Chapter three

Anakin was standing just in front of the boarding ramp of the star ship that he, Obi-Wan and Echo would soon be embarking in for Felucia. Echo had been sent to fetch the last of the supplies needed and Anakin grinned as he saw Echo enter the hanger.

"Alright, let's go." He called to Obi-Wan who had been left with the duty of getting them off Coruscant and into orbit. Obi-Wan started the engines.

Anakin grinned again with an evil glare in his eyes. "Come on, Echo!" He called as he stepped backwards onto the boarding ramp.

Echo was quite far from the star ship and let out a heavy sigh before setting out into a sprint across the hanger.

"Why must he always do this?" she asked rhetorically. She raced to the boarding ramp, using her right hand to control the levitated crates that trailed behind her. She reached the boarding ramp just as they reached the edge of the hanger where she flung her hand forwards to send the crates to the centre of the ship and collapsed into a sitting position – legs crossed – in the middle of the ramp which was now raised into the centre of the ship.

"Wh … why?" She panted

She openly glared at Anakin who was in hysterics despite having narrowly missed being crushed by flying crates.

"Why not?" He managed to say between bursts of laughter. He turned from Echo to enter the control cabin so that he could take over the controls from Obi-Wan.

"It's your fault if I've forgotten something!" She shouted at his back. Bloody boys! She thought.

Echo entered the control cabin to find Anakin at the panels and Obi-Wan peering over the hologram map of the galaxy.

"Are you sure you want him to have this much responsibility?" Echo whispered.

Anakin chuckled at her remark and whispered back: "Good point." He looked back at Obi-Wan, who just appeared to be getting more and more lost in the blue shadows of planets that hovered above the table. He kept tapping the small, transparent chip that had been inserted into the table to generate the map, consequently, the images became more fuzzy.

"Erm … Obi-Wan, could you go and … check the shield stabilisers?" Said Anakin.

"Sure." Obi-Wan said brightly, leaving the cabin immediately. Thank you. Thought Obi-Wan. Never understood those things anyway.

Once he had left the room, Echo spun the chair next to Anakin and collapsed into it. They both burst into laughter.

"Oh, god! It's so funny to watch him struggle with this kind of thing." Echo gasped.

"Hell it is." Anakin sighed. "Could you do the map? Before he returns?"

"Of course."

Anakin's eyes followed her as she went over to the - now flickering - hologram, corrected the insert and traced her delicate fingers through the images. He smiled softly and returned to flying the star ship.

"It's not too far from here." Echo said. "If you head for Kashyyk, about two parsecs away, and from there it should be a due west direction for another parsec."

"Thanks." He said as he easily swerved to avoid an asteroid.

Echo slowly walked up behind his chair and loosely placed her arms over his collar bone onto his chest and rested her chin on his shoulder. He smiled and tilted his head slightly to lean on hers, gently.

"Sorry about earlier?" Said Anakin.

Echo chuckled quietly. "No you're not." She said, smiling and squeezing him slightly.

They stayed there for a while, watching the moons of other planets sail past their ship, until they could sense Obi-Wan returning.

"Just go along with what ever he says and stay on my course." Echo whispered into his ear before she straightened up, moving her hands to rest on his shoulders instead.

"Yes, m' lady." Said Anakin and Echo shook him slightly which only released more chuckling. Obi-Wan's footsteps could now be heard and he walked into the cabin.

"Right. Shield generators are up and running but the store room is in a bad state."

"Sorry, master." Anakin and Echo said in unison, grinning identically.

"Go sort it out, will you Echo?"

"Yes, master." She left the cabin to go find the storage room.

"So, master, where are we going?"

"Um … Felucia?"

"Yeah, but how do we get there?"

Crap. He's definitely doing this on purpose. Thought Obi-Wan as he gingerly approached the navigation table.

"Head for … Coruscant, Anakin. I mean …. Uh …"

Anakin tried to refrain from laughing. Obi-Wan tried again:

"Head for … Dagobah and it should be about an hour to the right of that." Obi-Wan said rather proudly.

"As you say, master." Said Anakin. Never mind that that route is in the complete opposite direction. He added mentally, grinning. "How are you feeling?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'm fine. It feels good to be away from it all." Said Obi-Wan, his gaze lost out of the main window.

"I don't like not knowing what we're looking for." Anakin frowned. "It's clouded my senses."

"I sense it too. There's a lot of uncertainty around this assignment."

"Do you suspect Dooku?"

"I do!" Said Obi-Wan, relieved that this view wasn't only his. "Though the council disagrees."

"Why? What better lead do they have?"

"None. They say that as Dooku was once a Jedi himself, that he is incapable of murder."

"But he is capable of deceit. Isn't that the issue here?"

"My thoughts exactly." Obi-Wan sighed.

They sat in silence contemplating their present conundrum, Obi-Wan now watching the room whist Anakin continued flying.

"Shit!" Anakin cried.

"What?" Obi-Wan got to his feet and stood behind Anakin.

"Tri-fighter, two o'clock!" Anakin said as he began flicking an array of switches above his head.

The Tri-Fighter – a small, CIS droid controlled fighter ship that was designed to have three semi-circular panels around the main hull, arranged so that it looked like it had three points from the front – had suddenly appeared form behind a nearing asteroid. They were often used for scouting so if not destroyed it could mean big trouble for their tiny ship. Some luminous yellow beams had begun to speed through the vacuum between the two crafts and struck their hull.

"Crap! Where's Echo when we need her?" Said Obi-Wan and almost right on cue, Echo pelted in thought he door.

"What's going on?"

"Tri-fighter." Said Anakin through his teeth as they were struck again.

"Anakin, keep a strong course for us and avoid those beams."

"Yes, master."

"Echo, man the guns and keep a keen target on that fighter!"

"On it!" She ran to the set of panels on the left of Anakin – facing a large, curved window – that mastered the Auto-turrets and laser beams. Obi-Wan ran to the same on the right-hand-side.

"What's a Tri-Fighter doing all the way out here?" Asked Echo.

"No idea. They might be the reason why no-one really knows what's going on!" Said Obi-Wan.

"But these are Republic planets." Said Anakin, as he manoeuvred them out of the firing line of another missile – just.

"And we're light-years out of Felucia's orbit." Said Echo.

"Unless the problem's spreading." Suggested Anakin. "Hold on tight, master!"

"What? Why?" demanded Obi-Wan as Anakin simultaneously dropped the left control and lifted the right control. This sent their star ship plummeting into a roll to the left. Obi-Wan yelled.

"Warn … Me … Next … Time!" Panted Obi-Wan.

"Well he did, master." said Echo. Obi-Wan glared at her. "Never mind." She rushed and went back to aiming at the tri-fighter. She made a shot at it with the beam but missed it by inches. "Damn it!"

"Where is it?" Said Obi-Wan.

"On our tail!" Said Anakin.

Echo concentrated, sensing that it would come round her side again … it did … she aimed carefully just in front of it and … "Got it!" She cried as it swerved out of control and blew up on the next asteroid.

"Wooooh!" Anakin cried. "Nice shot, Echo!"

She grinned at him but he was still looking out the front.

They continued flying for a bit but they found nothing more so Obi-Wan said that he would take over the quiet flying so that the two younger ones could get some rest.

Anakin and Echo would be sharing a bunk bed room as there where only two small rooms … and Obi-Wan tended to snore.

"Top or bottom?" Asked Anakin as he yawned.

"Don't mind. You choose."

"No you choose."

"No you-"

"Ok this could take a while." Anakin grinned. "I'll take top, then."

"Uh huh." Yawned Echo.

"Ok, night, Echo."

"Night."

Anakin leapt up into the top bunk and almost immediately fell into subconscious. Echo however, would take longer to fall asleep – always did.

Echo awoke later that night. She was cold and couldn't find a comfortable spot anymore. She stared at the support beams for the bed above hers for a few minutes before deciding that sleep was beyond her hopes. She sat up, bashing her head on the beams above her. Ow! Carefully getting out of the bed, she rubbed the crown of her head. Automatically she walked out of the room and went to sit in the control room, only to be surprised to find Anakin sitting there too.

"Hey."

"Hey." He turned in his seat. "Can't sleep?"

"Nope." Echo sat in the big chair on her right and propped her feet up on the edge of Anakin's seat. "Anything interesting?"

"Nope." He said smiling at her. "Starting to think that the tri-fighter was just a scout."

"Yeah, probably."

Anakin turned sideways so that he could prop his feet on Echo's seat as well. They sat there gently spinning each other back and forth as they watched out the large window in front of them, occasionally glancing at each other to see the other look away. On Anakin's next glance he saw Echo shiver. She must be freezing to death. He thought. "Cold?" He asked.

"Not really."

Of course she would deny it. He grinned. "Come here." He reached out for her hand. She took it and sat on his lap, resting her cheek on his warm and perfectly toned chest. Anakin swivelled to face the front again and wrapped his right arm around her whilst keeping control of the ship with is left hand. He kissed her head, revelling in how soft her hair was despite the tangles from sleeping.

Much better. Thought Echo, as she snuggled against Anakin's warm body. She felt so safe in his arms.

"How can you stay so warm?" she asked.

"From Tatooine, remember." He chuckled at this and Echo could hear his laugh reverberating through his chest.

"Lucky." She said and Anakin rested his cheek on her forehead. "Where are we?"

"We just passed Mygeeto so … should be nearing Kashyyk in about three hours."

"Ok." Echo started to trace the tendons in his arm which was around her, with her fingers. Anakin watched her do so for a bit. "How long have you been flying?"

"Not long. Couple of hours? Obi-Wan was pretty much exhausted by the time I got out though."

"Poor thing." Echo smiled. "He's had a rough day. Don't the council know that he hates flying?"

"Sure they do. Don't think that it can be avoided though, considering the galaxy and all." Echo could feel his jaw move on her head as he smiled.

Anakin could feel Echo relax further onto his chest as they night drew on. After a while her breathing deepened and he could tell that she had fallen asleep. He pulled his head back so that he could see her face; she looked so peaceful, innocent and completely at rest. It made him smile to see her like that; content. There was no sense of time out in the vacuum of space that engulfed the galaxy but Anakin watched Echo sleep for a long time, using his Jedi senses to move the ship out of the way of passing objects. After some time he looked up to see the crest of Kashyyk looming in front of them. He switched the controls to auto-pilot to fly directly to Felucia from Kashyyk. Once satisfied that they wouldn't crash he put one arm under Echo's knees and the other under her armpit and around her ribcage to scoop her up into his arms. Her small frame was quite light but tired as he was, Anakin struggled into their room and laid her on her bed. He covered her shoulders with her blanket and climbed the ladder up to his bed, banging his head on the ceiling. Ow! As soon as his head was on the pillow he drifted back into a comforting sleep.

Anakin woke up hours later, rolled over and hit his knee against the wall. He groaned. He was used to having a large double bed with all the space he would ever want and, in comparison; the bunk bed was ridiculously narrow. Deciding to get up - considering he was awake anyway – he swung around to land on the floor on his feet and left for the kitchen, whilst untwisting his dark grey t-shirt which had managed to wrap itself tightly around his body.

He reached the kitchen and grabbed the nearest food he could find.

"Morning, Obi-Wan." He said whilst putting the first piece of food into his mouth. Mmm, apple.

"Good morning, Anakin. Oh, why did you set the auto-pilot on last night? It was Echo's shift."

"Well … she was exhausted – trouble sleeping again – so I let her have the night off."

Obi-Wan shrugged and got back to getting himself some breakfast.

When Anakin got to the control cabin he found Echo slouching in a chair watching a stone rise and fall from her hands. She caught it again when she noticed him enter.

"Hey." He greeted her.

"Hey." She smiled at him as he continued eating. "Hungry for raw egg, I see?"

"Hmm?" He looked down at the other piece of food in his hands and laughed. "No, actually this is for you." He threw it at her, and she caught it neatly.

"Thanks. Much appreciated." She said sarcastically.

At this point there came a tinny beeping noise from the control panel. They must be nearing Felucia's orbit. True enough, a mottled green planet loomed into view from below the window. Felucia was a mixture of green and blue shades and encased in rings of greyish cloud. Echo moved to sit in the driving seat and took the ship off auto-pilot.

"Ah, we've arrived." Said Obi-Wan, as he came into the cabin.

"Yeah, so where do we need to land, does it matter?" Asked Echo, as she began to battle with the controls.

"We need to be off the outskirts of a town. Doesn't really matter which one but not too big, we don't want to attract too much attention."

"There's a small village called 'Tacarian Village' just coming up below us now." Anakin noted as he studied a map of the planet.

"Perfect. Land there, Echo."

Echo nodded.

Anakin leant close to Echo. "Want me to fly?" He teased.

"No, I think I'll cope, thanks." Said Echo, as she brought them through the layer of cloud around the planet.

Once they had broken into the atmosphere of the planet they were immediately faced with an immense expanse if canopy.

"Ok, so Anakin, where exactly are we? I can't see a thing through all this."

"Er … Tacarian Village should be about three miles directly in front of us."

"Ok so we have enough room to get through this and find a landing spot without crossing the village." Echo thought out loud.

"Good luck getting us through this. The canopy is about ten metres thick at its thinnest point." Obi-Wan informed her.

"Then we will just have to find a way around the canopy."

They flew for about half an hour before the mass of plants began to thin out and then it opened up into a huge flat terrain with only a few plants scattered around. Echo ducked the ship into this field and back under the canopy so that they could hide the ship. They found a small clearing about five miles back towards the village which was well covered by the canopy and only a few miles from the Tacarian Village. Echo landed the ship amongst the old tree trunks and enormous flowers, the colour of sunsets. There were bubble-like spores of seeds around the flowers as well which covered enough of the entrance to the clearing that you couldn't see the star ship unless you knew exactly where you were looking.

"Ok, you need to get out and take a look around. See if you can see any immediate threats to our position and report back in an hour." Said Obi-Wan.

"Us? What are you going to do, master?" asked Anakin.

"I'm going to go to that village and get a drink." He grinned.

A/N please please please review - i'm desperate for your opinion!