"Take cover!" Obi-Wan yelled.
The laser cannons tore up the ground as they scattered. "We can't hide behind fuel tanks," Siri said. "That's madness. We'll get blown up."
Magus came in for another assault. The fire hit the fuel tank, and it exploded in a whoosh that sent them flying through the air. The air was like a flaming wall that hit Obi-Wan like an obstacle. He felt himself falling, and it was like falling through pure fire.
They landed, bruised and shaken, but unhurt. Magus and the tri-fighters zoomed out and turned, heading for another strike.
"I think it's time we got out of here," Obi-Wan said.
Chapter 32
Siri and Padme were closest to Siri's ship. They began to run through the thick black smoke and burning fires. Obi-Wan grabbed Taly and hustled him toward his own ship.
This time Magus bypassed Siri and Padme, coming straight for Taly.
Obi-Wan noticed that a worker had left his servotool kit close by. He reached out a hand — a fusioncutter flew through the air toward him. It was a large one with a big tank, built for special jobs. He grabbed it and timed his response. At the last possible second, he activated the fusioncutter and flung it directly into the spilled fuel. The fuel ignited and the flame shot up just as Magus dived to strafe them again.
Magus had to climb to avoid the fire, and the smoke was good cover. Obi-Wan and Taly leaped into the ARC 170 starfighter and took off after Siri.
"He's after you," Obi-Wan said.
"No kidding," Taly answered.
Siri flew closer and made a gesture, her hand at her throat. Obi-Wan did the same.
"What does that mean?"
"Our comm units are out," Obi-Wan said. "They were damaged. We're on our own."
"More good news."
Siri signaled. Obi-Wan nodded.
"You two speak the same language without even talking," Taly said. "Not much has changed. What's the plan?"
"We're going to try to get the two of you out of harm's way, then return for the end of the battle," Obi-Wan said.
"The end of the battle? Considering that you're going to lose, that doesn't sound like such a wise idea."
"I can't leave my Padawan. Hang on."
They zoomed upward. But Magus was on their tail with his five fighters, keeping up a steady barrage of firepower. The starship shook. Siri dived under Magus and shot, clipping him just a fraction. He zoomed off.
They played cat-and-mouse games. Every time they got ahead, he found them. Siri destroyed one of the trifighters, and Obi-Wan scored a direct hit on another. Then, working in tandem, they squeezed two between them and blasted them into space debris.
Magus must have contacted the Separatist fleet for help, for two large attack missiles suddenly peeled off from the battle above and began to descend.
"This doesn't look good," Taly said.
No. It wasn't good.
Obi-Wan raced his craft toward Siri. When he was in her sightline, he indicated with his chin what he thought they should do. She nodded. He felt the connection surge between them. This was more than the Force. It was part of the Force, but it was part of them, part of the understanding that flashed between them so freely now. All barriers down, they had locked onto each other's every thought now.
They were over the deep trenches of the electrical conduits, where power flowed from the two gigantic fusion furnaces that supplied the energy to the spaceport. Siri dipped into the trench, and Obi-Wan followed. At least they were in a place where the large attack missiles could not follow. And if they were lucky, they could escape Magus in the maze.
The battle was lost. Anakin could see that. As much as he believed in his abilities, as much as he believed in the pilots around him, he could see that they were meeting an overwhelming force, and according to General Solomahal, Republic reinforcements were still an hour away.
At first he'd felt hopeful. The information the general was able to give the pilots gave them an edge they were able to exploit. They had taken down one starfighter after another and had managed to cripple a landing ship. But they could not fight this huge fleet.
He had lost track of Obi-Wan and Siri. But at least Padme was safe.
"… status report," came over the comm. "Report in, Leader One."
His comm unit sounded fuzzy. Another thing going wrong. "Five more starfighters down, "Anakin said. "I'm trying to slow down the second landing ship. None of our ships lost on this end."
"Two of our defense starfighters down, plus the three civilian ships and the Republic cruiser…"
The interference made the words come in and out.
"What?" Anakin barked. "What Republic cruiser?" "Senator Amidala… Under fire… Distress…" "Repeat," Anakin said desperately. "Repeat. Survivors?" "No survivors…"
Anakin felt the galaxy collapse. He could not see or think or feel.
"Jedi went in search… Possible… escape pod sighting…"
Anakin went into a dive that nearly plastered him to the ceiling. He would find her. She would be alive. She had to be.
Obi-Wan wished that Anakin were flying this ship. He needed Anakin's nerves, his split-second timing, his instinctive knowledge of exactly how far to push a craft.
The attack ships hovered overhead. The last of the droid tri-fighters had crashed into a wall and flamed out.
But Magus was on their tails, keeping up steady fire. The trench was narrow, and opened wider and narrowed again.
Huge pipes and conduits presented barriers that had to be snaked around or dived under.
Up ahead, Siri suddenly slowed her speed. He shot ahead but she didn't follow. She flew up, almost to the edge of the trench.
Siri, what are you doing? Whatever it is, Obi-Wan thought with a sudden, sharp pain, don't do it!
"Siri, don't do it," Padme said. "There's still a chance — "
"This is our chance. Can you hold it steady?" Padme nodded.
"When I tell you to cut back, cut back."
"You'll fall — "
Siri grinned. "No, I won't. I'll jump."
"No — "
But Siri was already opening the hatch and climbing out. This was a model that had room for an astromech droid, if the pilot wanted. The space was empty. She felt the wind whip through her hair. She saw Obi-Wan's ship in the near distance. No doubt he was wondering what she was up to.