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| - In desperation, Danta forced his squadron back to the base so they could reload but they were falling apart. Spooked by the noise of the battle, the goff birds had drifted from the attack formation and there was no hard and fast way to call them back. Suddenly there was a sharp scream accompanied by the smell of burning. With a sickening feeling, Danta noticed the bird on his left wing falling to the ground, a smouldering carcass. Yet there was no time for that now, with another cry he closed the formation but before they were back to the base two more birds were lost. They were quick to reload and were out again, yet Danta knew they could only continue for so long. “This is tense!” Anakin said, the autopilot had taken him and Artoo in the middle of a space battle, it was quite frightening to be up there and to have no control. “Artoo, get rid of the autopilot or you’re going to get us both killed.” The droid flashed a rather cutting remark on Anakin’s screen. “What do you mean there’s no manual override?” Anakin demanded. “Try to re-wire it then!” Anakin pressed his face against one of the viewports, wondering when he could join the battle. Suddenly his screen flashed. “I have control?” Anakin asked incredulously, testing the instruments. “All right! Let’s go this way.” Anakin’s next action brought such a scathing remark from Artoo that the boy wondered where the droid had learned such language. “I know this isn’t podracing!” he said indignantly. “Go back to Naboo?” he asked as he read Artoo’s next words. “No way! Qui-Gon told me to stay in this cockpit, so that’s what I am going to do.” An enemy fighter appeared on his scopes. “How do I shoot?” Anakin asked. Artoo helpfully lit up a button, Anakin pressed it and they went racing past the droid fighter at a frantic pace. “That wasn’t the release!” Anakin shouted. “That was the overdrive! How do I stop this thing?” As Artoo could replied, Anakin’s ship disappeared into the belly of the droid control ship. “Bravo Three,” Ric Olié said, “go for the central bridge!” “Copy, Bravo Leader,” came the response. “I’m right behind you, Three,” said Five, and two more fighters followed them in. When they came to the bridge two were destroyed by laser cannons with the remaining two breaking off the attack. “Lead, this is Seven, the shields are too strong for us,” one of the surviving pilots said. Ric Olié bit his lip until blood came, he had only a handful of pilots left and were nowhere near success. The Queen was depending on them to destroy the ship, not to mention the Gungan army. Before he could give another order there came an interesting report from Bravo Five. “Lead, one of ships just went into the main hold,” the pilot said. “How did they get past the shields?” Ric didn’t want to find out, but he instantly knew what to do next. “All wings on me,” he ordered, turning his fighter, “we need to draw fighters away from the ship so he can get out.” Engaged with more droidekas, Nalanda knew that they were running out of time. She tried a last, desperate action. She threw her blaster to the ground and raised her hands in surrender. “Throw down your weapons,” she told Panaka, “they win this round.” Panaka looked at her incredulously. “But we can’t—” “Captain,” Nalanda said in a warning tone, daring him to challenge her. Looking curiously at the Queen, Padmé deactivated her lightsaber and placed it on the ground for the droids to collect. Panaka and his guards discarded their blasters, but as the droids moved forward to accept their surrender Nalanda made a brief transmission on her comlink. “Have faith, Captain,” Nalanda said as the droids escorted them forward. While she had wanted to take out Shakya’s apprentice quickly, Maxah knew that this would have to wait until she had eliminated the other two Jedi. Instead she led them further within the Naboo palace, through a series of maintenance platforms towards the power core. Yet she was pleased to see that the Qui-Gon—though considerably stronger and more experienced—was faltering under her continued attacks. Fighting him was a simple case of attrition until she could expose his weak spot. His apprentice, now that was a different case altogether. Obi-Wan was a firebrand, using his youth and immaculate reflexes to his full advantage. While he lacked the staying power of his Master—she could simply disarm the young man with a well-placed kick—the two made a formidable team. Together they could—and would—overcome her; that was apparent if nothing else was. She would simply have to finish them one by one. With the speed of a whiplash she thrust her lightsaber forward, the handle perfectly horizontal in her grip. This caused the Jedi to start back on the defensive, and with a casual grin she flipped high into the air, landing a good way away. Obi-Wan was quick to respond to this, leaping after her with his blue blade at an angle. Maxah quickly threw him off, and Obi-Wan skidded across the ground towards the edge of the platform as Maxah retreated further back. She is luring me, Qui-Gon realised as he sprinted forward to receive her. Yet he knew an opponent’s advantage could quickly be turned on them. Behind Maxah was a narrow corridor, Qui-Gon quickly pushed her through this with his continued attack. Caught in her own trap, Maxah was forced on the defensive and had minimal room to manoeuvre, forced just to use one blade of her weapon. Around them laser walls were activating, cutting off the corridor from the far end. Obi-Wan couldn’t follow his Master as he was barred by several laser walls and soon a laser wall at the very end divided Maxah and Qui-Gon. Maxah smiled. “It only delays your end, Jedi,” she rasped as Qui-Gon dropped to a guarded crouch to wait. The energy shields fell and Ceel called for the retreat, turbolasers now fired upon the fleeing Gungan army causing huge breaks in the formations. As the droid army proceeded with the tanks taking up the rear, there was a complete lack of organisation as the Gungans fled in panic. Yet high above Danta wanted to make one last stab at the Federation army, with his reduced squadron he made a final assault. Diving at the droids at a steep incline and deactivating quite a number of droids, as well as two tanks with what they dropped. Finally he dismissed the remainder of his squadron, but he wanted to fight till the last. Swooping low he picked up a discarded spear and forced his goff up. As he made it dive he threw the spear with all his might at the lead tank. It hit its mark, yet just as he was relishing his victory his bird was shot from under him and Danta fell towards the ground. Anakin sped through the insides of the Federation ship, smashing into droid fighters and startling a few droids that he past. “I’m trying to stop!” Anakin shouted to the complaining R2-D2. “I'm trying!” He finally came to a stop deep within the ship, skidding over the bodies of several droids as he did. “All right, all right we’re down!” Anakin gasped. “Let’s get the engines started so we can get out of here.” But nothing worked, the indicator lights were all red, “Everything’s overheated, Artoo,” he complained. A quick glance around showed that the fact his ship wouldn’t respond was the least of his worries. They were surrounded by battle droids, rasing weapons menacing. “Uh-oh,” Anakin murmured, crouching as low as he could.
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