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***
* At the same time, on Nubian. *
- He's nowhere to be found, Padme! - Shmi exclaimed, sitting down in her chair and covering her face with her hands.
- Shmi...don't worry...maybe he just stayed on Coruscant? - Padme tried to comfort Shmi as best she could, but it didn't always work.
- Ah, if that were the case... but where is he, what's wrong with him? - she asked rhetorically.
The fourteen year old Queen of Naboo didn't know the answer to that question and could only guess how Shmi felt. Padme put her hand on Shmi Skywalker's shoulder, and at that moment Panaka entered the cabin. The stately Negro with a blaster on his belt looked around at the scene before him and said:
- The droids have checked the entire ship, but he's nowhere to be found, sorry. Most likely Anakin stayed on Coruscant. In which case, he's in no danger.
Shmi perked up a little at this statement and looked with reddened eyes at the captain of the royal guard. Panaka clarified:
- Anakin flew with the Jedi, and if anything happens, he should have no trouble getting to the temple, and the Jedi will take care of the boy there.
- Here, Shmi, don't worry! - Padme smiled tautly, "I'm sure he's already at the Jedi Temple with the other younglings.
- I know my son, something will always happen to him," sighed Skywalker sadly.
Neither Panaka nor Padme knew what to say to that and used the oldest sedative - a glass of Nabuan wine and their company. Negro once again promised that he would contact the Jedi as soon as he could....
* Aboard the corvette CR-70 *
The interior of the ship was gorgeous. A large room with panoramic windows, instead of a cargo cabin, several armchairs, a couch where one could stare out at the endless blackness of space. Paintings depicting fantastic landscapes of distant planets adorned the walls of the room where the owner of this corvette was seated. A tall, three metres tall Muun sat in a high chair, and a man bowed in front of him, his face showing contrition with all his might.
- You have failed me again, Sidious. - said the Muun, watching the man flinch.
- But I don't understand how this can be. I have a feeling that someone ratted me out to the Chancellor - the Queen refused to make a vote, and this Valorum did exactly the opposite of what we expected, lord. - Said Darth Sidious.
- But this is your fault. From the beginning, your whole idea for Naboo did not go as you expected. First the King recanted, then the Jedi intervened, and then the Chancellor realised, put the events together and drew conclusions. Don't look for blame for your failures. - Muun said calmly.
- Yes, Master. But then what do we do now that the Chancellor has declared Gunray a criminal?
- Not the chancellor, Sidious. Do you still think he has any rights? Is that why you were so eager for the position? The chancellor is little more than a senator, and the senate is a mob. But in every crowd, there must be one who rules it.
- Yes, Master. - Sidious said briefly.
- You sent your apprentice to Neimodia?
- I did.
- Good. Now, there is something you should hear. - Darth Plagas said and nodded to the astrodroid standing there. The droid beeped briefly in its binary language, and a second later Chancellor Valorum's voice rang through the room:
- Kras, I need those tapes! Now, before Palpatine wakes up!
- But, Chancellor... - the Chancellor's interlocutor tried to object in a squeaky voice.
- Don't mind me, I'll cover it up or pay the fine. Here are the memory cards for you," the record heard the chime of metal parts, "replace the ones in the droids with them, and bring the original ones to me. I'll pay you well.
- Yes, Chancellor. - The interlocutor replied, and a second recording began:
- Supreme Chancellor? To what do I owe the honour? - said a muffled voice, clearly wearing a helmet or breathing mask.
- I have need of your services. Learn all you can about the activities of Senator Palpatine of Naboo. But be careful, our Jedi friends believe he is a Sith and could be very dangerous. Don't go looking for him, just find out everything you can about his recent contacts. I suggest you look on Naboo or Neimodia... although Naboo is better - the Neimodians are having a hot day. - Valorum chuckled.
- Payment? - asked the still lifeless voice.
- Sure, here's a deposit... you'll get the same amount when you bring the information. - Said the Chancellor.
- Good.
The recording has ended. Darth Sidious turned pale to a sheet of paper, and when his teacher called out to him, he began to get angrier and angrier:
- What, how! How the fuck could they, the bastards, know! - This is sabotage!
- Sidious, have I not taught you well to hide your power? Or maybe you didn't hold back once, and now they've found out?
- I will make it right, Master! - Sidious exclaimed, and raised his eyes to Muun, but Plagas remained calm as ice:
- It's no use. The Chancellor's next visitor was the tech team that found the wire, so we have no way of knowing what happened next. Since the days of Darth Bane we've been hiding in the shadows of their order, no one saw us, no one knew us, no one felt us... but you revealed the existence and it's no wonder they're freaking out - after the war the Republic calls the Second Sith War, they've got a firm grasp on who the Sith are. It was because of the fall of our order that the Ruusan reform was passed. They were afraid that the forces they had gathered would turn on them... perfect conditions for intrigue and taking power in the Republic. - Muun shook his head,
- But they cannot dare to take such a step! - Sidious exclaimed, realising where his teacher was going with this.
- Yes, they can, apprentice. The Chancellor has already asked me what the Clans would do under such circumstances.
- And you...
- Of course, you fool! Of course we'll make money. Let them buy starships, let them arm their troops, let them. We, the banking clan, make money out of their turmoil. And the greater the turmoil, the more they'll borrow, the more they'll spend. We're out of their troubles, we shouldn't care who's fighting who. - Darth Plagas shook his head and looked at his apprentice with big eyes.
Sidious looked so angry that he looked like he was about to explode.
- It was all the Jedi! The damned Jedi! I hate them! - he said, his voice breaking into a falsetto at the end.
- But this is the third time you've disappointed me, Sidious. You improvise well, but when it comes to making a plan years in advance, you get it all wrong. Was the mistake you made in declassifying us Sith enough? - Muun asked, reaching for his sword.
Darth Sidious didn't wait and attacked the teacher first.
*Board the Jedi transport.
- We're getting closer. - Said the man, turning to look at the passenger. The passenger, aka the boss of everything and anything on the boat, the Jedi Knight replied:
- Be careful, there may be hostilities going on here.
- Yes, Knight. In five minutes we'll be out of hyperspace and in another minute we'll be at the final destination.
- If anything happens, notify me immediately. - Said the Jedi and left the bridge.
There was a surprise waiting for him in the centre cabin. Anakin was already boldly, albeit ineptly, fending off Obi-wan's attacks, surprising the Jedi with his powers of foresight. Kenobi could not get the younger man - no matter what combination he started, the boy stopped it before it began, but Anakin could not attack, either - Ben easily parried any, even the most difficult attacks, and Anakin could not count on forceful attacks for another five or ten years, because he was still young.
As Qui-Gon looked at the young Jedi fighting, he noticed something that caught his attention - a vaguely familiar astrodroid was standing off to the side, recording the entire fight on a holo-camera.
At that moment, Skywalker made another attack - after parrying the first jab, he spun round on his axis and, deflecting Kenobi's sword, plunged his training sword into his opponent's stomach at the last moment. Ben placed the blade of his blade against Skywalker's neck just at that moment. "Same old same old - pat, Skywalker's defences can't be penetrated, and if he starts to act, he's setting himself up" thought Qui-Gon as he regarded the droid. I remember! It's the one that saved them during their escape from Naboo!
- Obi-Wan, tell me, what is this droid doing here?
- I have no idea, Master. After you left, he came here. He seemed to have a taste for adventure...
Qui-Gon Genie only sighed heavily and covered his eyes:
- Obi-Wan, do you have any idea what it was like if it was a saboteur droid? Or maybe that's what it is? First you find Anakin, then it turns out there's a droid flying all the way from Coruscant to join us....
- Come on, Master, he's got his work cut out for him. Well, he got his ships mixed up.
- He didn't, it's an astrodroid! - Qui-Gon exclaimed and looked angrily at his apprentice, but he quickly reined himself in and said calmly: - "We should keep a closer eye on our travelling companions. We might have a queen in the cargo hold, too." - he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Anakin holstered his training blade and sat down in the chair first, and as soon as he was settled in, the ship shook violently - an exit from hyperspace.
- We'll be arriving at the supervisor's office in a minute. Anakin, you'd better sit tight and stay out of sight.
- Yes, Qui-Gon. - Replied the boy, looking at the Jedi.
* Three minutes later *
- Master Jedi? - The navigator came out of the bridge door and waited for Qui-Gon to stand up, drawing the attention of the passengers.
- Yes, is something wrong? - Qui-Gon asked, trying not to show excitement.
At that moment all the gifted present looked at the navigator in such a way that sweat broke out on his face:
- Emergency orders from Master Yoda. Neimodia is putting up a planetary shield. Before it closes, we must fly to the planet and you must shut down the shield generators. At any cost.
- Here ... - Qui-Gon swallowed a swear word, remembering that there are children here. The "child" himself was mentally swearing in standard, Toydarian, Russian, covering Yoda and Sith and Neimodians in such a way that if Qui-Gon had heard it, the young knight would have had a culture shock....
The Jedi ship flew past the space station and, taking advantage of the fact that the planetary shield was jamming any means of air observation as it deployed, entered the planet's atmosphere.
* Anakin Skywalker *
I knew this would happen. Why didn't I go with the Nabuans in the first place? I'd be sitting with Padme now, flirting with her, taking shameless advantage of the fact that she's pretending to be a maid, then again, Mum's there....
But no, I, Anakin Skywalker, have to get on the hedgehog. Or maybe it's karma. I remember in the film, Ani flew with the Jedi to a beleaguered planet, and now it's even worse.
The Neimodians have amassed a full force of droids, lurehulks, tanks, and weapons.
I wouldn't be surprised if we hit a hot spot.
- Anakin, while we're landing, we can't be seen by radar - the planetary shield jams them as we deploy, but then we won't be able to communicate with our own until we shut down the shield generators.
- What generators?
- The shield is based on many generators. If we get to one of them and switch it off, the shield will collapse. Unfortunately, the generators are guarded, so we'll have to infiltrate their base... plus Neimodia has a pretty bad climate.
I listened to him and groaned heavily. Just at that moment, the ship was entering the planet's atmosphere.
- I think we made it. Just a little bit more and..." Qui-Gon said.
- Don't worry, Anakin, we'll make it. The shield generators are heavily guarded, of course, but we can get through and shut it down. I don't see anything impossible. - Said Kenobi.
* the bridge of the Republic cruiser Acclamator One * *
The bridge, to the ship's captain's surprise, was quite quiet, especially because no one wanted to disturb the little Jedi Master, who was sitting in his chair and thinking. But then a man in what looked like a military uniform approached him with a quick step. The young, overweight security officer did not know how to start a conversation or how to address the Master, but Yoda was the first to speak:
- Yoda is my name, I am the Jedi Master of the Jedi Order. You have come to see me, what is your business with me, officer? - Yoda looked up at the Justice General. The latter, completely confused by the Jedi's strange dialect, replied:
- The Justice Corps Acclamators have arrived, Master. Thirty-six ships, ready for battle.
- Good that. Go and tell their commanders that they would destroy the large trade federation ships that orbit the planet now, but only if they can win....
- As you wish, Master. Anything else?
- Yes, I think so. Ask specialists, from Kuat shipyards, they will tell you how to attack you will be more convenient ...
- Thank you," the officer said and left the Jedi as quickly as possible.
* Obi-Wan Kenobi *
The ramp lowered smoothly, and the air of Neimodia rushed in - humid, smelling more pungent than the jungle of Naboo, but it seemed to smell of damp, swamp, wood....
As we descended the ramp, I glanced down at our landing site - the ship seemed to have fallen into the forest, dwarfing the few small trees that protruded from under the belly of the ship.
- Let's go, - my teacher hurried me, and I had to speed up - in such cases, the faster we do everything, the better. And we'd better not pick up someone like Jar-Jar this time.
As soon as I stepped off the ramp, my ankle-deep feet went into something viscous. Mud.
- Yeah, this place is amazing," I grimaced as I climbed out of the mud.
- Next time, watch your step," he stopped talking and turned to the side, listening, "that's where we're going.
The sky above us was filled with the glow of the planetary shield that separated Neimodia from the rest of the world. After a second of admiring the shimmering, so similar to the electromagnetic glow in the polar regions of the planets, I hurried after my teacher, who was already walking in the distance. I had to catch up.
The forest of Neimodia is terrible - it's full of insects of all kinds, the trees are low and grey, with big roots. The good thing is that you can walk along the roots of these trees without fear of falling into a puddle again. Or is it so "lucky" to park our captain?
Stepping from one root to another, we reached a small clearing. The teacher gave us a breath, and then spoke:
- We're almost there. If the data doesn't lie, there should be a small fort behind this grove guarding the generator.
- And how do we get inside?
- Most of the guards are probably droids like the ones we saw on Naboo. Droidekas might get caught, but it's unlikely. Did you catch your breath?
- Yeah.
- Let's go. - Qui-Gon turned round and walked on, taking care to tread on the roots of the trees.
The grove was not very large and I hid behind the trees, noticing my teacher's gesture. Ahead I could hear metal clanking and the noise of repulsor engines. After waiting a few seconds, the teacher looked around at what appeared to be a "fort". I, standing behind a thick tree, peeked out from behind it as well.
A low metal mesh fence, followed by a two-storey minimalist building with no windows but a few dish antennas on the roof. There were also simple mast antennas sticking out, so it was hard to mistake this place for anything else.
Next to the building walked a Neimodian in protective glasses, a tall tiara-hat and a blaster in his hands, next to him stood at least a dozen droids.
The distance from the edge of the clearing to the fort was short, so we could count on surprise at least, if we attacked the droids first...
Before I could think of anything else, the teacher broke from his seat and ran forward - at the Neimodian. When he saw the Jedi running at him, he raised his blaster, but the teacher snatched the weapon from his hands, and I threw a droid at him - successfully - the guard was knocked down, and while he was getting up, we drew our swords and made our way through the fence, immediately breaking into the station. The remaining droids met us with friendly fire from blasters, but to no avail - I deflected the shots, and then Qui-Gon, having finished the guard, joined me. A whole bunch more droids came to the noise and we had to make a quick dash inside the building.
- Ben, the door! - shouted the Teacher, standing next to the door he had mentioned. I ran inside, followed by Qui-Gon.
The thick steel door closed behind us, and Teacher swung his lightsaber across the joint, welding it shut.
- We made it. What is it? - He turned round.
The station inside was a typical military structure - clothes racks, weapons lockers, a corridor inside, and stairs to the first floor.
- I don't know, Master. Shall we split up?
- I think so. I'll take the ground floor, you take the second.
- All right.
The generator room of the planetary shield was too poorly guarded for my taste. However, with the Neimodians rushing their forces to their world in such a hurry, it's probably bad luck. If we'd stayed a couple of days, there would have been a troop of Droideks here, not a guard with a gun and a hundred droids.
Speaking of droids, I could hear them scrambling at the door and even trying to break through with blasters, but to no avail - they couldn't take such thick steel, even if they spent half an hour shooting together.
The first floor greeted me with three Neimodians... Well, what a cowardly race - as soon as they saw the lightsaber, they dropped their blasters and raised their hands.
- Don't shoot, Jedi! - exclaimed one of them.
I looked closer-they were sitting at a control panel full of their native dialect.
- Not firing. Where's the Shield generator? - I asked, not believing my luck, - and stand up, against the wall!
They came out from behind their console. Oh, right, engineers or technicians of some kind.
- In the basement.
- What's on the ground floor?
- Barracks.
- Good. - I nodded, and having looked around the room for danger (just a concrete box with holomonitors and complex equipment controls screwed to the walls), I moved to one of the walls, and put the prisoners to the other one, the one that didn't have any switches and control panels, or there could be unpleasant "accidents" with "accidentally" hit the alarm button.
You couldn't see the eyes of the Neimodians - they were still wearing the same protective goggles as the one patrolling the base, but you could practically feel their clammy fear - they doomed their heads and stood with their hands raised. After a few minutes, the captives' hands began to tremble, but just at that moment the teacher returned:
- There's no one downstairs, and... who's that? - he asked me, looking at the prisoners.
- The maintenance staff.
- Oh, yeah? So, how do you switch off the generators? - he asked the technicians. One of them couldn't take it anymore and answered immediately:
- there's a cable running to the emitter. Cut it. It'll take a long time to shut down the reactor.
- Where is this cable?
In reply, the technician looked somewhere to the side. There was a thick, human-sized, reinforced cable running along the wall, going somewhere up to the roof.
- Obi-Wan?
I nodded and walked over to the ill-fated cable. No matter how strong the planetary shields are, they rely on hundreds of segments, and if you shut down one of them, the whole system collapses. Of course, that would require defence of all such bases... but I guess the Neimodians didn't have time to bring serious forces to their home planet. I switched on my lightsaber and cut the cable in one fell swoop, hitting the wall as well.
The smell of ozone - the wires inside shimmered, but the cable stopped working.
- It's done, Master.
- Then...
Just at that moment three things happened - droids flew through the door, one of the Neimodians pulled out a blaster, and the glow of the shield outside the window stopped momentarily and the room went dark for a moment before the automation switched on the lights...