The Fight to Survive (6 page)

“You do?!”

“Sure. For our Jedi friend. The one who somehow managed to escape us in the asteroids. He’s been captured now, thanks to you. You alerted the sentry, even though it meant you might
get in trouble. You did the right thing.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, Dad. I am sorry I disobeyed you.”

“I am, too, Boba,” said Jango Fett with a smile. “But I’m proud, as well.”

“You are?!”

“I would be worried if you didn’t disobey me at least once in your life. It’s part of growing up. Part of the process of gaining your independence.”

Boba didn’t know what to say. Did his father really believe he had only disobeyed him this one time?

So he tried to hide his smile, and didn’t say anything.

Confined to quarters.

It could have been worse. But it was still pretty bad. Boba’s lonely life got lonelier now that he was stuck in the apartment.

Jango Fett was very busy, talking business with the Count and the Geonosian they called Archduke, among others. Boba knew better than to try to sneak out.

Confined to quarters.

Boba missed his library friend, Whrr.

He was trying to construct a model starfighter from bits of wire when the door suddenly opened.

There in his battle armor stood Jango Fett. “Come, son,” was all he said.

That was all he
had
to say!

Boba scrambled to his feet and followed his father down the stairs. He was glad to get out of the apartment, for any reason. And he always felt proud, following his dad. He knew that anyone who
saw them was thinking:

That’s Jango Fett. And that’s Boba, his kid. He’ll be a bounty hunter, too, someday.

There was a hush in the dim underground halls. Boba could tell something important was happening. He wondered what it was.

He knew better than to ask. He was lucky enough just to be out of the apartment.

At the end of a long corridor, they encountered a milling crowd of Geonosians. Some had wings on their backs; others didn’t. A uniformed sentry waved them through, to the head of the line,
and into a huge room with tall ceilings. Though the room was filled with Geonosians, it was so big it seemed almost empty. Every footstep and every cough echoed.

The Archduke and some other officials were seated in a sort of high box at one end of the imposing room, with about a hundred Genosians looking on. Two people stood looking up at them. Something
about the way they stood told Boba they were prisoners. But proud, rebellious prisoners.

Jango and Boba squeezed into a crowd of Geonosians at the side of the room.

Somebody banged on something and the room got quiet. Almost, anyway. Everybody turned to look at the prisoners. Boba had to stand on tiptoe to get a good view.

One prisoner was dressed like a Jedi. He was a lot younger than the Jedi called Obi-Wan.

Maybe he’s an apprentice
, Boba thought. Though why anybody would want to be a Jedi was beyond him.

The other prisoner was a woman. And not just any woman. She was the most beautiful woman Boba had ever seen. She had a kind, gentle face—the sort of face he had always imagined his mother
might have had, if he’d had a mother.

“You have been charged and found guilty of espionage,” said one of the Geonosians.

Another chimed in: “Do you have anything to say before your sentence is carried out?”

The woman spoke up proudly. “You are committing an act of war, Archduke. I hope you are prepared for the consequences.”

The Archduke laughed. “We build weapons, Senator. That is our business. Of course we are prepared.”

Senator
. Boba was shocked. He pulled his father’s arm. “What’s a Senator doing here, as a prisoner?”

“Shhhhhh!” Jango hissed.

“Get on with it!” demanded another official, a Neimoidian with mottled green skin and bright red eyes. “Carry out the sentence. I want to see her suffer.”

It was the
other
Jedi that Boba wanted to see suffer, not the wannabe—and certainly not the woman. The persistent Jedi. The one they had killed again and again. Jedi Obi-Wan
Kenobi.

But where was he?

The Archduke answered Boba’s question. “Your other Jedi friend is waiting for you, Senator. Take them to the arena.”

The arena! Finally they were going to get to see some action. It was what Boba had been waiting for.

And yet, somehow, he dreaded it.

Like almost everything else on Geonosis, the arena was carved out of solid rock. Yet because it was open at the top, the arena was the brightest place in the entire underground
city.

The seats were filled with excited Geonosians, all flapping their wings and screaming with excitement, even though nothing was happening yet.

Vendors in bright costumes worked their way through the stands, singing and whistling to advertise their trays of live insects and other Geonosian treats. Boba loved it, even though he
wasn’t tempted by the squirming tidbits. He could hardly believe his luck. He was out of the apartment, no longer confined to quarters. He was in the arena, about to see a show. Plus, he and
his father had the best seats in the house.

They were sitting with the Archduke and the other officials. Jango Fett and Boba followed the Count into the official box. The crowd started cheering wildly, and, at first, Boba thought it might
be for his father, or even for the Count.

Then he looked down toward the center of the arena and saw the entertainment.

The Jedi prisoners.

They were chained to three posts: the young Jedi to one; the Jedi called Obi-Wan to another; and the beautiful woman to the third.

A fat Geonosian official cleared his throat and stood up to make a speech.

“The felons before you have been convicted of espionage against the sovereign system of Geonosis. Their sentence of death is to be carried out in this public arena henceforth.”

The crowd was cheering like crazy, and the fat Geonosian sat down, smiling, as if he thought the cheering were for him.

The littlest Geonosian official stood up and waved his stubby arms. “Let the executions begin!”

Boba had mixed feelings. He hated the older Jedi, Obi-Wan, who had gotten lucky and humiliated Jango Fett by escaping twice.

Boba wanted to watch him die.

The apprentice Jedi, he didn’t care about one way or the other. The problem was the woman. Boba didn’t want to watch her die. Not at all.

One of the Neimoidians did, though. He was rubbing his chubby hands together so hard that they were starting to get red.

Boba looked away, disgusted.
It’s guys like him who give executions a bad name
, he thought.

The crowd suddenly roared even louder.

And no wonder! Three barred gates down in the arena were opening. Riders in fancy costumes, mounted on orrays, were poking at monsters with sticks and spears, driving them into the central
ring.

And what monsters! Boba recognized them all from books.

The first was a reek, a sort of killer steed with razor-sharp horns.

The second one was a golden-maned nexu with claws and sharp fangs.

And the third was an acklay, a monster with large, clenching claws, big enough to cut an orray in half with one pinch.

The crowd loved it, and why not? This was what the execution arena was all about. Death for fun.

Boba was even starting to get into it, a little bit.

The prisoners weren’t, though. The woman had gotten out of her chains somehow and climbed to the top of her post.

Go!
Boba thought. Even though he knew it was wrong, he hoped she would escape. He even had a fantasy that he would help her. Then she would join him to enjoy watching the two Jedi get
killed.

Of course, Boba knew such a fantasy was ridiculous. No one would escape. What was happening down in the arena was an entertainment, but it was also an execution.

The reek was running around the arena, slashing at the air with its horn and, it seemed to Boba, enjoying the wild cheers of the crowd. Then the great beast got serious. It charged the young
Jedi’s post.

WHAM!
The reek hit the post a smashing blow, while the Jedi dodged sideways as far as his chain would let him. Then the Jedi jumped up, chain and all, onto the reek’s back, which
was, for him at least, the safest spot in the whole arena.

Cool move!
Boba thought, in spite of himself.

Then the young Jedi did something even cooler. He wrapped the chain around the reek’s horn, so that when the beast backed up and shook its head, the chain was torn free from the post.

Now the Jedi had a chain he could swing like a whip.

Boba cheered. Like the rest of the crowd, he was cheering for the reek.

The other Jedi, Obi-Wan, shifted deftly as the monster knocked the post flat, snapping it in two—and breaking the chain at the same time.

The nexu was after the woman. Its long fangs were bared, and it was trying to claw its way to the top of the post where she was perched, barely holding on.

Boba closed his eyes.

This one he did
not
want to watch.

The crowd groaned. AAAAAWWWWWW!

Boba opened his eyes. The Jedi Obi-Wan had grabbed a spear somewhere. He was using it to pole-vault over one of the orray riders. The acklay chasing him rammed into the rider and his orray,
knocking them both flat. The acklay opened its huge claw, and then—

CRRRRRRUNCH!

It was the rider, an employee of the arena, who had been pinched in half. But the crowd of Geonosians didn’t care. They just wanted to see blood. They didn’t care whose blood it
was.

Meanwhile, the young apprentice Jedi was riding the reek. He was using the chain for a bridle, controlling the beast.

The woman was still trying to get away from the nexu, which had ripped her shirt. Using her chain like a swing, she flew through the air, kicking the nexu into the sand and injuring its leg.
Then she landed back on top of the post, out of reach.

Go!
Boba thought again. Only to himself, of course.

The apprentice Jedi rode up on the reek, the beast completely under his control. The woman jumped on behind him. The nexu spat and snarled with rage—and then was attacked and killed by the
reek. The Jedi called Obi-Wan jumped up behind the woman, so there were three of them on the reek, charging around the arena.

The crowd went wild. They weren’t exactly cheering the gang of criminals—but they loved the excitement.

Boba cheered, too. He was glad to see the woman get away. So far, anyway.

It was all too much for the Neimoidian, though. He turned to Jango Fett. His beady little eyes were filled with rage.

“This isn’t how it is supposed to be. Jango, finish her off!”

Boba watched, wondering what his dad would do. Jango didn’t move.

The Neimoidian stared.

Jango Fett stared back.

The Count broke the silence.

“Patience, Viceroy,” he said. “She will die.”

A cheer went up and Boba looked down toward the arena.

The gates were opening again, all four of them this time. Droidekas rolled in, unfolding as they surrounded the prisoners, their blades gleaming wickedly in the light from the hole above the
arena. Before Boba could even blink, the droidekas had completely surrounded the three prisoners on their reek.

It was over.

Boba closed his eyes. He didn’t want to watch. Then he heard a noise behind him.

A very slight clicking sound. He opened his eyes and turned, and saw a terrible sight.

A Jedi, standing behind his father.

The Jedi’s face was dark, like fine wood. His eyes were narrow and cruel. His purple lightsaber was drawn, and ignited.

And held across Jango Fett’s neck.

The Geonosians stopped cheering. The droidekas stopped advancing.

The reek, with the two Jedi and the beautiful woman on its back, stopped prancing and bucking and rearing. A hush fell over the entire arena and all eyes turned away from the Jedi and the
droidekas. All of a sudden the show was not in the ring, but in the stands.

Everyone was staring at the officials’ box, where the Jedi held the lightsaber to Jango Fett’s neck.

We are the show!
Boba realized with horror.

Jango Fett stood perfectly still. His Mandalorian battle armor was useless against a Jedi lightsaber. One flick of the Jedi’s wrist and he would be decapitated.

Boba was scared.

As usual, the Count kept calm. Boba had noticed that he liked to turn everything into a game, even a bad situation. Even an emergency.

The Count seemed to know the Jedi.

“Master Windu,” he said, in a smooth, oily voice, “how pleasant of you to join us. You’re just in time for the moment of truth. I would think these two new boys of yours
could use a little more training.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” said the Jedi. “This party’s over.”

The Jedi gave a little hand signal. It looked to Boba as if lights were coming on all over the arena.

Lightsabers.

There were at least a hundred of them—some in the corners down by the ring, others up high in the stands. They came on all at once.

And each was in the hands of a Jedi.

Where had they come from? How had they all gotten in?

Boba was amazed at how bad the Geonosians’ security was. And he was beginning to understand his father’s grudging respect for the Jedi. They had their ways.

The Count, as always, tried to seem unimpressed. That was his style in a crisis.

“Brave but foolish, my old Jedi friend,” he said. “You’re impossibly outnumbered.”

“I don’t think so,” said the Jedi called Windu. He scanned the crowd with his hooded eyes. “The Geonosians aren’t warriors. One Jedi has to be worth a hundred
Geonosians.”

But the Count came right back at him. “It wasn’t the Geonosians I was thinking about.”

It was the Count’s turn to give a hand signal, even slighter and more subtle than the one the Jedi had given. Boba heard a sound like a storm on Kamino—a low rumble. Suddenly all the
doors in the arena opened and every aisle in the stands was filled with Battle Droids.