Chapter 12 - Escape from Tatooine

Outskirts of Tatooine, Day 4

Obi-wan breathed easier when he saw Qui-Gon finally appear on the horizon. The sooner they left the planet, the better. He was starting to feel anxious as he felt ripples in the Force grow in intensity, hinting at a danger he couldn't see. As his mentor drew closer, he saw a smaller figure running after Qui-Gon. That must be the special boy Qui-Gon had mentioned, Anakin. He didn't exactly approve they were picking up another stray lifeform, but what could he do? Obi-wan walked back into the ship and directed a guard to tell the pilot to prepare for take-off.

Obi-wan was glad Qui-Gon would be safely back on board, but he was nervous about explaining his attraction to the Queen to him. His thoughts shifted to Amidala and the intimate moments they'd had. The young Queen had told him about her leg, which she'd never told anyone, and he'd told her about his childhood and the history behind his Kyber crystal. And what about the kiss they'd shared?

Obi-wan's forbidden thoughts were interrupted as an urchin raced onto the ship and started yelling Qui-Gon was in trouble and wanted them to take off. Obi-wan and Panaka ran to the cockpit.

"Qui-Gon's in trouble!" Panaka said. Ric Olié jumped to attention and quickly started the engine.

"Over there," Obi-wan pointed. Sand flew through the air as two figures, one light and one dark, battled… with green and red lightsabers. "Fly low."

The pilot slowly maneuvered the starship over the fighters and Obi-wan directed him to keep a low flight trajectory until he manually retracted the ramp. He ran back out to the entrance bay, followed by the inquisitive boy. A ruffled Qui-Gon appeared on the ramp, looking pale and deeply disturbed. Obi-wan sighed in relief and went to the panel to close the ramp. Before he reached it, a dark, menacing hooded figure Force-leaped onto the platform and activated a red lightsaber. It flew towards Qui-Gon and struck at him. Qui-Gon defended against the blow but hesitated to strike back. The creature took the chance to land a quick kick to the head and Qui-Gon went crashing to the floor, unconscious.

"Qui-Gon!" Obi-wan yelled, activating his own lightsaber.

He shoved Anakin back towards the hallway and closed the door before stepping forward to engage the hooded menace; the creature parried each of his attacks, slashing strongly. He'd never fought anyone this powerful and fast before. Obi-wan lost his grip on his lightsaber after a particularly strong blow and it clattered to the floor. The creature swung the red beam to slice off his head. Obi-wan leaped back just in time and the creature moved forward to slice at him again, but paused mid-strike. It looked like the creature was studying him, but it was hard to tell since its face was obscured by a dark hood. Obi-wan glanced towards his weapon ten feet away and made to summon it, but the figure thrust its hand out and Obi-wan flew back into the wall. The partially summoned lightsaber slid to a halt at his feet. Obi-wan inhaled sharply and tried to move, but found he could only turn his head; the creature was using the Force to keep him immobilized against the wall. Just how powerful was this creature? How did it know how to use the Force?

Nubian officers rushed in through the door protecting the inner parts of the starship from the harsh Tatooine air and bravely attacked the creature. Blaster bolts flew everywhere as the creature deflected their attack with its lightsaber. One blast came within inches of Obi-wan's head and he would have flinched away from it if he could have. Within seconds, the officers were restrained too. Secured against the bulkhead, Obi-wan could only look on helplessly as the dark figure advanced into the ship, its red lightsaber humming dangerously.

"Kenobi, what's going on?" Olié asked through the comm panel next to the ramp controls. "Why isn't the ramp closed?"

Obi-wan tried to respond, but his vocal cords were frozen. His heart beat quickly even as he tried to calm himself enough to summon the Force to overpower the hold the creature had on him. He'd managed to free a hand when feminine high-pitched screams echoed throughout the ship. Obi-wan's stomach dropped. The creature had found the Queen and the handmaidens! They were great at unarmed combat, but they wouldn't last five seconds against the lightsaber-wielding creature. He redoubled his efforts to get free, sweating despite the dry Tatooine air battering at him, but it was useless. Then he halted his efforts, stunned as the dark figure stumbled back into the entrance bay, fending off blaster shots and long silver staffs that somehow could withstand the lightsaber's beam.

Amidala and the two handmaidens who had stayed aboard the ship were dressed in black fighting gear and wielding the silver quarterstaffs. The two handmaidens who had accompanied Qui-Gon into Mos Espa were similarly dressed and shooting their blasters whenever they had an open shot. The creature hissed and stumbled as it was hit in the shoulder. The smallest handmaiden took that opportunity to dart forward to grab the creature's wrist that wasn't holding the lightsaber and attach what looked like a handcuff to it.

Obi-wan blinked in surprise as he dropped down from the wall. The creature yelled out in fury and ignited the other end of the lightsaber and swung the deadly blade haphazardly at the tiny handmaiden. Amidala advanced with a war cry and intercepted the clumsy strike and then thwacked the creature in the stomach as another handmaiden blocked its parry. The creature's hood fell off as it stumbled back gasping for breath, revealing a snarling, red-and-black-skinned male with short beige horns crowning his head and hate-filled yellow eyes.

Obi-wan heard one of the women gasp, though he couldn't tell which one. The creature went to attack the ladies again, but Obi-wan thrust a hand out and used the Force to push the creature down the ramp. The horned creature's double-sided lightsaber deactivated as he fell off the ship. Obi-wan breathed in relief and the handmaidens and Amidala relaxed from their fighting positions and re-holstered their weapons. He knelt to tend to Qui-Gon, making sure his head wasn't bleeding. After deeming his mentor was okay, Obi-wan moved to go and close the ramp, but he noticed the guards were still restrained against the wall. What was going on? The creature had fallen off the ship!

Obi-wan turned back towards the ramp where the ladies were recomposing themselves and looking curiously at the guards. A hand gloved in black clamped onto the ramp's ledge and their adversary effortlessly pulled himself back onto the ship and took out his lightsaber. He hadn't fallen off the ship, he'd managed to cling onto the ramp!

"Behind you!" Obi-wan called out, bringing the handmaidens' attention to their adversary's miraculous return.

He summoned his lightsaber which had rolled perilously close to the edge of the ramp. He darted forward to engage the creature, but he was beaten to the punch. As the ladies scrambled to draw their weapons, the handmaiden who Obi-wan had thought he recognized didn't even bother trying to pull out a weapon. She flew forward and tackled the creature, flinging them both overboard.

Amidala screamed and dove to grasp the woman's arm. She continued to slide towards the edge as the combined weight of the handmaiden and the dark adversary was too much for her. Obi-wan lunged forward and wrapped his arms around her waist. Slim, strong hands grabbed his ankle and they came to a halt with Amidala half hanging off the ramp. In his peripheral, he saw that the handmaidens had formed a chain to prevent them from sliding off the ramp.

Obi-wan couldn't hear the words Amidala was saying over the roar of the wind and the engine, but he could clearly hear the devastated scream she let out as the weight they were holding lessened considerably. Obi-wan pulled her back on the ramp and had to haul her back into the ship as she resisted and tried to go back. One of the handmaidens lunged for the panel and punched in the sequence to raise the ramp. It finally closed and Obi-wan felt the ship accelerate as the pilot guided them out of Tatooine's atmosphere and hurtled them towards Coruscant.

Amidala sobbed into Obi-wan's chest, the sorrowful noises pulling at his heartstrings. He held her tightly and patted her back gently. The handmaidens' faces were white with shock as they realized one of their own was missing. The security officers clamored at their Queen, asking if she was alright.

"Your Highness," Qui-Gon said, moving towards them.

His face was extremely pale, as if he had seen a ghost. Now Obi-wan was doubly worried; he'd never seen that fraught look on his mentor's face before. Something was truly wrong.

"Not now," Her words were slightly muffled against Obi-wan's chest. She breathed in deeply before moving out of his embrace. Her face was strained and barely composed. "Just… not now."

With that, the dazed Queen ambled away, followed by her equally stunned handmaidens. Obi-wan had never felt more useless in all his life.

-oOoOoOo-

The women barely made it back to their quarters before they broke down and became inconsolable. They huddled together on the bed, weeping for their lost comrade.

"She'll be okay. She has to be okay!" Voraté sobbed, trying to convince herself Starré would be alright.

"Even if she survived the fall, I don't know how she would overpower that creature by herself," Padmé hiccupped. "This is all my fault. I was the closest to the panel. I should have closed the ramp as soon as it fell overboard."

Sabé shushed Padmé and held her closer. "This isn't anyone's fault. None of us could have predicted the creature would climb back on board."

"I could have," Rabé wept. "I'm Force-sensitive. I should have seen it coming."

"We can't change what happened," Sabé said shakily, ignoring the tears streaming down her face. Her face reverted back to her own as her concentration lapsed. "And we can't lose hope. If anyone could survive a fall like that, it would be Starré. If anyone could best that person, it would be Starré. So until we hear otherwise, we assume she's still alive, okay?"

The others murmured in agreement, but Sabé could hear that they thought it was a long shot. The creature had easily subdued the Jedi and they had only won because they'd caught him by surprise and Starré had tackled it overboard. What chance did any of them have against the creature if they were to fight him one-on-one? Even Sabé had her doubts.

Their uncontrollable sobbing eventually lapsed into silent weeping. They huddled together and refused to let each other go, hanging on to the distant hope their sister-in-arms was still alive.

A/N: If they barely survived their first encounter with Darth Maul, how will they fare the next time?