Jango was standing right beside Boba, taking a heavy toll from the stands, firing with deadly accuracy into the Jedi. It was the first time Boba had ever been in such a big battle with his father.
And he loved it!
“Stay down, Boba!” Jango ordered, and Boba knew better than to disobey. But he was able to peek over the railing and see down into the ring.
In the middle of all the confusion, Boba saw the Jedi called Mace Windu, the one his dad had scorched. He was mowing down droids and Geonosian troops with his lightsaber, rallying the Jedi with his boldness.
The reek saw him, too. The big, horned beast singled him out and started chasing him around the arena. Boba had to laugh. The Jedi had gone from hound to hare in about one second.
Mace Windu tried to make a stand. He skidded to a stop and slashed out at the reek with his lightsaber. But the reek kept coming - and knocked the lightsaber out of his hand.
It went flying, and the Jedi took off running again.
Jango Fett put his big, gloved hand on his son’s head and growled, “Stay here, Boba. I’ll be back!”
That turned out to be the last thing he ever told his only son.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Jango Fett used the jet-pack on his Mandalorian battle armor to rocket down into the arena. He landed right in the middle of the fighting. The runaway reek, which made no distinction between friend and foe, tried to stomp him.
From the stands, Boba saw his father dodging and rolling, trying to get out of the way. He bit his tongue to keep from screaming out. Those hooves were as sharp as knives.
But Boba needn’t have worried. His dad rolled free, jumped to his feet, and proceeded to kill the beast. A couple of blasts and the reek was no more.
Then Jango Fett and the Jedi, Mace Windu faced off, one-on-one, while the fight raged all around them.
Boba stood on tiptoe, trying to see, and at the same time dodging the bolts that were filling the air like angry insects. Super Battle Droids, more powerful than the Battle Droids, were now dominating the battle.
The dust rose in a cloud. The arena was filled with screams and shouts, the clash of lightsabers and bolts of laser fire. Boba yelled “Dad! ” as he tried to see.
And then he saw.
He saw.
He saw the Jedi’s lightsaber swing in a deadly arc. He saw his father’s empty helmet go flying. He saw his father’s body drop to its knees, as if in prayer.
Boba watched in breathless horror as Jango Fett fell lifeless onto the bloody sand.
“No!” Boba cried. No, it can’t be!
The concussion from a nearby blast of laser fire knocked Boba down. He stumbled to his feet, ears ringing, and saw that the arena below was littered with bodies and pieces of droids and droidekas.
The acklay and the reek both were dead. The Jedi were outnumbered but still fighting. And the beautiful woman was right in the middle of it all, blasting droids and Geonosians alike.
Boba couldn’t see his father or the Jedi he had been fighting. Had he dreamed it all? The swing of the lightsaber, the helmet flying off; the warrior falling to his knees, then toppling over, like a tree.
A bad dream, Boba decided. That was it! His father was somewhere back up in the stands.
Boba knew that he didn’t like to fight alongside droids. Jango Fett scorned the droids because they had no imagination. Imagination, he often said, is a warrior’s most important weapon.
A bad dream, Boba thought, pushing his way down the stairs, toward the arena.
Even without imagination, the Super Battle Droids were winning. They were programmed to win, or at least to never give up. And even with all their losses, they far outnumbered the Jedi.
The droids in the stands kept firing, and the droids in the arena kept advancing, and soon there were only twenty or so Jedi left.
They stood in a clump in the center of the arena, back-to-back, lightsabers and lasers drawn. Trapped!
The aisles were full, so Boba climbed down from seat to seat, toward the arena. The Geonosians were cheering as the droids moved in for the kill. Then the Count raised his hand.
“Master Windu!”
Silence.
Boba stopped. What’s this? He watched as the Jedi his father had been fighting stepped forward, covered with dust and sweat.
“You have fought gallantly,” said the Count. “Worthy of recognition in. “
Boba didn’t wait to hear more. He knew it was all a lie. It had to be.
He continued to jump from seat to seat, down toward the ring, pushing and shoving his way through the crowd.
He couldn’t think. He didn’t want to think. He just wanted to get into the ring and find his father, Jango Fett, who would tell him: Don’t worry, Boba, it was all a dream. A bad, bad dream.
“Now it is finished,” said the Count. “Surrender, and your lives will be spared.”