"Yes, there will always be a part of me that remains on Naboo!" said Kenobi with a wicked grin flashed at Jango before he continued with his food.
If Jango was going to reply, he was cut off by the alert from the cockpit and he got up.
"We're coming up on Geonosis, I'll cut the sub-light engines. You both stay, enjoy your food."
He left the excited Boba with the Jedi, knowing Kenobi would not reveal anything of their earlier conversation and confident Boba could keep the man engaged in conversation. He had had to lie a great deal to appease his sons worries, but the more Boba trusted Kenobi, the better and he could do worse for a surrogate father. Geonosis would not be the sanctuary he had led both passengers to believe, at least not for Jango.
He sighed heavily as he switched off the engines and the stream of stars became the pin pricks of normal space. The familiar orange colored planet filled the view screen and Jango began plotting their course to avoid the ring of asteroids that surrounded the planet.
The proximity alert sounded and Jango looked up to see a fleet of drone ships ascend from the ring system and approach.
"Craft identified – Firespray-31-class Pursuit Special – designation – Slave 1 – occupants are requested to stand down and await tow to planets surface – Bounty Hunter Jango Fett – arrest warrant issued and craft impounded – resistance will be met with deadly force – open communication to confirm message received."
Jango went to flip on the comm., but was met with a wash of sparks. He was thankful his clothes were still damp from their run to the ship, otherwise he'd be on fire right now. Perhaps they hadn't left Kamino as unscathed as he had hoped, but there had been no warning. Almost immediately after his thought on the subject, a red flashing indicator on the panel winked at him. "Bit late now!" he said to the inanimate light that was clearly mocking him.
"Open communication to confirm message received" came the drone again.
"Yeah, I'm trying!" called Jango, attempting to re-route the comm. systems through another panel of circuits, hoping that would solve the problem. He had known his arrest was inevitable with his return to Separatist territory, he just didn't want the drones thinking he was running, but without the ability to communicate with them, they were sitting ducks.
"Final warning," droned the droid ship, "Open communication to confirm received – failure to comply will result in deadly force – final warning."
Unable to establish the return signal, Jango had no choice. He was not going to sit there while they blasted his son out of existence, so his only option was to resist. He swung the ship around and boosted the engines to head for the ring system where he hoped they could out maneuver the drones and get to the surface in one piece to find Dooku.
The ship lurched to the left at the unmistakable impact of laser fire and Jango quickly maneuvered the ship to avoid the drones, their blaster cannons firing. Kenobi and Boba raced to the cockpit, after their food was unceremoniously dumped on the floor with the ship's unusual shift.
Another hit rocked the ship before the shields had time to re-establish and a panel exploded in a mass of sparks. Kenobi grabbed Boba and shielded them both with a force barrier as the tiny superheated metal fragments rained down inside the confined space.
"What the.." started Kenobi, as a drone ship ran at them, blasters firing wildly. "I wish these people were more pleased to see us!"
"Strap yourselves in, this is going to get bumpy," called Jango. He took the controls and slipped on the harness for the pilot's seat.
"Boba, timata pupuhi!" and the lad was in the gunner's station while Kenobi sank back into the only other seat available, his hands fumbling for the straps as Jango flew between cannon bolts. Boba began firing using the ships substantial blasters on their attackers and Kenobi was rather glad he was in the ship and not facing those guns. A drone exploded off to their right, thanks to Boba's sharp shooting and Jango swerved them away from the debris.
"Great shot, Boba," came his father's encouraging words, "Now, let's see how well they can really fly."
"Oh my," Kenobi commented as the stars swept through the view screen to be replaced by enormous, rotating boulders. Jango skillfully navigated through the maze of spinning rock, but the drones continued to give chase and their shots were getting closer. The proximity alert began blaring at them.
"Seekers!" cried Boba and he released the counter measures, which took out two, but a third remained on their tail. Jango continued his weaving maneuvers, but the missile was unshakable.
"I can't keep this up forever! Now what?"
"You won't have to," His quiet, determined voice had the Fetts turn on Kenobi. "I have a plan."
Drone 4 – missile 3 still on target – remaining to engage if target not destroyed – missile closing – contact imminent – dodging around asteroid to avoid collision – missile impact in 3 – 2 – 1- missile impact – flying through debris field – damage minimal – shielding replacement needed for upper third wing quadrant – request sent – scanning for target – scanning for target – scanning for target – analysis of debris – parts from a Firespray-31-class Pursuit Special – scanning for target – energy readings – negative – communication frequencies – negative – final scan analysis – target destroyed – returning to base for completion of repairs.
Kenobi could feel the heavy presence of the droid ships receding to the planet's surface.
"OK, we'll just wait here for a few more moment and then we can make our way to the planet. Care to explain our welcoming committee while we wait?"
"The planet's security must have been beefed up with the increase in tensions between the Geonosians and the senate." Came Jango's almost rehearsed sounding response.
"Perhaps," said Kenobi skeptically. Jango was suddenly doing a very good job at hiding his emotions and had become very difficult to read. The strongest emotion he was projecting was his love of Boba and his need to keep the boy safe.
"Our communications array went out before I could respond to their hails and they took this as a sign of aggression. If their planet security picks up the ship, we'll be facing a rematch. We'll need to find a place to land away from the settlements and make it in on foot to avoid detection" Kenobi nodded, Jango's plan a sound one.
"Cool move! Hiding on the asteroid like this," said the excited Boba.
"Thanks, I thought it was pretty good too!" came Kenobi's reply. He hadn't been sure it would work, but as it turned out it had saved their skins rather effectively. He'd have to remember that for the future.
"OK, then. Let's get to it," he said and Jango started up the engines and began their decent to the surface.