have us surrounded.' Even as he spoke, the three winced as the central screen flashed, showing the explosive destruction of a major Geonosian defensive position.
'This is not going well at all,' Nute Gunray admitted.
'Order a retreat,' said Poggle, and he was trembling so forcefully that it seemed as if he might just fall over. 'I am sending all my warriors deep into the catacombs to hide!' He nodded to several of his commanders as he finished, and they turned back to their comlinks, relaying the orders.
'We must get the cores of our ships back into space!' one of Nute Gunray's associates cried, and Gunray was nodding as he considered the words and the devastating scenes of battle flashing across the viewscreens.
'I'm going to Coruscant,' Dooku announced. 'My Master will not let the Republic get away with this treachery.'
Poggle the Lesser rushed across the room to a console and punched in some codes, bringing up a holographic schematic of a planet-sized weapon. With a few keystrokes, he downloaded the schematic onto a cartridge and pulled it from the drive, turning to Dooku. 'The Jedi must not find our designs,' the Archduke insisted. 'If they have any idea of what we are planning to create, we are doomed.'
Dooku took the cartridge. 'I will take the designs with me,' he agreed. 'The plans will be much safer with my Master.'
With a curt bow, the Count swept from the room.
Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padme crouched in the open side of a gunship as it sped across the expanding battlefield outside the arena, its laser cannons blaring, its shields turning back the responding fire from the droids. Below them, clone troopers rushed across the battlefield on speeder bikes, weaving their way and firing all the while.
'They're good,' Obi-Wan remarked, and Anakin nodded.
Their attention went right back to their own situation, then, as the gunship approached a huge Techno Union starship and opened fire. Its laser cannons slammed away at the giant, but seemed to be having little effect.
'Aim right above the fuel cells!' Anakin cried to the gunner. With a slight adjustment, the gunner let fly his next burst.
Huge explosions rocked the starship and it began to tilt ominously to the side. The gunship, and others rushing in nearby, swerved aside as the great craft toppled.
'Good call!' Obi-Wan congratulated his Padawan, then he shouted to the crew, 'Those Trade Federation starships are taking off! Target them quickly!'
'They're too big, Master,' Anakin replied. 'The ground-troopers will have to take them out.
The gunship roared across the widening battlefield, lasers blasting away, explosions erupting all about it, a scene of spectacular destruction and frenzy. Mace Windu shook his head and looked to Yoda.
'Capture Dooku, we must,' Yoda said, his calm and steady voice as strong an anchor as Mace could have asked for in that momentous moment. 'If escape he does, he will rally more systems to his cause.'
Mace looked to the diminutive Master and nodded grimly. 'Captain, land at that assembly point ahead,' he ordered the lone driving his gunship, and the obedient pilot fast settled the craft. Mace, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and a host of clone troopers jumped out, but Yoda did not follow.
'To the forward command center, take me,' he instructed, and the gunship lifted away.
As soon as they put down at the relative safety of the position that had been secured as the command center, the clone commander rushed to the open gunship dropdoor. 'Master Yoda, all forward positions are advancing.'
'Very good, very good,' Yoda said. 'Concentrate all your fire on the nearest starship.'
'Yes, sir!'
The clone commander ran off, organizing his leaders as he went. Soon after, the forward groups began picking their targets in a more coordinated manner, and the concentrated fire succeeded where sporadic bursts could not, taking down one starship after another.
The gunship slowed and banked suddenly, circling a droid gun emplacement, coming too fast around the back for the stationary system to swivel. A furious barrage destroyed the defensive position completely, but it did manage a single shot the gunship's way, rocking the craft hard.
'Hold on!' Obi-Wan cried, grabbing the edge of the open dropdoor.
'Can't think of a better choice!' Padme yelled back at him.
Obi-Wan turned a smirk her way, or started to, but then he saw a Geonosian speeder soaring away, an unmistakable figure in the open cockpit. Two fighters flanked the speeder, the trio heading fast away from the main fighting. 'Look! Over there!' 'It's Dooku!' Anakin cried. 'Shoot him down!'
'We're out of ordnance, sir,' the clone captain replied.
'Follow him!' Anakin ordered.
The pilot put the ship up on its side, banking fast to turn into a straight run for the fleeing Count.
'We're going to need some help,' Padme remarked.
'No, there's no time,' said Obi-Wan. 'Anakin and I can handle this.' As the gunship began to close, the fighters flanking Dooku banked away suddenly, veering off left and right, turning to engage. The clone pilot of the gunship was up to the task, weaving his way through their fire, but then another blast rocked the ship, and with the vehicle up on edge, Obi- Wan and Anakin had to hold on tight and scramble to stay in.
Padme wasn't so fortunate.
One moment, she was beside Anakin, and then she was gone, tumbling out the open dropdoor.
