Star Wars 2.0

Episode 1: The Secret of Naboo

Chapter 6

There was not much room to smuggle people inside the cargo container, so Qui-Jin and Anakin were folded up like card tables. They had to resist the urge to sit up, lest their heads would hit the ceiling and alert anyone outside that they were there. They still had an hour or more before they reached the space port at Oresys.

Qui-Jin looked particularly cross; not only for the discomfort but because of the disappointment in his padawan. He had spent much of the trip considering how he would broach the subject. What little he could see of Anakin's face in the darkness told Qui-Jin that his padawan was not only learning to behave himself, but was actually proud of his actions. At last he spoke up in a low voice, "Success does not prove the means correct."

Anakin looked at him confused.

"I sometimes worry for you, Anakin," Qui-Jin continued. "Your actions may prove correct in the short run, but the same lack of discipline and arrogance can lead to much worse results in the long run." Qui-Jin could sense Anakin rolling his eyes, so he persisted. "If you won't rein yourself in for me, at least do it for the Jedi Counsel. Out of respect for those you chose to join. And for your own good."

Anakin was silent for a time, then he responded, "Obi-wan and I began training about the same time. He takes the initiative every bit as much as I. Yet he..." Anakin stopped himself before he said what he would regret.

But Qui-Jin already knew what more he meant, and he nodded. "The first act I was really proud of was while I was still a padawan learner. I rescued a slave on an insignificant planet. It wasn't anyone important and they didn't go on to do anything great. Just a kid who liked to go pod racing. His master was furious because he had been winning him money. I thought for certain that would gain me knighthood early. But I found myself being passed up by students who in my estimation didn't deserve the same amount of reward, let alone more of one. But in retrospect I came to learn it wasn't just our achievements that mattered. I had yet to grow in other ways that I did not yet see in myself. I know it is a lot to ask for you to continue to have patience, but I assure you, it is well worth it when you achieve greatness you never knew you were capable of."

They both fell silent, not wishing to risk discovery, and meditating into their thoughts.

The cloaked figure stood before Darth Mawl again. This time it was urgent news. "The Jedi are coming to you now," the figure said. "You must prepare yourself."

"I am ready," Mawl said. "But do you believe the Neimoidians are?"

"It matters not," the figure said. "When they are no longer useful, dispose of them. Now go." The hologram faded away and Mawl walked through where it had been, marching to the entrance to the Neimoidian control center.

The fear was palpable in the room. The Neimoidians knew they were unprepared to take on the entire Republic. What they were doing would, at best, cause a galactic war. And at worst, no one else would rise up against the Republic, and the Noimoidians would be wiped out in retaliation.

Their commander, Prelat Fomii, stepped up to Darth Mawl and said, "The representatives they sent are important to the senate. They will retaliate with everything they have if we attack them."

Mawl scowled at the cowardly leader. "We're counting on it," he said. "The more they send, the more we can destroy, and set an example for the others."

Commander Fomii began to shake his head. The others behind him were shifting restlessly as he said, "Even if we win against a force of that magnitude, we will incur such losses that we will not have enough to sustain our..."

Prelat Fomii fell silent as Darth Mawl waved a hand in front of his face and said, "Once you have won this battle, you will have gained power over the entire senate, and the galaxy will be yours for the taking."

The others fell silent as well, entranced by the red and black figure before them. Commander Fomii said, "Yes. We will rule over every species. Every world will be ours to command."

"Gooooood," Darth Mawl said, drawing out the word as though bathing in it. "Now prepare yourselves, and inform the others."

The Neimoidians rushed into action, hurrying to their stations, sending out communications and orders, and taking their positions. Mawl looked over their shoulders, making sure they were all doing as commanded.

The senate delegation arrived on the station orbiting Oresys, and Prince Organa led the way down the ramp into the hangar where a Neimoidian escort was awaiting them. They seemed pleasant, but suspicious of the Republic representatives. "I assure you," Prince Organa said. "We are not here to cause any more harm than you have already suffered. Can you please show us where the incidents took place?"

"Right this way please," the Neimoidians said, and they led the small committee further into the station.

It did not take long for them to arrive at one of the damaged corridors. Some robot parts still littered the floor, blast marks pocked the walls, and the unmistakable blackened lines of lightsaber cuts sliced through just about everything. The droids that had been compacted together were plainly the work of a Jedi that would need to be as powerful as Yoda.

"Here is the room where we graciously greeted your Jedi representatives," the Neimoidian escort said, leading them to the guest suite where Yoda and Obi-Wan had been attacked. Here the Jedi damage was unmistakable. Lightsaber cuts sliced through the table, walls, and door. Multiple burn marks lined the walls as though they had come from lightning bolts. Audible clicks of the tongue could be heard emanating from the delegation.

Though Prince Organa had no way of knowing that most of the damage done here was fake, there was something about the lightning bolt marks that hit him as suspicious. That didn't seem like something Yoda would do, not something Obi-Wan would be capable of doing. He turned to the Neimoidian escort and said, "We should like to take a look around on the planet. When can that be arranged?"

The escort was taken aback and said hesitantly, "But the Jedi never went to the planet. There is no damage done by them there..."

"I realize that," Prince Organa said. "However, your senator agreed to allow us to inspect the planet where Master Yoda claimed he sensed a presence."

"I do not know what you hope to accomplish there, your highness," the escort said, "but we can go soon. Once you've finished seeing all the damage your Jedi did." He then led the representatives toward the control center where, he said, the Jedi had wreaked havoc.

Owen sat in a quiet waiting area of the space port with his data pad resting on his curled up legs. His eyes were fixedly studying the screen where a blip on a map was showing him where the crates from his ship were going. He had affixed one of his specialty subterfuge tracking devices to one of them. No one had ever found one that he had hidden. He had designed them to fit in with whatever they were attached to rather than to not be seen at all.

The drawback was that they didn't have very good range, and the signal was fading fast. As it disappeared from view, Owen brought up the map of the area with an emphasis on the roads. He saw that the highway it was on was leading up a mountain where it disappeared. It just cut off completely. He looked to the other side of the mountain for an exit from a tunnel, but there was none. This road just stopped at a dead end. And there was nothing on the map around it for a few miles in diameter. This was where they were headed. Owen was certain of it.

Soon Owen found himself walking among the transport speeders at the ground loading dock of the space port. His rational mind kept asking him what he was doing here, while another part of his mind was feeling the exhilaration of an adrenaline rush.

He spotted some of the same types of crates he had been transporting being placed onto a cargo speeder. It was so heavy that the entire chassis dropped low to the ground. The Neimoidian driver told the loader that was enough, and he got into the driver's seat. Owen dropped to the ground on his back and scooted under the speeder. He turned on the magnet bracelets and belt, which attached him to the bottom of the speeder. He didn't go far, and there wasn't much more than an inch or two between himself and the road. He hoped they wouldn't go over anything rough or he'd be hitting his head or scraping against the tarmac.

Owen tried to keep his eyes on the metallic speeder and off the fast moving road beneath him as they sped along the highway he had been tracing on a map earlier. All along the way his mind kept asking, "Why are you doing this?" as if he had an answer. His heart felt like it would explode from his chest, and another part of him loved it.

At last they slowed, and he could see under the front that they were approaching a gate, beyond which was a large facility. He suddenly realized a flaw in his plan, that the guards may look under the speeder for any bombs or smuggled goods. But much to his relief, the guard and driver exchanged a few words, and the gate opened. Soon, the transport speeder was on its way inside.

Owen watched around him carefully. He saw a lot of legs and feet, and some people far enough away that they should be able to see underneath. They were all Neimoidians, so he knew he wouldn't be able to fit in. Instead, he waited until the view was no longer outside, but in a hangar of some sort.

When it looked like the coast might be clear, he disengaged the magnets and dropped to the ground. As soon as the speeder had passed by, he rolled to the side and hurried to the first stack of crates and other storage he could find. Hiding behind them, he got a sense of his local surroundings. No one had spotted him; of that he could be sure because no one was shouting. There was hardly anyone in the hangar or large warehouse where he was. This seemed to have a lot of storage, though at the other end, mechanics were at work building a space vessel of some sort. It appeared to be a fighter.

Owen turned his attention outside. Various workers and managers, all Neimoidians and droids, were going about their business. All of them were either moving equipment, or working on one of the various construction projects. Owen wanted to get a better look at what they were constructing, so he studied the lay of the land, finding obstacles he could use for cover.

Taking one last look around him to see if he could move without being spotted, Owen rushed to a row of machine parts, then to a line of crates, then down an alley between buildings, and finally behind a speeder to get close to a window. Peeking inside, he saw a long assembly line where battle droids were being put together. At the far end were the largest of the droids of war with massive weapons.

Owen looked around and found a path to another larger building. Weaving his way over to it, he found they were building vehicles and fighter size vessels. Passing through were Neimoidians dressed differently than the workers. Owen took a moment to recognize their garb, and at last determined they were scientists who then passed into a room with a sign that said "Do not enter - Top Secret".

Owen's chest felt tight. They were building a secret army. No one was threatening the Neimoidians, so this wasn't defensive. Typically, how governments ran their own business was none of Owen's concern. But this felt wrong. It seemed... important. It didn't feel right for Owen to turn his back. So he turned to look for a way to escape...

And he found himself facing a Neimoidian who was passing by on his way to another building. They met eyes at the same time, and Owen instinctively pulled his blaster pistol. The Neimoidian got the signal and froze. Owen ran through the possibilities of what he could do while he lifted a finger to shush the worker. The Neimoidian didn't comply; his sense of obligation was bigger even than his life, and he began to scream as he turned to run.

All Owen had to do was pull the trigger, but he couldn't bring himself to do that. This was just some employee who went to work at a warehouse; they didn't want any part of this larger struggle. So Owen wasted a moment switching the setting to stun and he fired, hitting the worker who fell flat on his face.

The lost time was going to cost Owen. The brief scream had to have been heard, and some might have even heard his shot. He had to move right away. Keeping his head down, Owen hurried away from the scene of the crime. The row of machine parts on his right and the building on his left would be ending soon, and he would not be able to bounce from cover to cover as he had done before. He could hear footsteps rushing to his position. He didn't know what to do.

Or rather, he did know what to do, but he didn't want to. But at last he realized he had no choice. He needed to get this information to his brother, or his brother's friends. So Owen leaped up, going higher than a human should be able. He kicked off the machine parts to his right and flew up to the roof of the building on his left.

Just as he did, he spotted other workers and security droids rushing around the sides of the building to the person lying stunned face down on the ground. They knew there was an intruder, and he had to get out soon.

Looking around him, Owen suddenly realized the extent of this operation. The facility was huge. Factories and other buildings lined in rows; some abutting the cliff walls which they no doubt dug into. Giant hangars opened up to landing pads lined with ships; some of them droid vessels, some meant for people to fly. They were building up to something. Owen laid flat on the roof so those on the ground could not see him. He had to figure out a way out of this place, and it was going to take a while.