He knew the Offworld ship was behind him. He did not have to look. But he did not take evasive action. Not yet. He knew the ship would wait until he was out of range of the attacking Offworld ship. They would not want the wreckage of Anakin's ship to spiral into its neighbor.
At the very last second, he pushed the ship, screaming, to the right, then climbed straight up, flipped over, and came upside down toward the ship at his rear.
"Didn't expect that, did you?" he shouted as he fired his proton torpedoes. The Offworld ship disintegrated into a shower of fire and light. Anakin felt his blood rise with the sight. He knew he should not feel triumph, but he did. He was outgunned by the power of the Offworld ships, but he would never be outmaneuvered.
Garen's voice came over the comm unit. "Two ships heading for the escape liners. I'll take the one on the left."
"Copy that." Anakin dived. The controls felt warm in his hands, even though he knew they weren't. A ship felt alive to him, an organic creature he controlled. He had felt that way since the first day he'd put his hands on the controls of an airship, back when he was a young slave boy with a cantankerous Podracer on Tatooine.
He saw Garen ahead now in his sight line. Garen swung to his left, and Anakin swung farther to the right. Four Offworld ships were bearing down on the escape liners. He could clearly see theBroken Circlelogo on their wings.
Anakin reached out to the Force. He felt at one with the engines. The will of the ship was entwined with his. He even felt entwined with Garen.
The two pushed their engines to the maximum. They zigzagged their way toward the larger ships. The ships saw them coming and turned their barrage of firepower on the two agile starfighters.
"Time to climb," Anakin muttered, easing the controls. The ship zoomed upward and he reversed direction, avoiding a blast to his starboard engine. He somersaulted and came at one ship from a sideways angle, blasting his torpedoes. He peppered the wing with fire, and then he got lucky. One of the blasts hit the fuel tank. The ship went up in a whoosh, sending shock waves toward him. His starfighter danced on the vibrations.
"Good show!" Garen called through the comm unit. "Let's get number two in a pincer movement."
"Copy that. Ready or not…" Anakin dived to the left while Garen dived to the right. Torpedoes blasting, they caught the second ship between them. The ship spiraled out, its engines dead.
Anakin was already heading for the third ship. While he'd been engaged, the third ship had managed to damage the wing of the rescue liner. Anakin came at the Offworld ship from above, dropping at top speed as though he would crash into the bridge. At this angle, the ship's guns could not reach him. It swerved, and he followed. When he had a clear shot, he went for the left engine. Torpedoes blasted, and the engine blew. Limping, the Offworld attack ship headed back to the Offworld cruiser.
Garen had taken care of the last ship. Anakin looked around. The sky was empty of Offworld ships.
"I just spoke to Obi-Wan," Garen said. "He and Kad are staying aboard the BioCruiser. Kad wants to make it to Tentrix. The guidance system blew. They need us to escort them."
Anakin could tell by Garen's terse wording that the ship was in deep trouble. He could see it: The ship was listing to one side, and great plumes of smoke were rising from the engines. The BioCruiser was a death trap. The last thing Anakin wanted to do was stay out here while his Master was marooned on a failing vessel. He wanted to be by his Master's side.
But he was a Jedi. He was learning that it meant doing things opposite to his nature. He turned the ship to the right and followed Garen.
"I'm getting a reading that the secondary power cell system is going," Rhe Pabs said. His voice was calm, but Obi-Wan and Kad exchanged a glance. If the secondary power cell system went, the ship would go into catastrophic failure. They would not have time to get to an escape pod.
"Rhe Pabs, it's time for you to go," Kad said, his voice even.
"No sir, I think I'll stick it out here."
Kad gave a sigh of exasperation. "All right, then. Keep us posted." He turned to Obi-Wan. "I'm going to gamble. I could use less power, which might spare the system. But we'd just have to keep the ship operational a longer period of time. Other systems are failing, too. I'm going to increase power so we can reach Tentrix faster."
Obi-Wan nodded."All right."
Kad turned back to the controls. "This is a good time for you to evacuate."
"I'm staying," Obi-Wan said.
"This is not your fight."
"It is now," Obi-Wan responded.
It was an agonizing journey. The ship controls were erratic. Warning lights flashed on almost every panel.
Obi-Wan kept his eyes on the ships flanking them. They were so close that he could see Anakin's tense expression, the strain on his face as he tried to smile and give Obi-Wan a thumbs-up.
"Why do you want to save the BioCruiser so badly?" Obi-Wan asked Kad.
"Because I invited all those beings to join me," he said grimly. "They left their homes. They have lost their treasury. This is the only thing they have left. I will not lose it."
Garen's voice crackled over the comm unit."Tentrix dead ahead. Orbiting docking platform will be in position in eight minutes."
"We'll make it," Kad muttered.
Now Obi-Wan could see the vast planet of Tentrix. The docking platform was a small dot in the distance, just a bit larger than a star. As they came closer and the docking platform orbited toward them, it grew larger and larger.
"Almost there," Kad breathed.
Suddenly the comm unit came to life, and Rhe Pubs's agitated voice sputtered out a warning."Attack droids still on board! I saw them heading for the bridge!"
Obi-Wan whirled around, his lightsaber drawn, just as the doors to the bridge slid open. A squad of battle droids entered, blasters firing. Blaster fire pinged off the console and thudded into the upholstery of the command benches. Obi-Wan leaped over the console as two droids took aim at Kad. He deflected the fire with his lightsaber at the same time that he sailed toward the droids. He slashed at one droid's control panel while he kicked out at the other. They both fell with a clatter. He whirled around and sliced the next in two. Diverting blaster fire, he advanced steadily until the droids were cornered, then with onestroke, cut both of them off at the knees. They sank to the floor, still firing, and he sliced off their heads. They rolled together with a clunk and were still.