The Death of Hope

6

Balog had fooled them. He was gone, but he had left two attack droids.

One of these droids peeled off and went after the Jedi’s probe droid.

The other headed for the Jedi.

Their droid shifted into attack mode from the threat. Blaster fire pinged overhead as the two droids found each other’s positions and battled.

“We can’t lose that droid,” Qui-Gon said urgently. He activated his lightsaber and jumped behind a boulder for cover. “Obi-Wan, get back to your swoop. One of us needs to fight the droids from the air.”

Obi-Wan hated to leave his Master, but he saw the wisdom of Qui-Gon’s strategy. He sprinted toward his swoop. He could hear blaster fire erupt behind him, and had to discipline himself not to turn and check on Qui-Gon’s safety. He had to trust his Master to handle the situation until his return.

The wind whistled past his ears as he raced across the terrain. He leaped onto his swoop and pushed the engines to maximum. He zoomed back toward the canyon.

Qui-Gon had jumped or climbed to a narrow ledge above the canyon floor. As the probe droid circled and dived, peppering Qui-Gon with blaster fire, Qui-Gon used his lightsaber in a series of quick defensive moves.

Obi-Wan knew he was biding his time until the droid came closer, so he could leap toward it with his lightsaber. It was a waiting game.

“Get that other droid!” Qui-Gon shouted.

Obi-Wan wanted to protect Qui-Gon. But Qui-Gon was right. Losing a probe droid would drastically lower the odds of finding Tahl quickly.

He shot up to where the probe droids were battling and activated his lightsaber. It was hard, even from close range, to tell which droid was theirs.

Qui-Gon saw Obi-Wan’s hesitation. “The one on the left, Padawan!” he called out.

Obi-Wan focused on the two droids, noting any nicks and scratches that would identify the one he needed to destroy. Balog’s droid had a deep scratch on one side. Confident now, Obi-Wan moved closer, angling to take his first strike.

Balog’s droid suddenly veered and dived, blasting fire at the Jedi droid. The droid took evasive action, blaster fire missing it by centimeters. Obi-Wan gunned the motor and leaned to the right, angling the swoop closer. His balance had to be perfect or the swoop would tumble end over end in midair. He made a sudden dive on top of Balog’s droid, swiping with his lightsaber. But the droid had already reversed course, and he missed.

Obi-Wan righted the swoop and raced up toward the probe droid. He could not let the droid get another shot out. At the same time he had to stay out of his own droid’s angle of fire.

Balog’s probe droid veered again. Obi-Wan followed. There was only so much strategy a droid could have. Obi-Wan dived, anticipating the droid’s move. At the same time, the Jedi droid fired at Balog’s.

“To the left, Padawan!” Qui-Gon shouted.

Without looking, without thinking, Obi-Wan pulled the swoop to the left, barely missing blaster fire from his own droid. Instead of righting the swoop, he used the move to circle, then zoom up, coming at Balog’s droid head on. He saw the red sensor blink as it computed his position. He had only seconds.

He rammed the engines into screaming full power and leaned off the swoop as far as he could, raising his lightsaber high. The lightsaber came down and cut the droid neatly in two. Sputtering and smoking, it fell to the ground below and crashed.

Obi-Wan turned the swoop again, this time heading for Balog’s second droid. It had altered its flight plan to fly lower since it could not get a good reading on Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan kept to the droid’s left, leaving Qui-Gon room to maneuver.

He glanced quickly at Qui-Gon, who nodded. They didn’t need to compare notes; they had arrived at the same plan. Obi-Wan sent the swoop into a dive at the same time as Qui-Gon leaped. The two Jedi soared toward the droid, their lightsabers pulsating. Together, they timed their blows—Qui-Gon an upward sweep, Obi-Wan a downward thrust. The probe droid had no way to escape. It fell under both blows and disintegrated in a shower of metal and sparks.

But what Obi-Wan hadn’t taken into account was their own probe droid.

It had reprogrammed itself to attack the second droid, and fired at the same time.

Obi-Wan felt a warning surge in the Force and quickly accelerated. He was fast enough to avoid getting hit but not fast enough to bring the swoop completely out of danger. He heard blaster fire pepper the body of the swoop. Immediately it began to smoke and sputter. Obi-Wan carefully guided it toward the ground.

Qui-Gon landed on his feet. Obi-Wan pulled up next to him.

Qui-Gon’s face was grimy and streaked with sweat as he looked impassively at the swoop.

“I’m sorry, Master,” Obi-Wan said disgustedly as he jumped off the damaged swoop. “Too much of my focus was on Balog’s droid.”

“It’s all right,” Qui-Gon said in his quietest voice. Obi-Wan knew the setback had upset him. “You did well. We still have our probe droid.”

Qui-Gon bent to examine the swoop. Part of the control panel had fused together. After a moment he lifted his head. “It’s worse than I thought. It will take some time to repair it. Or else we could leave it here. But then there will be no room to bring Tahl back…”

“Unless we capture Balog and his transport.”

“Which we can’t count on. Getting Tahl to safety is our first concern. We can’t make another mistake.”

Qui-Gon was still keeping his voice pitched low, but Obi-Wan could see the boiling frustration in his eyes. He wished he could replay the fight. He wished he had remembered to watch out for their own droid.

“Go on without me, Master,” he said. “I’ll stay and repair the swoop and catch up to you.”

“No,” Qui-Gon said. “I won’t leave you alone in this area. Lenz told me that it is dangerous. There are Worker supporters and Absolute loyalists who often meet in violent clashes. Besides, Tahl is too vulnerable. She is trapped, and if Balog gets one second free, he could inject her again and possibly kill her. We need to do this together.”

“I’m sorry,” Obi-Wan said again.

Qui-Gon put a hand on his shoulder. “Enough. It is a delay. Nothing more. Get the repair kit from the speeder. We are wasting time.”

Obi-Wan ran back to the landspeeder, his heart pounding. Qui-Gon had said all the right things to reassure him, but he didn’t feel any better.

Repairing the swoop could take several hours. If this delay meant that Tahl was moved beyond their reach, he would feel responsible.

When he returned, he found Qui-Gon bent over the figure by the smoking fire. It was just a bundle of clothes wrapped in a thermal blanket.

Qui-Gon extracted a sensor.

“This is what confused the droid,” he said. “It’s an infrared sensor.

It thought Balog was still here. I had a feeling we would find this. It should have occurred to me earlier.” Qui-Gon squinted at the empty landscape. “He knows we’re following. When his probe droids fail to return, he’ll know we won this battle. He will do something else to delay us. We must be on our guard.”