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Boba Fett yelped in glee again, as did many of the Geonosians. Nute Gunray, though, wasn't quite so pleased. "This isn't how it's supposed to be!" he yelled at Count Dooku. "She's supposed to be dead by now!"
"Patience," the calm Count replied.
"No!" Nute Gunray shouted back at him. "Jango, finish her off!"
Jango turned an amused expression Nute Gunray's way, and nodded knowingly as Count Dooku motioned for him to stay put.
"Patience, Viceroy," Dooku said to the fuming Gunray. "She will die." Even as he spoke, even as Gunray seemed about to explode with rage, the Count motioned back to the arena, and the Neimoidian turned to see a group of droidekas roll out from the side paddock. They surrounded the reek and the three prisoners and opened and unfolded into their battle position, giving Anakin no choice but to pull back hard on the makeshift rein and halt the creature.
"You see?" Dooku calmly asked.
The Count's expression changed, though, just for a moment, as a familiar hum began right behind him. He glanced to his right quickly, to see a purple lightsaber blade right beside Jango Fett's neck, then turned slowly to regard the wielder.
"Master Windu," he said with his typical charm. "How pleasant of you to join us! You're just in time for the moment of truth. I would think these two boys of yours could use a little more training."
"Sorry to disappoint you, Dooku," Mace coolly replied. "This party's over." With that, the Jedi Master gave a quick salute with his glowing lightsaber, the prearranged signal, and then brought the blade back in close to Jango Fett. All about the stadium came a sudden and synchronized flash of lights as a hundred Jedi Knights ignited their lightsabers.
The crowd went perfectly silent.
After a moment's reflection, Count Dooku turned about just a bit, looking back at Mace Windu out of the corner of his eye. "Brave, but foolish, my old Jedi friend. You're impossibly outnumbered."
"I don't think so," Mace countered. "The Geonosians aren't warriors. One Jedi has to be worth a hundred Geonosians."
Count Dooku glanced about the stadium, his smile widening. "It wasn't the Geonosians I was thinking about. How well do you think one Jedi will match up against a thousand battle droids?"
He had timed it perfectly. Just as he finished, a line of battle droids came down the corridor behind Mace Windu, their lasers firing. The Jedi reacted at once, spi
The fight began immediately, the whole stadium filling with screaming laser bolts, Jedi leaping and spi
A burst of flames reached out for the Jedi Master, igniting his flowing robes. With both Dooku and the bounty hunter so close, and in such a vulnerable position, Mace just leapt away, lifting himself with the Force to fly out from the box and land in the arena. He pulled the burning robe from his back, throwing it aside.
All around him, the fight intensified, with Jedi battling scores of Geonosians in the stands, and many other Jedi rushing down to the arena floor to join the battle against the largest concentrations of Battle Droids. Mace winced when he spotted Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padme sent flying into the air by the terrified and bucking reek. He motioned to other Jedi, but needn't have, for those closest were already rushing toward their vulnerable companions, throwing lightsabers to Anakin and Obi-Wan.
When those two ignited their blades, Anakin's green and Obi-Wan's blue, and Padme came up between them, a discarded blaster pistol in hand, Mace breathed a bit easier.
But only for a moment. Then the Jedi Master was a blur of motion once more, working his blade furiously to turn back the storm of laser bolts screaming at him from the multitude of battle droids. He joined Obi-Wan near the center of the arena soon after, and back-to-back, they went into action, moving into a crowd of droids, taking down several with deflected bolts, then slashing through, turning in unison as they went. Obi-Wan went at one droid with his lightsaber up high, but when that droid lifted its defenses appropriately, the two Jedi turned about, Mace coming around with his lightsaber down low, shearing the droid in half.
Behind Mace Windu and Obi-Wan, Anakin and Padme fought in a similar back-to- back posture, with Anakin working in a mostly defensive ma
But despite all the gallant efforts, despite the mounds of slaughtered enemies, Geonosian and droid alike, the outcome was begi
Into this maelstrom marched C-3PO, his body at least, with the head of a battle droid fixed firmly upon it. Shortly, however, this motley droid caught a blaster bolt in the neck. Down it went, the battle droid head bouncing free of the torso.
Across the arena, in a tu
"My legs aren't moving!" he cried, though of course his present legs certainly were. "I must need oil."
It was a time for improvisation, too wild a scene for coordinated and predetermined movements.
Just the kind of fight in which Padme excelled. Firing a blaster with every step, she rushed to the same execution cart that had brought her and Anakin into the arena and scrambled atop the confused orray pulling it.
Right behind her came Anakin, his lightsaber a blur of motion, turning laser shots back at the battle droids. He leapt into the cart and Padm kicked the orray away.
They charged the circuit, bouncing across the fallen droids and Geonosians, Padme firing shot after shot and Anakin sending an even greater line of destruction out by turning aside all shots coming their way.
"You call this diplomacy?" said Anakin, deflecting blasts.
Padme gri