Star Wars 2.0
Episode 1: The Secret of Naboo
Chapter 7
Yoda stared at the holocommunication table with concern and intrigue. The stranger in the image claimed to be Anakin's brother, and his similar features implied that he was telling the truth. He was ducked down and speaking in a hushed and urgent tone. He didn't know how close anyone was, but he didn't want to take any chances.
Yoda, too, was remaining discreet, despite the fact that he stood in a large, empty room; the Jedi Council Chamber, which at present was devoid of anyone but himself. He did not want his own voice to carry on the other end and alert anyone who may attack the stranger, who said his name was Owen.
"They're building weapons I've never seen," Owen hissed quickly. "I think they're building a covert navy. One with technology the Senate has never seen."
"Alarming news this is," Yoda said, "and fortunate that you gave us this information. But wonder, must I, why you came to us with this news."
"Why not the military? Or why not just stay silent or something?" Owen asked rhetorically. Yoda nodded. There was no profit for this smuggler to risk his life for this. So Owen explained, "My twin brother told me I can trust you guys. He may not always make the wisest of decisions, but he's got good taste in friends."
Yoda nodded understandingly. Then said, "Safety must you find, Owen Skywalker. We will put your information to good use. Thank you for your help."
Without a goodbye, Owen flicked off the communication and his image disappeared from the table. Yoda considered what he had been told. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and focused on the force to guide him. He returned to what his instincts had determined, that something was about to happen on Oresys, and they had been right to send a pair of Jedi there. He opened a communication to warn them. He wanted to send a message to the senators as well, but he knew that any communication with them would be interpreted as interference. So he sent out messages to his fellow Jedi, and he waited.
Obi-wan was awoken by a louder clatter of bleeps and blips from the droid. He sat up with his hand grasping his lightsaber. He saw nothing at first in the dark, still night save for the illuminating glow from the direction of the city. He had made his small camp a little ways into the woods to be sure no one saw him from afar and left R2D2 to scan for anything happening in the surrounding area.
It quickly became apparent that they were not in any imminent danger, so Obi-wan asked the droid what was happening. R2D2 signaled in the direction of Theed, and Obi-wan scooted up to the cover of a tree, pulling out his macrobinoculars to get a better look. He found a dot zipping around the town over rooftops, stopping briefly to look in a window or survey something else before continuing on. Obi-wan knew what it was, but pressed a couple buttons for the macrobinoculars to confirm its identity. It was a spy drone.
Obi-wan followed its movement until it began to leave town, at which point he put the macrobinoculars away in his bag and prepared to leave. The force would guide Obi-wan in the direction he needed to go to follow it. "Come on, droid," he said. "Try to keep up." He had forgotten the droid's name. He never was good at remembering their designations. It was a general ambivalence he had toward all machinery, even when they were partially sentient.
He followed the droid across the prairie, remaining along the edge of the woods, prepared to jump in for cover when necessary. He could occasionally see the dot in the distance, but it was the force he was truly following, trusting it to keep him along the correct path.
R2D2, meanwhile, lagged behind. The terrain was not ideal for its wheel system, so it occasionally had to stop and hobble over a mound or a root or some other obstacle before continuing over the rugged grasslands. Its human companion seemed unconcerned with this difficulty, and was not waiting up.
The drone flew up over the lip of a steep hill and disappeared. Obi-wan's senses were telling him that it had stopped, and had likely returned to its owner. So Obi-wan stepped in among the trees again, and used the cover of the woods to approach the hill.
Traveling a little slower, he at last came to the edge of the woods atop the hill looking out toward where the drone had stopped. There he spied an entire raiding party sitting on speeder bikes. Among them was the guard he had sparred with earlier. The drone floated near him, having apparently just given its report. The others were a mixture of Neimoidians, some humans and other off worlders, and a fish-faced species from Naboo Obi-wan had learned were called Gungans. Most of them were dressed in patches of armor and leather clothing with much of their faces covered. They reminded Obi-wan of pirates, which perhaps they were. Commanders among them were giving orders, and they were gathering into units as they revved their engines.
Obi-wan made his way toward the back of them, finding a lone Gungan that was having trouble starting his speeder. His limbs flailed in frustration and his long ears shivered wildly as he shook his head in anger. In doing so, the Gungan was making things worse, snapping more exposed parts of the engine.
The other engines roared to life as the raiders began their drive over the lip of the hill. Obi-wan used the opportunity of their loud noises to creep up behind the lone Gungan. Without lighting his lightsaber, he smacked him across the back of the head before he could do any more damage to his own vehicle.
The last of the raiding party was disappearing over the edge as Obi-wan climbed on and tried to start the vehicle up. He was having as much luck as the Gungan. Sighing with frustration, Obi-wan tried to figure out what to do. There were so many pieces on the ground, and the engine looked so scrambled, he didn't know what he would do.
Then a whistling approached from the woods. He turned to see the droid that had accompanied him waddling across the last of the roots and shrubs onto the flatter planes. R3E1, was it called? Obi-wan couldn't remember. But it would be able to put this machine back together in a jiffy.
The Senate Delegation had landed on Oresys and were being given a tour of the city… at least the interiors of many of the governmental buildings. They were grand, ornate structures with architecture to rival some of the best of the great halls of the core worlds. Neimoidians had unique methods of construction; some of it was still held as trade secrets that made their interiors something to behold even for connoisseurs of important buildings.
Prince BailOrgana knew that much of the credit for their detailed designs was due to the vast collection of droids the Neimoidians had. Before they had been known for their architecture, this civilization was recognized for their advancements in AI and mass production of robotics. But hearing their guide Prelat Fomii tell it, everything was due to the hard labor and dedication of the Neimoidians themselves. Organa wondered if the droids overheard them, if it would affect them at all.
More importantly, however, Organa noticed a few odd points about their tour. First, the Neimoidians had plenty to be proud of with their outdoor structures, as well as their palisades. But their exposure to the outdoors was severely limited. They barely even went near windows, which were closed the few times the tour saw them. Prince Organa had noticed this on the space station as well, but had thought little of it, figuring it had to do with safety. But he became more suspicious when the windows on the shuttle were closed off so they could not watch their arrival on the planet.
Prince Organa mentioned this to a couple of the other senators, who nodded at how odd it was, but took little interest beyond that.
At last the curiosity had gotten too much for the prince. As the tour rounded a corner, he pretended to be caught up in looking over a statue, and he continued to follow his momentum into a side chamber whose tall windows had no shades to cover the outside world. Organa casually strode toward one of these windows, his eyes adjusting to the bright whiteness beyond.
A clattering of metal rattled behind him and a mechanical voice shouted "Halt!" Even though Organa stopped immediately, he could hear the whirr of the arms as the guns were leveled on him. He turned with his hands out in a peaceful gesture to find two battle droids standing at the doorway. Their arms were pressed together and formed into a gun. One shot would end his life immediately.
"I must have wandered off," Organa said, using his prepared statement.
"You're an intruder," the droid said. "The penalty is death."
Organa's eyes raised in alarm. "No wait! I'm a guest of your master."
"Sentence is determined. On your knees for execution."
This had gone bad fast. Organa checked his peripheral vision for somewhere to hide, but the room was sparse for cover, and these robots were programmed for precision.
The moment was saved by Prelat Fomii who hurried into the room shouting to the droids, "Hold your fire! I order you to hold your fire! Stand at ease."
The guns disassembled into regular arms which lowered to the droids' sides and they stood straight like neighboring statues. Fomii ran between them apologetically, and yet scolding like a mother. "I'm sorry, you cannot part from the group. We are very strict about that."
"It seems pretty severe, chancellor," Prince Organa said.
"Yes, our droids are programmed to make no exceptions. You must stay near us. Please, come."
Organa hesitated a moment, eyeing the chancellor, and considering what lay beyond those windows that was so secret. They had asked for a tour of the planet so they could judge for themselves if the Neimoidians were hiding anything, and the secretiveness was speaking volumes more than anything the senators could see with their own eyes.
Reluctantly, Prince Organa rejoined the others, and they continued the tour.
Anakin and Qui-jin could feel that they were reaching their destination. The crate they were hiding in had jolted when they came out of hyperspace, and they had felt it moved around onto a shuttle, felt the shaking of re-entry, and the vibrations of movement as they were moved into the holding area. At last there was the loud clunk as they were laid down on the metal floor.
Anxious to get out, Anakin was leaning forward. Qui-jin motioned for him to have patience. They wanted to make sure any workers that were around had left. Anakin nodded and closed his eyes. He tried to reach into the force, as Qui-jin had taught him, and somewhere in there find patience; the meditation he needed to not give them away.
In the darkness behind his eyelids, Anakin saw something he did not expect. He saw a cloaked figure flanked by a half dozen battle droids, all armed and ready to fire. They moved quieter than usual. The feet of the battle droids were even covered in felt to mute their movements on the metal floor.
Thinking on the metal floor, Anakin noticed the rest of the room. It looked like a storage facility. There were even crates stacked across the hold. This was the room into which they had been dropped off!
The hand of the cloaked man pulled out a small metal rod; a lightsaber. It was still not lit. He was being as quiet as possible. But he was staring right at Anakin. He raised up the lightsaber, ready to slice down.
"Master, look out!" Anakin shouted, and the cloaked figure lit the lightsaber as he brought it down, slicing the crate in two.
To be continued.
