When the first rays of the sun appeared on the horizon, Gabriel froze. It was his first sunrise in the new world, and it was beautiful. For a moment, he forgot about all the problems that loomed over him: Jedi, droids, and clones could appear at any moment. Despite spending the whole night doing nothing but brooding, Hassan remained vigilant. At any moment, he was ready to draw his paired lightsabers and start a fight, but throughout the night, no one bothered them. Only the garbage collectors brought in more broken droids.
Gabriel snapped out of his contemplation of the beautiful landscape and began to wake his temporary companions. First, he approached the sleeping Shaak Ti. For some reason, he thought that she would wake up when he got closer. After all, she was a Jedi! But that didn't happen. Perhaps she was too tired, and that's why she let the enemy get so close, or maybe Hassan was just overestimating the Force.
He nudged her shoulder, causing her to startle, and then looked at him with sleepy eyes. Perhaps she hadn't fully controlled herself while asleep, but her face clearly showed that she hadn't slept well. It was to be expected – they had spent the night on a garbage dump, and she was still bound.
"Good morning," Gabriel smiled at her, although she couldn't see it because of the mask.
"Good morning," the Jedi nodded.
Hassan turned and went to Boba, who was completely wrapped in Darth's black cloak. He also nudged him in the shoulder a few times, waking him up. The ten-year-old boy looked somewhat rumpled, but he didn't whine or complain about the interrupted sleep.
"Good morning," Gabriel greeted him as well.
"Good morning," Boba replied, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
"How did you sleep?"
"Fine," Fett replied. He handed Hassan the cloak with a hood, which the latter immediately put on.
"Where, once again, is your ship?" Gabriel returned to the Jedi girl and hoisted her onto his shoulder again.
"In the hangar, in the stalagmite city."
"You know the way, right?"
"I do," the boy nodded.
"Then lead the way."
Gabriel followed Boba, who briskly walked toward the familiar Arena, but this time they bypassed it using a well-trodden path and headed in a different direction. Ten minutes later, they were hiding, observing the entrance to the stalagmite city, guarded by several Geonosians.
Of course, it would be easy to scatter the guards and enter through the main door, but then the remaining path would have to be cleared by force. Gabriel had no doubt about himself; in his new body, with armor and lightsabers, he would surely overpower anyone in his path. But now he wasn't alone. He couldn't allow a stray shot to hit the captive or the boy. He worried about them not only out of kindness. In fact, Gabriel hoped to use them. You could say that Boba Fett was his long-term investment. If he indeed became a legendary bounty hunter in the future, he might be useful to Hassan as a combat asset.
Perhaps it sounded too heartless and selfish, but Gabriel was used to squeezing the maximum benefit out of any situation. This also applied to Shaak Ti. Having an acquaintance among the Jedi, a master no less, was quite useful. Hassan was incredibly powerful, but the power of a game avatar didn't guarantee that he would never be captured by the Jedi. And if that ever happened, at least he would have a Togruta in the Jedi Council... someone who would not rush to pass a death sentence on him, at least that's what Gabriel hoped for. Furthermore, Darth planned to obtain a ransom for the girl to temporarily resolve their financial issues.
He could sell some equipment, but it was rather second-rate. The best loot was still at his base, so it was unlikely that Hassan would make much money from trading. However, getting a ransom – that was a different story.
"What are you thinking, Hassan?" came Shaak Ti's quiet voice.
Gabriel smiled conspiratorially. If it weren't for the mask, his face wouldn't have twitched, but since his cunningly narrowed eyes weren't visible to anyone, he allowed his emotions to show. He smiled because, even though he was wearing a mask, she could sense that he was thinking about her... not in the best light. The Jedi clearly felt impending troubles on the horizon. As far as Hassan remembered, this was called foresight.
"I'm just contemplating plans," Sith answered her as honestly as possible.
"We need to get to my compartment in the residential area," Boba intervened in the conversation.
This statement caught Gabriel off guard. He had just set his mind on stealing the starship from the hangar as discreetly as possible when the boy announced that they would also need to go to the residential areas! Earlier, the chances of stealthily stealing the starship were already slim, and now they were pretty much zero.
"Why?" Hassan couldn't hide his annoyance in his voice.
"I need to retrieve a book from there," the boy paused for a moment. "My father said that if anything happened to him, I should read it."
Now Gabriel had no choice but to help Fett. The boy would hardly become a seasoned bounty hunter in the future without that book, and Hassan had plans for him. Sith quietly exhaled before saying, "All right, but we should still try to get in there without a fight."
"I suggest garbage trucks," the boy said with a serious expression.
"Again?"
Although Darth had doubts about the boy's plan, the three of them still went to look for a garbage truck nearby the arena. Soon, they were fortunate enough to find one dumpster, and all three climbed onto it. More accurately, Gabriel hoisted the boy onto his shoulder and leaped onto it himself. The garbage truck moved slowly, so their initial excitement of heading toward the stalagmite city faded rather quickly, replaced by anxiety.
They entered the city and immediately hopped off their improvised transport in the garbage compartment, fortunately free from unpleasant odors. The team quickly found a door and exited into an empty corridor. Gabriel had no idea where to go, so he turned his head toward Boba, silently asking him for guidance.
"Follow me," the boy waved his hand and rushed forward down the corridor.
Hassan silently followed him, still carrying the captive on his shoulder. In his previous body, he would have been exhausted by now, but in his new one, he felt excellent. Just before the next turn in front of Boba, two Geonosians with blasters suddenly appeared. The guards were clearly surprised to see a human child before them, which gave Hassan a brief moment to seize the initiative. The corridors were quite narrow, so Gabriel jumped onto the wall, pushed off it with telekinesis to propel himself to the adjacent wall, leaping over Fett in the process. Then he lunged at the first Geonosian, delivering a kick to the creature's grotesque face. He didn't put any magic into the blow, but it was still forceful enough for him to use the bug-like face as a stepping stone to jump onto the next one and land with both feet on the creature's head.
Everything happened in less than a moment, leaving Boba a few seconds to simply stare at the incapacitated Geonosians before him in disbelief. The precise and clean work had also surprised Shaak Ti.
"Are you okay?" Gabriel asked the captive.
"I'm fine," she replied stoically.
"Why did you freeze, Boba? Show us the way," Hassan waved his hand impatiently in front of the boy.
"Yeah..."
Fett rushed ahead once again, and Gabriel kept up with him. Strangely, they encountered no more guards on their way, making it easy for them to reach Boba's room. Was it because of the war? Were all combat units deployed to the battlefront? Gabriel shook his head, dismissing unnecessary thoughts.
"I need a helmet!" Boba impatiently shouted.
Gabriel extended his hand, and a helmet appeared on it in a flash. The boy grabbed it, then pressed it against a device on the door, causing it to open. The room itself was quite empty, giving the impression that Boba and Jango hadn't had time to properly settle in, especially evident by a lone bag the boy frantically rummaged through. Minimal possessions for easier travel, perhaps? Nothing out of the ordinary.
"It's not here," Boba exclaimed, clutching his head and stepping away from the bag.
In an instant, confusion, fear, and panic played across the child's face, and he visibly paled. Even someone slow on the uptake would realize that Boba had lost the book. To be honest, Gabriel felt rather indifferent about this. If the book wasn't here, then the boy would have to become a bounty hunter without it. Probably.
"I accidentally returned it to the library on Kamino," Boba confessed.
"Then you'll find it there," Gabriel said as he touched the bag, causing it to disappear into his inventory. "Let's go to the hangar."
The team exited the room and continued through the winding corridors, which looked like an anthill in their layout. Even the walls seemed to be made of an unfamiliar type of mountain rock. Did the Geonosians, like ants, dig tunnels and create this city? It was entirely possible.
A couple of minutes later, they stood in front of rather large doors, which swung open as the trio approached. They came face to face with a group of natives, consisting of six warriors! Gabriel, without much thought, removed Shaak Ti, who was not expecting this turn of events, causing her to gasp after landing on the floor. Hassan grabbed Boba by the scruff and pushed him backward to avoid exposing the boy to danger.
Why did Hassan attack in the first place? No one in his team spoke the local language, so negotiations were out of the question. What's the first rule of the streets? If a fight is looming, strike first! However, there was another reason. Black blades appeared in Darth's hands. He jumped into the group of enemies, crossed his arms, and swiftly spread them apart, delivering a cross-shaped strike. Two heads were severed from their bodies instantly, and Hassan landed right in the middle of the four remaining Geonosians. They had already aimed their blasters at him, but Darth was quicker: Gabriel spun around, severing the arms of the soldiers surrounding him.
The soldiers howled in pain, and it only took a few more strikes for Gabriel to kill them all. By his own sense of time, he had dispatched them all in about two seconds. He felt so good! Such strength! Such reaction speed! Such reflexes! Such a body! He had clearly adapted to his new body! Hassan shook his head again. A skilled trickster and swindler would never become intoxicated by their own power. A good swindler rose above that.
"Phew..." Boba strangely exhaled, stepping away from the instant carnage. "There's my ship!" The boy ran towards the tiny ship in comparison to others.
Gabriel approached Shaak Ti, who was clearly lost in thought after witnessing the slaughter. He picked her up and, as usual, threw her over his shoulder.
"Did you get hurt?" Gabriel asked.
"I'm fine," the pensive woman replied.
"Did you like my technique?" Gabriel smirked as they headed towards the ship.
"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't impressive," she calmly replied.
"Thank you."
"You have quick reflexes, Darth Hassan, but I haven't been a padawan for a long time," the Togruta spoke in a calm voice. "You attacked first to prevent them from firing, didn't you?"
That was the second reason. Gabriel was afraid that a stray blaster bolt might injure or even kill one of them. To minimize the risk, he attacked first, not giving the enemy a chance to shoot. Although Hassan now thought it might have been easier to fry the Geonosians with lightning. He personally preferred close combat to hurling magic from behind, so he rushed at the enemy with his lightsabers.
"Who knows?" he vaguely replied as he descended the lowered ramp onto the ship.