Ch.9 Escape

Shaak, Obi-Wan and Anakin stood side by side, silent and waiting for Count Dooku's next move. He looked at them in turn, smirking.

"Now, I don't think this is truly fair. Three against one?"

The Jedi's faces were stony. Dooku held his lightsaber hilt in his hand, but he didn't activate it. Instead, he reached into his pocket and took out a small commlink. He looked at it, then sighed.

"It seems one of my charges has departed on urgent business. No matter, he left something for you."

Dooku stepped back suddenly and disappeared through one of the doors. Shaak ran to the door, and at that moment, the arena rang with metal locks clinking into place. The lights went out, now the only light was coming from the broken window. Shaak unsuccessfully tried to open it, but it was shut tight.

"We're trapped!"

Anakin looked back over his shoulder.

"What about the window?"

Obi-Wan looked out.

"We can't make that jump, even with the Force."

A loud buzzing made all three Jedi turn sharply. Something was travelling towards the building; they could see three vulture droids getting closer to the window. Silently, Shaak, Obi-Wan and Anakin stepped back into the shadows of the arena, waiting. Their lightsabers shone pale in the gloom as the machines got nearer.

The first one rushed in and dropped a grenade by Shaak's feet. She jumped nimbly out of the way and slashed vainly at the fighter, but it had passed on. Anakin leapt up high at it, and succeeded in making a large gash along the side of the droid. Obi-Wan was ready to finish it off, but the second fighter had come, and was heading straight for his back. Sensing it, he flipped back and stabbed at it, but hit the grenade it dropped instead. The third droid flew at Shaak, throwing a hail of bombs. She gasped and tried to avoid them, Anakin ran over to help. He skidded to a halt as Shaak was pushed down into the hole the first grenade had made. She screamed and fell down.

Obi-Wan cried out and severed the droid that had pushed her. The pieces fell clattering to the ground. He chased the other towards Anakin, it was an old trick of theirs, and Anakin jumped up and onto it, plunging his lightsaber into its 'head'. Anakin laughed as he rode it into the floor, creating a long, deep scratch in the permacrete.

There was only one left. Anakin smiled grimly and ran at it, but Obi-Wan called out to him.

"Anakin! Don't destroy it! Manipulate it!"

Anakin scaled the fighter in one flying leap and landed neatly on top of it.

"I was just about to do that."

He slashed open the 'head' of the droid lightly and still smiling, plunged his free hand in and grabbed a hand full of wires. He concentrated hard and the droid went rigid, beeping quietly.

Obi-Wan nodded with approval and rushed to the hole in the floor. Shaak was lying unconscious a few floors down. He slipped down, landing silently and lifted her up. Anakin brought the droid across the room and peered down at Obi-Wan.

"Are we leaving yet?"

Obi-Wan laughed and leapt carefully back up, still carrying Shaak. Anakin reached down and hauled her up beside him on the droid. Obi-Wan got up after and Anakin turned the vulture around.

"I hope this thing still flies."

Obi-Wan inhaled sharply as the droid rose and flew through the remains of the window like lightning.

It plummeted, Anakin was 'letting it go at its own pace' as he liked to put it. He whooped with delight and Obi-wan gulped and tried not to panic.

"Anakin, please, please slow down!"

"Sorry Master, I broke the brakes."

"You what!"

"Just kidding."

"Don't scare me like that."

"Poor gullible Obi-Wan."

"Humph."

They reached the ground and Anakin pulled up smoothly and Obi-Wan got off as soon as he stopped. They abandoned the vulture droid and took separate speeders. Shaak woke with a start when they were moving her, and took her own speeder. Obi-Wan looked back up at the building, he felt someone or some two, watching every move they made. He motioned to Anakin and Shaak to go.

"We have to move before something else happens."

The courtyard was soon bereft of three more speeders and the Jedi rode as fast as they could towards the Temple, with the aid of Yoda's map.