready. He looked through the repeating blaster's sights and jerked the trigger, sweeping left to right in a long burst. The two men farthest to the left fell, and the others managed to dive to cover, barely missing the flurry of blaster bolts which shot overhead. The others also opened fire, finding targets. Sabe tossed a grenade, killing two and wounding three more. However, more clones were arriving behind their comrades, dropping behind cover and spraying fire from their blaster rifles toward the defenders. Soon they would be outflanked, and all would be lost.
Typho stuck his head out of the boarding hatch. "Fall back to the ship! We're getting out of here!"
**
Anakin, Padme in tow, raced to the cockpit and began strapping himself in. They began flipping switches and pushing buttons as fast as their hands could move, powering up the ship.
**
The massive Nubian radials burst into life as slowly, one by one, the soldiers and handmaidens left their positions and boarded the vessel while the others tried to keep the enemy pinned down. The repeater team was last to leave, abandoning their bulky weapon, as it would slow them fatally.
**
"They are boarding the Senator's ship," the Major announced through his comlink. "We don't have any firepower that can touch it, Lord Raptor."
The Sith swore and pounded the console. "Watch officer, order two squadrons to launch immediately!"
**
"All personnel present and accounted for," Typho announced through the cockpit's access door.
Anakin engaged the ship's repulsors for takeoff mode as the ship began to rise vertically. No sooner had the ship cleared the forest canopy, however, when Padme looked up from the sensor panel.
"Twenty-four fighter contacts bearing three one four! ETA three minutes!"
Anakin swore in frustration. The Nubian J-type was unarmed, and hardly a starfighter, and even worse, they were vastly outnumbered. But the ship did have one important asset - speed.
"Dump all the power you can into the engines," he ordered, "and set course for a jump to Coruscant."
The sleek ship rocketed upwards out of Wayland's atmosphere. The fighters pursued at maximum speed, but the Royal Starship was fast, and the approach vectors made interception impossible.
***
"We've got to slow them down!" Padme shouted from in front of him. The Naboo Senator turned and fired her pistol, dropping one of the clone solders.
Anakin kept running, trying to ignore the mind-numbing pain in his right hand. He pulled out his comlink.
"Get ready to cover us!" he said to the corporal back at the ship manning the repeating blaster.
He sidestepped and flattened himself against a nearby tree trunk and took his blaster in his left hand. Turning, he aimed, exposing only enough of his body to get a decent shot. One of the Mandalorians was waving his men forward and shouting. "Take out the leaders!" he said to Padme, who had dropped prone and was taking aim with her own weapon. Hopefully, with the squad and platoon leaders down, the enemy pursuit would lose effectiveness.
Anakin fired, hitting his target in the chest. Padme's shot caught the man behind him in the shoulder. Another Mandalorian opened fire on Anakin, who returned to his improvised cover. They were getting closer now, and soon he and Padme would be killed or captured. He saw Padme remove a concussion grenade from her belt and Anakin followed suit with one of his own grenades. He removed the safety clip and hit the activator button with his thumb. HE stepped out into the line of fire again and lobbed the weapon toward a group of three clones only a few dozen meters away, then threw himself to the ground.
His grenade was dead on target, as was Padme's, aimed at another group of clones. The ground shook under the explosions. "Go!" he yelled, rising to his feet again, breaking into a run, Padme to his left doing the same. They crouched low, looking for cover, trying to obscure the line of fire from the remaining enemy.
**
Typho, his squad, and the handmaidens arrived at the ship. He heard the sound of blaster fire and grenades exploding behind him, knowing that Anakin and Padme were in trouble.
"Set up a perimeter," he ordered, "Get ready to lay down cover fire!"
The Naboo soldiers and the handmaidens assumed positions around the ship behind cover in a semicircle covering the ground between the Jedi and Senator's approach route and the ship. Typho, however, rushed to the vessel's cabin, where he deposited the unconscious Obi-Wan Kenobi on the table in the room's center.
**
Anakin's lungs burned, his legs felt as though they could collapse from under him, and his heart pounded with exertion. Padme, too, looked winded, as they had ran as fast as possible toward the ship, only stopping to fire at the enemy to slow them. Blaster bolts had singed Anakin's robe, as the pursuing clones paused periodically to fire accurate shots.
However, as he looked through the underbrush and saw reflective silver, they had almost made it to the ship.
**
Sabe heard the sound of figures running, and Padme and Anakin burst into view, heading for the ship's boarding ramp. "They're behind us, and close!" Padme told her.
**
Corporal Arrie saw half a dozen gray-armored soldiers running towards them, blasters at the ready. He looked through the repeating blaster's sights and jerked the trigger, sweeping left to right in a long burst. The two men farthest to the left fell, and the others managed to dive to cover, barely missing the flurry of blaster bolts which shot overhead. The others also opened fire, finding targets. Sabe tossed a grenade, killing two and wounding three more. However, more clones were arriving behind their comrades, dropping behind cover and spraying fire from their blaster rifles toward the defenders. Soon they would be outflanked, and all would be lost.
Typho stuck his head out of the boarding hatch. "Fall back to the ship! We're getting out of here!"
**
Anakin, Padme in tow, raced to the cockpit and began strapping himself in. They began flipping switches and pushing buttons as fast as their hands could move, powering up the ship.
**
The massive Nubian radials burst into life as slowly, one by one, the soldiers and handmaidens left their positions and boarded the vessel while the others tried to keep the enemy pinned down. The repeater team was last to leave, abandoning their bulky weapon, as it would slow them fatally.
**
"They are boarding the Senator's ship," the Major announced through his comlink. "We don't have any firepower that can touch it, Lord Raptor."
The Sith swore and pounded the console. "Watch officer, order two squadrons to launch immediately!"
**
"All personnel present and accounted for," Typho announced through the cockpit's access door.
Anakin engaged the ship's repulsors for takeoff mode as the ship began to rise vertically. No sooner had the ship cleared the forest canopy, however, when Padme looked up from the sensor panel.
"Twenty-four fighter contacts bearing three one four! ETA three minutes!"
Anakin swore in frustration. The Nubian J-type was unarmed, and hardly a starfighter, and even worse, they were vastly outnumbered. But the ship did have one important asset - speed.
"Dump all the power you can into the engines," he ordered, "and set course for a jump to Coruscant."
The sleek ship rocketed upwards out of Wayland's atmosphere. The fighters pursued at maximum speed, but the Royal Starship was fast, and the approach vectors made interception impossible.
***
