New Threat (7 page)

This must be a freight entrance back here
, thought Boba. He hesitated and looked for signs of hidden Republic forces, but saw none. He might be able to dodge the security drone and
clear the freight entrance.

I could try to get in that way. But what would I do once I actually got inside?

He hadn’t worked out that part of his plan—yet.

Later,
he thought. Quickly he turned and continued to circle the fortress, searching.

And then he saw it—he almost stepped on it! Camouflaged with torn mushroom fronds and malvil-limbs, it was so rusty and battered that it blended right in.

A swoop bike.

Boba looked around the mushroom forest furtively. But if there were clone troopers nearby, they were being even more stealthy than he was: He saw no one. He looked up.

And yes, the ramship was still there, like a volcanic cloud hanging above Mazariyan. The droids loading it were obviously close enough to see through the haze. Boba glanced back at the worker
droids on the ground. The security drone was gone—it must have continued on its own circuit of the fortress.

And those other droids were all labor units. None of them would be programmed for surveillance or security.

“It’s now or never,” Boba muttered. He paused beside the swoop bike, looking over his shoulder. Then he shoved aside the dried-up mushrooms and jumped on. “And I say—now.”

For one heart-stopping moment, he thought it wouldn’t start. Then it sputtered and coughed. Finally, with a low buzzing sound it lurched forward.

Someone’s modified it so that any sound is muffled,
Boba noted approvingly. He leaned over the controls and pulled up on the throttle. The swoop shot up through the malvil-trees.
Not as fast as Boba would have liked—whoever did the modifications obviously preferred stealth over speed.

Maybe they know something I don’t
, he thought, and looked around. The worker droids were still laboring mindlessly by the freight entrance. Boba adjusted his helmet, increasing
the focus until he could just glimpse the front of the citadel. Nothing new there, either. Above the citadel’s peak, the ramship hovered in place. Boba swung his swoop around, then brought it
up to full throttle. Fungus fronds lashed at his helmet as he flew up, up. When he hovered just below the canopy of the forest, he turned the swoop and started to cruise in a careful circuit.

Might as well do a little recon of my own,
he thought.
That clone trooper came from someplace.

But where?

In a minute he had his answer. Not too distant from Wat Tambor’s citadel, something moved.

Something big—something really big!

A Republic All Terrain-Tactical Enforcer!

“Man, they mean business,” muttered Boba. That AT-TE would be loaded with more clone troopers—dozens of them—not to mention some serious firepower.

There was no way he could commandeer an AT-TE, of course. But where there were incoming clone troopers, there would be Jedi nearby to command them. They would have vehicles of their own—gunships, starfighters, maybe even airspeeders.

If I can get my hands on an airspeeder, I might be able to decoy that ramship back toward Mazariyan. The ramship doesn’t move very fast—but in a speeder, I could! Then I could
reach
Slave I
and get out of here—back to Jabba to claim my bounty!

He angled closer to the AT-TE, being careful to stay out of sight. There were several smaller vehicles accompanying the walker—and, in the distance, more AT-TEs.

That’s more like it
, Boba thought with grim satisfaction.

Things might not be so bleak for the Republic, after all. He adjusted the long-range focus on his helmet, until he could make out even more shadowy shapes far behind the approaching AT-TEs.
Gunships, each carrying a payload of still more troops and walkers.

And, sure enough, there were speeders, too—and a starfighter.

“That’ll be Glynn-Beti,” said Boba. He scowled, but brought the swoop down lower to get a better look. As he did, something flashed past him—

Another swoop!

“Huh?” For a second, Boba was too startled to do anything. Then he grabbed his blaster.

But whoever was on the swoop wasn’t intent on catching Boba. He was heading for the citadel.

But not just the citadel. As Boba watched in amazement, he realized that he wasn’t the only one who’d been coming up with a plan.

The swoop was flying up—straight toward Wat Tambor’s ramship!

“Great minds think alike!” Ygabba used to tell Boba, joking.

But right now, watching the other swoop flying at the ramship, Boba thought maybe this particular idea hadn’t been such a great one. The swoop looked like a squir-mite attacking a
sandcrawler.

“He’s doomed,” Boba groaned.

He’d had only a glimpse of the person flying it. But a glimpse was all he needed to recognize him.

Ulu Ulix!

Boba had met the young alien back on the
Candaserri.
Of course, Ulu hadn’t known Boba by his real name—Boba had called himself Teff, and had said he was an orphan from
Raxus Prime. He’d guessed Ulu was about the same age as he was, though Ulu had horns and three eyes. They’d been friendly—well, as friendly as Boba could be to anyone back on
the
Candaserri.

He’d never recognize me now
, Boba thought with pride.
Not with my Mandalorian helmet on, and my body armor.

As Boba watched Ulu’s swoop approach the ramship, he remembered the other thing about the three-eyed alien.

Ulu Ulix was a Padawan, a Jedi apprentice—and his Jedi Master was Glynn-Beti!

Quickly Boba looked back to where the AT-TE was moving in the forest. A starfighter kept pace with it, high above the tops of violet malvil-trees. If Glynn-Beti was in that fighter, she must
suspect the ramship was headed for the Republic’s assault ship. But did she know her Padawan was headed for the ramship?

Boba wondered if Glynn-Beti was crazy—or if Ulu was.

He didn’t get to wonder long.

KA-FLOOOSHH!

Meters from where Boba’s swoop hovered, a malvil-tree exploded. There was a second flash of blue flame. Boba was spattered with purple gunk.

He wiped fungus goo from his helmet, yanked on the throttle, and swerved away from the forest. He needed a better view of what was happening.

What he saw wasn’t good, at least not for the Padawan. The sentry droids had spotted Ulu Ulix!

Boba’s swoop shuddered as another burst of flame struck a giant mushroom not far off.

BLAM!

The mushroom exploded. Fiery blobs of fungus flew everywhere, setting other trees aflame. The droids were firing! Boba’s swoop shot straight up, safely out of range. He was close to the
citadel now—too close, probably—but the droids weren’t firing on Boba.

At least, not yet. Boba frowned. What—who—were they after? He risked bringing his swoop down lower, and nearer to the fortress. From here he had a clear view of the droids below,
laser fire crisscrossing the air as the Republic’s troops began to counterattack.

But the droids weren’t firing on the Republic troops.

Their target was Ulu Ulix.

Boba swerved abruptly as a blast tore the air just meters away. When he looked back, he saw the ramship give a sudden surge upward.

“They’ve released the ramship!” he exclaimed, just as the other swoop suddenly shot toward the massive vessel. Boba waited for a volley of fire from the ramship to destroy the
swoop.

But the ramship didn’t alter its swift course one meter. Instead it sped upward, oblivious to Ulu Ulix pursuing it.

And why should that surprise Boba? The ramship had a drone-mind. Nothing could cause it to alter its course. Attempting to lure or attack it had obviously been a really, really bad idea.

That could have been me,
Boba thought.

He watched grimly as Ulu’s swoop dipped and swerved clumsily. The alien was trying to avoid the barrage of fire from below. But his swoop didn’t seem to have any more thrust than
Boba’s.

“Still, he
could
fly it better,” Boba said.

He clung tightly to his swoop, flying it closer still to the citadel’s black peak, and glanced back into the forest.

The convoy of AT-TEs had stopped at the very edge of the clearing. The speeders were gone, and the starfighter. Boba’s jaw clenched.

Glynn-Beti doesn’t even care that her Padawan is under fire. She’s too concerned that her own attempt to attack Wat Tambor’s citadel will be affected!

Typical Jedi arrogance
, thought Boba angrily. He looked out to where Ulu Ulix’s swoop swung dizzily around the top of Mazariyan. With a sudden
BOOM
, the three-eyed
alien’s vehicle was engulfed in black smoke. Sparks flew from it. There was a terrified cry.

And Boba watched in horror as a small figure tumbled into the air—and plummeted straight toward the waiting spines of Mazariyan!

Boba had no time to think. He yanked back on the throttle. At the same time he opened the stop to feed it as much fuel as possible. With a garbled roar, the swoop shot forward.
Laser fire and explosions rocked the air around Boba. Below him, the spines waited.

“Master…help…!”

A cry echoed above the sound of laser fire. Boba leaned forward as far as he could, arms outstretched. His swoop raced toward the shining black pinnacle of Mazariyan. One huge, curved spine
thrust upward. It positioned itself to impale the small form falling like a stone.

Boba’s swoop dipped as he reached out. With a groan, something heavy crashed onto the front of the swoop. Boba swerved away from Mazariyan.

“Th-thanks!” Ulu Ulix blinked. He kept a tight hold on the swoop’s fuel tank. His three large eyes stared gratefully at Boba. “I thought I was dead back there!”

“Well, there’s still a chance you might be!” Boba shouted over the thunder of crossfire. “Keep your head low—”

BLAM!

Laser fire ripped past them. Boba wrestled his blaster from his belt. He turned and fired in the general direction of the sentry droids. Then he glanced down. Battle droids were everywhere now.
Some were still firing up at Boba. But most had bigger targets in their sights.

With a deafening rumble, the first of the AT-TEs had drawn up at the edge of the clearing. Its hold opened, and a wide gangway swung down. More than a dozen clone troopers came running out,
blasters firing. There was the whoosh and roar of battle droids rushing from hidden entrances in the citadel. They marched in formation toward the Republic’s troops. Bolts of pure energy
zoomed toward the clones. Wat Tambor’s fortress glowed like the sun as laser fire rippled up and down its sides.

Ulu Ulix’s three eyes widened as he stared at the carnage below.

“Wow,” he breathed.

The attack on Mazariyan had begun.

“Keep your head down!” Boba commanded. He abruptly swung the swoop to the left.

A blinding burst of energy exploded behind them. Boba cut back on the throttle. The swoop dropped sickeningly before he pulled it out of the dive.

He yelled, “We’ve got to get out of here, fast!”

“There!” gasped Ulu. He pointed to where another AT-TE waited. It was surrounded by a squad of heavily armed clone sentries. “General Glynn-Beti!”

Boba squinted through the thick smoke. “Where?”

“She’s standing by the transport—see? She should be in her speeder, keeping track of the battle. I guess she was worried about me. Boy, she looks really, really
mad.”

Ulu Ulix gulped. Boba looked at him. He couldn’t help grinning inside his helmet. “Mad?”

“Yeah…the siege was ready to begin, anyway, but…”

The three-eyed alien looked back to where his swoop lay. It was now a heap of smoldering wreckage. It was surrounded by battle droids who were busy firing on the Republic’s troops.

“But maybe the siege started a little earlier than scheduled?” Boba finished Ulu’s sentence for him.

The alien nodded miserably. “Yeah. Something like that.”

Boba steered the swoop to where Glynn-Beti stood. He glanced at Ulu Ulix. It was weird to think that the horned alien didn’t recognize him in his helmet and body armor. Weird, but
good.

I was more of a kid back then
, Boba thought proudly.
But now I’m a real bounty hunter.

The swoop approached the edge of the forest. The sentries guarding the AT-TE snapped to attention. They stared up at Boba. They raised their weapons. They were ready to fire—

“Get Glynn-Beti’s attention!” Boba shouted at Ulu Ulix over the roar of battle. “Other wise we’re dead!”

“Master!” yelled Ulu. “Master, here—!”

On the ground, Master Glynn-Beti looked up. She was small and slender, with a vaguely feline face crowned by flowing reddish hair. Even from this distance, Boba could sense the power she
held.

A Jedi’s power.

“Ulu Ulix!” The Jedi’s voice rang out sharply over the din. She sounded angry, but also relieved. She turned to the clone sentries. “Hold your
fire!”

Boba angled the swoop down to within a few meters of the AT-TE. It landed with a bump. Ulu clambered off. He smoothed the folds of his Padawan’s robe. Then he looked at Boba.

“I don’t know how to thank you,” said the three-horned alien. “I don’t even know your name. Although there
is
something familiar about you….”

Ulu frowned slightly, thinking. Boba said nothing. He felt light-years older than Ulu. Light-years older than he had been when they first met.

Fortunately he didn’t need to say anything. Because General Glynn-Beti was bustling toward them now. And she looked like she had plenty to say.

“Ulu! What were you thinking?” She glared at the young alien. Ulu Ulix stared at his feet, abashed. “You put this entire mission in jeopardy!”

“I am sincerely sorry, Master,” Ulu said. “I am ashamed of my actions. But I only wanted to help.”

“Help?” Glynn-Beti scowled at him. Then she looked at Boba, still on his swoop. “This stranger is the one who helped!” The Jedi bowed slightly. “I am in your debt,
stranger. My profound thanks for saving the life of this most foolish of Padawans.”