Thank you to the 14 people who reviewed the last chapter. This chapter will be the first of the five-ten-fifteen-part Labyrinth of Evil arc. I am undecided of how long this arc will be. When I do know, I will let my readers know right away. This part takes many passages from the actual book so I do not own what you recognize from the book (if you read it at least. Well I still don't own those passages even if you haven't read the book.) Also, once again, in this universe, "Sabotage", "The Jedi Who Knew Too Much", "To Catch a Jedi" and "The Wrong Jedi" did not occur. Also, I am making it that "Revival" occurred six months before the events of Labyrinth of Evil. I hope that you like it and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.
Chapter 49
The darkness on Cato Neimoidia's western hemisphere was every bit as encroaching as it was the first time around. Everything seemed to occur as it was the first time with coherent light above the world fracturing the sky as companies of clone troopers and battle droids slaughtered one with bloodless precision.
Obi-Wan's lightsaber lit the undersides of the cluster of trees as he blocked the blaster bolts of the two sentry droids in front of him. Obi-Wan twisted his blade right and left to send the blaster bolts flying back at their enemies. Caught midsection by their own salvos, both droids came apart with a scattering of alloy limbs.
Obi-Wan walked onward. He rolled beneath the segmented thorax of the Neimoidian harvester beetle, sprang to his feet and dashed forward. Explosive light shunted from the citadels deflector shield dappled the loamy ground beneath the trees, casting long shadows of their buttressed trunks. Oblivious to the chaos occurring in their midst, columns of the five-meter-long harvesters continued their stalwart march toward a mound that supported the fortress. In their cutting jaws or on their upsweeping backs they carried cargoes of pruned foliage. The crushing sounds of their ceaseless gnawing provided an eerie cadence to the rumbling detonations and the hiss and whine of blaster bolts.
He ducked well before Anakin even spoke and watched as Anakin's blade made quick work of the droid. A blaster discharged into soft soil then the stalked, elongated head of a battle droid struck the ground a meter from Obi-Wan's feet sparking as it bounced and rolled out of sight repeating "roger, roger…roger, roger."
Obi-Wan pivoted before simply looking at his former Padawan who had, again, saved his life. It really wasn't anything new; Anakin always had the uncanny ability to be there to save Obi-Wan's life whenever he needed it. He was also thankful he knew of what Anakin was going to do and so was able to avoid nearly getting his head taken off.
"At least you didn't take my head off," he said; he couldn't resist the jibe.
Anakin smirked eyes shining with wry amusement. "At least your head wasn't where my lightsaber needed to go, Master," he said.
Obi-Wan smiled back at his former Padawan. Anakin always called him master even though he wasn't Obi-Wan's apprentice anymore. In truth, Anakin only called him master because he was a Council member. The only other person who called Obi-Wan master, and not as an honorific from Jedi Knight to Council member, was Obi-Wan's young apprentice Jenica.
Jenica had wanted to come on the mission to Cato Neimoidia but the Council decided that she would have a different mission to go on. She and Ahsoka were paired up to go on their first mission without their masters. Anakin had been a little worried about sending his apprentice off without him along but Obi-Wan reassured him that Ahsoka learned from the best and would be fine.
He was thankful that the Council had done something different than what they did the first time around; he did a little nudging to help them make their decision. The last time, Ahsoka had been within the Jedi Temple when Order 66 was issued and so was one of the causalities of the Temple Massacre. Obi-Wan had also made a point of choosing the clones that would go with Ahsoka and Jenica; he chose a unit of the million clones who did not have Order 66 programmed within them. They did have that order programmed within them but it went by a different number one that Obi-Wan had trouble remembering.
He was so thankful that he was able to change the number of the order for the second batch of clones who were still in development back before the Battle of Geonosis.
Anakin had grown into a Jedi Knight that Obi-Wan was very proud of. He was still reckless and stubborn but his arrogance had been somewhat curbed in the time since Obi-Wan's return to the past. That did not mean he didn't occasionally exhibit his arrogance during the many battles they had been in since the Clone Wars began. Nevertheless, he seemed to have taken to heart a lot of what Obi-Wan began teaching him after his return to the past and even after he was already knighted. He still complained that he wasn't an apprentice anymore but his desire to make both Obi-Wan and his mother proud of him, though he didn't really need to do that for Obi-Wan since he was already proud of his former Padawan, was what made him listen to Obi-Wan's continuous teachings. It would appear Qui-Gon was right when he said, back on Mortis, that Obi-Wan had made more progress than he seemed to think.
"And if it were, at least I'd be grateful that your lightsaber needed to go there rather than desired to," Obi-Wan could resist saying.
Anakin laughed. "Last time I checked, we were on the same side, Master," he said a full-fledged smile on his face.
"Oh I know," Obi-Wan said with a wry smile. It was sad to think that Anakin had said those words less than a year before they ended up on opposing sides. The memory of the duel on Mustafar still haunted Obi-Wan's dreams.
"After you," he said sweeping his lightsaber in a flourishing pass, nodding up the alley of manax trees.
The two Jedi resumed their charge, moving with the supernatural speed and grace afforded by the Force, Obi-Wan's brown cloak swirling behind him. Victims of the initial bombardment, scores of battle droids lay sprawled on the ground. Others dangled like broken marionettes from the branches of the trees into which they had been hurled.
Areas of the leafy canopy were in flames.
Two scorched droids little more than arms and torsos lifted their weapons as the Jedi approached but Anakin only raised his left hand in a Force push that shoved the droids flat on their backs.
Obi-Wan and Anakin jinked right, somersaulting under the wide bodies of two harvester beetles then hurdling a tangle of barbed underbrush that had managed to anchor itself in the otherwise meticulously tended orchard. They emerged from the tree line at the shore of a broad irrigation canal fed by a lake that delimited the Neimoidians citadel on three sides. In the west, a trio of wedge-shaped Venator-class assault cruisers hung in scudding clouds. North and east the sky was in turmoil, crosshatched with ion trails, turbolaser beams, hyphens of scarlet light streaming upward from weapons emplacements outside the citadel's energy shield. Rising from high ground at the end of the peninsula, the tiered fastness was reminiscent of the command towers of the Trade Federation core ships and indeed had been the inspiration for them.
Obi-Wan knew that inside, trapped by Republic forces, were the Trade Federation elite.
Obi-Wan sighed inwardly. Cato Neimoidia was as close to Coruscant as Obi-Wan and Anakin had been in almost four standard months, and with the last remaining Separatist strongholds now cleared from the Core and Colonies, they expected to be back in the Outer Rim by week's end.
Obi-Wan knew Anakin was a little frustrated with how long they had been on the forefronts of the war. Though he didn't show it, Obi-Wan also missed Coruscant; he missed Siri and he missed Jinn and Kira. Ever since the skirmish on Florrum, six months earlier, Obi-Wan barely had time to spend with his wife and twin children before he sent back to the frontlines. He knew that Anakin was in the same predicament with little time to spend with his wife before he, too, was sent back.
Obi-Wan watched as four clone troopers crept from the tree line on the opposite bank to take up firing positions amid the water-smoothed rocks that lined the ditch. Far behind them a crashed gunship was burning. Protruding from the canopy, the LAATs blunt tail was stenciled with the eight-rayed battle standard of the Galactic Republic.
A gunboat glided into view from downstream, maneuvering to where the Jedi were waiting. Standing in the bow, Commander Cody waved hand signals to the troopers on shore and to others in the gunboat, who immediately fanned out to create a safe perimeter.
Troopers could communicate with one another through the comlinks built into their T-visored helmets, but the Advanced Recon Commander (ARC) teams had created an elaborate system of gestures meant to thwart enemy attempts at eavesdropping.
"Sirs, I have the latest from airborne command," Cody said once he was face to face with the two Jedi.
"Show us," Anakin sad.
Cody dropped to one knee, his right hand activating a device built into his left wrist gauntlet. A cone of blue light emanated from the device and a hologram of task force commander Dodonna resolved.
"Generals Kenobi and Skywalker, provincial recon unit reports that Viceroy Gunray and his entourage are making their way to the north side of the redoubt. Our forces have been hammering at the shield from above and from points along the shore but the shield generator is in a hardened site and difficult to get at. Gunships are taking heavy fire from turbolaser cannons in the lower ramparts. If your team is still committed to taking Gunray alive, you're going to have to skirt those defenses and find an alternative way into the palace. At this point, we cannot reinforce, repeat, cannot reinforce."
"Do you have any suggestions, Commander?" Obi-Wan asked although he already knew of what was going to happen. Since he was already going to be the bait, Obi-Wan was going to do what he could to caution Anakin against inadvertently alerting Gunray to the fact that they were there; if he remembered Anakin's report correctly then it was a protocol droid that blew Anakin's part of the mission.
Cody made an adjustment to the wrist projector and a 3D schematic of the redoubt formed in midair. "Assuming that Gunray's fortress is similar to what we found on Deko and Koru, the underground levels will contain fungus farms and processing and shipment areas. There will be access from the shipping areas into the midlevel grub hatcheries and, from the hatcheries we'll be able to infiltrate the upper reaches."
"I agree we can reach the upper levels," Obi-Wan said thoughtfully. "And to reach the fungus farms, going in with the harvesters seems like our best bet."
Cody looked startled as that had been what he was about to suggest.
"I think that'll work," Anakin said. "Are you worried?"
Obi-Wan shrugged before gesturing for Anakin to move a little ways from where Cody stood. "A little but who would worry about you if I don't?" he asked with a smirk.
Anakin grinned. "There are others."
"You must be referring to See-Threepio and you had to build him."
"I was nine! And you know that's not who I'm referring to."
"Oh I know. I just think Threepio worries a lot more than either Padmé or the Chancellor."
"And Siri doesn't worry about you? I seem to remember her giving you a mouthful when you didn't tell her about your undercover mission because she was worried."
"Yes but that's different. She was pregnant at the time, Anakin."
"Oh I know. Her mood swings drove Jenica, Ahsoka and I crazy. It must have been hard dealing with those when we were on Coruscant before Jinn and Kira were born."
Just you wait, Anakin, until you have to deal with Padmé's mood swings. "I got used to it after a while and they calmed down the closer she got to giving birth," Obi-Wan said. They were both speaking in low voices to avoid being overheard by Cody who was still standing nearby waiting to see what their decision was.
"Nevertheless, I do believe if the Chancellor really had genuine concern for your welfare, he would have kept you closer to Coruscant," Obi-Wan added though he was pretty sure Palpatine had tried. Obi-Wan had succeeded in keeping Anakin from Palpatine many times but there were times, such as his undercover mission, that he couldn't do anything to keep Anakin from the Sith Lord's influence. But it seemed to Obi-Wan that Anakin wasn't as close to Palpatine as he had been the first time around and that was a definite change.
"Perhaps, Master, but then who would look after you?" Anakin asked.
Obi-Wan chuckled.
Despite their two pairs of powerful legs and saw-toothed pincers that extended from their lower mandibles, the broad-bodied harvesters were single-minded creatures, complaisant except when threatened directly. From their flat heads sprouted looping antennae that served not only as feelers but also as organs of communication, by means of powerful pheromones. Each beetle was capable of carrying five times its considerable weight in foliage and branches. Similar to the Neimoidians who had domesticated them, their society was hierarchical, and include laborers, harvesters, soldiers and breeders, all of whom served a distant queen that rewarded effort with food.
Anakin, Obi-Wan and the commandos who made up squad-seven had to run to keep up with the beetles as they hurried their fresh-picked loads from the orchard to the cave-like entrance to a natural mound at the base of the redoubt. The beetles' carapaces afforded them cover from surveillance sorties by battle droid STAP patrols. More important, the harvesters knew safe routes through mined stretches of cleared ground that separated trees from the fortress itself.
Throughout the journey, Anakin was forced to remain at the back of the group because of his greater height. He kept an eye out though as the group traveled beneath the harvesters' rear legs. It was obvious that the closer they got to the fortress, the more disrupted the ordered nature of the beetles' columns became. This caused soldier beetles to join the group in order to quickly shepherd nervous strays back into line.
The journey was going good until a harvester, with one of the commandos beneath it, tripped a land mine. The potent explosion fountained from the rocky ground blowing away half the creature's foreleg. Anakin watched as the commando threw himself to one side, rolling out from under a trio of now pounding legs only to have to bob and weave as the harvester began to run in frantic circles seemingly determined to trample the commando underfoot.
Anakin winced as he watched the harvester knock the commando off his feet and then butted at the commando until there wasn't a smooth area left in the commando's armor.
The harvester's distress had an impact on the rest of the beetles as well.
Most of them remained close together while others were suddenly scurrying away from the main column putting the soldier beetles on high alert. Anakin and the rest of the group did their best to stay together and protect themselves while the column fell into disorder and harvesters and soldiers ran in every which direction.
"Stay close to the ones who are still headed for the nest," Anakin called to the head of the group.
Help the commando, Anakin, Obi-Wan said through the Force as he fell back and Anakin, still running to keep up with the beetles, watched as his former master used the Force to drag the confused, beaten commando out from the path of the harvester that was barreling straight for the maw of the mound. Anakin left the protection of his harvester before dashing toward the commando who was still confused. He landed lightly between the land mines before dashing to the dazed commando's side.
"Hold on," he ordered slinging one of the commando's arms over his shoulders before he leapt away from the land mines using the Force to guide him toward the safety of the harvesters still heading toward the mound.
"Let's keep moving. We need to get to that cave," Obi-Wan and the group dashed forward still beneath the harvesters who were still heading toward the cave entrance.
They reached the cave entrance with little to no incident for which Anakin was grateful. He gingerly lowered the injured clone to the ground as he gazed around the fungus farm while the medspec moved to the injured clone's side and began removing his helmet and his ravaged utility belt.
"Not much I can do for him here," the medspec said to Anakin after he finished examining the injured clone. "Maybe if we can get an FX-Seven air-dropped—"
"We don't need a droid," Anakin said before he stretched out a hand and placed it on the injured commando's abdomen and used one of the Jedi healing techniques his former master taught him to prevent the clone from going into deep shock.
Cody ordered the squad the secure the area once everyone was in the cave while Anakin examined the fungus farm. The medspec jogged over to join Anakin and Obi-Wan. "Sirs, I recommend you keep your rebreathers close at hand. Odds are we won't have to penetrate any deeper into the nest but there's always a chance of encountering free-floating spores in other areas."
Obi-Wan nodded. "They are not toxic though," he said.
Anakin frowned; how did Obi-Wan know that?
"No sir," the medspec said not seeming to notice what Anakin noticed. "But the spores have been known to have an adverse effect on humans."
"Adverse how?" Anakin asked deciding not to worry about how Obi-Wan knew about whether the spores were toxic or not; he probably read about it somewhere.
"The effect is most often described as 'dislocating,' sir."
"Then we should do as he said," Obi-Wan said.
Anakin nodded in agreement. Naturally, it was at that moment when a volley of blaster bolts streaked into the grotto. A quickly aimed Force push delivered by Obi-Wan sent two troopers flying out of the way of the volley before Obi-Wan's blade ignited. Anakin, a little startled by Obi-Wan's sudden move as if he somehow knew what was going to happen, decided to worry about that later as he ran toward the tunnel lightsaber ignited and deflecting most of the bolts back through the entrance.
Obi-Wan dashed to one side, his blade dealing with two bolts that got past Anakin. One was returned to its source while the second was parried at a deliberate downward angle. It struck the grotto's hard-packed floor, ricocheted to the wall, to the ceiling, to the other wall, back to the floor before caroming squarely into the control panel that operated the tunnel door.
The device shorted out showering sparks and a slab of thick alloy dropped from its pocket in the wall sealing the tunnel with a loud thud!
"Nicely done, Master," Anakin said switching off his lightsaber and glancing at his master. He was still a little confused as to how Obi-Wan somehow knew the attack was going to happen in time to get those clones out of the way. It wasn't the first time Obi-Wan's done something like that and it made Anakin curious.
He pushed the thought away; he really needed to focus on the matter at hand.
"The beauty of Form Three," Obi-Wan said nonchalantly. "You should try it sometime."
Anakin snorted. "You've always been better at evasion than I have. I prefer more straightforward tactics."
"Master of understatement."
"General Kenobi," the comm spec said from across the Grotto. "Provincial recon reports that Viceroy Gunray and his entourage are heading for the launching bays. They're protected by super battle droids, a group of which are now closing on our position."
Anakin looked at Obi-Wan. "One of us has to divert the droids"
"Naturally, it's going to be me. I'm always the bait," Obi-Wan said.
Anakin grinned. "The beauty of our partnership, Master. You lure the bodyguards away, I capture Gunray. It hasn't failed us yet, has it?"
"No it hasn't unless you happen to run into an annoying protocol droid who decides to ruin the entire operation, hypothetically speaking of course. Still, I'd keep an eye out for protocol droids," Obi-Wan said. "Oh and don't make it personal, Anakin. I know it is personal for you but we really need to capture him alive."
Remember that the mission must come before personal feelings. I know that you are upset with Gunray for Naboo, the assassination attempts made against Padmé, allying himself with the Separatists and everything else he did but that does not mean you should take out your anger on him, he added through the Force.
Anakin knew his former master was right; besides, feeling such anger was something he told himself he wouldn't feel again. Despite the fact that his anger fueled him, he knew that using it would disappoint the very man he wanted to be proud of him. Obi-Wan knew that Anakin occasionally used his anger and, though he tried to hide it, Anakin felt the disappointment and slight fear that Obi-Wan felt whenever he used his anger. It hasn't occurred that often since the war began but it still made Anakin feel terrible that he would disappoint his former master. He wanted his master to be proud of him and he wanted to be the best Jedi in the entire order, just as he told his master that day on Tatooine.
Power does not equal greatness, Obi-Wan had said those words to him after Cad Bane managed to steal a holocron from within the Temple's vault.
That was another reason why he tried not to use his anger. He wanted to be a great Jedi and Obi-Wan did tell him that power, which was what his anger gave him, did not equal greatness.
I will do my best, Master, but you know it's not easy for me to control my anger especially not where some are concerned, Anakin sent back through the Force.
I know, Anakin. All I ask is that you do your best to control your anger, Obi-Wan sent back.
Anakin gestured to four commandos. "You'll come with me," he said.
"Sir," the commandos said in unison.
Obi-Wan, Cody and the rest of Squad Seven set out for the turbolift shafts while Anakin led his group out of the grotto. The group walked onward close on Anakin's heel as they made their way upward. They followed burrows, ramps and shafts used only by droids. Through processing and shipment areas, through hatcheries filled with squealing grubs and finally into the citadels gleaming middle levels. They moved through rooms as large as starship docking bays filled floor to ceiling with stuff. It was a boundless collection of junk, ritual gifts, impulsive purchases and thousands of faddish devices never to be used but to prized as possessions to be thrown out, donated, handed down or destroyed. More technology than existed on entire worlds were hoarded, stacked, piled about and crammed into every available space.
Anakin shook his head in wonder. In Mos Espa on Tatoooine, he and his mother had lived simply and never wanted for anything. Even now, with her new husband and her stepson and his girlfriend, Anakin knew that his mother still lived simply; they did not have as much stuff as Gunray seemed to have.
As they continued upward, Anakin found his thoughts drifting to his former master. Obi-Wan had told him, hypothetically, that a protocol droid could potentially ruin the mission before it even got started. However, the tone in which Obi-Wan said those words was certain as if he somehow knew something like that was going to happen.
Anakin's instincts were telling him that Obi-Wan's hypothetical situation might have more truth to it than anyone realized and he had learned long ago to trust his instincts.
They reached the citadel's semicircular projection of launching bays, which overlooked the surrounding lake and a ridge of forested mountains.
Anakin brought the team to a halt. One of the commandos held up his hand, palm outward, then tapped the side of his helmet to indicate an incoming transmission. The commando listened then spoke to Anakin with hand signals.
Gunray's party is nearby.
"They're testing vectors for the shuttle by lowering the defensive shield and launching decoys," the commando said quietly. "Turbolaser fire has allowed several of the decoys to get past our blockade and reach orbiting core ships."
"Then we have to act quickly," Anakin said.
The commandos nodded and moved vigilantly through the maze of elegant corridors, abandoned in a rush, strewn with belongings dropped during flight.
Approaching an intersection, Anakin made a halting gesture with his left hand. He listened for a moment and heard from around the corner the telltale heavy footfalls of super battle droids. The commando to Anakin's left nodded in confirmation then extended a finger-thin holocam around the corner and activated his gauntlet holoprojector. Noisy images of Nute Gunray and his entourage of elite officers formed in midair. Hurrying down the corridor, tall head-pieces bobbing, rick robes a swirl, safeguarded front and rear by burly battle droids.
Anakin motioned for silence before he noticed something that made Obi-Wan's hypothetical situation come back into his mind. Appearing from across the hall was a banged-up silver protocol droid who raised its hands in delighted surprise.
Anakin acted on instinct and had the protocol droid yanked to one side with a hand over its mouth before it could so much as utter a single word. He peered out into the corridor hoping no one had caught sight of the sudden movement but no one seemed to have.
"Let's go," Anakin whispered. "We need to get into that launching bay."
The commandos nodded.
"Bring the droid.
The commandos nodded again even though the protocol droid's muffled reply was one of dismay.
Obi-Wan stood beside Cody within the turbolift that was making its way toward the lowest level of the fortress. If thinks go as they did the first time around then Obi-Wan knew they wouldn't have to worry about trying to track down Gunray again. He also knew that whether Gunray escaped or not, they would still find the mechno-chair, which was what provided the Republic with their biggest clue to discovering Sidious's identity.
Obi-Wan remembered all that happened because of the mechno-chair including traveling to such places as Charros IV and Naos III. Though he knew of what would occur on those planets, he couldn't exactly get out of it; it would make the Council and Sidious extremely suspicious. While Obi-Wan was planning on telling the Jedi Council, all except Master Yoda who already knew, the truth, he was going to do everything possible to prevent Sidious from discovering the truth if he hadn't already.
Qui-Gon had warned him that Sidious was suspicious and had implied that he would figure it out eventually; Obi-Wan could only hope that it was later rather than sooner.
"Next stop is ours, General," Cody said.
Obi-Wan nodded keeping his weapon at a ready while Cody replaced the blaster pack of his DC-15.
"How do you want to handle this, sir?" he asked.
Obi-Wan smirked. "Let's go with kill as many of the enemies as possible," he said knowing full well that was what Cody would have suggested had he told his clone commander that he would follow his lead.
Cody nodded. "That is our mandate, sir," he said.
Obi-Wan turned his gaze to the turbolift doors at the lift came to a stop. When the doors opened, two commandos tossed concussion grenades into the corridor beyond. Right and left, battle droids were blown against the walls and ceiling. Less than a minute later, the corridor became a torrent of blaster bolts. Obi-Wan, Cody and the others threw themselves into the horizontal hail. Repeating blasters roared to life. Staccato bursts made short work of the droids but reinforcements were already appearing.
Unfortunately, two commandos fell to the fire before Obi-Wan could reach them and he, sighing, continued to make his way down the corridor in the direction of the citadel's packing and shipping rooms with his team just behind him. Halfway there, they encountered the contingent of super battle droids the Neimoidians had sent to root out the infiltrators.
"Looks like they've taken the bait, General," Cody said while he, Obi-Wan and two commandos fought their way into a side room.
"Good now if we can only survive this," Obi-Wan called back.
Cody pointed to the entrance to a second room, opposite their present position.
"Through there," he said. "A second bank of turbolifts on the far side." He tapped Obi-Wan on the shoulder. "You first. We'll provide cover. Go."
Obi-Wan dashed toward the room deflecting bolts and mangling two super battle droids that stood in his way. The room beyond was stacked with coffin-sized repulsorlift shipping containers, constructed of some lightweight alloy. Treaded labor droids were moving additional containers into the room from an adjacent packaging area. Without warning, a battle droid appeared in the entrance. Obi-Wan sent his lightsaber spinning toward the battle droid and, using the Force, had it avoid the labor droid as it entered the room and sliced through the door apparatus.
With a thud, the door slammed shut crushing the unfortunate battle droid that happened to be walking through it at that very moment.
Obi-Wan caught the blade as it spun back toward him before he turned his gaze back to the firefight still occurring outside the room and prepared to reenter the fight.
Anakin and his commandos made their way toward the launching bays. Obi-Wan's distraction had worked and the only battle droids that Anakin would have to deal with wee the ones that were guarding Gunray. However, Anakin knew that he would have to capture Gunray before they managed to call for backup. His lips thinned into a grim line as they dashed down the final corridor and neared the door leading into the launching bay.
"What do we do with the droid, sir?" one commando asked.
"Keep it with us until after we have Gunray. Now, we're going to have to be quick. Blow the door and then provide cover fire while I go after Gunray."
"Yes sir."
Anakin stepped out of the way as a commando placed magnetic charges against the alloy and activated them. The door blew and Anakin was through the portal that was created in the alloy almost as soon as it appeared.
Startled by the sudden explosion, Gunray and his entourage were taking off toward their ship but Anakin, lips thinned, was not going to let Gunray get away. Lightsaber blocking blaster bolts from the Viceroy's bodyguards, Anakin slammed his blade into one of them before slashing through another. The commandos behind him were firing at the battle droids and between the commandos and Anakin, they wiped out Gunray's entourage.
The Viceroy and his entourage started moving toward the shuttle again but Anakin flipped over them and pointed his blade to Gunray's face keeping it within inches of the Neimoidian. "Viceroy, you are under arrest," he stated calmly.
Obi-Wan and his commandos, after defeating all the droids Gunray had sent after them, made their way toward the launching bays. As they entered the launching bay where Obi-Wan sensed his former Padawan's presence, he was glad to see that Anakin had succeeded whereas they had failed the first time around. Gunray and his entourage were surrounded by the four commandos that had gone with Anakin and Anakin was speaking with Dodonna's hologram.
"We are sending a transport down to take Gunray into custody. Master Yoda will be coming with them," Dodonna said as Obi-Wan, instructing Cody and his commandos to secure the area and begin searching for anything that might be important, walked over to join Anakin. "With Gunray in custody, this battle will end swiftly but, until it does, it will take time for us to send the transport down. Congratulations on capturing the Viceroy, General Skywalker.
"Thank you, Commander Dodonna," Anakin said. "But it wasn't just me. I doubt we would have succeeded had it not been for Obi-Wan playing bait again."
"Then I offer my congratulations to both you and General Kenobi. Dodonna out," Dodonna said before the hologram disappeared.
Anakin turned to look at Obi-Wan. "Well, master, looked like everything worked out," he said.
Obi-Wan nodded. "That it did," he agreed.
"Oh and thanks for that hypothetical situation you told me."
Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows while, inwardly, he was pleased that Anakin had gotten the warning he had been trying to subtly give to him. Whether he got the actual warning or he was just acting on instinct when the protocol droid appeared, it did not matter. "Why the thanks? Don't tell me you actually ran into a protocol droid who nearly blew your part of the mission?" he asked.
Anakin chuckled. "Well…" He shrugged and gestured to the silver protocol droid one of his commandos was holding beside him.
Obi-Wan chuckled.
"General Kenobi, General Skywalker, we've found something of interest among the equipment the Neimoidians didn't grab when they were trying to leave," one of the helmeted commandos said after he stepped out of a nearby turbolift and hurried over to them.
A/n what do you think?
Blaze: and that was the ten page first chapter of the Labyrinth of Evil arc, with a lot of things changed
Darth: yay! Gunray is finally captured!
Anakin: (does happy dance)
Padmé: (does happy dance)
Gunray: I will kill you, Senator Amidala!
Padmé: you're too much of a coward to try!
Gunray: (pulls out random blaster)
Padmé: (pulls out Waxer's bazooka)
Gunray: (takes off running)
Padmé: see what I mean
Palpypie: hi
Anakin: no one invited you, imbecile (takes Waxer's bazooka from Padmé and points it at Palpypie)
Palpypie: (takes off running)
Obi-Wan: (trips Palpypie)
Palpypie: ahh! (Falls into hole filled with extremely hungry sharks)
Anakin: (puts bazooka away and sighs) you have an obsession with holes
Blaze: holes and volcanoes
Darth: ain't that true
Blaze: please review and I will post the next chapter as soon as I possibly can but I doubt it will be anytime soon. Hopefully I will be able to update once more before Spring Break ends.