Star Wars Episode IIIAU: Sith Rising (Star Wars AU Series #1)

Finding Fuel

Padme's POV

"What makes you think we're gonna find fuel?!" I demanded as Will, C3PO, and I were wandering around. Tatooine was much more energetic and crowded than usual. It was Boonta Eve, after all.

"It's gotta be around here somewhere. Believe it or not, I found a few tanks of fuel right next to Anakin's pod racer last night." Will answered. "Now, if I could only remember where I found the pod racer."

"I don't believe it." A disgruntled C3PO muttered.

"Oh, shut up, 3PO. I've got enough on my plate without all of your sassy comments." Will rolled his eyes. Moments later, we arrived back at the spot where we found Anakin's pod racer, but when we looked inside, there was nothing there. Not even the slightest sight of a gas tank.

"That's nuts. I swear I saw 3 gas tanks in here last night." He said.

"I told you!" C3PO chimed in.

"Now don't you start!"

"I knew I shouldn't have tagged along in the first place!" C3PO and Will began arguing. Within seconds, every eye was fixed on them. I facepalmed.

"Hey, hey, hey! There is no need for this!" I shouted as I stood between the two. "Sheesh, you have got to CHILL OUT!" I saw two silhouettes in the distance.

"He's distracting me from my work!" Will tattled.

"What should you be more concerned about? Your stupid work or those two people behind you?" I pointed at the two silhouettes. Will turned around and ran towards the shadows.

"So they must be looking for trouble!" He exclaimed as I followed him.

"Will! Not again!" I cried. Suddenly, Will began shooting at the two silhouettes, which, surprise, turned out to be the two Mandos from last night. This time, they were holding a big sack and putting it in their landspeeder.

"So it's you two. Again." The captain signed. "We've gotta go!" The two Mandos hopped into their landspeeder and drove off.

"We gotta catch them! C'mon!" Will called after the Mandos left.

"How, though?" I asked.

"With this." Will got onto a typical brown speeder bike and gestured for me to get on.

"Ugh, William. One day." I groaned as I joined Will on the speeder bike.

"And we're off!" Will and I took off at top speed. Within minutes, the two Mandos were in sight.

"There they are!" I called.

"Perfect time to throw them off!" Will readied his blaster and began firing.

"What was that?" The captain asked. His assistant turned around and saw us.

"It's them! We gotta lose them!" The assistant shrieked as he began firing at us. Surprisingly, he missed all the shots.

"So, are they clone troopers or Stormtroopers now?" Will asked.

"That doesn't matter at the moment! What matters is that we catch those Mandos, cuz they're up to no good!" I yelled.

"I know. That's what I'm good at!" Will boasted as he began firing at the Mandos, mostly hitting the back of the landspeeder.

"Least you hit something." I noted. The Mandos drove the landspeeder into the desolate desert, with us not far behind. Soon, the landscape was filled with tons and tons of sand dunes. Will and I were immediately pulled into a desert maze as he made sharp turns here and there.

"Where are they?" I asked after several minutes of not talking.

"Dammit! They must be out of the sand dunes by now! How does one simply navigate through sand dunes?"

"You tell me!"

"We should be getting out of here soon."

"Are you sure? Cuz I feel like we're going in circles." I said just as the speeder bike came to a halt. "What happened?"

"Aw, shucks! We're outta gas!" Will whined after several unsuccessful attempts to repower the bike.

"Guess we'll have to walk." I said while we got off the bike. I looked up and saw a few tall buildings.

"Looks like we're not that far from town." Will wiped a tuft of sweaty hair out of his face. "Man, I'm steaming!"

"Not for long." I got out my trusty grappler gun. Will dropped his mouth in shock.

"A grappler gun? Padme, you're a genius!"

"Hang on to me, cuz this is gonna get a little messy." I aimed the grappler gun at the top of a building and shot. Out came a grappling hook that attached itself to a roof. Suddenly, Will and I were shot into the air and landed on top of the building.

"That was quick. Now...where are those Mandos?"

"They dropped their cargo." I pointed to the brown sack that was on the landspeeder earlier.

"Really? Then let's go have a look." Will and I climbed down from the building and inspected their cargo. Sure enough, there were the tanks of fuel inside the bag.

"I knew it!" I whisper-shouted.

"What would they want with the fuel?"

"I dunno, Palpatine might need to fuel his ship?"

"Plausible." Will shrugged. "We should be getting back any minute now. The pod race is tonight. I don't wanna miss it. By the way, I saw those two Mandos before."

"Really?"

"Yeah. At a bar the day after the incident. Obi Wan got knocked out from drinking too much and these two guys came in and tried to drag him off. Turns out they were looking for the audio chips."

"What a bunch of stalkers."

---

Author's Note: So, have you guys noticed how C3PO is with Will? Well, to make a long story short, Will kept him dismantled in a box for weeks, so he does have a right to be mad, don't you think?

9/10/16

Hey, Mia Mircada here! If you guys are in for some more epic Star Wars fan fiction, I highly recommend:

@LexaSkywalker story Broken Beginnings. It deals with Anakin getting a new Padawan who has trouble trusting others. It's a great read and has lots of twists and turns.

jedi3ravenclaw story Without Them. It features Ahsoka during the events of Revenge of the Sith. It's very creative and Ahsoka is never Out of Character. Not AU, though.

Thanks, and may the Force be with you!