I own Ayame. Everything else belongs to their respective owners.
They were escorted to their landing pad by the ever-serene Taun We.
"Tell your Council that the first battalions are ready. And remind them, if they need more troops, it will take more time to grow them," she said.
"We won't forget, and thank you," Obi-Wan said.
"Thank you," she replied as the two pulled up their hoods and made their way back to the fighter in the still-howling storm. Once they got close, the decided it was safe to contact the Council.
"R4," Ayame shouted over the wind. "Scramble code five to Courescant, care of the old folks home." R4 beeped a few times, and the connection was established. There was a projection of Masters Yoda and Windu sitting in a small meditation room.
"We've successfully made contact with the Prime Minister of Kamino," Ayame reported. "They're using a bounty hunter named Jango Fett to create a clone army."
"We have a strong feeling that this bounty hunter is the assassin we're looking for," Obi-Wan said.
"Do you think these cloners are involved with the plot to assassinate Senator Amidala?" Master Windu asked.
"No, Master," Obi-Wan replied. "There appears to be no motive."
"Do not assume anything, Obi-Wan," Yoda chided. "Clear, your mind must be, if you are to discover the real villains behind this plot."
"Yes, Master," Obi-Wan said. "They said Master Sifo-Dyas placed an order for a clone army at the request of the Senate almost ten years ago."
"We were under the impression that he was killed before that," Ayame said. "Did the council ever authorize the creation of a clone army?"
"No. Whoever placed that order did not have the authorization of the Jedi Council," Windu replied. That's what I was afraid of, Ayame thought. Something this big should not have gone unnoticed. How did we not see this?
"Bring him here," Yoda ordered. "Question him, we will."
"Yes, Master," Obi-Wan said. "We will report back when we have him." The transmission ended, and Ayame looked at Obi-Wan. He wasn't going to go peacefully, so this was going to result in 'aggressive negotiations'. They rushed back to his room and discovered that he and his son were gone.
"Damn," Ayame cursed quietly. She cast her senses out for someone looking to leave in a hurry. A clear sense came quickly, and she and Obi-Wan followed it straight to their ship.
"Dad, look!" the boy cried as Ayame and Obi-Wan came out onto the landing pad. A figure in Mandalorian armor whirled around to face them.
"Boba, get on board!" Jango called. The boy rushed to obey as the two Jedi pulled out their weapons. Jango activated his jet pack and flew at the two Jedi, firing a blaster as he flew. Bolts were easily deflected, and Jango flew up behind a tower. Suddenly, a missile came flying at them, throwing Ayame off balance and to the side, her lightsaber flying from her hands. As Ayame leaped to her feet, the ship started moving. The boy can fly it, Ayame realized. The guns were aimed and fired at the two of them, sending both Jedi flying this time. Obi-Wan recovered first. As he jumped to his feet and summoned his lightsaber, Jango flew at him and shot out a cable that wrapped around his wrists. He started dragging Obi-Wan around the landing pad. Obi-Wan managed to regain his footing, and caught the cable on a nearby tower. Jango was caught by surprise and dropped, his jet pack flying off without him. There was some scrapping between the three. Obi-Wan landed a heave kick on Jangos chest and sent him flying over the side of the pad. Then, he remembered the cable.
"Oh no, not good," he said as he was pulled over the side.
"Obi-Wan!" Ayame cried, and tried to catch him. Looking around, she caught sight of Jangos blaster lying nearby. She summoned it and took aim at Jango, who had somehow created enough traction to stop his slip. However, Obi-Wans added weight and the slippery besikar of his armor was not going to keep him in place for long. Ayame, like most Jedi, didn't like blasters. However, she took careful aim, ready to put a shot right in Jangos arm. Suddenly, he released the cable from his gauntlet. Ayame watched in horror as the cable slipped down, and Obi-Wan plummeted to the sea below. "NO!" she screamed. Without thinking, she fired off a shot, missing. Boba heard the shot and fired a few of his own from the ship cannons. He missed as well, but the explosion was enough to stun Ayame. She came around just as the ship was taking off. Suddenly, Obi-Wan appeared, lightsaber in hand, and threw a homing beacon at the hull of the ship before it got too far away. Once it had taken off, he saw to his wife.
"Are you alright?" he said, helping her to her feet.
"I'm fine," she said, and then slapped him. As he stood there, stunned, Ayame summoned her own blade and hung it off her belt. "Don't you ever do something that stupid again," she said, and headed for the ship. Obi-Wan, still stunned, followed her, rubbing his still-stinging cheek. They chose not to say a word. They just got in the fighter and took off, Ayame programming the tracker signal into the fighters nav computer. They located the hyperdrive engine and began pursuit.
Rather than a calm silence, the pursuit was tense and uncomfortable. Ayame was intent on focusing on what she was doing, choosing not to dwell on the fact that she almost watched Obi-Wan fall to what could have been his death. When they came out of hyperspace, Jango's ship was headed for an orange-brown planet surrounded by an asteroid belt. Checking the charts, Ayame identified the planet as Geonosis. The Geonosians were well-known battle droid makers, which made what they were heading toward even more dangerous. It took only seconds for Jango to fly into the asteroid belt, making the Jedi aware that they had been spotted. The pursuit moved through the dangerous asteroids, with Jango showing great skill as a pilot, despite his ship being almost three times the size of the Jedi starfighter. They weaved in and out of the asteroids, doing their best to avoid getting hit. Ayame could feel Obi-Wan's stress as he maneuvered the ship, muttering about how much he hated flying. As they flew past a particularly big asteroid, the suddenly realized that Jango was behind them as blaster fire came flying past their ship. There was a brief break as they flew through a gigantic rock. Then, alarms started going off. A missile was locked on to their ship. Obi-Wan pushed himself to try and outmaneuver the missile, but it proved fruitless. Ayame pushed a few buttons.
"R4, prepare to jettison the spare parts canisters," she said. R4 beeped a few times, confirming the order. A few seconds passed, and Ayame signaled. "Fire them now!" R4 opened the hatches on the back of the fighter, and the missile collided with them, the resulting explosion giving Obi-Wan enough time to latch on to an asteroid and cut the engines, both Jedi not making a single sound. They watched as the ship descended to the planet. As they sat there, giving Jango enough time to land and get comfortable, Obi-Wan turned and looked at Ayame.
"Good idea with the canisters," he said.
"I'd rather lose parts than our lives," she replied. "It seems to have worked." After a few more moments of silence, Ayame sighed.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so angry with you on Kamino," she said. "I was...afraid. I promised myself that I would never be afraid of losing you, but that's something I haven't been able to control."
"I was afraid, too," Obi-Wan replied. "Afraid of leaving you alone." He reached out a hand, which Ayame happily took. "It would seem we both need to master our fear," he said. Ayame nodded and squeezed his hand, allowing her aura to mesh with his for just a moment, taking in the warm feeling. Obi-Wan did the same, allowing himself to recharge just slightly with the feeling. They waited 3 more minutes before taking off. As they flew over Geonosis, they found a secluded place to land the fighter, a craggy outcropping near one of the stalagmite-looking structures that dotted the landscape of the planet. As the two Jedi disembarked, Ayame took a look at the damage. She immediately regretted her idea with the canisters, as it looked like a blaster bolt had scorched the transmitter. They needed to get this fixed, and as soon as possible.
"Go on ahead. I'll get to work on this," she said to Obi-Wan as she leaned back in to the cockpit for the toolbox.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"One person sneaking around will be harder to detect than two," Ayame pointed out. Obi-Wan nodded, albeit reluctantly. He kissed Ayame on the head, and tapped his temple. Ayame nodded in response.
When they were younger, the two had managed to develop a telepathic link through the Force, which they frequently used when they were on missions together. This made it easier to share information secretly. The distance was limited to the same planet, but they had strengthened it to the point where they could be at opposite ends and keep the link strong. There had been many a day when they would practice on Courescant, often just sharing events of the day.
Ayame watched Obi-Wan walk off, then turned to the transmitter and started working. While spending time with Anakin, he had taught her some more advanced aspects of mechanics, specifically on starfighters and speeders. While Obi-Wan stayed away from the subject, Ayame had been eager to learn. She saw it as a way to become more self-sufficient while on missions. She understood the basics enough to fix most minor problems. This one was a lot bigger than anything she had ever seen, but she knew she had to try. She tried to put herself in Anakin's mindset, see the problem as he would see it. Almost immediately, she noticed a few problems that could easily be fixed. Ayame set to work, using R4 for whatever she couldn't reach or do. After about 15 minutes, she had completely repaired the short range transmitter, but the long range transmitter was going to need some work. Suddenly, she felt a gentle nudge in the back of her head. Handing the work to R4, she ducked behind the ship and opened up the link.
What did you find?
It would seem that Senator Amidala was right about Dooku, came the response. He ordered the attack at the request of Viceroy Gunray. Ayame shuddered at that memory. The Viceroy of the Trade Federation was still sore about Padmé breaking the trade blockade that they had set up on Naboo 10 years back. They had gotten in a lot of trouble with the Senate for that. He seems to be brokering an alliance with the Banking Clan, Trade Federation, Techno Union, and the Corporate Alliance, along with the Commerce Guilds. If he manages that, hundreds of systems will join with Separatists.
This will lead to an all-out war, Ayame said. Get back here. We need to report to the Council. Ayame closed the link just enough to prevent conversation, but still open enough to keep track of Obi-Wan. Once she could see him, she closed the link entirely.
"The long range transmitter is knocked out. We don't have enough power to reach Courescant," Ayame said.
"Let's try Anakin on Naboo. That's closer," Obi-Wan suggested. He started the signal. "Anakin, come in. This is Obi-Wan Kenobi," he said. Ayame watched the screen as an image of Naboo popped up, but no signal connected.
"He's not on Naboo," Ayame said. The two Jedi looked at each other, worried.
"I'm going to try and widen the range," Obi-Wan said, and fiddled with the transmitter. "I do hope nothing's happened to him," he added softly.
"As do I," Ayame said. "Him, Kamuro, or the Senator." After a few minutes, Anakin's signal appeared.
"That's Anakin's signal alright," Obi-Wan said. "But it's coming from Tatooine."
"What's he doing there?" Ayame wondered out loud. Obi-Wan grunted as he got up, frustrated.
"We don't have much time. Anakin? Anakin, do you copy? My long range transmitter has been knocked out. Transmit this message to Courescant." He paused as Ayame joined him.
"We have traced the bounty hunter Jango Fett to the droid foundries of Geonosis," Ayame began.
"The Trade Federation is to take delivery of a droid army there, and it is clear that Viceroy Gunray is behind the assassination attempts on Senator Amidala," Obi-Wan continued. "The Commerce Guilds and the Corporate Alliance have both pledged their armies to Count Dooku, and are forming a -," he paused, and both looked up as they saw something coming their way. Suddenly, destroyers rolled up, unfolded, and began firing. Ayame and Obi-Wan started to fight them off.
"Get out of here!" Obi-Wan shouted as they struggled.
"No! I'm not leaving you here!" Ayame shouted back, deflecting a blaster bolt from a droid. The two Jedi were driven back, and Ayame knew that an image of the destroyer was now in full view of the holoprojector.
"Someone has to get back to Courescant and warn the Council. I'll be fine!" Obi-Wan said. Geonosian warriors were joining the fight. Ayame barely dodged an attack, jumping behind the Starfighter. "GO!" he shouted. R4 had started the ship, and it started moving as Ayame climbed in to the cockpit. The cover slid shut and the fighter took off. Instinct took over as she flew, dodging anti-aircraft fire. By the time she was in space, she located the hyperdrive and made a beeline for Courescant.
