'Great work, Artoo!' Anakin shouted excitedly, reaching at once for the steering bars. 'Now, let's see...'
He wheeled the fighter about so that it was facing toward the combatants. His eyes scanned the control panel desperately, searching for the weapons systems. He knew something of fighters from salvaging wrecks, but nothing ofNaboo fighters in particular or of weapons systems in general. Most of what he knew was about guidance systems and engines, and most of that about Pods, speeders, and aging transports.
'Which one, which one?' he muttered, his fingers passing over buttons and levers and switches, undecied.
He lifted his eyes momentarily. One of the Naboo soldiers went down in a crumpled heap, his helmet and blaster flying away in a clatter of metal. Laser charges burned the metal girders and walls about the defenders as the destroyer droids continued their relentless attack on Padme's dwindling force. In desperation, Anakin threw a bank of switches set into a red panel. The fighter began to shake violently, a reaction to a shift in the stabilizers.
'Uh-oh, wrong ones,' the boy breathed, throwing the switches back into place. His gaze roamed to a bank of four dark buttons recessed deep into finger holes and circled in green. 'Maybe these...'
He pressed down on the buttons. Instantly, the nose lasers fired, their charges ripping into the battle droids. Three went down, charred and smoking scrap.
'Yeah! Droid blasters!' he shouted gleefully, and behind him, R2-D2 beeped his approval.
The remaining destroyer droids wheeled toward him spreading out across the hangar floor to present a more difficult target. Behind them, Padme, her handmaidens, Panaka, and the remainder of the Naboo soldiers were racing for the door that led back toward the palace. Anakin watched over the rim of the cockpit as they disappeared safely out the door. 'Good luck,' he whispered.
The destroyer droids were advancing on him now, their blasters firing, charges exploding all around him, shaking the fighter's slim frame. Anakin had a momentary glimpse of the Sith Lord driving the J edi across the hangar and through an opening into a room beyond, pressing them backward relentlessly, pursuing them with a fury that was terrifying.
Then they disappeared from view as well, and the boy was alone with his attackers.
A laser blast struck the nose of his craft and knocked the ship sideways. The boy tightened his grip on the steering. He fired his own lasers in retaliation, but the destroyer droids had moved too far to either side to be affected, and his charges missed everything but the hangar walls.
He dropped below the rim of the cockpit once more, eyes searching the control panel anew. 'Shields up,' he hissed, forcing himself to concentrate as laser blasts streaked all around. 'Always on the right side! Shields are always on the right!'
He flipped several likely switches, and the afterburner ignited with a rumble. He pushed another, then one more. The steering handle fought itself free of his grip, and the fighter wheeled about and streaked out through the hangar doors, lifting swiftly away.
The cockpit hood slid smoothly into place, locking about the boy. 'Artoo, what's happening?' he screamed. R2-D2's nervous tbeeps and whistles sounded through the intercom speakers. 'Yes, I know I pushed something!' the boy answered. 'No, I'm not doing anything!' He caught his breath as the beeps continued, and read R2's words on his cockpit display. 'It's on automatic pilot? Well, try to override it!'
The sleek yellow fighter had left the Naboo atmosphere and was entering deep space, leaving the planet behind, a green and blue jewel receding into the black.
Ahead, a series of small, silver dots appeared, growing steadily larger. Other ships.
'Artoo, where are we going?' Anakin gasped, still trying to decipher the control panel.
The comm system squawked, and suddenly he was hearing the voices of Ric Otic and the Naboo pilots who had taken off ahead of him.
'TtIis is Bravo Leader.' Ric's leathery voice broke through the static. 'Bravo Two, intercept enemy fighters. Bravo Three, make your run on the transmitter station.'
'Copy, Bravo Leader,' the response came back.
Anakin could see them now, the silver dots taking on recognizable shape, transforming into Naboo starfighters, spread out against the blackness, approaching the larger, blockier form of the Federation battleship.
''Enemy fighters straight ahead,' Ric Otic warned suddenly Ion the comm.
At the same moment, R2-D2 beeped hurriedly at Anakin. The boy felt his stomach lurch as he read the display. 'What do you mean, the autopilot is searching for the other ships? What other ships?' His eyes shifted to the Naboo fighters ahead. 'Not those?'
R2-D2 whistled a quick confirmation. Anakin collapsed in his seat. 'The autopilot is taking us up there, with them? Into battle?' His mind raced. 'Well, get us off autopilot, Artoo!'
The astromech droid beeped and whistled some more. 'There is no manual override!' Anakin shouted in despair. 'Or at least not any I can find! You'll have to rewire or something! Artoo, hurry!'
He stared helplessly through the cockpit glass as his fighter streaked directly toward the heart of the Trade Federation swarm, wondering what in the world he was going to do to save himself now.
Chapter 22
Qui-Gon Jinn was one of the most able swordsmen in the Jedi order. The Jedi Master he had trained under had considered him one of the best the Master had taught in his more than four hundred years in the order. Qui- Gon had fought in conflicts all across the galaxy in the span of his life and against odds so great that many others would not have stood a chance. He had survived battles that had tested his skill and resolve in every conceivable way.
But on this day, he had met his match. The Sith Lord he battled with Obi- Wan was more than his equal in
