Chapter 28: Bounty Hunter Pursuit & New and Old Enemies
The next stage of their mission was clear now, capturing Jango Fett and bring him back to Courscant to be questioned. Quietly, Obi Wan and Hannah moved back through the facility towards the apartment complex where they hoped Jango was still there. However, once they reached the entrance, they found the door open and the apartment empty.
Obi Wan didn't waste another minute and raced from the apartment before Hannah had a chance to say anything or tried to follow him. He needed to catch Jango before he could flee the planet and raced through the white hallways towards the hanger bays.
The rain was pelting down hard as Obi Wan raced through the hallways. He sensed that their target was still on the planet but he was intent on fleeing the planet and as Obi Wan burst through the glass sliding doors at the far end of the last hallway into the rain, he then heard a small voice cry out.
"Dad, look!" came the voice of Boba. He was standing at the entrance to their ship with a black rain poncho over his clothes. Obi Wan then saw Jango, in his blue and silver armour turn around towards him. Obi Wan grabbed his lightsaber, igniting its blue blade. They had found their bounty hunter. Now he just needed to apprehend him
"Boba, get on board!" Jango called back to his son before he pulls out his twin blasters and started to fire at Obi Wan who only successfully blocked his attacks whilst moving towards him. Obi Wan continued to move towards him until he was meters from him which suddenly caused Jango to take off into the air with the help of his jetpack. He continued to fire at the Jedi Knight with little success, for Obi Wan continued to block his bolts.
Unfortunately for Obi Wan, he wasn't counting on Boba coming to his father's aide from inside the ship. He was sitting at the controls and activated the ship. Its engines and weapons blared to life turning on the Jedi. Obi Wan was forced to jump back at the same time, Jango used one of his jetpack's missiles at the Jedi knocking him flat onto his back.
Acting on this, Jango flies towards Obi Wan and using his grappling cords from his wrist pack, fires at Obi Wan's wrists tying them together and sending his lightsaber scattering across the wet floor. Jango takes off with his jetpack once more, only this time he dragged Obi Wan across the ground with the rain pouring down on them.
Determined to turn the tables, Obi Wan pulls on the grapple cord and seeing one of the columns coming towards him, he pulls on the cord which allowed him to get back on his feet. He pulls on the cord connecting him to Jango which causes him to drop and fall to the ground and the jetpack to break free and explode.
Struggling against the rain, Jango pulls himself to his feet just as Obi Wan comes charging towards him. Jango tries to fire at him once more however Obi Wan dodges them and then kicks him right over the edge, unfortunately momentarily forgetting his wrists were still tied and attached to the wristpack.
"Oh not good" Obi Wan mutters before he was pulled over the edge sliding down the side of the platform. As the edge of the platform was coming into view, Jango uses the claws on his forearm to dig into the surface holding him in place watching Obi Wan slide right past him. Jango then releases the cord from his wrist pack seeing the Jedi continuing to disappear off the edge falling towards the water.
Quickly untying his hands, Obi Wan then uses the wire to wrap around a passing pole locking into place disappearing underneath a lower walkway just as Jango looks over the end to see his prey is long gone and slowly begins his climb back up towards his ship. Obi Wan then uses the wire to swing himself onto the adjacent walkway and races back inside hoping to make it up back to the platform.
From inside the cockpit, Boba sees his father climb back onto the platform just as he punches the buttons ready to take off. Jango then starts to make his way towards the ship at the moment Obi Wan comes racing back out seeing Jango entering his ship and his ship lifting off the ground. Spying his lightsaber close by, Obi Wan uses the force to pull it into his grasp before he takes out a small tracking device from his belt throwing it onto the ship.
He breathes a sigh of relief and can only watch as Jango's ship speeds off into the sky leaving Obi Wan soaking wet in the rain. His wrists sore and bloodied from where the wire had dug into his wrist but at least he and Hannah could still follow their target.
When morning arose over the city, Anakin decided to take Padme out of the city and towards the beautiful, lush green forests of the planet, somewhere he hadn't been since his father brought him and Obi Wan to for some training. Jacen was against the idea but entrusted Anakin knew what he was doing but of course accepted two of his grandfather's guards.
Anakin was piloting the speeder through the city as Padme sat in the front passenger seat. She was dressed in a sweet, beautiful yellow thin strapped dress with little pink roses on the front corset of the dress and light see through shawl over the dress. Her hair had been done into two buns held in place with a small netted headpiece. She was in awe of all the tall buildings they past as they headed out of the city to where the beautiful lush tall green trees and gardens were.
"Such a beautiful place, I can see why you would enjoy being here when you weren't in training at the Temple" Padme admits as Anakin smiles looking over at her.
"When Obi Wan and I were on Corellia, we weren't just Jedi but we were able to just be brothers and have time with our grandparents" he admits "We enjoyed when they took us to the gardens because according to my grandfather, we just couldn't just sit still" he smirks making her laugh. Padme then looked over at him
"Did you ever think about living here instead of the Jedi Temple?" she asks as she saw the trees coming into view as Anakin entered the gardens.
"My grandparents pressured my parents for us to live with them especially after there were attacks at the temple and against our family but grandfather and father both knew that it was important for Obi Wan and I to continue our training" he explains coming to a stop underneath a beautiful, tall, shady tree. He then got out of the speeder moving around to help Padme out of the speeder.
"It's just so beautiful. It reminds me of when my family use to go to the lake retreat, I would play under the trees, pick flowers or swim. My mother would prepare a picnic, some of the happiest memories of my childhood were at the retreat, until my father became obsessed with marrying me off to Palo" she explains. Anakin then took her hand, and holding the carrier of food in the other, led Padme into the gardens where it was flourishing with flowers and small animals.
He places the carrier down before he turns back towards Padme wrapping his arms around her. "Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore" he promises her before they shared a passionate kiss right in the middle of the gorgeous gardens.
The tracking device Obi Wan threw onto Jango's ship had been activated and Obi Wan and Hannah had followed Jango Fett and his son to the Outer Rim towards the Arkanis sector. They came out of hyperspace seeing a large, red and orange planet looming before them with an asteroid field surrounding the planet. Obi Wan couldn't understand why Jango was going towards the planet even before Hannah spoke up. "What could possibly be down on that planet?" She asks as Obi Wan shook his head. "I have no idea but we're going to find out" he assures her.
Whilst at the same time Jango flew the ship towards Geonosis unaware that they were being followed, he had just entered the asteroid field when he heard his son Boba speak up having looking over at the viewscreen and saw Obi Wan and Hannah's ship flying behind them. "Dad!" He cried "I think we're being tracked" he points out just as Jango looks over at the view screen.
"They must have put a homing device on our ship" he observes before he punches a few buttons on the cockpit. "Hang on son, we'll use the asteroid to spring a couple of surprises on them" he informs him. Boba grins excitedly as he flies further into the field seeing the ship flying after him. Jango presses a button which opens up an small compartment on the outside of the ship releasing a small device towards the Jedi's ship.
Hannah saw it first coming into view on her screen "Obi Wan, we've got a seismic charger coming towards us" she warns him as Obi Wan tightens his grip on the controls "Stand by" he tells her sharply flying the ship a hard right towards a larger asteroid where minutes later, they heard it explode into the asteroid behind them before Obi Wan continued to fly them after Jango's ship.
Jango then releases another seismic charger from the ship seeing it fly towards Obi Wan and Hannah's ship fortunately Obi Wan once more managed to manoeuvre around the asteroids flying underneath one of the larger asteroids hearing the charger crash into the asteroid sending out another wave of seismic charger on impact causing Obi Wan to once more push harder on the controls to avoid the seismic waves.
Jango looked down at his view screen once more seeing their ship flying towards them "They don't seem to take a hint, do they?" He asks his son. Jango then flies the ship through one of the larger asteroids which also was more narrower making Boba feel like his father could hit the walls "Watch out!" He cries however Jango focuses on flying through the asteroid having seen their enemies follow them into the asteroid. As Jango exited the tunnel, he flew back over the asteroid so when the Jedi emerged, Jango would then be behind them which would allow him to fire on them. Obi Wan continued to fly them through the tunnel before he spoke "We'll need to alert" he tells her as he flies out of the tunnel flying towards the planet. Hannah then looked down at her view screen "This is very strange, there's no sign of Jango's ship on the scanners. Could he have already headed down to the planet?" She asks as Obi Wan shook his head. "I don't think so, he's somewhere in this asteroid field" he replies as he continued to fly through the field.
At the same time, Jango flew his ship out from behind the asteroid coming up behind the Jedi preparing to fire. Boba, excitedly knowing that his father was actually going to finish them off grins "Get them dad, get them!" He exclaims "Fire!" He cries as his father presses a button. Jango then started firing straight at the ship, several blasts rocked the side of the ship jolting Obi Wan and Hannah. Obi Wan groans, "Oh blast, this is why I hate flying" he mutters as Hannah shook her head "Just focus on getting us away from him!" She cried as Obi Wan accelerated the engines attempting to dodge Jango's attacks.
Jango continued to fly after Obi Wan and Hannah's ship containing to fire at their ship much to Boba's delight. Jango fired another shot at their ship directly hitting the side of the fighter close to where Obi Wan's astromech droid causing it to let out a high whistle. Jango saw the small explosion from his viewscreen. Boba was amazed. "We got them" he notes in awe as Jango then knew what to do next. "We'll just have to finish them" he simply replies. Jango then presses another button which releases one of his guided aerial torpedo.
He watches the torpedo fly straight towards as Obi Wan increases their speed, trying to out run the torpedo. He flies around a asteroid hoping the torpedo crashes into it. However the torpedo was still locked onto his target. It was just then Obi Wan had a thought, something he knew Anakin would do. "Hannah, on my mark, prepare to jettison the spare parts canisters" he informs her as she looks back at him concerned as he flies over another asteroid
"Fire them now!" He calls to her before she presses a button which opened up the back of the starfighter which released all the spare ship parts letting them float into space before Obi Wan hit the thrusters once more and flew off out of sight. The torpedo came into contact with the parts creating a huge explosion giving the illusion that the Jedi and his friend were no more. Jango looked pleased, smirking to himself. "We won't see them again" he assures his son who chuckles in response as Jango flies the ship towards the planet hiding into the inner atmosphere flying over towards an empty landing platform. It opens up as Jango lowers the ship into the underground base.
However, whilst Jango was pleased he thought he had killed the Jedi and his friend, he was wrong. Obi Wan had successfully managed to hide the ship on one of the larger asteroid waiting for the right time to proceed down to the planet. Using the force, Obi Wan no longer sensed their bounty hunter was close. "Well, Hannah, I think we've waited long enough" he notes as she smirks. "I think Anakin would be impressed with that flying" she admits. Obi Wan laughs before he turns the engines on and flies the ship off the asteroid and towards the planet.
As Obi Wan flew towards the surface of the planet, they found it to be night time but the planet was already occupied as Hannah becomes concerned. "Obi Wan, look over there" she begins to say as he looks to the far left seeing a concentration of ships "Those are federation ships" she points out. Hannah shakes her head "I wondered what happened to the Federation after Naboo" she adds. Obi Wan decides its time to get a closer look noticing some cliffs which they could use to their advantage. He flies the ship towards them before he brings the ship down to a landing. Shutting the ship down, Obi Wan then raises the ship's window up before he and Hannah go out, donning their cloaks. Obi Wan's droid R4 lets out a low whistle before Obi Wan stops him from getting out then he and Hannah headed up towards the cliffs where they hoped to find out what was going on here and why Jango had led them here.
Padme lightly chuckles as Anakin tickles her once more. "Anakin" she cries as he cheekily smirks. They had just finished their delicious meal when Anakin decided to have more fun, finding Padme very ticklish, although this was after he sensed she was once more thinking about how she should have been fighting in the senate over the Military Creation Act with her colleagues.
"Anakin, stop" she cries as he grins "Well, you were getting upset about not being on Courscant when we started talking about political views, I knew you needed a distraction" he smirks ticking her side once more as she laughs before she then looks back at him "Well, thank you" she smiles before they shared another romantic kiss and she takes a deep breath.
Anakin then decides to change the subject "So, tell me a little more about your childhood?" He asks "Even if its just about the lake retreat" he adds. Padme plays with her dress before she smiles "Sola and I had some of the best times at the lake retreat. It was there where she met her husband Darred" she reveals "He had been learning how drive the speeder that takes you across the water and when Sola first saw him, she couldn't stop smiling. She had to plead with father to stop the arranged marriage he was planning for her so she could be arranged with Darred" she reveals. Anakin blinks in surprise. "Wait, so your father didn't arrange their marriage?" He asks. Padme shook her head.
"No and father was not happy so I think that's why he wants to ensure I marry Palo because he's arranged it from the start, he doesn't care what I think and he is already unhappy that I've become the Senator for Naboo" she admits. Anakin then takes her hand in his. "Padme, I've promised you that you do not need to fear him and I will always protect you. You are stronger than him, my family loves you and you're representing your people proudly" he points out. Padme smiles back at him "With you by my side, I know I'm not afraid" she replies before Anakin then gets to his feet, holding out his hand to her. She takes it before he helps her then leads her away from their picnic.
Sensing that Padme didn't like to talk about her family, Anakin then decided to recount one of his earlier adventures with his brother and father as they walked through the gardens. "Well, how about I tell you about one of my earlier missions with my father and brother which didn't quite work out, and it involves Obi Wan and Satine" he smirks. Padme was curious. "Satine, the young girl who was at our engagement party that night?' She asks as Anakin nods "Yes, this was before she was in training to become a Duchess and her guardian Gav had just adopted her so he could begin her training to become Duchess" he explains "Of course, there are those on Mandalore who were opposed to the government and wanted to use this time to take control and Gav and Satine were forced into hiding and asked the Jedi for help. They sent my father and Obi Wan to help and without my mother knowing, father took me with him because I may have snuck on board the ship and it was too late for them to turn back" he admits. Padme shakes her head. "Anakin" she sighs as he shrugs "Well, I wanted to put my training into use" he simply replies before he went on
"And didn't I ever" he confesses "When we got to Mandalore and went in search for Satine and Gav, we found them in the remote countryside of the planet and just as we were trying to work out a way to take back the capital, we ran into some aggressive negotiations" he reveals. Padme tilts her head "Aggressive negotiations, what's that?" She asks curiously. Anakin then chuckles "Oh uh, negotiations with a lightsaber" he informs her. Padme nods "Oh and is there where Obi Wan developed feelings for Satine?" She asks. Anakin smirks "His second had been back on Naboo for four years at this time and both Obi Wan and Satine were 16 years old, me being a kid I couldn't help but tease my brother about his crush" he grins
Padme laughs "I did that with Sola when she met Darred. She didn't stop grinning, she nearly fell down the steps leading into the retreat right in front of him" she smirks as Anakin laughs "If Obi Wan was here, he'd say he we're both made for each other because we're stirrers" he points out shrugging before he turns towards her pulling her into his arms "But that just makes us have more fun" he points out right before they continued on through the gardens listening to the animals around them.
Night on Geonosis brought the cold to the barren, dry desert planet. Obi Wan and Hannah made their way through the cliffs. The trail was narrow and at times, they felt like they were hugging the cliff walls. They continued on the trail when Obi Wan suddenly stumbled but not before Hannah was quick to grab hold of his arm. That was then Obi Wan sensed a disturbance, his hand moving for his lightsaber.
"Keep close to me, we're not alone" he warns her as Hannah looked worried "Have we been discovered?' She asks just as they both heard a loud cry. Obi Wan and Hannah pressed on, keeping on alert as they moved down another trail turning a corner where they found themselves face to face with a crouching, angry massiff! His teeth were liked fangs and bearing straight at them. The beast begins to leap towards them as Obi Wan quickly ignites his lightsaber pushing Hannah behind him however the masiff is faster and knocks Obi Wan onto his back, his lightsaber sent scattering a few meters away.
His fangs moved closer towards him right before Obi Wan heard a blaster fire which caused the creature to cry out and fall to the ground - it was Hannah who used her quick instincts and blaster however Obi Wan had no time to thank her seeing a second masiff appearing behind her. "Hannah, watch out!" He cried calling his lightsaber towards him, he rushes past Hannah cutting the creature in half, dead. There was howling in the distance signalling more where on their way. Obi Wan grabbed Hannah's hand, "Come on let's keep moving!" He insists rushing further through the cliffs.
Ensuring they were away from the howling, Obi Wan and Hannah then saw towers ahead from the stalagmites made from the rocky materials of the planet. "What's going on here?" Hannah asks as Obi Wan then took out his electronic binoculars and looks through them to see more great towers from the stalagmites. He then sees a line of battle starships come into view.
"There must be between fifty and a hundred federation starships down there" he points out. He then sees thousands of battle droids boarding the ships. "This is not good" Hannah admits as Obi Wan agreed pocketing the binoculars. "Come on, let's investigate this further" he tells her as they proceed down towards the stalagmite towers.
The Republic was changing, it was not the same as Jacen remembered. Anakin and Padme were still not back from their picnic. Jacen had been thinking about the changes since the Battle of Naboo and the introduction to the Military Creation Act. Senators were leaving the Republic to join the Separatists and Jacen felt uneasy - he feared for his family, that there was a war coming and they would be soon caught up in it.
He was mediating quietly in his quarters when the hologram comm chimed before he then saw the holograms of Masters Yoda and Windu.
"Master Yoda, Master Windu, how can I help you?" He asks "Has there been any word from Obi Wan?" He adds as Yoda shook his head. "Not since he informed us about the bounty hunter, there has not been no news" he replied. Jacen sighs. "Masters, how could we have not known about this clone army?" He asks as Master Windu shook his head "I have wondered if we need to inform the Senate that our ability to use the force has diminished" he states as Master Yoda shakes his head "Multiply our adversaries will be. The Dark Lord of the Sith is the only one who knows our weakness" he warns them
"That is what troubles me Masters" Jacen reveals. "The Senate has changed, Senators are leaving to join the Separatists, Senators are being targeted by assassins for standing up for peace" he points out. "Changing the Republic is, we can only hope we are prepared for what comes next, we are" Yoda states. "Understood masters" Jacen replies watching the holograms disappear leaving him in medication once more.
As morning approached on Geonosis, Obi Wan and Hannah had arrived at one of the tower entrances of the tall stalagmites. They cautiously snuck up to one of the main entrance of one the towers to where there was a small window opening and climb inside. They then proceed down a long pillared corridor when Hannah stops them. "Do you hear that?" She whispers as Obi Wan remains quiet before he hears the sound of metal clanging and banging together before he beckons her over towards a well opened shaft.
Obi Wan and Hannah's eyes both widen in shock. Right underneath their feet was a huge underground facility which was creating and producing thousands of battle droids with Geonosian workers over seeing the productions. "They're making battle droids" Hannah whispers as Obi Wan shook his head "I have a bad feeling about this" he admits fearing that they were about to uncover something more greater than tracking a bounty hunter.
Obi Wan then leads Hannah away down the corridor once more seeing the stalagmite interior created with Gaudi Gothic arches and vaulted roofs. There appears to be no one around as they start to cross a large open square when Obi Wan suddenly senses someone approaching and he quickly grabs Hannah pulling her into a side corridor which was poorly lit and out of sight. "Keep quiet" he whispers as the footsteps approach before they hear voices
"We must persuade the Commerce Guild and the Corporate Alliance to sign the treaty" came the voice of Lord Maul who was walking alongside Xanatos, Poggle the Lesser, the Archduke of Geonosis, Sun Fac, Nute Gunray, Passel Argente and Was Tambor. They were coming into view for Obi Wan and Hannah as they heard Nute speak "What about the Senator from Naboo?" He asks "Is she dead yet?" He adds "I am not signing your treaty until I have her head on my desk" he snaps
Hannah lets out a small gasp before she clamps a hand over her mouth just when they heard another familiar voice "Wait a minute!" Snapped Ruwee. He and Palo had been walking behind the group before he goes on "Xanatos, you assured me that I could have control of my daughter and she would be alive" he angrily points out as Xanatos nods "And you shall" he replies "Viceroy, soon Senator Amidala soon won't be a problem. You have my word" he insists right before War Tambor, a tall robotic figure speaks "With these new battle droids we've built for you, you'll have the finest army in the galaxy" he assures him as the group moves along. Obi Wan and Hannah breathes a sigh of relief
"Palo and Ruwee are here?" She asks just as Obi Wan peers around the pillar seeing them move down the archway across the square and down a flight of stairs. Obi Wan and Hannah hurry across and cautiously move up the stairs coming to a small archway which over looked a large conference room.
Lord Maul and his associates were all seated around the table listening to Lord Maul speak "With your support, ten thousand more systems will rally to our cause" he explains as She Mai, leader of the Commerce Guild spoke up "The Commerce Guild do not at this time wish to become involved openly but we shall support you in secret and look forward to doing business with you" she assures him. Xanatos nods "That's all we ask" just as Was Tambo speaks once more "The Techno Union army is at your disposal" he insists a
San Hill, leader of the banking clan and a tall thin figure speaks next "The banking clan will sign your treaty" he smirks as Lord Maul nods "And our friends from the Trade Federation have pledged their support and when they battle droids are combined with yours, we shall have an army greater than anything in the galaxy" he announces as Xanato smirks
"The Jedi will be overwhelmed and the Republic will agree to any demands we make" he confidently assures them at the same time, watching from their place above, Obi Wan and Hannah exchanged horrified and shock looks before they cautiously backed away once more knowing they needed to inform the council about these findings.
Wasting no time, Obi Wan and Hannah hurried back to the ship knowing they needed to make a transmission to the council. Hannah watched as Obi Wan knelt on the side of his ship beside R4 checking the transmitter which wasn't gone. During the space fight with Jango, the long range transmitter was knocked out and currently only had enough range to transmit to a closer range.
"The transmitter is working but there is no return signal" he explains to Hannah adding "Courscant's too far out of range" he tells her as Hannah has a thought "We could try Anakin and Padme on Corellia. R2's with them he'll get the message to them and they'll transmit it to Courscant" she points out.
Obi Wan nods getting off the speeder as she follows him "We don't have much time, we'll have to give it a try" he replies. "Anakin, do you copy, it's Obi Wan and Hannah" he begins to speak just as they both heard a loud screech in the distance however it wasn't just the masiffs approaching, Obi Wan and Hannah weren't aware that they were being watched by some Geonosians high above.
At the same time…..
Back on Corellia, R2 was tinkling in the garage when he heard the comm centre chime and stopped what he was doing and rolled into the room seeing a hologram flicking. R2 moves over to increase the frequency before he sees both Obi Wan and Hannah's holograms blaring up in front of him
"Anakin, do you copy?" He asks "This is Obi Wan and Hannah" he goes on. R2 whistles in response before he begins to record the message.
At the same time R2 was receiving the transmission, Jacen watched as Anakin piloted the speeder onto one of the landing platforms once more. He smiles as he sees Anakin help Padme out of the speeder sharing a laugh between them. He was happy for his grandson and Padme was a sweet young girl. He watched them moving back towards the house as he headed down to meet them.
"Well, you two look like you've had a good day" he grins as Padme smiles "Oh yes we did, Anakin told me all about aggressive negotiations" she smirks as Jacen looked over at his grandson, one eyebrow raised "Oh did he?" He asks "Did you tell her that is mainly on any missions with you and your brother?" He teases as Anakin looked shocked "Hey, they are other masters who have needed to take aggressive negotiations on missions other than us" he reminds him as Padme only laughs once more
"Anakin was just admitting as to how much he loved to stir up his brother over who causes the most trouble" she points out as Jacen laughs "I can answer that, and it's not Obi Wan. He was only looking after his younger brother who couldn't stay in the one place" he grins "Your father never stopped watching you ever since you stowed away on the ship that time they had to travel to Mandalore" he reminds him. Anakin kept quiet as Padme attempts to hide her laughter.
Jacen, Anakin and Padme then turned to head inside just as R2 was rolling out towards them whistling to them. "R2, what's wrong?" Padme asks "What are you doing out here?" She adds as he whistles once more. Anakin shakes his head "Should have brought 3po with us" he confesses before he then translates "R2 says he has a message from Obi Wan!" He cries as Jacen speaks "Well, let's go inside and see what Obi Wan has found" he tells them before they all followed R2 inside back to the comm room.
Minutes later, Jacen, Anakin and Padme all stood around the comm as R2 played the message bringing the holograms of Obi Wan and Hannah appear before them. "Anakin, our long range transmitter has been knocked out, transmit this message to Courscant" he informs him. Anakin looks to Jacen who then presses another button which alerted the council which continued for them and the council.
"We have tracked the bounty hunter Jango Fett to the droid foundry on Geonosis" he reveals before Hannah then speaks up "And it is clear that Viceroy Nute Gunray is behind the assassination attempt on Senator Amidala" she reveals. Anakin looks across at Padme who remains quiet. Obviously the Viceroy was still upset over Padme's involvement which lead to his defeat on Naboo. They then listened to the message go on. "The Commence Guild and the Corporate Alliance have both pledged their armies to Lord Maul and are forming…." He was then cut off by Hannah's voice
'Obi Wan, droids!" She cried as Obi Wan ignited his lightsaber as Hannah pulled out her blaster however Jacen and Anakin's eyes widen in horror as they saw four droids roll into view before they started firing at Obi Wan and Hannah.
"Obi Wan!" Anakin cried as the hologram went blank. "Grandfather, they're in trouble, we need to save them!" He cries however it was at that moment they saw Master Windu's hologram appear alongside Qui Gon's. "No, Anakin, you need to remain on Corellia and protect the Senator. We will go to Geonosis and rescue Obi Wan and Hannah. You need to protect the Senator at all costs" he insists. Anakin shook his head in disbelief
"Father, this is my brother! I should help rescue him, Padme can stay with grandfather" he suggests as Qui Son lowered his head. He could sense his younger son's pain for his brother but Master Windu was right. "No, Anakin. Padme is your priority and I promise you I will rescue them" he assures him before the holograms fade and Anakin sighs. He was about to argue with his grandfather when it was Padme who spoke up
"They'll never make it in time. Geonosis is out in the Outer Rim. Anakin, Hannah is my friend and Obi Wan will soon be my brother too, we'll be able to get there first" she insists turning to head out the room as Jacen spoke up "Padme, I know you want to help but you heard Obi Wan and Hannah, the Viceroy wants you dead, it would be unwise to go. The council's orders were clear" he reminds her. Padme then smirks. "They gave Anakin strict orders to protect me and I'm going to help Obi Wan and Hannah" she informs them heading from the room leaving Anakin and Jacen standing there.
Anakin moves to follow her but not before his grandfather could stop him "Anakin" he starts to say seeing him turn towards him "Be careful" he simply says as Anakin nods. "I will grandfather" he simply replies before heading from the room to prepare to leave for Genesis before it was too late.
The cell was dark and cold, however it wasn't any of that Obi Wan was worried about, it was the electric blue cuffs that were in place around his ankles and wrists. He was suspended into place as the ring rotated slowly releasing small bouts of electricity throughout his body. He couldn't remember much since their capture but only hoped Anakin got the message and Hannah was alright. It was then the door to the cell slid open and Hannah was pushed into the room and dragged over to the second suspension ring beside him, wrists cuffed as well as her ankles. Obi Wan looked over at her "Are you alright?" He asks as Hannah, trying to ignore the bolts of electricity shocking her as the suspension ring slowly rotated nodded.
"I'm fine" she admits as he then notices her eyes were dark, lips were bloodied and she appeared batted "What happened?" He asks before a voice spoke "The Geonosians do not like trespassers on their planet so they issued their own form of punishment" he explains stepping into the light where Obi Wan's eyes widen. "Xanatos" he glared as his father's form padwan smirked
"I'm surprised you still remember me, because your brother had no memory of me" he reveals as Obi Wan stares coldly at him. "You tried to kill us many times. You wanted to punish our father for casting you aside for us" he reminds him as Xanatos glares back at him snapping
"He tore me from my father's arms insisting he could train me, then he fell in love and popped out two of his own sons then deciding I was too reckless to be trained and would be safer with his own sons and when I returned home, I found out my father had died! I had no-one!" He cried. Hannah then scoffs "So, you just decided that your old master was to blame and came after his family?" She asks. Xanatos glares over at him
"My old master needed to be punished and now due to your trespassing, I'll hand you over to the Geonosians who will no doubt sentence you both to death and then it's just the Chosen One I need to deal with" he scoffs turning on his heel, he abruptly exited the cell leaving Obi Wan and Hannah alone once more as the electric shocks increased hoping someone was on their way.
Next time: Padme and Anakin defy orders and head for Geonosis hoping to rescue their friends but are unprepared for Xanato's trap set for them? Will the Jedi make it to Geononis in time or will Qui Gon lose two of his sons at the hands of his former apprentice?