Star Wars Retold

   CHAPTER 21: A HERO'S RETURN, PART I    Theed Palace - Naboo    5:6:7945 CRC The Prudent Heart descends through the mist that clings to the Great Plains, its engines thrumming low as it cuts a path through the thin clouds. Anakin presses his face against the viewport, watching the waterfalls of Theed Palace come into view below. The city's spires rise through the fog, their edges softened by the afternoon light. Sartili Vennitilini pilots the ship with steady hands, her expression unreadable behind the pilot's console. Inside the Prudent Heart is a large delegation from the Jedi Order, including Anakin's mother Shmi Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu and Qui-Gon Jinn, who adjusts his new prosthetic arm. The mechanical fingers flex slightly in his lap, the servos whining softly as he tests their response. Qui-Gon Jinn looks out the viewport, his gaze distant and reflective. The silver sheen of his prosthetic arm catches the light filtering through the c...

   CHAPTER 20: THE BATTLE OF NABOO - AFTERMATH    Theed Palace Power Generator Complex - Naboo    26:5:7945 CRC Qui-Gon Jinn opens his eyes to darkness, disoriented, the ceiling above him a blur of motion and shadow. His throat is dry, his breathing shallow. The cold metal grating beneath him vibrates with the facility's constant hum. His left hand twitches at his side, the first signal that his body is still fighting—but the absence of his right arm is a cold, hollow ache that his mind struggles to process. It is no longer there. The FX-7 medical unit had done all it could, stabilizing him over an hour ago, stopping the bleeding, saving his life. But the lost blood has left him weak, hovering on the edge of death. The cauterized stump where his right arm once attached throbs with a pain that is both distant and immediate—a presence he cannot escape. Footsteps echo on the metal catwalk. Qui-Gon's vision swims as a 2-1B surgical droid approaches, its white c...

   CHAPTER 19: THE BATTLE OF NABOO II    Lake Paagal, Naboo    26:5:7945 CRC The swamp water rises to Mace Windu's calves as he leads the way through the tangled undergrowth, his lightsaber humming in a steady violet pulse that cuts through the humid air. Quinlan Vos follows a few paces behind, his face drawn with exhaustion as death echoes through the Force from the ongoing battle ahead. Each droid destroyed sends a ripple of mechanical termination through his psychometric awareness, forcing him to press his palms against his temples to maintain focus. Paril Zannfel struggles through the knee-deep muck, his boots squelching as he keeps pace with the Jedi. The pilot's blaster feels alien in his hands compared to a ship's controls, but the loss of the Falcon has left him with little choice but to fight in this unfamiliar terrain. Mace Windu's violet blade deflects three rapid blaster bolts from a B1 battle droid emerging from behind a twisted mangrove root. ...