CHAPTER 9
The Confederacy freighter Skywalker's Wrath lowered itself into Tatooine's orbit and it's pilot Anakin Skywalker spoke into his radio, "Mos Espa landing control, this is the Confederacy of Independent Systems freighter Skywalker's Wrath requesting landing permission and coordinates."
The voice that answered spoke Basic well but was obviously non-human replied, "Skywalker's wrath your not listed on our incoming rosters. State your business in Mos Espa."
"Personal." Was all Anakin said in answer.
"Very well, if you must be that way. Bring her in" the voice paused and then continued, "in landing bay fifty two."
"Fifty-Two confirmed." Anakin said shutting down the com system. He hated having to go through landing controls and on a world like Tatooine avoiding them is as simple as convincing a Wampa to eat a Tauntaun since Tatooine had no central government of it's own and the areas that had anything resembling a government was controlled by the local crime lords usually the Hutts. Anyplace that wasn't under the control of a powerful crime lord was usually lawless and the only law was survival of the most brutal. This world had countless stretches of open desert which a ship could land undetected and remain unmolested, this had been demonstrated many times over by the smugglers who comprise most of Tatooine's off world traffic. Anakin would have chosen this route had he not been in dire need of refueling. Without his freighter being serviced at the Mos Espa Spaceport he would have ended up floating dead in space somewhere between here and Geonosis.
The freighter swept low over the desolate desert, which composed the majority of Tatooine's surface, passed over the spaceport allowing Anakin to get a visual sighting of his landing bay. He saw it, brought the freighter around and settled in gently onto the landing pad where he wasted no time in shutting down, and exiting the craft.
Prior to leaving the spaceport Anakin paid for his ship to be refueled and for maintenance scan to be run on it. He then set out on foot to visit Watto, his former and had it not been for the Jedi would still be his current owner. He couldn't resist the gleeful feeling of homecoming that threatened to overcome him, maybe while he was here he could pay a visit to some of his old friends, it seemed like lifetimes since Anakin had seen Wald, Kitster and the others. It would be good to see them again; he'd have to see what had become of them.
The Jedi entered Watto's junkshop and found the little Toydarian going over his business records. In Huttese, which along with Basic is the primary language in this part of the world Watto said, "What? What do you want? Know now that I do not extend credit."
In the same language Anakin replied, "I'm looking for Shmi Skywalker."
First Watto appeared puzzled by this request, then a look of recognition dawned on his face as he said in basic, "Ani? Little Ani?"
When Anakin didn't answer Watto's wings began to flap excitedly, and lifting into the air from the chair he'd been sitting on he more drifted than flew over to Anakin and said with the same excitement that his wings beat with, "You are Ani! It is you! You sure sprouted huh? And a Jedi, what do you know."
Then Watto's expression to on a more conspiratorial appearance as he said, "Maybe you can help me with some deadbeats who owe me a lot of money."
Anakin didn't like Watto now anymore then he did when he was this short winged alien's property. Without any pretense of friendliness Anakin said, "My mother."
Shock and then caution now appeared on Watto's face as he floated backwards away from Anakin saying, "Yeah right, Shmi. She's not mine no more. I sold her."
Disgust filled Anakin's voice as he said, "Sold her?"
"Years ago, sorry Ani but business is business you know. I sold her to a moister farmer named Lars, at least I believe it was Lars. Believe it or not I hear he freed her and married her. Can you beat that?"
With this news sinking in and weighing heavily on his heart Anakin asked, "Do you know where she is?"
"Oh a long ways from here. Someplace over on the other side of Mos Eisley I think." Was Watto's answer.
"I'd like to know." Anakin pressed.
"Sure, absolutely. Just let me find the records from that far back."
Anakin learned what he needed to know and then left Watto's. He walked back to the spaceport where he rented a hover car for the long trip to the Lars Homestead.
In a dim corner of a dark and seedy looking cantina located in the lower occupied levels of Coruscant, Darth Baseious sat disguised in clothing and enough dirt that would make the lowliest of the lowest Coruscant citizens look upon him with pride that they were better of then him. The Sith intently studying the blueprints of the Senate Housing Building that he bought on the black market.
Master Tyranus had tasked him with the assassination of Senator Amidala and he figured that an attack right in her own consulate would dishearten and disillusion any other threats to the Confederacy's succession from the Republic. The bounty hunter that his master had tasked previously with this assassination had hired it out to another and that second assassin had tried to remove the troublesome senator from a distance resulting in two failed attempts. He wouldn't make this mistake, he would see to it himself with a frontal assault, eliminate anyone who could place him in the Naboo Consulate and finally erase all records from the consulate's holocams.
As a Jedi, Baseious had been to more then a few of the consulate wings of the building but not enough or near as often as he would have needed to feel that he had a successful working knowledge of it. The success or failure of his entire first mission as a Sith required that he complete it quickly, without witnesses able to recall having seen him pass and leaving no clues linking the senator's death to the CIS.
Anakin approached the homestead Watto had identified for him. He brought his hover car to a halt next to a moisture condenser that had it's control panel removed and two men were looking at the machine's inner workings and discussing it intently. One was an older man who after a lifetime exposed to Tatooine's harsh conditions had a grizzled appearance. Anakin also noticed that the man was missing his right leg below the knee and sat in a hover chair since missing the leg made him unable to walk on his own. The second was a man around Anakin's age, appeared to be in excellent health and still youthful enough that his skin hadn't began to show the harshness of Tatooine's twin suns. Both men stopped their work and looked towards the new arrival.
"What can we do for you?" The younger of the two inquired.
"I'm looking for Shmi Skywalker." Anakin answered.
"And who might you be young man?" The older one asked a touch defensively.
"I'm her son Anakin. Is my mother here?"
At this, both men straightened their posture and the older one closed the control panel on the condenser.
A few seconds of silence passed and the older one put his hand out to shake Anakin's, which Anakin gave into without issue then said, "I figured you might show up one day. I'm Cliegg Lars and this is my boy Owen. Shmi was my wife."
"Was?" Anakin questioned.
"Lets go inside. We have a lot to discuss." Cliegg said turning his chair around.
Inside the three men sat at a small table in silence. They were served Yambarry Tea, which is drunk heavily on Tatooine since the Yambarry bush is one of the few indigenous forms of plant life that is able to survive on Tatooine, by a young woman who was introduced to Anakin as Owen's fiancé Beru Whitesun who then sat down next to Owen.
Cliegg was saying, "Your mother had gone out early, like she always did, to pick mushrooms of the vaperators. From the tracks we found she was about halfway home when a band of Tuskens found her." He gave a sad sigh and continued, "The sand people walk like men but they are vicious, mindless monsters. Thirty went out for her, four came back. I'd have been out there with them, but after I lost my leg, well I just can't ride anymore. Until I heal. I don't want to give up on her, but she has been gone for three months. There is no hope that she has lasted this long."
Anakin stood and began to leave. Everyone's eyes followed him and Owen asked what they all wanted to know, "Where are you going?"
Skywalker turned to once again face them. His anger and fear showing plainly on his face he answered, "To find my mother."
With sympathy and sadness in his voice Cliegg said, "Your mother is dead son. Accept it."
All Anakin could do was shake his head side to side. He left without another word being said to the Lars family and went in search of his mother.
The newly minted Sith silently stuck to the shadows and dark corners of the powered down Senate Housing Building. After hours of studying blueprints and interviewing maintenance workers under a mind trance so they wouldn't remember him Baseious now moved forward with the final step of his mission, the execution and elimination to a thorn in Master Tyranus's side.
For the most part his passage was unnoticed, and planting the suggestion in the minds of those who had seen him that they hadn't seen anything unusual was a simple matter. He arrived finally to his destination. The Twi'lek Consulate was located directly under the Naboo Consulate and the Twi'lek had taken far less security precautions than the Naboo had since their troubles with the Trade Federation had begun. According to his blueprints and interviews, the Naboo had covered every inch of public common areas with security holocams except for the emergency escape platform in the rear. The Naboo thought that the only time this would be used was for evacuation and according to his information and a minimal guard on it. It would be the mistake in strategy that proved fatal for their senator. The Twi'lek on the other hand only had security holocams in their meeting rooms to record records of what was said but found no need to spy on those not involved in meetings.
He arrived outside the Twi'lek Consulate and pressed the visitor-waiting button. Within seconds his was answered by a red cloaked, ceremonially not effectively combat armed Twi'lek guard.
"The Senator has no appointments this late and has retired for the night. You must make your appointment and come back at another time to speak to him." The guard said and began to shut the door.
Before the door could be shut on him, Darth Baseious waved his hand in the guard's face and said, "You must allow me to enter."
A blank face took over the guard who said, "I must allow you to enter."
He stepped through the entrance with the guard and came face to face with three more Twi'lek guards all dressed and armed the same. He once again waved his hand and said, "My passage though your consulate is insignificant. You will not recall anything about my having been here tonight."
Three of the four Twi'lek guards repeated what Baseious said with blank expressions. The last guard however looked at his comrades in confusion. "What do you mean you won't remember his having been here? He shouldn't have been allowed in at all." The strong-minded guard said aiming his dress more then function designed blaster rife at the intruder.
The Sith sensed this through the Force before it happened. Quickly his lightsaber came unclipped from his belt, with a snap hiss the blade lighted to life and the guard fell with a cauterized hole through his chest.
Baseious then turned to the guard that had allowed him to enter and said, "You will now escort me to your emergency escape platform.
The guard repeated, "I will now escort you to the emergency escape platform," and without saying anything else began walking away. Baseious followed him.
Once at the rear of the building Baseious opened the door and stepped onto the platform. The emergency escape platform was outside of the Senate Housing Building and once activated it would detach completely from the building and under it's own power move the direction its operator directed it to.
The Sith activated the platform and raised it to the next level above the Twi'lek Consulate to that of the Naboo. Once there he used his lightsaber to cut through the secured door, thanks to the blueprints he was able to artfully avoid tripping any alarm systems and made his entry.
As soon as he was inside the Naboo Consulate Darth Baseious came face to face with two uniformed Naboo Security Officers. Out of shock at the sudden, unexpected invasion they were slow to go for their blasters. Baseious seized advantage of their slowness, raised his lightsaber and dispatched the first one before it was able to register with the guard that he was in danger.
The second guard was able to clear his blaster from its holster when the Sith brought his blade down on the guard's wrist. The Naboo's hand thumped dully onto the metal floor and the blaster clanged as it bounced away from the fight. The fight didn't last much longer, before the guard had the chance to scream out in pain Baseious drove his lightsaber deep into his chest where the blade came out his back and then pushed downward where there was a cauterized burn hole from chest to abdomen. This guard fell on top of his comrade dead.
In the consulate's security office the senator's Jedi Protector Liak Cloem felt a disturbance in the Force as if lives were just ended very close to where he was. The werewolf like Jedi Master looked at the security monitors and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He then called up the three dimensional hologram blueprint of the consulate and looked to see where security cams had not been installed. Liak ranked the unviewable areas from least to most likely for risk of attack, detached his lightsaber from his belt and thumbed it to life, activated the trouble alarm and left the room.
Baseious moved through the room he had used to enter the consulate. Entering the next room he noticed that it was a storage area. He didn't see anyone move there so he slowly made his way through.
As he entered the next room, the consulate's food preparation area he knew that he wasn't alone for he saw a face from his long ago past.
"Qui-Gon? Why are you here?" Liak asked.
"That name no longer has any meaning for me Jedi Cloem. You know that the reason I'm here is at odds with the reason that you are here." Baseious answered.
Both men, Jedi and Sith stood there facing each other, lightsabers activated and at the ready.
"I since the Dark in you Qui-Gon. How could you have given yourself over?" Liak pressed.
"You don't know true power until you've experienced the darkside my old friend." Baseious replied.
"Sorry Qui-Gon but this is the farthest you'll be allowed to go." Liak answered Baseious's statement with a calm detachment from the current situation.
"Then I'll have to go through you my old friend." Baseious snarled full of venom.
The Sith approached the Jedi with his lightsaber spinning in wide arcs from right to left. Liak stood his ground and parried Baseious's strikes, then flipped over his head landing behind him.
Not to be deterred Baseious pivoted to the left, and brought his lightsaber up to block the Jedi's attack.
Baseious reached out with the Force and grabbed a hold of a meat cleaver that the cooks left laying out and sent it flying towards Jedi Master Cloem. The ploy worked and Liak diverted his attention from his opponent to the more immediate danger. He raised his hand and used the Force to drop the meat cleaver to the floor, then lowered his head barely avoiding the blow that would have taken off the top half of his head.
Desperately needing room to maneuver the Jedi somersaulted past his Sith opponent recovering to his feet. Darth Baseious turned again to face his opponent and both combatants blades clashed in a sizzling sparking display of the life and death struggle now being carried out.
Finally, the former Jedi seized the strong offensive and began driving the senator's Jedi Protector backwards. Cloem knowing that he was in trouble continued to block the incessant barrage of assaults from his Sith opponent until he was backed up to a food cooker droid that had been powered down. The Jedi bent at his waist as the Sith's blade came overhead and irreversibly powered the droid down.
The Jedi brought his blade into the Sith's midsection cutting halfway through him, even though the blade didn't bring Darth Baseious into two halves it was still a fatal blow non the less. At the same time that Jedi Master Liak Cloem struck his fatal blow, Darth Baseious's blade found home on the Jedi Master's back. The Force was freed from both combatants at the same time. Born around the same time on worlds light years apart, fate brought them together at the Jedi Temple as infants and early life made them friends just as recent life now had forced them to kill each other.
The Naboo guards who had gathered in response to the alarm and had stood watching the display of Force mastery now swarmed to the lifeless bodies.
Anakin pulled his rented hover car to a stop on top of the cliff overlooking the Tusken Raider camp. It had been a long journey, one that he started out not having the slightest idea of where to find them. He stopped at several moister farms, one small Tesbeskis Ore mining town and had even found a Sandcrawler full of Jawas. They had all seen this band of Sand People and had been able to give him just enough information to allow him to find his next stop where he as able to gather more information. Now at last he had tracked them. His mother was alive, she just had to be and he would rescue her. Then he would take her back to Geonosis with him and get her away from the so-called family that would just leave her for dead.
He took a step off the cliff, a fall that would have killed any ordinary sentient being was no more then a call of five feet would have been to anyone else with the Force to assist him.
It was evening and the camp appeared to be winding down for the night. He noticed a few Sand People still around the campfire. Judging from their coverings it appeared to be two families, there were two males, two females and five children. He didn't see anyone else moving in the camp except for two who appeared to be guarding a tent.
Using the Force to mask any sound made by his passing through the camp Skywalker moved to the rear of the tent that was being guarded. He pulled his lightsaber, thumbed it to life and cut a hole in the tent large enough for him to step through, and stepped in. He saw a female form chained to a log post with the same brown colored hair he remembered his mother having the last time he saw her ten years ago. Excitement built in him like a volcano only seconds away from erupting. He quickly but quietly rushed over to the lady and then gently turned her head to face him.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Went through his head as he realized that the prisoner was not his mother and a quick anger filled him.
Not so gently he slapped the strange woman to consciousness and she looked at him with a dazed confusion.
"Are you here to rescue me?" She asked.
"My mother! Where is my mother!" Anakin demanded.
The stranger coughed up blood and said, "I don't know of whom you speak."
"How long have you been here?"
"I don't know. Too long. Please get me out of here."
"Have you seen anyone else? Any other prisoners?"
"There was a body here for the longest time. A woman. I was so happy when they finally removed her. They chained me right next to her and she smelt something awful with the way she was decaying an all."
"A woman? What did she look like."
The prisoner described what the body looked like and Anakin knew at once that it had been Shmi Skywalker. The lady began begging Anakin to free her, but he was in his own rage filled world. He needed someone to strike out at, regardless of who they where and the stranger died where she was chained at the end of Anakin's lightsaber.
He then stormed out of the tent, all pretense at stealth was thrown to the wind. With two fast strokes the two Tusken Raider guards seated outside the tent fell over lifeless.
The families seated at the campfire saw what had happened, the women and children took off running in every direction and the men charged at Anakin with their gaffi sticks raised for attack. The men fell with quick strokes from the lightsaber and Anakin reached out with the Force and used the dark powers he had learned to kill and severally injure at a distance for the rest of them. Knowing which ones he killed he moved to the ones he hadn't and finished them with his lightsaber. Men, women, children it didn't matter. Someone had to pay for taking his mother from them and all of them had incurred that debt.
The noise produced by the startled family had aroused the rest of the camp. The weary savage desert nomads poured out of their tents. Anakin didn't know how many of them there were but it didn't matter. Not a single one would be alive when he left, any that ran away would be tracked down and killed.
Anakin moved gracefully as if in a ballet of death and he used his lightsaber, striking, slicing cleanly through gaffi sticks and bodies alike. As soon as the men who had come to confront him were lying at his feet, he turned his hate filled eyes towards the huddled mass of women and children Tuskens.
With the same lack of mercy that the Sand People showed any hapless being that mistakenly intruded on what the nomads claimed as their property at the time he charged them. Reaching out with the Force he strangled and broke the necks of several before he got to them. Too terrified to move, the rest just stood there waiting for him. Those that were still alive when he got there were robbed of life at the end of his lightsaber.
He then moved through each tent and found fifteen Tusken babies that were too young to move. These to he took the life from, only this time with his bare hands. He didn't know how many Tuskens he had just killed and he didn't care, all that concerned him was that his mother had been avenged.
Spitting on one of the bodies he grabbed a small stick of firewood the camp hand and stuck one end of it in the campfire. With his torch he proceeded to burn the camp down tent by tent.
When his grizzly work was done he returned to the Mos Espa Spaceport and left the planet never to return. The Lars family seemed like decent enough people, but without his mother they were no kin to him so why bother to let them know he had left the planet.
Despite the occurrences one Coruscant and Tatooine life for the Confederacy of Independent Systems went on as usual on Geonosis.
Darth Tyranus sat at the communication console, stroking his white beard in an attempt to hide the frustration he felt from the green skinned Neimoidian whose holographic image stood in front of him.
"I will not commit to your cause until she is dead." Nute Gunray, the viceroy of the Trade Federation said not bothering to hide his anger believing he was speaking to Count Dooku the provisional head of the Confederation of Independent Systems, unknowing that Count Dooku had become Sith Lord Darth Tyranus before they ever met.
"Viceroy Gunray, I assure you everything is ok."
"You will not have my droid armies until I have her head." The Neimoidian persisted.
"Viceroy Gunray, I'd advise you to take a more civilized tone when you talk to me."
"Why should I? You haven't kept your promises to me." The Viceroy continued.
"I have not kept my promises to you? May I remind you that I am the only one who has been able to hide you from the Dark Lord of the Sith that you had your previous deal with? Also may I remind you that it is my contacts within the Republic that has allowed you to survive four trials in the Supreme Court with the ability to retain your post as the viceroy of the Trade Federation." Tyranus countered.
"Never the less, I demand that Senator Amidala be killed immediately."
Dooku dropped his diplomatic tone and allowed the menace he felt inside him to come forward as he said, "You are in no position to demand anything from me viceroy. Just as I've protected you it would be easier for me to allow the Sith to discover where you are and I could plant the idea in the Republic's Senate that just maybe you should stand a fifth trial. If I were to do that you would stand on your own."
A brief period of silence passed and when Darth Tyranus was sure that he had sufficiently cowed the viceroy he continued, "Don't worry Viceroy Gunray. I have the right man on the job this time. Senator Amidala will die and I will have your droid armies."
With that Tyranus pressed the disconnect button and Nute Gunray's image disappeared. The Sith Lord began to stand up when another image appeared on the console. This image was cloaked in a heavy robe hiding most of his face and giving no clue as to his physical form.
"Master, what can I do for you?" Tyranus said submissively.
"I want a report Lord Tyranus." Darth Sidious, the one whom Nute Gunray believes that Count Dooku is hiding him from said.
"All goes will my Master. Everything is as planned. I have replaced the bounty hunter with another assassin. One who will not fail me."
"And who is this new assassin?" The Sith master questioned.
"I have sent Darth Baseious. I expect anytime now to hear the news that the senator is dead and when I do we will have the Trade Federation's droid armies by the end of the day."
"It had better happen quick Lord Tyranus. Time is shorter then we believed. The Jedi now know about the clone army that we had created for the Republic. It will only be a matter of time before the Senate decides to claim them and then the Civil War we've been pushing for will be upon us. We need to add the Trade Federation's army to the ones that we have acquired so far."
"We will have them master. Darth Baseious will not fail me." Tyranus replied with all the confidence in the star system.