Off the coast of Tattooine, a sleek silver Nubian yacht sailed smoothly out of a Hyperion gate and into the scorching heat of the sun. Anakin tightened his grip on the yacht's wheel at the sight of the port before them. It had expanded quite a bit in the ten years since he had left it, but he still recognized many of the town's landmarks. The docks were busy, but it was surprisingly easy to find an open section large enough for the yacht.
Anakin and Padmé hired a rickshaw to take them to the market. There was only one person Anakin knew who might have information on where his mother was. The two of them walked through the rows of stalls until Anakin spied a familiar blue face.
"Chut-chut, Watto," Anakin said, looking down at the gruff Toydarian as he struggled to repair an automaton's head. "Let me help you with that."
Watto looked on with dread as this mysterious robed man picked up one of his wrenches. "Who are thee? What do thee want?" Suddenly his dread turned to terror as he recognized the robes. "Wait, thee are a Jedi! Whatever it is, I didn't do it!"
Anakin deftly turned the wrench and heard a click as a stuck part moved into its proper place. "I'm looking for Shmi Skywalker."
"...Ani? Little Ani?" Watto shook his head. Why would the boy come back here? Then he saw the automaton's head moving freely. What Watto had been trying to fix for three days, this Jedi had fixed in seconds. Watto laughed. "Thee are Ani! It is thee!"
Anakin nodded somberly.
"Thee sure sprouted up, eh? A Jedi now, too!" Watto's voice dropped to a whisper. "Hey, is there any way thee could help me with some deadbeats? They owe me a lot of money."
"My mother," Anakin said sternly.
"Oh, yeah. Shmi." Watto put a hand to the back of his head. "She's not mine no more. I sold her."
Anakin's eyes narrowed. "You sold her?"
"Years ago! I'm sorry, Ani, but business is business, huh?" He chuckled. "Yeah, I sold her to a moisture farmer named Lars. At least I think it was Lars..." Watto tapped his chin thoughtfully.
Anakin took a deep breath. Anxiety had been welling inside him since he had laid eyes on Mos Espa again.
"Believe it or not, I hear he freed her! And married her! Can thee beat that?"
"Do you know where they are now?"
"Ohh... Long way from here... Some way inland from Mos Eisley, I think."
"I'd like to know," said Anakin with an edge to his voice.
"S-sure. Absolutely. Let's go check my records."
The Slave appeared some distance off the coast of a land known as Geonosis. It was an arid land with towering spires of red sandstone and vast swaths of rusty deserts. Intense dust storms raged across the country on an almost daily basis, forcing what few native species there were into a subterranean existence.
Life offshore wasn't much easier. Between heavy crosswinds, choppy seas, and a great Belt of boulders poking out of the water, only the strongest life could survive. And only the most daring sailors could traverse it. Jango Fett was nothing if not daring.
Despite being well aware of the safe passages used by the Geonosians themselves, Jango preferred to always test his skills and sail through the Belt. This choice let Obi-Wan track the Slave to the coast of Geonosis. Once Obi-Wan and his delsev emerged from the Hyperion stream, it didn't take them long to find the Slave.
Boba noticed the delsev gaining on them. "Dad? There's someone behind us. I think we were tracked."
Jango smirked. "Hm, not bad. He must've put a beetle on the hull. Hang on, Boba, we're going full sail through the Belt. Let's show him a few of our surprises."
At this, Boba gave a sinister laugh.
Obi-Wan weaved between the Belt's boulders, staying low to avoid the crosswinds. Had he been on something larger, the winds would have been more manageable. Obi-Wan watched as an elongated metal keg flew from the back of the ship. He wasn't sure what it was at first, but he knew to stay away from it.
A wise choice on Obi-Wan's part. The keg split around its equator and let out a shockwave that then collapsed in on itself. A deafening sound like a god playing an infernal chord on the piano of the world echoed across the Belt. A second shockwave came from the keg, turning any boulders in its way to dust.
Obi-Wan was uninjured by the blast, but he was shaken. "Seismic charges? Where in blazes did he get those?"
Arfor wailed in a way that even those not familiar with nautomaton code could tell meant "how should I know?"
Another seismic charge launched from the Slave. Obi-Wan banked his delsev hard, and once again that otherworldly chord reverberated around the field of stones. As Obi-Wan fled from the destructive wave, a boulder as large as a castle crumbled into sand behind him.
Jango gave a grunt of begrudging admiration. "That guy's better than I thought. It's a shame he doesn't know when to take a hint." He steered the Slave into a narrow pass between two massive monoliths.
Obi-Wan followed. Never before had he seen a ship as maneuverable as the Slave. It was fast and unnaturally responsive, even for a clipper. Obi-Wan wondered what new weapon Jango had prepared next.
The two foes navigated the pass quickly but carefully, a testament to their skills. After leaving the pass, Jango looped around to pull behind Obi-Wan as he exited.
When the delsev left the pass, the Slave's deck guns opened fire. Obi-Wan steered left and right, up and down, trying desperately to evade the shots. One of the rounds hit the Hyperion Ring, knocking it loose. Another maneuver later, and it fell into the choppy sea below.
"Dad! We hit him!"
"Nice work, Boba. Now we just have to finish him."
Two sections of hull at the bow opened up, just large enough for three rockets on each side. Jango gave a smug chuckle and one of the rockets launched forward, trailing blue flames. Obi-Wan turned and looked. "Oh, not good."
Obi-Wan urged the delsev faster, trying to weave out of the rocket's path, but it matched every turn.
After a few tense moments of thought, Obi-Wan had an idea. "Arfor! On my signal, unlash the equipment roll!"
Arfor chirped in acknowledgment.
"...Now!"
Arfor cut the strap that held the saddle's equipment roll. It tumbled backwards, opening and scattering camping equipment and cookware. The rocket struck a cast iron cook pot and exploded in a massive ball of blue fire.
Jango saw the explosion in the distance and was confident that the meddlesome Jedi had been dealt with. "Well, we won't be seeing him again."
Boba gave a little laugh.
The Slave sailed out of the Belt and towards a large bay on the coast of Geonosis where dozens of Federation ships sat berthed. A little ways away sat the copper colored ships of the Techno Union, a conglomerate nation ruled by many artificer guilds. Rounding out this assortment of nations were the arsenic green ships of the Banking Clan. None of this surprised Jango in the least. He had been to Geonosis several times now ant it would have been more unusual to not see them. He guided the Slave into the seaside cavern that had been graciously provided for him.
Obi-Wan had been hiding in the Belt by having his delsev cling to the side of one of the boulders. "Well Arfor, I think we've waited long enough." He gave a pop of the reins and the delsev once more took to the air.
Obi-Wan followed the trace of the beetle up the Geonosian coast and into the crowded bay. When he saw the ships, he was stunned. "I haven't seen so many ships since the Battle for Naboo. What's going on here?" He found a rocky outcropping on one side of the bay and landed his delsev, making sure it could stay out of sight.
After landing, he dismounted the saddle, telling Arfor to stay put. Obi-Wan climbed up the rocks and headed towards the fleet.
After sailing to Mos Eisley, Anakin and Padmé rode to the Lars homestead on camelback, while Artu stayed on the yacht. The ride was boring, but fortunately not too long. The Lars homestead itself consisted of many moisture collectors scattered across the sands and a dome shaped structure that served as the entrance to the underground living areas and the open air courtyard.
As they rode up, a rusty looking diplomatic automaton stopped tinkering with one of the collectors and looked at his guests. "Oh! Hello, how may I be of service? I am See-"
Anakin's face lit up. "Threepio?"
"Oh? ...The maker! Oh, Master Ani, I knew you would return! I just knew it! And Miss Padmé, too!"
Padmé smiled. "Hello, Threepio."
"Bless my gears, I am so glad to see you both!
As good as it was to see his childhood creation not just intact, but finished, Anakin had more pressing matters to attend to. "I've come to see my mother."
"Oh..." Threepio's voice turned mournful. "I think we'd better go indoors..."
Once they had reached the inground courtyard, Threepio walked over to his master and the woman standing beside him. "Master Owen, allow me to present two most important visitors."
Anakin gave a slight bow to Owen. "I'm Anakin Skywalker."
"I'm, uh, Owen Lars." He gestured to the woman next to him. "And this is my girlfriend, Beru."
Padmé gave a polite smile and introduced herself.
"I guess I'm your stepbrother," Owen said to Anakin. "I had a feeling you'd show up someday."
"Is my mother here?"
"No, she's not," came a gruff voice from one of the courtyard doorways. The owner of the voice quickly showed himself by rolling through the doorway on a crudely made wheelchair. He was an older man, easily in his sixties with greying hair. The man offered a calloused hand to Anakin, who quickly noticed that the man's right leg was missing from the knee down. "Cliegg Lars. Shmi is my wife.We should go inside, we have a lot to talk about."
Once inside, they all sat around the homestead's dining table, save for Beru who poured drinks for their guests. Cliegg began to tell Anakin and Padmé what had happened just about a month before.
"It was just before dawn. They came out of nowhere. A hunting party of Tuskens. Your mother went out early, as she always did, to pick mushrooms that grow on the moisture collectors."
Beru placed the drink tray on the table and those interested took one of the pewter cups.
Cliegg continued his story. "From the tracks, she was about halfway home when they took her." He let out a half sigh, half growl. "Those Tuskens, they may walk like men, but they're vicious, brutal monsters... Thirty of us went out after her, four of us came back. I'd still be out looking for her, but since I lost my leg, I can't ride anymore. I- I don't want to give up on her, but she's been gone almost a month... There's not much hope she's lasted this long..."
Anakin listened to his stepfather's words with growing anger. After Cliegg finished, he nodded his head with determination and stood up from the table.
Padmé looked up at him with confusion. "Where are you going?"
"To find my mother," Anakin replied with a cold, grim expression.
Cliegg shook his head. "Your mother's dead, son. You need to accept that."
Padmé watched as Anakin walked away wordlessly.
Once back on the surface, Anakin spent quite some time staring at the horizon as the late afternoon sun hung in the sky above him. When he left Tattooine all those years ago, he had told his mother they would see one another again. His mind was a maelstrom of anguish. The sorrow for his mother mixed with the frustration of not being able to be with Padmé and deep within him, there was the burning flame of anger.
Padmé went to the surface to check on him. When she was just behind him, he turned around, tears in his eyes. They didn't say anything, they didn't need to. They hugged one another tightly, with Anakin holding her head to his chest. They stayed like this for several minutes before Anakin spoke, his voice coming out as a croak. "You'll need to stay here. These are good people, Padmé. You'll be safe."
She looked into his eyes. "Anakin..."
"I know..." He released her and began walking towards Cliegg's bay horse. "I won't be long."
Padmé watched as Anakin saddled the horse, unhitched it, and rode off across the sand.
Anakin rode for hours, going from the open sands, to forests of sandstone columns, to craggy canyons. The further he went, the longer his shadow grew until it was indistinguishable from the rest of the darkness that fell. He stopped several times for information that could help him in his search, meeting with Jawas in their rolling fortresses, other homesteaders, and a merchant caravan. They all pointed him in the same direction; the Valley of Spirits in the Jundland Wastes.
As night fell over Geonosis, Obi-Wan had finished making his way around the bay to an impressively large sandstone spire. Without a doubt, this was an important site as there was a large arched doorway whose frame was decorated with carvings reminiscent of insects. The door itself as well as the steps leading up to it were unguarded, and Obi-Wan walked inside.
The spire's interior was awe-inspiring. It had been hollowed out into a massive chamber with arches and buttresses supporting the mass of sandstone above. Two stairways spiralled around opposite sides of the chamber. A large glowing yellow teardrop hung into the chamber's center from the ceiling high above, lending everything an eerie aura.
Obi-Wan walked to the railing of the staircase and as he looked down, he was hit by a wave of rising warm air. Deep below, in what looked like a cavern, there was what could only be described as a foundry. Molten metal flowed through stone channels from somewhere unknown. The sound of countless hammers striking anvils rang through the cavern and funneled upwards. Even with the limited view he had, Obi-Wan had never seen anything like this before.
Obi-Wan descended the stairs to the next landing. Just on the edge of his hearing, barely audible over the sounds of forging, was a man's voice. Obi-Wan couldn't discern what the man was saying, but the voice was coming from somewhere down the hallway connected to the landing.
As silently as he could, Obi-Wan crept down the sandstone hallway and soon he was able to make out what the mysterious voice was saying.
"...Persuade the Commerce Guild and Corporate Alliance to sign the treaty."
"What about the senator from Naboo?" This second voice had the lilting accent of a Nemoidian. "Is she dead yet? I am not signing your treaty until I have her head on my desk."
"I am a man of my word, Viceroy," said the first voice.
A third voice spoke. "With the new war automata we've built, you will have the finest army in the world." His words were understandable but slightly distorted, with an almost brassy quality to them.
The hallway opened into an elevated walkway. Obi-Wan peeked around where the walls ended and saw a large meeting room with a huge oblong sandstone table. Several people of various races sat around it, but Obi-Wan dared not look long enough to identify them.
"Indeed, I am quite convinced that a thousand more nations will rally to our cause with your support, gentlemen," said the first voice.
A fourth person spoke up. Obi-Wan wasn't sure, but judging by the buzzing and clicking in their voice, he believed this person was a Geonosian. "What you are propozzzink could be conzzztrued as treazzzon."
"The Techno Union is at your disposal, Count," said the third voice.
That confirmed Obi-Wan's suspicions, the first voice was Count Dooku. The second voice had to be Viceroy Gunray, and the third one was someone from the Techno Union. But he had also seen ships from the Banking Clan, where was their representative?
"The Banking Clan will sign your treaty," came yet another voice, answering Obi-Wan's question.
"Good. Very good," Count Dooku said. "Once the Trade Federation joins us and their automaton army combines with ours, we shall have an army stronger than has been seen since the Sith Wars of old. The Jedi and the Republic they defend will be overwhelmed. They will have no choice but to submit to our demands."
Obi-Wan had heard enough. He made his way back up the stairs to leave the spire. What had started as an assassination investigation had revealed even greater intrigue.