Chapter 11

Cain helped Anakin and Shmi throw the last of their things in a duffle bag that was just big enough to carry everything they needed. As Anakin was almost finished packing, he suddenly remembered the robot he was assembling.

"Hey, Cain! Can I bring Threepio?" Anakin asked.

Looking at the half-assembled droid, Cain thought about the importance Threepio had throughout the entirety of the Star Wars saga.

This droid, alongside Artoo, survived through the Clone Wars, the Rise of the Empire, guided Luke Skywalker and was there for the Fall of Empire and the death of the Emperor.

For such an important droid, Cain knew exactly what needed to be done.

"The droid's scrap. I'll get you a better one." Cain said as he picked up Anakin's belongings.

With everything packed, Cain and Qui-Gon helped carry their bags and made their way out of the small hovel. Smiling sadly at their home, Shmi and Anakin began their journey to a better life. Walking through the settlement, they said a few tearful goodbyes to all of their friends that they've known for years.

After some heartfelt goodbyes, the group trudged their way through the sand and towards the ship. Anakin chatted excitedly with his mother about everything he was gonna do once he becomes a Jedi.

Then suddenly, without breaking his stride, Qui-Gon ignited his lightsaber and lunged forward, cutting a lurking probing droid in half.

"What is it?" Anakin asked as Shmi pulled him closer to her.

"Probe droid. Very unusual... not like anything I've seen before." Qui-Gon said as he inspected the droid.

"We need to go," Cain said quickly when he realized that Maul was closer than he thought.

Seeing the urgency and anxiousness on Cain's face, Qui-Gon pushed Anakin and Shmi to start running towards the ship. Taking the bags so Shmi and Anakin could run faster, Cain forced them to run so they could make it to the ship before Maul arrived.

As the ship was in sight, Qui-Gon turned around to see a dark cloak figure bearing down on them while riding a speeder bike.

"Look out!" Qui-Gon yelled as he prepared to fight Maul.

Without much thought, Cain enhanced his body with the Force, picked up both Anakin and Shmi, then leaping towards the ship.

Dodging Maul by only inches, Cain successfully landed on the ship. Cain quickly looked down and let out a sigh of relief that Anakin and Shmi were completely safe and unharmed.

"START THE SHIP!" Cain screamed at Padmé and Panaka as they stood dumbstruck.

Acting immediately, Panaka and Padmé rushed into the cockpit where Obi-Wan was checking the hyperdrive.

"Qui-Gon is in trouble, he says to take off!" Captain Panaka order the pilots.

Following the order, the pilots, with their newly functional ship, began hovering over the sand as they search for Qui-Gon.

"I don't see anything." The pilot said.

"Over there! Fly low!" Obi-Wan suddenly exclaimed as he saw his master fight the robed figure with a red lightsaber.

After dropping the bags, Cain opened the ramp of the ship and aimed his pistols at Darth Maul.

Qui-Gon and Maul continued their sword battle. Leaping over one another in an incredible display of acrobatics, the two warriors suddenly looked when they heard the ship flying over them a few feet off the ground.

Now closer, Cain let out a barrage of blaster fire at Maul that distracted him long enough for Qui-Gon to disengage. As Cain continued to fire at Maul, the red Zabrak either dodged or deflected the lasers.

Running from the Sith Lord, Qui-Gon jumped onto the platform and crashed into Cain as they rolled onto the ship.

Suddenly hearing a thud, Cain looked to see that Darth Maul had jumped on the ramp and was swing his lightsaber towards Qui-Gon, and subsequently Cain who was right next to him.

Acting quick and slightly panicked, Cain used all of his strength in the Force and threw his hands out. Although surprising the Sith Lord, he still countered the attack and swiped at Cain.

Staring with extreme trepidation at the red lightsaber moving to slice off his hands, Cain suddenly felt something snap in his mind.

Suddenly freezing mid-swing, Darth Maul was shocked to find his entire body frozen solid as his lightsaber was only inches away from hitting Cain.

Not taking any time to think about what was happening, Cain Force pushed Maul out of the ship, launching him off the ramp and back towards the desert.

Jumping forward, Cain then slammed the ramp shut and collapsed to the floor.

After the ramp was closed and the Naboo craft rocketed away, a dirty Sith Lord was left standing alone staring hatefully at the Naboo ship as it flew away.

Cain slowly collapsed on the floor opposite of the entry and looked over to see Qui-Gon in a similar position as him.

The Jedi was breathing hard, with sweat and dirt covering his body.

"You good?" Cain asked the tired Jedi.

"I think so... that was a surprise I won't soon forget." Qui-Gon huffed out as he tried to catch his breath.

"What was that?" Obi-Wan questioned his Master as he came running out of the cockpit.

"I don't know...but he was well trained in the Jedi arts. My guess is he was after the Queen." Qui-Gon said as he finally stood up.

"Do you think he'll follow us?" Anakin asked

"We'll be safe enough once we're in hyperspace, but I have no doubt he knows our destination," Qui-Gon stated.

"What are we going to do about it?" Shmi questioned while grabbing her bags off the floor.

Suddenly turning, Obi-Wan gave Anakin and Shmi questionable look, while wondering who the hell are these people.

"We will be patient. Anakin and Shmi Skywalker, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi." Qui-Gon introduced them to one another.

Feeling drained from this whole ordeal, Cain ignored everyone around him and moved towards an empty cabin. As he moved towards the amazingly soft-looking bed, Cain kicked off his shoes and dropped like a sack of bricks.

Groaning in relief at the softness of the bed, Cain groaned again when a notification flashed in front of his eyes.

[Force Power: Stasis(D)Learned]

Too drained to really care about this new ability, Cain closed his eyes and drifted away into unconsciousness.

.....

After a few hours of rest in an actual bed, Cain woke up feeling completely refreshed. He then got washed up and put on a new outfit. While he was getting dressed, the door of his cabin slid open revealing Captain Panaka.

"Look who's finally awake, and here I thought you were in a coma." Captain Panaka joked while leaning against the doorway.

"Funny. Just tired as shit, I didn't think we'd have to fight some dark Jedi." Cain said while pretending to be ignorant of the Sith.

"You can say that again. I knew everything was borked once the Jedi got involved." Panaka grumbled as he and Cain moved towards the main area of the ship.

Once they made it the central area of the ship, Captain Panaka went to go talk to the pilots. Cain was gonna go with him but stopped when he spotted Anakin and Padmé.

As he moved to sit by them, Cain looked out a porthole of the ship to see they were still in hyperspace. Cain was glad that the ship was finally working again but slightly nervous as he thought of the upcoming battle.

".....Coruscant is the capital of the Republic. The entire planet is one big city." Padmé was explaining to Anakin as they sat next to one another.

"Wow! That must be amazing." Anakin exclaimed, completely captivated by everything Padmé had to say.

"Naboo is even better. The lakes and trees there are breathtaking, it's absolutely nothing like Tatooine." Padmé continued to tell Anakin all about Naboo's and how amazing it was.

For Anakin, this has been the most amazing few days of his entire life. He was on his way to become a Jedi, he and his mother were no longer slaves, and he would finally get to explore the Galaxy. He even met the most beautiful angel ever.

So interested in listening to Padmé, Anakin almost didn't notice Cain as sat down next to them.

"Fancy seeing you two," Cain said with a smile as he sat down.

After greeting one another, they continued to talk Naboo and everything amazing about it. Cain only chimed in to mention the few interesting creatures he had encountered and subsequently had to fight.

They were enjoying their little chat with one another until suddenly the ship came to a short stop. Confused on what was happening, Cain was about to go ask the pilots until an announcement soon cleared the confusion.

"Coming out of hyperspace. We'll be landing on Coruscant very shortly." One of the pilots announced before cutting off.

Excited by the prospect of seeing the planet, Anakin ran out of his seat and looked through a window. Looking out of the Naboo spacecraft, Anakin was shocked when he saw Coruscant.

"Wow! It's huge!" Anakin said in wonder.

The Naboo spacecraft quickly entered the atmosphere as the planet's skyscrapers came into view. The silver ship quickly flew through the cityscape avoiding all air traffic. After flying through the city, the sleek ship landed on the platform high above the street level of the galactic capital.

Supreme Chancellor Valorum, several guards, and Senator Palpatine stood on the landing platform. They all watched as the ship descended directly in front of them.

Extremely nervous as he spotted Palpatine almost immediately, Cain used every bit of will power he had to keep his face, body, and mind completely blank.

Lowering the platform Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Jar-Jar, Anakin, and Shmi descended from the ramp first while bowing to Supreme Chancellor Valorum and Senator Palpatine.

Following after them, Captain Panaka, Cain, two guards, 'Queen Amidala, Padmé and the rest of the handmaidens exited the ship.

Stepping forward, Senator Palpatine moved towards the Queen with a sickly sweet grin on his face.

"It is a great gift to see you alive, Your Majesty," Palpatine said with an almost sinister smile as he bowed.