Attack of the Clones- LOTJP Version

Bounty Hunters, Battle Droids, & Tusken Raiders

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the galaxy, a certain ship by the name of Slave I was being followed by a Jedi star fighter being piloted by none other than Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was on the trail of Jango Fett and his son Boba Fett.
Obi-Wan exited the hyperspace ring and continued to follow the bounty hunters, remaining just far enough so hopefully Jango wouldn't see him, but close enough not to lose his ship.
Unfortunately, the tracker on Slave I caught something, which Boba noticed.
"Dad! I think we're being tracked!" Boba warned his father.
"He must have put a homing device on our hull." Jango said. He then began hitting a few buttons and switches. "Hang on, son. We'll move into the asteroid field, and we'll have a couple of surprises for him."
To Boba, that sounded like fun, not being used to such excitement. Most fathers probably took their sons to ball games and monster truck rallies. But this father took his son on death defying bounty hunting missions. Occasionally, anyway. Jango was ruthless, but he wasn't stupid enough to endanger his son if he didn't believe he was ready.
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Sure enough, the bounty hunters did have a couple surprises waiting for Obi-Wan, which the Jedi was quick to notice thanks to his droid R4.
"Seismic charges! Stand by."
The seismic charge blew up inside an asteroid. Fortunately, Obi-Wan dodged it. But that was just the first blow. A second one soon came out, and this time, a lot more rubble and rock flew around, Obi-Wan just barely managing to escape this time.
Jango had to admit, he was impressed by Obi-Wan's evasion skills, but he was also annoyed that he didn't seem to know when to quit.
"He doesn't seem to take a hint, this guy." said Jango.
So, Jango flew Slave I right into an asteroid. And of course, Obi-Wan followed him.
It was dark in there, full of scary caves. Boba didn't like to admit it, but he was still afraid of the dark.
"Look out!" Boba exclaimed, seeing some rock just in time for Jango to dodge it.
Luckily for them, they found the exit. And so did Obi-Wan, not realizing that Jango took this as an opportunity to get behind Obi-Wan and start firing.
"Oh, blast! This is why I hate flying!" Obi-Wan grumbled as he started dodging the firing.
Jango kept firing and firing, but missed almost every time. But then he got hit.
"We got him!" Boba cheered.
"We'll just have to finish him." Jango said, preparing to do just that.
And Jango fired what appeared to be a heat-seeking missile, judging by how it seemed to follow Obi-Wan's ship and its every move.
"R4, prepare to jettison the spare part canisters," instructed Obi-Wan.
R4 beeped affirmative. On Obi-Wan's count...
"Fire now!"
And the missile was blown up with the spare part canisters. Jango and Boba also thought they'd gotten rid of Obi-Wan, but he'd actually escaped and got himself out of sight right in the nick of time.
"Well, we won't be seeing him again," said Jango.
Jango steered Slave I onto a world where he landed in what appeared to be a port of some sort where he and his son could hide. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan waited with his ship parked on one of the asteroids until the Fetts were far enough.
"Well, R4, I think we've waited long enough." Obi-Wan said.
R4 beeped, and off he and his master went to continue their path, and they came across what appeared to be a refinery of some sort.
Obi-Wan sensed something was off.
"There's an unusual concentration of Federation ships over there, R4."
Obi-Wan soon landed the ship and exited quietly, prepared to face whatever awaited him. He told R4 to wait for him in the ship until he returned.
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Anakin and Padme walked through the hot desert, R2-D2 rolling along not far behind after they exited their ship.
"Stay with the ship, R2." Padme said.
Anakin carried Gabby in his arms as he and Padme walked to what appeared to be a little house next to a big crater. And they came across a protocol droid in rusty silvery plating.
"Oh! Um, uh, hello." said the droid. "How might I be of service? I am C-"
"3PO?" said Anakin.
That seemed to surprise the droid.
"Oh! Um... the maker! Oh, Master Ani! I knew you would return. I knew it!" and that was when Threepio noticed Padme. "And Miss Padme. Oh my."
"Hello, 3PO." Padme smiled.
"Oh, and who is this little one?" Threepio said, noticing the little girl in Anakin's arms.
"This is our daughter, Gabriella." Anakin said. "Say hello, Gabby."
"Hello." Gabby said cutely.
"She is simply beautiful! Bless my circuits! I'm so pleased to see you all." Threepio said.
"I've come to see my mother." Anakin said.
"Oh. Um, I think perhaps we'd better go indoors."
The three guests followed the protocol droid into the house, where they were introduced to two new humans none of them had ever seen before. A man and a woman.
"Master Owen, might I present three most important visitors."
"I'm Anakin Skywalker." Anakin introduced.
"Owen Lars," said the man. "Uh, this is my girlfriend, Beru."
"Hello." said Beru.
"I'm Padme."
"I'm Gabby!" said the little girl, hugging her newfound uncle's legs excitedly.
"I guess I should've warned you." Anakin said. "My daughter's a hugger."
"I guess I'm your stepbrother." Owen said. "I had a feeling you might show up someday."
"Is my mother here?"
"No, she's not." said a new voice.
And in came another man, an older guy in a hover chair.
"Cliegg Lars. Shmi is my wife." said the man, shaking hands with his new stepson. "We should go inside. We have a lot to talk about."
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The Lars family invited the Skywalkers inside. Of course, Cliegg was happy to see he had a granddaughter. Well, technically a step-granddaughter, but still. He couldn't help loving on her when he got to hold her in his lap and see how curious she was.
"It was just before dawn. They came out of nowhere." said Cliegg. "A hunting party of Tusken Raiders. Your mother had gone out early, like she always did, to pick mushrooms that grow on the vaporators. From the tracks, she was about halfway home when they took her. Those Tuskens walk like men, but they're vicious, mindless monsters."
"Do they eat little girls?" Gabby asked.
"I don't they necessarily eat people. But they definitely aren't nice. Thirty of us went out after your grandmother. Four of us came back."
That only seemed to frighten the little girl even more.
"I'd be out there with them, but after I lost my leg, I just couldn't ride anymore un-until I heal."
Gabby could see her grandfather was sad and worried, so she hugged him.
"I don't want to give up on her, but she's been gone a month. There's little hope she's lasted this long."
"What if she escaped and she's hiding so they don't find her again and that's why you didn't find her?" Gabby said. "Or maybe she ran away. Or what if she found out how to tame them like that guy who tames big cats at the circus?"
"As much as I'd like to believe that were the case little one," said Cliegg. "I doubt it."
"It could happen."
Gabby had a very active imagination. Heck, if imagining were a method of exercise that could improve weight loss, she'd surely grow up to look like a supermodel. But, Anakin needed to see for himself what had become of his mother; he knew her, she had to be alive somewhere. He could feel it.
So, he stood up and prepared to go.
"Where are you going?" said Owen.
"To find my mother." Anakin said.
"Your mother's dead, son. Accept it." Cliegg said.
"Did you see her die?" Gabby asked.
"Well, no." Cliegg answered.
"Did anyone find her body?"
"No, but-"
"Did anyone tell you they saw her dead?"
"No-"
"Do you see visions of people dying?"
"Does she always ask so many questions?" Owen asked.
"You get used to it." Anakin said.
Padme and Gabby both looked worried about Anakin. He just wanted to know where his mom was, and to be able to see her just one more time. Was that really so much to ask? If you had to be away from your loving mom the way Anakin had to be, and you got the chance to see her again for even just a few moments, wouldn't you take it?
Gabby crawled out after her mother as she went outside to see Anakin as he stared out into the sunny horizon. Anakin was determined to find his mother, and no one was going to be able to persuade him not to look for her.
"You're gonna have to stay here," he told Padme. "These are good people, Padme. You and Gabriella will be safe."
"Anakin-" Padme had tears in her eyes.
The couple hugged each other tightly as they knew that neither of them was sure when they would meet again.
Gabby tried climbing onto the speeder bike Anakin would take to find his mother, and she pretended to drive it.
"Gabby, no. You're staying here with your mommy." Anakin said, taking Gabby out of the driver's seat.
"But, Daddy. I don't want you to go away." Gabby whined.
Gabby was used to Anakin being away for long periods of time, but that didn't mean she liked it, especially not when she knew he was going into something dangerous where he might not come back for a long time, if ever. She'd heard stories where the bad guy was never seen again after being defeated, but what if the same thing happened to good people too?
"I won't be long, Princess." Anakin said, kissing his daughter's cheek. "Stay here and stay strong. Can you be strong for Daddy?"
Gabby had tears in her eyes. She looked at Anakin with puppy eyes, and he had to look away.
"Gabby, please don't look at me like that."
Anakin quickly handed Gabby over to her mother before she could sway him with her eyes. And then, he headed to the speeder, and was on his way, amid his daughter crying as he disappeared.
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Anakin rode the speeder at high speeds through the desert, determined to find Shmi Skywalker.
Along the way, he came across some Jawas and asked if they knew of any Tusken raiders nearby, and if they happened to see them with a human woman. They gave him what info they could, and Anakin rushed, praying he wasn't too late.
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Obi-Wan, meanwhile, was facing troubles of his own as he entered a cave of some sort, only to find it wasn't a cave at all. It was some kind of chamber or a palace, judging by the balconies and shiny windows.
It was quiet. Too quiet. No one seemed to be there, but Obi-Wan knew that silence was always necessarily a good thing. And then, that silence was broken as Obi-Wan began to hear the sound of metal clanging in a certain rhythm. Curious, Obi-Wan followed the sound until he reached a window that showed him what looked like a factory that was building droids. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them.
"We must persuade the Commerce Guild and the Corporate Alliance to sign the treaty." said a man's voice.
"What about the senator from Naboo?" said another voice, revealed to belong to none other than Viceroy Gunray. "Is she dead yet?"
"I am not signing your treaty until I have her head on my desk."
"I am a man of my word, Viceroy," said an older human male. "But first, we must get her child, and we must get her alive."
"Remind me the importance of the girl?"
"The princess is a powerful being, currently under an impressionable age, which grants an advantage to raising her to work for us before she grows too powerful for us."
"With these new battle droids we built for you," said another being. "you'll have the finest army in the galaxy."
Quietly, Obi-Wan moved a little higher up to get a better view of the situation, and he continued to listen in.
"I am quite convinced that 10,000 more systems will rally to our cause with your support gentlemen." said the human man, presumably their leader. His name was Dooku, a former Jedi Master.
Another alien spoke in a foreign tongue.
"What you are proposing could be construed as treason," said Dooku.
"The Techno Union army," said a being covered by metal armor, amid some electronic warbling. "is at your disposal, Count."
"The Banking Clan will sign your treaty." said a Muun.
"Good, very good." Count Dooku praised. "Our friends from the Trade Federation have pledged their support, and when their battle droids are combined with yours, we shall have an army greater than any in the galaxy. The Jedi will be overwhelmed. The Republic will agree to any demands we make.
Uh oh. That can't be good. Obi-Wan thought.
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Meanwhile, on Tatooine, Anakin soon came across a source of light in the dark desert at night. And that source of light was coming from none other than a Tusken Raider village. Anakin jumped down from the rocks and quietly crept over to the village, being cautious to not be seen. He followed his senses to one of the huts, where he sliced a hole in the back of one to get inside, and he was met by a horrifying sight.
Shmi Skywalker was held tied up to some sticks. She was battered and bruised really badly, and she had nasty scars on her face that looked like she'd been bleeding recently. Anakin quickly, but carefully cut his mother from her prison.
"Mom," gasped Anakin as he helped her down.
Shmi was very weak. She couldn't move.
"Mom? Mom?" Anakin carefully lay his mother down in his arms and tried to see if she could see him clearly.
"Ani?" Shmi finally said in disbelief. "Ani? Is it you?"
"I'm here, Mom. You're safe."
"Ani? Ani?" Shmi looked up at her son, no longer the adorable little boy she'd seen ten years ago, but a grown man, so handsome. She caressed his cheek. "Oh, you look so handsome."
Tearfully, Anakin kissed his mother's hand and looked her in the eyes.
"My son," said Shmi. "Oh, my grown-up son. I'm so proud of you, Ani."
"I missed you." Anakin whispered to her.
"Now I am complete. I love y-"
Anakin panicked, but tried not to show it.
"Stay with me, Mom." Anakin begged, his teary eyes getting worse. "Everything-"
"I-I love-"
And that was when Shmi collapsed completely before she finished her sentence. She was gone.
Anakin looked in horror at his mothers corpse. Carefully, he closed her eyes and held her body tightly in a hug. But then, Anakin was consumed by a completely different feeling: rage. These Tusken Raiders did this! Those monsters! They took Shmi an innocent, loving wife and mother, and they battered her to death probably for sport, and Anakin was going to make them pay for their actions!
Without giving it a second thought, Anakin ignited his lightsaber, and slaughtered the two Tuskens that guarded the tent Shmi died in, and then came more of them. Anakin held no fear, practically no emotion at all as he raised his weapon.
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Meanwhile, Yoda was meditating, and he could swear he heard the voice of Qui-Gon Jinn, shouting at Anakin, telling him "no!" but Anakin wasn't listening.
Mace Windu soon entered the picture. Yoda opened his eyes and looked at the human. Neither of them said a word for a while. But Mace broke the silence.
"What is it?" Mace asked.
"Pain, suffering, death I feel." Yoda said. "Something terrible has happened. Young Skywalker is in pain. Terrible pain.
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Obi-Wan, meanwhile, attempted to get a transmission out.
"The transmitter is working, but we're not receiving a return signal," said Obi-Wan. "Coruscant's too far. R4, can you boost the power?"
R4 beeped no.
"We'll have to try something else." Obi-Wan boarded the ship and came up with another idea. "Maybe we can contact Anakin on Naboo. It's much closer."
So, Obi-Wan sent a signal.
"Anakin? Anakin, do you copy? This is Obi-Wan Kenobi. Anakin?"
No answer. That could only mean one thing.
"He's not on Naboo, R4. I'm going to try and widen the range. I do hope nothing's happened to him."
Little did Obi-Wan know he was being watched. But, he was too busy tracking Anakin to sense it, especially when he got a tracking signal.
"That's Anakin's tracking signal alright, but it's coming from Tatooine. What in the blazes is he doing there? I told him to stay on Naboo." Obi-Wan was worried; he might not have physically been out on Tatooine when he first met Anakin a decade ago, but he knew it was not a pleasant area, even for some of the locals. "Anakin? Anakin, do you copy? This is Obi-Wan Kenobi."