AN: "aaaa" - talking through a holocomunicator or comlink. 'aaaa' - talking through a bond.
Again, I apologize for how the starfighter combat scene plays out below. Like I said in the last chapter, I'm not very good at writing these types of scenes. Anyway's I hope you enjoy this chapter and sorry if it's a little short. There will be more action when we hit the Battle of Geonosis and the lightsaber fight between Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda and Dooku.
Chapter 11
As they neared the house, Padmè saw Shmi first as the woman walked out onto the balcony with a grey protocol droid that she recognized as C-3PO following her. She glanced over at Anakin and smiled as she saw him look up.
Anakin glanced over at Padmè and saw her smiling at him.
"Go on," she said. "I can tell you've been waiting for this moment."
Anakin took a step away from Padmè's side and was soon running towards his mother. "Mom!" He happily called out. Once he reached her, he wrapped his arms around her.
Shmi wrapped her arms around her son and pulled him into a tight hug. She wanted to relish this time that she got to spend with him before she had to go back to speaking with him over a hologram. When she was finished hugging him, she let go and leaned back to get a good look at him. "Anakin, my how you have grown," she said.
"I've missed you," Anakin said. Then he smiled, happy to be reunited with her again. "After nine years of just talking to you over a hologram, I finally get to see you in person again."
"I've missed you as well son," Shmi replied. "I'm so proud of you and of how far you've gotten in your training."
"Thanks Mom," Anakin told her. Then he noticed Threepio. "Why did you bring Threepio over?"
"I have no need of him anymore, so I was hoping that either you or Padmè could take him off my hands," Shmi said.
Padmè caught the tail end of the conversation as she had wanted to give them some time to themselves. As soon as she knew that it was over, she made her way towards the balcony and up the stairs. "I'd be happy to take him with me," she told Shmi as she reached the top. "I am surprisingly in need of a protocol droid who can help me with my Senate duties."
"Go ahead Padmè," Shmi told her. Then she smiled. "Thank you for letting me live on Naboo."
"You're welcome," Padmè responded. Then she looked at the grey protocol droid. "Come with me Threepio. You can help me set the table for lunch."
"Yes, Mistress Padmè," C-3PO said as the protocol droid followed Padmè into the house.
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Geonosis was unlike any planet that Boba had ever seen before. Not that the young boy had ever seen a planet in real life since Jango had never allowed the boy to come with him off of Kamino when he had to leave on his so-called business trips.
The red planet loomed in front of them, dotted here and there with hints of tan and brown. The planet was encompassed by a ring-shaped asteroid belt and only half of it was bathed in light.
Right behind Slave 1 was Obi-Wan, who had retrieved his Jedi Starfighter from where he had parked it at the facility on Kamino and his ring from where he had left it in space. As soon as he came out of hyperspace, he powered down his ring and detached his fighter from it, before proceeding to follow Jango into the asteroid field.
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The screen next to Boba began to flash and the boy turned his attention to it. He saw that a ship had dropped out of hyperspace and was catching up to them. He recognized it as a Jedi starfighter. From what he could remember about them, the ships that the Jedi used were small and quick, with some pretty decent weapons onboard.
"Dad," Boba said as he kept his eyes on the screen, "I think we're being tracked."
"He must have thrown a tracker on the ship's hull," Jango told him. "Hang on son, I'm going to try and loose him in the asteroid field. Don't worry, I have a few surprises waiting for him."
Boba chuckled as he saw his father reach forward and press one of three buttons on the dashboard in front of him.
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A small hatch on the back of Slave 1 opened and a charge moved out into the slot. As the ship kept moving forwards, it released the charge into space.
R4 gave a series of whistles and beeps and not a moment later the translation came up on the screen inside Obi-Wan's fighter.
"Seismic charges," Obi-Wan said. "Hang on R4!" The Knight managed to avoid the cylindrical object that floated towards him.
The charge hit an asteroid and detonated, sending out a wave of energy that crushed everything in its path. Obi-Wan pushed his fighter's speed as fast as it could go and managed to outrace the energy wave that was headed towards the rear of his fighter. R4 kept beeping and making noise as they came out of it unscathed.
Suddenly, Slave 1 released another seismic charge and Obi-Wan had to pull his fighter up and out of the way, avoiding yet another asteroid as it disintegrated into dust.
Obi-Wan pushed the ship into a corkscrew maneuver, barely managing to avoid getting crushed as pieces of rock were forced to smash against each other by the weapon's energy discharge. This was most certainly Anakin's favorite type of flying. Not his.
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Jango frowned as he watched the Jedi maneuver his fighter through the asteroid field. He had thought that the charges, combined with the asteroid field, would have gotten rid of him for good. "This guy can't seem to take a hint," he said. Then he piloted Slave 1 into a nearby asteroid that had an opening that was big enough for his ship to fit through.
Obi-Wan saw where the bounty hunter had gone and followed him into the hollowed-out asteroid. He made sure to turn up the brightness on his lights so that he would be able to see where he was going. Inside his cockpit, something on his dashboard was beeping at him. Obi-Wan ignored it, instead choosing to open himself up to the Force and let it guide him and his fighter through the many archways that made up the interior of the asteroid.
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Boba trusted his father, but wasn't so sure that this was the best idea for them. He gripped the sides of his seat as he watched out of the cockpit window. "Dad, watch out!" He called.
Jango smoothly guided his ship out of the asteroid and pulled up, choosing to hide behind another asteroid and wait for the Jedi to exit. Soon enough, he saw the red and white starfighter exit and fly ahead of him. A few minutes later, he left the safety of the asteroid that his ship had been hiding behind and followed the Jedi.
"Get him Dad! After him! Fire!" Boba said.
Jango obeyed and soon enough, red lasers began to fly out of the cannons that were attached to Slave 1.
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Obi-Wan felt his fighter shake as one of the lasers managed to hit the rear of the ship and glanced out of his canopy window. "Blast! This is why I do not like flying," he said. He jerked at the controls, sending the ship to one side or the other in a desperate attempt to dodge all of the lasers. Obi-Wan wasn't quite fast enough and one of the lasers hit the side of the fighter next to R4, almost damaging the ship.
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"I think you got him Dad!" Boba said as he looked up from the screen in front of him.
"Let's make sure that he isn't able to follow us," Jango responded as he reached forward and pressed another button on the dashboard. On the outside of the ship, a small compartment opened up and revealed three torpedoes that were ready to be fired. There was no way the Jedi would be able to outrun those as they were designed to keep up with the fighter until it was hit.
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Obi-Wan sensed the torpedo that was following his fighter and desperately tried to outrun it, but it was of no use as the silver missile rapidly gained on the small craft.
He twisted and weaved through the asteroids, but the torpedo stayed hot on his tail, inching closer and closer with every second that passed.
"R4, prepare to eject the spare parts that we have stored aboard this ship," Obi-Wan said. R4 beeped and prepared to do as Obi-Wan had asked. The red and white fighter continued to weave around one asteroid and then another one, before levelling out as it stayed ahead of the torpedo. "Fire them now!"
R4 beeped and obeyed. The rear of the ship opened up and out floated the spare parts that every Jedi starfighter was required to carry. Obi-Wan managed to get ahead of the explosion that followed as the torpedo came into contact with the parts and detonated, blowing everything to bits.
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Both Jango and Boba watched as an explosion lit up the asteroid field. The older man glanced at the screen on his dashboard, not seeing anything. "Well, I guess we won't be seeing him again," Jango said. He softly smiled as he heard his son laugh behind him and proceeded to make his way to the surface of the planet.
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Obi-Wan was not dead. He had used the explosion to maneuver his fighter behind another asteroid and powered it down. He decided to wait and let the bounty hunter land on the planet.
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Jango flew Slave 1 down to the rocky surface and over a few of the Trade Federation ships that were already waiting on the planet. He made his way to a hangar that proceeded to open up and let him in. As soon as the ship passed the opening, it closed back up, turning off the lights that it had used to guide the ship to it.
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Obi-Wan glanced at his console in front of him, seeing that the tracker that he had been following was not moving anymore. "Well, R4, I think we've waited long enough," he told the red and white astromech.
The astromech beeped in agreement and started the engines, letting Obi-Wan take over and guide them off of the asteroid that he had been hiding on. The coast was clear and that allowed the Knight to proceed to the surface of the planet.
The view that greeted him did not look good. Even though he was still following the tracker, he really didn't like what he was looking at. "That is an awful lot of Federation battleships down on the surface, R4," Obi-Wan said. R4 beeped in response.
Another question popped into Obi-Wan's mind as he flew past the spheres. Why was Jango here and what was his connection to the Trade Federation? He knew that he would find out soon enough as he made his way to a tall rocky outcrop that would be the perfect place to hide his ship while he conducted his investigation.
Obi-Wan popped open his canopy and climbed out of his ship. R4 beeped a question and the Knight turned around, gesturing for R4 to be quiet and to guard the ship. The red and white astromech beeped in acknowledgement and watched as Obi-Wan made his way up a small slope.
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Anakin and Shmi spent some time outside talking about what she had been up to after she had moved to Naboo. She told Anakin that her home wasn't too far away from the villa where Anakin and Padmè were staying.
"That's great Mom," Anakin said when he heard about her new life now that she was not a slave on Tatooine. "I'm really glad that you're free and no longer a slave."
"So am I Ani," Shmi told him. "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine Mom," Anakin responded. "The Senator and I have been here for at least two days now. I'm waiting for confirmation from the Jedi Council that it's safe for Padmè and I to return to Coruscant."
Shmi nodded and then both of them made their way inside and walked towards the dining room where Padmè and Threepio had just finished setting out plates, as well as the silverware for lunch. When they were finished, Padmè dismissed the droid and told both Anakin and Shmi to sit as the servants brought out the food.
UP NEXT: Shmi finds out that Anakin has fallen in love with Padmè and Obi-Wan finds out that the Separatist Council is on the rocky planet.