The droid starship started to fall and as Crimos lunge at Obi-Wan, Kenobi use the Force to pull up the power cables and wrapped it around her left arm. Crimos swung her other free hand but Obi-Wan also grabbed it and tied another set of cable wires on her second arm. Crimos struggled and Kenobi pummeled the back of her head with the hilt of his lightsaber.
Crimos went down, tangled on a doomed droid ship, her weapons already falling down the churning rapids of the Solleu down to the Virdugo Plunge. Obi-Wan then leaped on the domed rooftop of the Theed Hangar and watch the droid starfighter and the unconscious Lady Crimos disappeared in the mist of the Virdugo Plunge.
Obi-Wan Kenobi climbed down and stealthily made his way into the Theed palace past busy droids fighting off the uprising civilians and occasional Naboo underground commandos.
Chapter 46: The Fateful Choice
Ruwee and Jobal, Darred and Sola, Thea and Rinn, Ryoo and Hoff Siege’s younger sister Hena went in pairs and moved from one house to another convincing their neighbors and fellow citizens to take arms and fight the invasion army occupying Theed.
It took them only an hour to collect a number of followers and they all gathered by the abandoned landspeeder store. Using the various parts they found on the shop they quickly assembled crude projectile weapons, laser and fusion cutters and PVC pipe bombs in a hurry.
The battle is already raging when their team was finished arming themselves. Led by Darred and Ruwee, they went out the streets and concentrated on one droid group after another.
When the underground commando spotted the civilians taking up arms they move to provide cover fire for their allies.
The older women went on recruiting more while the young ones led by Rinn who was a whiz kid in terms of fiddling with mechanical stuff, create more makeshift weapons for the incoming flow of recruits. Joining him were a group of teens led by the recently orphaned Max Entarrie, Theed Systems Programming Academy’s top student.
By the time Obi-Wan and Crimos were engage in their final duel the civilian resistance has spread and was now wrecking havoc all over the city against the droid army.
Viceroy Nute Gunray paced across the throne room muttering and regarded his new aid Soin Fordex, “I thought the battle will take place somewhere far!”
“We must evacuate at once!” Fordex said in a shaky voice.
“Fool! We can’t leave without getting that treaty signed!” Gunray grabbed Fordex’s collar angrily.
“Just stay here. I will deal with them and deliver the queen to you.” Darth Maul said as he entered the throne room.
Gunray and Fordex stopped and nodded silently at the Sith.
“Stay here. Don’t make me hunt you both down like what I did to Hath Monchar.” Lord Maul warned them and the color was drained from the two Neimoidians.
Darth Maul left the Throne room and sealed the blastdoor behind him, “Pathetic!” the Zabrak spat with utmost disgust and repulsion.
* * *
“Rinn, the entire city has joined the fighting, we need more parts!” one of the teenagers said to him.
“We’ve used up all the parts available here and there’s only one place left where we could salvage more tools.” Rinn told him.
“Where?”
“Theed Hangar.” Rinn said.
“Are you insane? We can’t get past the droids guarding that place!” one of the kids protested.
“It’s too dangerous, the grown-ups won’t let us.” Another one said.
“Listen, everyone, Rinn is right. It’s the best chance we got, you guys have the advantage, you’re all smaller, faster and more agile than those dumb droids put together. I will lead you there but Rinn will have to lead us into the hangar itself.” Max Entarrie, the sixteen year old boy who was technically the oldest in the group addressed everyone.
“And why must it be Rinn to lead us inside the hangar?” another kid asked.
“Because his father is the head of the Naboo Space Fighters Corps, dummy!” a little girl quipped and they all chuckled nervously.
“Max is right. I can get us in the hangar, I know the override codes, and I can unlock the parts storage too once we’re all in there.” Rinn finally said.
“Get the inflatable rafts and the ropes. We’ll be taking the river on the way back here.” Max said and the kids started getting everything they needed for their little mission.
* * *
Sarc Crimos bolted upward and spat water on the cold metal pavement. As she heaved for air she recognized where she was. Long pathways extend on every corner connected to the circular platforms surrounding wide shafts of pure plasma energy streaming up from the chasm mines below to the regulator panels above.
She was on the Plasma Refinery Complex, and she was not alone.
Darth Maul stood some five meters away from her, watching her. His hood was down and he was dripping wet.
“You saved me.” Crimos smiled and tried to get up and felt a sharp pain lanced up her left leg and saw a broken bone by her shin. It jutted out like an accusing finger of disappointment.
She held her broken bones with her two hands and gritted her teeth as she pushed it back into the position with a loud cracking noise then she stripped a part of her cloth and wrapped it on her wound and use the Force to slowly heal herself.
“You have failed our master for the last time.” Maul growled, unperturbed at her current condition.
“We can kill him. Together we can be stronger than him. I will help you, strike him down and take his place. You will become the master and I, your apprentice. Let us take the Rule of Two on a new level. Master and apprentice, husband and wife…” Crimos winced at the pain and reached out for Maul’s hands.
“I am my master’s weapon. I serve only him.” Maul answered flatly.
“Damn you, you fool! He will get rid of you after this, already he is grooming another one to take your place, or are you too naïve or too stupid to realize that!” Crimos snarled angrily, desperately.
“There is no one else. I am my master’s weapon and you are but a tool.” Maul insisted this time he unclipped his double-hilted lightsaber.
Crimos realized her lightsabers aren’t on her belt or anywhere nearby. It must have gone down in the waters. “Your precious Lord Sidious have chosen a new ally, a Jedi Master of great renown. He is powerful and he is immensely wealthy. He can bring about the machinations that would culminate your master plan, to both destroy the Republic and the Jedi Order. He no longer needs you Maul. I need you!” Crimos shouted in rage, tears began to run down her cheeks, ignoring the pain in her left leg she struggled to stand up by herself. She felt the Force engulfing her, feeding in her rage.
Darth Maul took out a portable holo-receiver and placed it on the floor to his side and activated it.
Darth Sidious’ holo appeared and he was seated on a throne, his black hood down covering most of his face as usual. There was a certain glint of satisfaction in his devilish grin. Crimos recognized the throne. It was the one from his Byss hide-out. That was where he sat when she first met him after she was taken to him by her employer Hego Damask.
“Crimos,” Sidious spat her name like a curse. “I told you one day you’ll outlive your worth to me.”
“I can kill you anytime!” Crimos reached out and channeled all her rage and concentration on the image of distant Byss, the old dark citadel and that all too familiar throne and to that even more familiar being. She felt her reach touching the Sith and she grabbed his heart. Sidious stiffened but laughed like a deranged old man that he is.
“You have the skills Crimos, the power to such greatness. It is such a pity your witch blood makes you such a stubborn fool.” Sidious straightened up and Crimos felt her grip losing and her own heart and lungs constricting.
“Before you die Crimos, tell him the real reason why you pledged your service to me.” Sidious grinned.
“I joined the Jedi to learn the basics of the Force and to know more about them, their ways, their names, their halls, everything
. So that I may use it as a bargaining chip to the Sith who took you from us back on Dathomir. I allowed Hego Damask to introduced me to him so I may be able to see you again.” Crimos cried as Sidious maintain his hold on her heart and lungs.
“I served him to be with you. I asked you to be my price. He agreed, he promised you to me. But he never kept that promise. He kept you apart from me just until recently. I have long given up believing his words…” Crimos struggled to resist the invisible grip of Darth Sidious.
“You did all this just to be with me? That’s pathetic!” Darth Maul spat in repugnance.
“I’m in love with you!” the Lady Sarc Crimos cried out.
“Kill her now.” Sidious eyes bore down on her very soul.
Darth Maul locked gaze with the Lady Crimos… then suddenly Crimos howled in rage and shot out a powerful lightning bolt on the holo receiver overloading its power cell and making it explode.
She stood up and uses her rage, frustration and pain, both physical and emotional to sustain her and strengthen her. She slowly staggered towards Darth Maul.
Darth Maul ignited his double-bladed lightsaber and struck at her arms. Crimos focused her control in the Force and blocked the blade with unseen energy.
Maul’s eyes widened then snarled at her and attacked swiftly, striking his blades left and right but Crimos maintained her focus and uses her hands’ Force energy to deflect and parry.
Maul stood back and watched her intently thinking of a way to turn the tables against her. Crimos just stood there looking at him with regret and surrender.
“Who are you? I don’t know you anymore.” Crimos said softly.
Darth Maul lunged and his blade pierced her chest and punched through her heart. Crimos mouthed the word I love you before the life in her eyes dimmed and died. Her corpse fell over the walkway and down on the abyssal chasm. The Zabrak took out a pair of still dripping wet lightsabers from the back of his belt and threw it down after the falling body of the Lady Sarc Crimos.
Darth Maul closed his lightsaber and howled, his rage echoing on the confines of the vast Plasma Refinery Complex.
He turned around and felt the presence of the Jedi outside. He put up his hood once again and clipped his lightsaber and composed himself before heading out to open the massive blastdoor ahead.
* * *
Qui-Gon sliced off the last of the droidekas as Panaka reached the blastdoor that Artoo Detoo has opened for them.
The two teams moved out after they placed their dead together on one side and covered them with cloaks. The wounded that could no longer fight stayed there with one of the reserved Handmaiden staying to tend their wounds.
There was no turbolift there, only a winding stairs that leads up to the main level of the palace. The growing chaos outside the palace and all over the city drew most of the stationed droids out.
Qui-Gon took the lead, Panaka behind him followed by Lady Crystaé, the Queen and her decoy Sabé and the rest of the Royal Handmaidens and Palace Guards with Anakin and Artoo Detoo.
The corridor they were traveling along leads to the Theed Hangar, normally this side of the palace are accessed by pilots coming from the Space Fighters Corps Barracks.
Before they reached the end of the long corridor a group of droidekas rolled in to block their path and opened fire. They took cover on the thick columns and returned fire.
It took them a couple of minutes before they finally got rid of the droidekas and got into the Theed Hangar. Panaka spotted a number of kids rummaging through the parts storage area and he started to walk towards them and one of the kids who are meeting him through the hangar he recognized instantly.
“Rinn what are you doing here?” Panaka asked.
“Momma’s helping the grown-ups fight the droids outside and we were assigned to make their weapons. We ran out of stuff so we went here….” Rinn blurted out.
“Anakin!” Panaka turned around and waved for the boy and Artoo Detoo.
“Stay here with Rinn…” Panaka said to him as Qui-Gon and the others joined them.
“But…” Anakin started to protest but he felt a hand touched his shoulders and saw Qui-Gon staring intently at him.
“Anakin, this is the dangerous part of our mission. Stay with these kids and give all the help you can give them, you and Artoo.” Qui-Gon said to him seriously.
Artoo beeped in agreement with Qui-Gon and told Anakin that he knows Rinn very well and they would be fine here. Hesitantly Anakin complied as the Jedi and Panaka started to lead their team towards the direct corridor leading to the throne room. A dozen droidekas came down the corridor and began firing at them.
“Take cover!” Qui-Gon shouted at the kids as he deflected laser bolts. Panaka and the other returned fire while Rinn and Anakin ushered the other kids behind two wreckages of N1 Starfighters.
From behind the droidekas another robed figure jumped down from the stairs and struck at them from behind. Obi-Wan Kenobi ran to rejoin with his master.
“We can’t go that way. There are more of those destroyers waiting for you.” Obi-Wan said. Qui-Gon looked at Panaka and the Queen for options.
“This way,” Panaka started to lead them to another passage when the blastdoor slid open and Darth Maul appeared. He took down his hood and held out his long hilted lightsaber and ignited both ends, his fiery red-orange slits of orbs never leaving the Jedi Master’s eyes.
“We’ll handle this.” Qui-Gon said as he and Obi-Wan drops off their robes and ignited their lightsabers.
Chapter 47: Duel of Fates
Jar-jar’s cerrabore barreled its way past scores of battle droids knocking them left and right and trampling down the rest with its armored legs until the Bombad General came face to face with the massive ACT of the droid commander OOM-9.
Jar-jar fired the tracer-rifle and its magnetic beacon attached itself on the hull of the Armored Command Tank. The ACT swiveled its triple-barreled cannon and fired in his direction, he made his cerrabore leap away and attack, the lower blasters bouncing harmlessly from its thick armor plated head.
Jar-jar braced himself as his beast hammered onto the large tank. The cerrabore’s head armor cracked open and the ACT was pushed a little off of its track but the powerful tank easily asserted itself and started to redirect its side quad-laser cannons on them. Jar-jar moved his beast away but the close range barrage split the beast’s armor open and burned holes in its thick hide.
The cerrabore Geerokk growled from the intense agonizing pain and fell on its side, dying. Jar-jar leaped off and rolled on the soft grass but battle droids began to converge on him. The Gungan pulled out his militiagungs energy shield from the fallen cerrabore and activated it and blocked the incoming laser bolts. With his free hand he raised his large repeater blaster and fired at the gathering battle droids.
Boss Nass finally got Jar-jar’s planted beacon signal in his radar indicating the location of the ACT and OOM-9, the droid commander that led the destruction of his beloved Otoh Gunga, and he started to steer Hooga, his stampeding armored Fambaa towards his target.
OOM-9’s ACT angled towards the direction where Jar-jar had gone but one of the battle droid inside the tank alerted the commander about an incoming threat.
OOM-9 turned around to see a huge lumbering heavily armored Fambaa crushing droids and toppling AATs in its path towards them.
“Direct all firepower…” OOM-9 shouted the command but a pair of boomas came splattering down on the ACT. A surge of electrical power short-circuited the Armor Command Tank and as the droids inside frantically charge their back-up power cells, another pair of boomas detonated on the tank that further crippled the ACT.
OOM-9 popped open the rear exit hatch and scurried away as Hooga trampled the immobilized ACT. The cannons, squad-lasers and forward blasters were bent and smashed by the powerful limbs of the mighty Fambaa.
Jar-jar looked back and saw OOM-9 coming out of the ACT as it was being crushed by Boss Nass’ Fambaa. He swung his weapon around t
o blast the droid commander in half when a jolt of numbing and paralyzing bolt struck him from the back. The Gungan’s eyesight blurred until everything went black.
One of the AAT’s blasts punched through the weakening armored platting of Hooga. OOM-9 took advantage of it and shouted orders at all nearby tanks to open fire at the single target, Boss Nass.
Ten C-9979s came out from the clouds and landed across Epee Dui, now empty of saw-toothed granks who had just evacuated to somewhere safe. The Trade Federation Landing Ships descended and began deploying all of its contents; more MTTs, AATs and Troop Carriers.
Boss Rugor Nass jumped out of his steering cockpit as the AAT barrage pierced his shields and destroyed the steering cockpit. Hooga went wild as the burning and melting mount scorched and destroys the thick scales of the Fambaa.
The AATs did not stop and continue to fire at Hooga until the armors were destroyed and the cannon fires blew chunks of burnt meat on the dying Fambaa.
Boss Nass charged at them, his large modified electropole swinging and hacking droids. But more came in and soon enough the leader of the Gungan army was disarmed and subdued and was shoved to the now regaining consciousness General Binks. Two more prisoners were thrown with them, Captain Tarpals and Major Fassa.
“Youssa alright?” Jar-jar whispered at Fassa who nodded and spat blood on the grass.
“Nym’s forces has ussa been surrounded topside, as we are.” Fassa informed him.
“Surrender!” OOM-9 trained his blaster at Boss Nass.
“Never!” Jar-jar growled. Droidekas rolled in and surrounded them, their superior laser blasters aimed at the captives.
“Execute them!” YIN-762 ordered and as the droidekas charged their fire, OOM-9 stopped them and overruled YIN-762’s wishes.
“Wessa give up!” Boss Nass said as he touches Jar-jar’s shoulder and patted it reassuringly.
“But Boss!” Jar-jar started to complain but Boss Nass leaned down on him and whispered in Old Gunganese.
“[Wessa have done ussa part, the true outcome of dessa battle will not be for ussa to decide.]” Boss Nass said to Jar-jar. The General nodded in understanding and placed his hands over his head.
All across the Grassy Plains and up on the Epee Dui the Gungans and Nym’s forces were being rounded up by swarms of battle droids.
Star Wars - Artoo Detoo: Droid of a Kind (Volume 1) Page 40
