Star Wars Episode IIIAU: Sith Rising (Star Wars AU Series #1)

Pursued by Separatists

Author's Note: This is just the beginning! It only gets better from here. In fact, things are starting to take shape...

This section begins Part II: The Slave Spy.

"If confusion is the first step to knowledge, I must be a genius." ~Larry Leissner

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Padme's POV

"Where to, Mia?" Will asked as he was piloting his ship. Mia activated a hologram map that showed most of the galaxy.

"Let's go to Naboo. That's where you're from, Padme, right?" Mia asked.

"Yep." I answered. I was holding Luke and Leia in my arms. "What are we even going to do on Naboo?"

"We're hiding you, Padme. Didn't you pay attention to the talk we had a few days ago?" Will asked.

"I mean, yeah, but what else?"

"Perhaps we could get some information about Palpatine. That's his home planet, after all." Will said. Suddenly, we heard a blast from outside.

"What was that?" Mia turned around. I watched her turn on the tracking radar. On the tracking radar, there were a bunch of red ship symbols heading towards us.

"It's the Separatists! Quick, Will! We've gotta fight back!" I cried. Will shook his head.

"It's not worth it. We've gotta outrun them. Strap in back there, cuz it's gonna get rough!" He warned. Within seconds, Will was making sharp right angle turns and loop de loops. I began to feel nauseous. Before I knew it, I was spewing vomit from my mouth. The barf got all over Will's trench coat.

"Yeesh, Padme, are you okay?"

"Sorta. It must be Will's poor driving skills,"

"Hey!" Will barked.

"Did it really have to get this extreme?!" I demanded.

"Extreme situations call for extreme measures."

"What about the babies?!" I screamed over all the noise.

"Hold on to them!" Will answered as the Separatists kept shooting our ship. Soon, there was a large explosion in the back of the ship.

"What was that?" Mia asked. A beeping sound resonated in the cockpit.

"Is that...gas?" I asked.

"What?" Will sniffed the air. "There couldn't have been a gas leak, could there?" He got up and exited the cockpit. As he left, Mia got up and approached the driver's seat. Immediately, she tripped.

"You okay, Mia?" I asked. Mia got up and saw a box on the middle of the floor.

"This is one messy ship." Mia muttered under her breath as she opened the box. Inside the box, we saw a dismantled C3PO that was crammed in there.

"Oh dear, it's Mia Mircada! I've been stuck in this box for weeks!" C3PO cried.

"For weeks?! How?" Mia asked.

"That's a good question...for another time." C3PO noted. Suddenly, we heard a crash from behind. Mia and I turned around.

"What was that?" I asked.

"It couldn't have been a gas explosion, could it?" Mia followed up.

"Oh no! It's the Separatists!" C3PO screamed. "Do something!"

"Lucky for you, I'm excellent with vehicles!" Mia screamed over all the noise that was going on as she leaned over to take control of the ship.

"For goodness sake, Mia, sit down and fasten your seat belt! Things could get messy!" I shrieked.

"I'm trying! Oh, shit, they're on our doorstep!" Mia began making sharp turns and loop de loops. I almost fell out of my seat and the babies began to cry. I felt like I was going to vomit.

"Be careful with your driving, Mia!" I shouted.

"Sorry!"

"Where's Anakin when you need him?" I muttered under my breath. The reckless driving continued on for what seemed like eternity. Then, the noise died down.

"Is it over?" C3PO asked.

"I think so." I answered. Everything was spinning. There was a throbbing pain in my head.

"You guys okay?" Will asked as he barged in.

"Yeah, we're fine. Mia just got us away from a whole fleet of Separatists." I said.

"I'll tell you, it wasn't easy." Mia got up from the driver's seat.

"Nice job, Mia."

"Thanks."

"You left me trapped in here for weeks, William!" C3PO scolded.

"Oh, I'm sorry, 3PO. I forgot you were here." Will apologized.

"No, seriously, Will. Anakin's gonna get mad when he hears what you did to his droid. And by the way, clean your ship. It's filthy." I said.

"Fixed the gas leak. Unfortunately, we don't have enough fuel to be able to take you to Naboo." Will said as Mia activated the hologram map of the galaxy.

"So we're going to Tatooine?" She said with a sigh.

"Yeah, I guess." I shrugged.

---

Within minutes, we landed on Tatooine, a sand planet. Except for a small sand igloo, there was sand for miles and miles. Of course, the palace of Jabba the Hutt was about 10 miles away. But other than his exciting pod races, who would want to go to see Jabba?

I was observing my surrounding when Mia called, "C'mon, Padme!". I turned around and followed her into the sand igloo. The inside of the sand igloo was very tidy. Everything looked untouched, especially the bed. The bed sheets were free of wrinkles.

"Home sweet home." Mia said with a monotone voice.

"Hm, not too shabby." Will noted.

"The bed looks comfy." I noted.

"Okay, until we can get our hands on some fuel, we're stuck on this desert hell hole." Mia plopped herself on the bed.

"So, what's our game plan?" I asked.